The motion of the shoulders, arms and club during the golf swing has often been explained using the 'double pendulum' model. Despite subsequent explanations for the actions of the distal segments of the body, the coordination of more proximal segments during the swing is less well understood. To ascertain the pattern of centre of mass motion and hip and shoulder rotations that result in a high clubhead speed at impact, the swing used in driving from the tee of eight low-handicap golfers was videotaped and analysed using three-dimensional techniques. The shoulders rotated in excess of 90 degrees during the backswing and, in 75% of the golfers, continued rotating away from the flag as the hips began turning back towards it. This sequential pattern of hip and shoulder rotation indicated that they conformed to the 'summation of speed' principle, which is hypothesized to result in a greater torque being applied to the club before impact. The speed of the drive was also benefited by the centre of mass shifting exclusively in the intended direction of ball flight during impact.

The results of this study suggest that gait retraining using RTF is an effective means of eliciting reductions in impact loading without negatively affecting running economy. However, with loading rate reductions not being maintained 1 month posttraining, further research is required to determine how these reductions in impact severity can be retained long term.

Previously identified risk factors for impact-related injuries (such as tibial stress fracture) are modified with fatigue. Because fatigue is associated with a reduced tolerance for impact, these findings lend support to the importance of those measures to identify individuals at risk of injury from lower limb impact loading during running.

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the variability in clubhead presentation to the ball and the resulting ball impact location on the club face for a range of golfers of different ability. A total of 285 male and female participants hit multiple shots using one of four proprietary drivers. Self-reported handicap was used to quantify a participant's golfing ability. A bespoke motion capture system and user-written algorithms was used to track the clubhead just before and at impact, measuring clubhead speed, clubhead orientation, and impact location. A Doppler radar was used to measure golf ball speed. Generally, golfers of higher skill (lower handicap) generated increased clubhead speed and increased efficiency (ratio of ball speed to clubhead speed). Non-parametric statistical tests showed that low-handicap golfers exhibit significantly lower variability from shot to shot in clubhead speed, efficiency, impact location, attack angle, club path, and face angle compared with high-handicap golfers.

No abstract