Movement variability in the golf swing

Abstract

Traditionally, golf biomechanics has focused upon achieving consistency in swing kinematics and kinetics, whilst variability was considered to be noise and dysfunctional. There has been a growing argument that variability is an intrinsic aspect of skilled motor performance and plays a functional role. Two types of variability are described: 'strategic shot selection' and 'movement variability'. In 'strategic shot selection', the outcome remains consistent, but the swing kinematics/kinetics (resulting in the desired ball flight) are free to vary; 'movement variability' is the changes in swing kinematics and kinetics from trial to trial when the golfer attempts to hit the same shot. These changes will emerge due to constraints of the golfer's body, the environment, and the task. Biomechanical research has focused upon aspects of technique such as elite versus non-elite kinematics, kinetics, kinematic sequencing, peak angular velocities of body segments, wrist function, ground reaction forces, and electromyography, mainly in the search for greater distance and clubhead velocity. To date very little is known about the impact of variability on this complex motor skill, and it has yet to be fully researched to determine where the trade-off between functional and detrimental variability lies when in pursuit of enhanced performance outcomes.

Motor abundance and control structure in the golf swing

“…The players were instructed to attempt to hit the same type of shot each time and were reminded of this requirement throughout the testing. This was to avoid multiple shot strategies being used and adding confounding variables to the data (see Langdown et al (2012) for "strategic shot selection" vs "movement variability"). All shots, regardless of outcome, were recorded for analysis.…”

“…More specifically they suggest that it has yet to be clearly identified which coordinative pattern should be allowed to vary and which should be invariant in the golf swing. Although recent reviews have attempted to clarify the structure of movement variability (Glazier, 2011;Knight, 2004;Langdown, Bridge, & Li, 2012), there still remains a gap in the literature.…”

Current golf performance literature and application to training

“…the hips, torso, arms and club head. 41 In order to achieve optimal energy transfer and club head speed through this proximal to distal sequencing during the downswing, Cheetham et al 11 identified several attributes to be present in the golfer's kinematic sequence, namely:…”

Upper torso and pelvis linear velocity during the downswing of elite golfers

“…The goal of the game is to get the ball into a hole using the fewest number of strokes [2], which is possible with a high driving distance. The distance is determined by the initial ball speed at club impact, and the speed of the ball is a determined by the club head speed immediately before impact [1].…”