When should you adjust your binding position?

Tue, Dec  16, 2025 - By Ian Harvey

Binding position on Nordic racing skis can be changed to improve stability, glide, or kick depending on how the skis are feeling. On any given day, binding position for both skate and classic has a whole lot to do with ski performance in terms of both speed and handling. The best binding position varies depending on the challenges and conditions of the day. I asked Kristoffer Karsrud for his thoughts on how he adjusts his bindings on any given day. Here is his response.

2023 SuperTour Sprint and US Nationals Sprint Champion Kristoffer Karsrud on Binding Position

For skating and classic, I often opt for 0 or -1.

For skating the deciding factors of moving my binding are the conditions and the construction of the ski. In icy conditions that are unstable I often test +1 to help the stability of the ski. I make sure to test how +1 impacts the feeling of climbing as well. I never use +2. In softer conditions I will move my binding to -1 or -2 to try and decrease any sinking that is occurring. For example, one of my warm skis is really good in soft/wet conditions, however, the pressure point is on the front of the ski which makes it dig into the snow. I solve this by always having the binding at -2.

In classic there is more variation due to type of ski wax. When I use draggier wax, I always test using -1 or -2. If I am struggling with kick, I will move my binding forward to +1. Most of the time I end up with by binding at 0 or -1. I can get away with very little wax so I often choose glide over kick.

I also vary my Classic binding positioning based on the length of the race. In sprinting I often choose to go with more glide since I can kick well with little grip and I do not want to give up the free time on the downhills. So, in sprinting I'll often opt for -1. In distance races I tend to use 0 since I will not have the explosivity that I am able to use in sprinting. This may compromise the downhills but I would lose more time on the uphills than the downhills in a distance race.

US World Cup Skiers on Binding Position

I also asked a number of US World Cup skiers about this and here are their responses. As you can see, they are pretty varied, so there is clearly still much potential for learning and improvement on all levels regarding this.

Ben Ogden
I generally default for both skate and classic at 0 for my binding position. That said, I almost always adjust It and try at least -1 before every race after I have finished testing skis. I would say I go -1 about half the time and stay at 0 the other half of the time. It is important to remember that World Cup grooming is generally very, very good and we don't race in soft that often so binding position does not usually make that much of a difference.

When It is very soft like in Trondheim for instance I will usually start with my skis on -1 and at try -2. I think I raced on -2 once in Trondheim along with a couple other times in soft conditions but generally do not find myself liking It very much.

For classic specifically, I find that I tend to like racing with my bindings back for sprints a little more than for distance races. I find that the kick is more accessible with less energy at 0 but the skis can be a touch slower. For this reason i will sometimes use -1 for qualifiers because I know I will be skiing with high energy the entire time and having the extra speed is crucial. This decision changes for distance races somewhat because I have to be conscious of the need to conserve energy and the likelihood of getting tired and struggling to kick. The 1 or two seconds that I might save on the downhill with my bindings back is nothing compared to the time I lose on the uphills if I cannot consistently kick my skis.

Zanden McMullen
To start, I think how you move the binding from the '0' position really depends on the brand and style of the ski. I ski on Fischer, and I don't think I have ever raced with a binding in a '+' position. However, I know some Rossignol athletes will move their skate bindings forward (into a positive position) for more control in sprints. I mostly skate on either 0 or -1, and I will classic on anywhere between 0 and -2.

How my tech and I determine what to go on is based on the ski itself, the conditions, and the type of race (sprint, distance, mass start, or individual start). The '0' position is supposed to be the center of mass for the ski, but occasionally that's not actually the case. My tech measures and flexes my skis to find the actual center point, which can sometimes be -1 or +1 (pretty rarely though), and we use that new position as the '0' regardless of what the binding actually says. For skating, we first test for my fastest and best feeling skis before we move the bindings from their '0' position. Then, after we have found a winner, we will play with the bindings and test for feeling. For classic, we focus on making sure the kick is exactly how we want it before we move the bindings. If the kick is great, we will try to move the bindings back as far as we can go without compromising any kick. Sometimes a ski will feel faster compared to another, moving the bindings can help find a sweet spot in the kick zone that can speed a ski up tremendously. It's important to note that the type of kickwax applied can greatly affect whether or not moving the binding will speed things up.

There are a lot of steps, and fortunately my wax tech does most of the testing on these things to learn about each ski.

JC Schoonmaker
For skate my default binding position is -1. I rarely might switch to 0 or +1 if it's really icy and if the ski I'm on feels like it's not holding the edge the way I'd like it to (which mean maybe I'm on a softer ski than would best for the conditions but it was really fast in the glide out compared to my others). I have never tried anything further back than -1.

For classic my default is 0 and I might occasionally move it back to -1 or -2 if I really like the way a ski is kicking but I feel like I need more glide. Most often this would be in fresh snow conditions where the kick wax makes a big difference in ski speed. I would usually test one and one with my default binding position and then the -1 or -2 to see how it affects the glide and if I can still get good enough kick.

I would add it's pretty rare that I move bindings from my default position and if I do switch it up, I will always test it out when warming up against my default and make sure I feel comfortable with the change.

Kate Oldham
I honestly haven’t played with it too much. My tech on World Cup changes my skate bindings to -1 occasionally, but my personal “default” is 0/0. As for classic, sometimes I play with moving it based on kick. + for more kick, and - for more speed. When I move my bindings, it’s not based on any specific ski, but rather on the condition. This is mostly due to not having enough knowledge about the build of each of my skis to make educated decisions.

Jack Young
Because binding position is new to Salomon with the new bindings, I have run 0 for all races skate and classic. I experimented successfully with moving bindings back for softer classic skis in the tunnel in Oberhof this summer.

Kendall Kramer
I keep them at zero in both skate and classic, with varying conditions that I’ll see on World Cup I will certainly experiment more with bindings position, but in the pretty consistent hard pack but not icy, and moderately cold RMISA racing conditions of Utah Montana Colorado and AK that I’ve mostly experienced, I haven’t moved them much from zero! I move classics to the negatives when I need more kick (Ian: I think she meant positive). As far as -1 for skate in deeper stuff to keep stable, but never really deviating further than 0 or -1 in classic or skate.