Learning "Snowboard Physics" is in order, to fully enjoy and maximize your snowboarding experience. I will breifly touch on Gravity, Momentum, Acceleration, Inertia, etc... However, it is not the science that I want to convey, but more so an understanding how a rider, a board and physics come together to form a fluid creative outlet.
-for a good place to start-
Check out: Snowboard Reviews Snowboard Science Page
A Snowboarders’ Weapon of Choice
The quality of snowboards continues to rise, consistently trying to find a construction and design that offers the best board characteristics.
As in any sport, along with progression comes the need for more and more specialized equipment. In the following, I explain the key factors to make a snowboard ride the way it does, and why.
(Longitudinal flex)
–Which is the bend of the entire length of the board. This will give the characteristic of liveliness, also known as the snap. A board that is stiffer will be livelier or have more snap than a board that is softer. This snap will aid in the ability to Ollie or pop of off the tail or nose, and define the feel of the board in a off-balance landing or turn, in terms of the ability to recover. A softer board will be easier to turn, but harder to recover on, because the board will be less able to hold your weight over the tip or tail and lead to a fall. While a stiffer board is more difficult in turn initiation (especially for a beginner), but recovers better because it is more likely to hold your body weight over the tip or tail, and give you a better opportunity to push off of the weighted end of the board, moving back into a stable position.
(Torsional flex) --The torsional flex will define a boards ability to hold and edge through a carve. A board that is stiff torsionaly, whether it is soft or stiff longitudinally, will hold and edge well. Meaning that a torsionaly soft board has less edge grip or bite in a carved turn. The way to test this is to check the ability to twist a board, so that the tip and tail are rotating in opposite directions. This is its torsional flex.
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