What I see--World Cup skiers throughout the turn cycle, and at the transition in particular, ski with a far more flexed posture than 99.9% of recreational skiers. They also work the fore-aft far more. This extreme flexion is pretty much the defining characteristic of slalom and GS racing at that level. Racers may or may not use some element of old ILE extension, and may use it to a greater or lesser degree, but that's a matter of tactics and choice, and I suspect of much less importance than the fact that they are all using such deep flexion as a dominant tool for obtaining ski performance. So to me all this debating is overblown.
The interpretation of transition through extension that less skilled skiers generally employ is to stand tall and stiff, and do it in a vertical direction, which you certainly won't see World Cup racers doing.
A couple of you have made the point that flexion alone won't cause a release. True--what causes the release in my experience is changing the differential in flexion between the inside and outside leg. That can result from relaxing the old outside leg, from standing up more on the old inside leg, or a combination of the two. Whichever way you do it, it alters the relationship between the COM and the BOS, allowing the body and the skis to take different paths, and as a result tipping the skis over onto the new edges. Getting the timing of this right--and starting the release way earlier than do most skiers below the expert level--is something many of the pundits are constantly harping on. Sorry if that's too basic.
The interpretation of transition through extension that less skilled skiers generally employ is to stand tall and stiff, and do it in a vertical direction, which you certainly won't see World Cup racers doing.
A couple of you have made the point that flexion alone won't cause a release. True--what causes the release in my experience is changing the differential in flexion between the inside and outside leg. That can result from relaxing the old outside leg, from standing up more on the old inside leg, or a combination of the two. Whichever way you do it, it alters the relationship between the COM and the BOS, allowing the body and the skis to take different paths, and as a result tipping the skis over onto the new edges. Getting the timing of this right--and starting the release way earlier than do most skiers below the expert level--is something many of the pundits are constantly harping on. Sorry if that's too basic.