Torsional Flex?

Whether you're looking at Lib Tech, Burton, Roxy, Technine, Nitro or any other company for that matter you will find that they all make boards of almost every flex level. However, most of what you're seeing is tip to tail flex, also known as longitudinal flex. This plays a big factor in ollies, jumps, landings, butters, board chatter at speeds, etc. Most people know about this so we're not going to discuss it again.

Instead we will talk about the other flex a snowboard has: Torsional Flex. Torsional flex is the flex across the width of a snowboard. To understand why this is important it's important we understand exactly how a snowboard works.

Turning a snowboard is a multi-step process. When going down a hill to initiate a turn the rider starts by lifting the toes on his front foot while keeping their back foot flat (we'll assume we are starting with a heel side turn). What this does is actually lifts the front of the toe side edge off the snow and digs the front heel side edge into the snow. The snowboard will then start to turn at which point the rider will begin to lift their back toes as well, fully initiating the turn. When trying to transition to your toe side edge you will reverse the process. Start by setting just your front toes down while keeping your back toes elevated. This is you taking advantage of the torsional flex and keeps you from catching an edge. As the board starts to swing back around you then can set your back toes down as well and should leave you facing back down the hill. Finally, to get to your toe edge you simply lift your front heel up to start the turn, follow then with your back heel and now you're on your heel edge. Continue to repeat down the hill and now you're snowboarding.

The entire turning process is made possible by torsional flex. If a board did not flex across its width when a rider would be forced to lift by their back and front toes/heels at the same time. This would make an edge transition impossible and cause riders to catch an edge every time. To see these effects for yourself strap into your board and lift up on just your toes or heel on one foot and watch as the board flexes across the width. A very simple concept but one that is crucial to every snowboard and for people learning how to ride. So go put your new found knowledge to work and Ride On!