Some posts about the "ski scaling" article reminding me of something a ski instructor told me last season.
He told me that ski rebound or pop did not have much to do with the longitudinal flex of a ski. He said a common misconception is that ski stiffness leads to a feeling of pop out of the turn. That many skiers think the pop you feel as a skier at turn completion was energy released by the ski. He said this was incorrect.
Instead, rebound/pop have more to do with the shape you draw with the ski on the snow. By nature of arcing turns quickly at high angles, the ski comes quickly up below you after apex and pops up toward your body at transition. The energy released by a ski in a turn is insignificant compared to the ground reaction force you are feeling.
So, a ski with high rebound will be good at staying in a carved track through a short radius turn, and I suppose specifically at turn completion?
Thoughts? Is this the correct way to think of rebound? Why do some skis feel like they have more rebound than others? What aspects of the ski design lead to 'high rebound'? Things that maximize grip at the end of a turn such as stiff tail, sidecut, and high torsional stiffness?
He told me that ski rebound or pop did not have much to do with the longitudinal flex of a ski. He said a common misconception is that ski stiffness leads to a feeling of pop out of the turn. That many skiers think the pop you feel as a skier at turn completion was energy released by the ski. He said this was incorrect.
Instead, rebound/pop have more to do with the shape you draw with the ski on the snow. By nature of arcing turns quickly at high angles, the ski comes quickly up below you after apex and pops up toward your body at transition. The energy released by a ski in a turn is insignificant compared to the ground reaction force you are feeling.
So, a ski with high rebound will be good at staying in a carved track through a short radius turn, and I suppose specifically at turn completion?
Thoughts? Is this the correct way to think of rebound? Why do some skis feel like they have more rebound than others? What aspects of the ski design lead to 'high rebound'? Things that maximize grip at the end of a turn such as stiff tail, sidecut, and high torsional stiffness?
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