Ski Builders Forum

Often it referred as it "switched spot" or skier position on the skis where he felt in balance and in control. Some skis have wide sweet spot some narrow. I'm trying to understand what it derives from.

I think the term sweet spot has been handed down from generation to generation for its simplicity in describing something that would otherwise end up as a bunch of technical babble.

No it is not "bunch of technical babble". I think my description is correct. It is range of motion forward and back from up right stands on the skis.
To me sweet spot more of the feeling then technical date. But it must be some how designed

Tell all that you your gf and ask her if its technical babble or not and if it paints a better picture in her mind than sweet spot?

Without having it explicitly defined, its impossible to design for it. Simply saying it's the point you "feel balanced and controlled" doesn't define it - cause what does that really mean?

Things I could envision coming into play:

- Where the rider's center of mass is relative to the center of the ski
- Where the rider's center of mass is relative to the waist (center of sidecut)
- Where the rider's center of mass is relative to the ski's center of mass
- Where the center of sidecut is relative to the geometric center of the ski
- Where the center of sidecut is relative to the ski's center of mass
- How much edge contact is forward/aft of the center of mass
- How much surface area is forward/aft of the center of mass
- How much ski mass is forward/aft of the center of mass (relative swing weight)

Note that many of these things are not mutually exclusive. Also you have to assume some fixed skier stance. If I lean forward or aft, I am changing the location of the center of mass of the entire skier/ski system.

(as an aside, I've been skiing for 27 years now, and I've never felt in control )

bigger the golf club head, the bigger the sweet spot, bigger the tennis racket bigger the sweet spot, bigger the lady bigger the...... well maybe not.
This is an arbitrary term the better the athlete the larger the sweet spot.
THis is not quantifiable

deeper the powder - bigger the sweet spot

MontuckyMadman wrote:bigger the golf club head, the bigger the sweet spot, bigger the tennis racket bigger the sweet spot, bigger the lady bigger the...... well maybe not.
This is an arbitrary term the better the athlete the larger the sweet spot.
THis is not quantifiable

almost spit my beer all over my computer... nice one MM.

falls wrote:deeper the powder - bigger the sweet spot

Errr no, not on some skis anyway

Some skis have an ok sweet spot on hardpack, a huge one in 5-10cm of velvet or heavy pow and then over 15cm of pow become progressively less ballanced and almost un controlable in deep pow

Sweet spot as twizzstyle said has to do with manny things - I've found that some skis can have a huge sweet spot - you could mount the bindings 10cm, maybee even more from you centerline and they would ski well and others that 5mm mad them change. There was no defining factor between the skis, such as stifness, shape, lenght or width. I think it came down to core shape more than anything, but all of twizzstyle's factors cam into play.

On a recent pair I mounted up a pair of demo bindings and skied them quite a bit in different positions before mounting up the real clamps. I changed a few key design points in this particular pair of skis such as waist point, tip length and tail taper so I was a bit unsure of where I would like them mounted.

Turns out I was really close to where I originally thought but other people skiing them had their own opinions. Bottom line, every ski is different and every skier is different so if you're unsure buy a set of demo bindings.

@twizz
sweet spot or at lease feeling of it will be different for every skier. I have different people reported same thing on ski sweet spot from 5'3'' 130lb to 6'5" 250lb with different skill levels

@MM loved it. Not sure how size relevant but love your explanation.

@ Dr D Not looking on binding legation. I'm using demos

Dr. Delam wrote:...Bottom line, every ski is different and every skier is different so if you're unsure buy a set of demo bindings.

I totally agree with this statement, and it turns out that I have several pairs of nice demo bindings available for cheap.
Here's a link to my posting: http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4573

Cheers,
-S