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.
The purpose of this study was to analyse the effects of clubhead presentation on golf ball launch conditions and the subsequent shot outcome. Clubhead presentation was measured using a three-dimensional motion capture system for both male and female golfers across a range of skill levels. A Doppler radar was used to track the golf ball during its flight, yielding speed, launch angles, spin rate and distance. Importantly, the measurements of clubhead and ball quantities were taken independently so that any inter-relationships could be evaluated without recourse to any preconceived models. This article provides values for the median launch conditions and shot outcome, and the associated variability in these quantities for golfers was grouped by handicap category and gender. It was shown that the variability in certain outcome quantities was more linked to golfing ability than others. Linear regression was used to demonstrate that differences in clubhead presentation resulted in changes to ball launch conditions as one might expect from physical analysis. Furthermore, the link between the variability in clubhead presentation and the variability in shot outcome was demonstrated. In particular, the importance of impact location variability in determining launch angle and total distance variability was shown.
The aim of this study was to quantify and explain the effect of shaft stiffness on the dynamics of golf drives. Twenty golfers performed swings with two clubs designed to differ only in shaft bending stiffness. Wrist kinematics and clubhead presentation to the ball were determined using optical motion capture systems in conjunction with a radar device for capturing ball speed, launch angle, and spin. Shaft stiffness had a marginally small effect on clubhead and ball speeds, which increased by 0.45% (p < 0.001) and 0.7% (p = 0.008), respectively, for the less stiff club. Two factors directly contributed to these increases: (i) a faster recovery of the lower flex shaft from lag to lead bending just before impact (p < 0.001); and (ii) an increase of 0.4% in angular velocity of the grip of the lower flex club at impact (p = 0.003). Unsurprisingly, decreases in shaft stiffness led to more shaft bending at the transition from backswing to downswing (p < 0.001). Contrary to previous research, lead bending at impact marginally increased for the stiffer shaft (p = 0.003). Overall, and taking effect sizes into account, the changes in shaft stiffness in isolation did not have a meaningful effect on the measured parameters, for the type of shaft investigated.
The importance of iron play to scoring in golf is widely recognised. To better understand this relationship, accurate, yet unobtrusive measurement techniques are required to capture information about the collision between the golf club and ball. This article presents a method for tracking an iron clubhead prior to impact with the ball. Using repeated shots by a golf robot with a 5-iron and 9-iron, the system reliably measured clubhead speed (standard deviation ≤ 0.5 mile/h), face angle (≤0.2°), club path (≤0.2°), effective loft (≤0.5°), attack angle (≤0.1°) and effective lie (≤0.3°). Impact position was within a standard deviation ≤ 0.6 mm for repeated shots. Absolute accuracy of horizontal impact position at initial contact was <1 mm, whereas a systematic offset of up to 4 mm was found for vertical impact position compared to tests using impact location tape. This offset was dependent on the loft of the club and could be explained by the interaction between ball and club during contact. In addition, a unique feature of the algorithm is presented which categorises impacts commonly known as ‘top’, ‘thin’, ‘good’ or ‘heavy’ shots, which is facilitated through tracking of the bottom edge of the clubhead using virtual markers. Hence, this tracking system is presented as a novel solution to accurately measure clubhead presentation and initial ball impact location for irons.
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