FAQ

The Sidas Academy is a brand of Sidas World. Its goal? To educate the sports market and offer solutions and services to help professionals understand their customers and provide them with better advice. Through the Sidas World Group’s training center, the brand trains and certifies several hundred people. Drawing on Sidas’s more than 50 years of experience in foot comfort, it trains salespeople, bootfitters, and sports store managers around the world every year!

Bootfitting is a term associated with skiing. It is a series of steps designed to find the most suitable ski boot for the customer. The idea is simple: start with the foot through analysis, then progressively determine the comfort solutions suited to the skier’s needs and goals. It also includes all the work carried out on the shell and liner, such as shell modification, grinding and heat moulding. This helps prevent pressure points and discomfort inside the boot.

Shoefitting is the equivalent of Bootfitting for activities using flexible footwear: running, trail running, hiking, outdoor activities, etc. It combines foot and gait analysis, an understanding of the athlete’s biomechanics, and the selection of comfort solutions suited to their activity.

Yes. Sidas Academy has been Qualiopi certified since May 16, 2022, under the “Training Action” category, with certification renewed every three years. This certification, issued by the French government, validates the quality of our training processes against 21 criteria and is subject to regular audits.

Qualiopi guarantees that our educational resources and trainer support meet a strict quality standard monitored by the French government. It provides assurance regarding the quality and reliability of the training content, as well as access to professional training funding (OPCO, Pôle Emploi, regional authorities, Agefiph and the French State).

One of Sidas Academy’s key strengths is its team of expert trainers, each with recognised expertise in their field, whether Bootfitting or Shoefitting. They are generally well respected within the industry and have proven their expertise in their own stores or footwear environments. We also rely on our “Academy Board”, a group of four experts who have been involved since the Academy was founded: a former executive of a sports retail network, an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in the foot and ankle, a sports physician, and an expert in foot biomechanics.

Sidas Academy offers training in many regions around the world. Training is mainly delivered in France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as North America. Training in Asia and Latin America is also available on request.

The Fit Protocol is a continuous support program lasting several months with a dedicated expert, designed to sustainably grow the store’s business rather than provide a one-off session. It combines several complementary elements, including technical and sales training, on-the-floor follow-up, and even tailor-made merchandising.

Two main categories: one-off technical and business training courses covering skiing, race skiing, running, hiking, cycling, customer experience and management. We also offer training programmes called Fit Protocol: ongoing support over several months with a dedicated expert.

The choice depends on the activity you want to develop (skiing, running, trail running, outdoor activities, cycling, cross-country skiing, rental, retail, etc.), your current level of expertise in Bootfitting/Shoefitting, and your objectives. Our ski training courses are structured into progressive levels — Orange, Red (1 and 2), Black, etc. — allowing you to develop your skills step by step. If you are unsure which course is right for you, contact us for personalised advice.

Bootfitting 360 is an immersive five-day course designed for beginners who want to quickly acquire the key Bootfitting skills: foot analysis and anatomy, ski boots and the sales process, pre-shaped and heat-mouldable insoles, hands-on liner workshops, and shell modification workshops.

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Ski Race is an exclusive training course for expert Bootfitters who want to develop a competition-focused customer base (clubs, junior skiers and high-level athletes). It covers race culture, advanced anatomy and biomechanics, competition ski boot fitting, and the latest race fitting technologies.

This course is aimed at experienced Bootfitters who have already completed the black level and want to learn advanced techniques such as Modulo, grinding and canting, including sessions with a podiatrist.

One to One is a 100% individual, tailor-made training programme in which one of Sidas Academy’s top trainers shares the daily work of an expert Bootfitter in their store: in-depth foot and ankle analysis, creation of customised insoles, and practical business advice.

Yes, particularly in running, trail running, hiking/outdoor and cycling, with an approach tailored to each activity (gait analysis, comfort factors and relevant product solutions). However, we remain flexible. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like training for any other activity!

Yes: we offer Customer Experience training focused on the sales process and customer journey in-store, as well as Sports Store Management training to help managers better motivate and lead their teams.

The Fit Protocol is several months of continuous support with a dedicated expert, designed to develop the store’s business sustainably rather than provide a one-off training session. It combines several complementary elements, including technical and sales training, on-site follow-up, and even tailor-made merchandising. During the 2023–2024 season, participating stores recorded an average +25% conversion rate on insoles, +97% on socks and +10% on accessories.

It depends on the training course. Whether you’re interested in Bootfitting or Shoefitting, we offer training options for beginners. These include Bootfitting 360, Running Orange, Outdoor Orange and Customer Experience. It is important for us to understand your needs so that we can recommend the training course best suited to you. Each training course page clearly specifies the required prerequisites.

Sidas Academy training courses are designed for sports retail professionals: sales staff in general or specialist sports stores, Bootfitters, Shoefitters, brands, department managers, store managers, as well as people retraining for a career as a Bootfitter or Shoefitting specialist.

During the 2023–2024 season, stores supported through the Fit Protocol saw an average +25% conversion rate on insoles, +97% on socks and +10% on accessories, along with greater confidence among sales teams and a stronger expert image in-store.

Bootfitting is for skiers of all levels, from beginners to experts, who want to improve the comfort of their ski boots, reduce pain, and enjoy skiing more.

To become a bootfitter, you need training in foot analysis, ski boot fitting, and comfort solutions. A specialized training program helps you learn the technical basics, working methods, and skills needed to do this job. This is possible with the Sidas Academy!

In bootfitting, a ski boot can be modified in different ways depending on the customer’s needs. It is possible to reshape certain areas such as the ankle bones or toe box by heating and pushing the plastic. In other cases, the inside of the shell can also be ground down at the ankle bones, heel, or navicular area. This solution is generally reserved for racing boots, which are made of thicker plastic.

Yes. Even an experienced skier can benefit from bootfitting. A properly fitted boot improves comfort, reduces fatigue, and allows you to ski more efficiently and for longer. It also helps improve precision and therefore performance.

Shoefitting is for runners, trail runners, hikers, and more broadly, for all outdoor athletes who want shoes that are suited to their foot shape, volume, and activity. It helps prevent pain, pressure points, and poor footwear choices.

Taking a shoefitting training course helps you learn how to analyze the foot, gait, shoe types, and the athlete’s needs in order to give better advice in-store. It helps you recommend more suitable shoes, improve customer comfort, and strengthen the seller’s expertise.

The assessment is carried out in two steps:

• Analysis of the customer’s needs, including the type of activity, goals, possible injuries, and the runner’s experience.
• Analysis of the foot, including morphology, gait, volume, support points, and runner profile.

These two steps are essential to understanding the customer and offering the most suitable solutions.

Yes. A properly chosen shoe improves comfort, reduces friction, and can contribute to better running or walking efficiency. The analysis helps find the most suitable solution for the athlete.

The Fit Protocol is designed to structure the customer journey, guide the sales staff in their support, and ensure that each important step is properly carried out, starting with the analysis of the customer’s needs and feet.

It is both. The Fit Protocol is both a continuous training program for teams and an in-store sales protocol that helps recommend the right solutions to the customer.

The Fit Protocol improves the store’s professionalism, service quality, customer journey clarity, and additional sales. During the 2023–2024 season, the stores followed by the program recorded an average increase of +25% in conversion rate for insoles, +97% for socks, and +10% for accessories. It also helps embed good practices over the long term. For the customer, it ensures a clear, reassuring, and personalized experience with solutions tailored to their needs.

Post-training support helps consolidate what has been learned, supports teams in real working conditions, and prevents bad habits from returning. It is a key lever for maintaining a high level of expertise over time.

The Business training course at Sidas Academy is designed for sports retailers who want to improve their commercial performance, enhance the customer experience, and strengthen team management. It complements technical training such as bootfitting and shoefitting by providing a more global approach to retail performance.

This training course is aimed at store managers, team leaders, sales staff, and more broadly at sports retail teams who want to better structure their activity, work more efficiently, and increase their sales.

The goal of the Business training course is to help teams better understand their customers, highlight their expertise, improve the buying journey, and strengthen the store’s commercial performance. It also helps develop management, organization, and the promotion of sales solutions.

The training course covers management, customer experience, the sales protocol, optimization of the foot area, team motivation, and overcoming sales barriers. It combines theory, hands-on practice, and discussions based on real in-store situations.

Taking a Business training course helps you better manage your store, improve service quality, strengthen team engagement, and create a smoother, more professional customer experience. It is a practical lever for developing long-term commercial performance.

Yes. Sidas Academy offers remote Shoefitting training, allowing participants to train without travelling. It covers the essentials of the foot and comfort solutions for running and outdoor activities, as well as the associated sales techniques.

It depends on the training course chosen. Our standard training courses range from 1 to 5 days. However, the programme can extend over several months if you choose the Fit Protocol, which can also be delivered over a full year.

It depends on the training course selected. Our prices are available on each training page. For group requests, we invite you to request a quote from our organisation.

You can register for one of our training courses on our website by selecting the course you want and clicking the “Register” button (Link to all training courses). For more information, please contact us by filling out our contact form. 

We recommend registering at least one month before the training. This allows us to bring in an additional trainer if the group is large and to plan meals and accommodation (for training courses lasting more than one day).

After registering on the website, you will receive a confirmation email with the necessary information about your training day. We will then contact you again to confirm your registration.

Most training courses take place at the Sidas Academy Basecamp in Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs, Isère. Other training locations are available throughout France depending on participants’ locations, including our second training facility near Albertville. If you would like the training to take place in your store, please contact us.

Our training courses are certification-based but do not award a formal diploma. The certificate issued at the end of each course simply confirms that the training has been completed. We recommend highlighting the training on your CV and displaying your certificate in your store. This helps establish your expertise and reassure your customers.

Yes. Thanks to its Qualiopi certification, Sidas Academy is authorized to offer training programs eligible for public and pooled funding from OPCO, Pôle Emploi, regional governments, the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Agefiph, and government funds.

Only the Fit Protocol training program offers store-wide certification, since both the store and its staff are monitored over several months. A wooden plaque and a sticker help your customers recognize your certification.

Traditional training programs, on the other hand, certify the individual who completes the training. However, we recommend that you display your certificate in the store.

It depends on the programme chosen. A one-off technical training course ends when the session is completed. The Fit Protocol extends support over several months, with regular on-site follow-up from your dedicated expert.

Yes. The Sidas Academy leverages its network of bootfitters/shoefitters and sports stores to connect motivated candidates with stores that are hiring. It also provides an opportunity to train new hires at partner stores. We regularly post job openings on our website. 

Sidas World has over 50 years of experience in foot comfort; Qualiopi certification; an Academy Board comprised of top-level medical and business experts; a range of offerings from introductory courses to advanced competition expertise (Ski Race, Ski Premium); and support that extends beyond the training room thanks to the Fit Protocol.

The Academy is much more than just a training center. It’s a growth partner that supports you at every stage of your business or career!

Yes. Sidas Academy is the training division of Sidas World, a long-standing expert in foot comfort solutions. The Academy draws on this product and R&D expertise, particularly when developing its training content. However, we also remain open to competing products and solutions. Our sole objective is to grow the market and support your business.

Yes. Sidas Academy works with many recognised partners in the sector, including Salomon, Atomic, Asics, Dynafit, Salewa, Tecnica, Columbia, Mizuno, Rossignol and Lowa.

Yes: the Bootfitting Congress (a unique event worldwide), presentations at professional trade shows such as Sport Achat, a presence at major sporting events such as UTMB, and conferences for schools such as ENSA.

You can contact Sidas Academy by filling out our contact form, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, where we regularly share updates about our training courses and current sessions.