The Sand Trap goes 3D: Visit to Cal State Fullerton Bio Mechanics Lab

Got a cool opportunity from golf instructor Dana Dahlquist to visit the biomechanics lab at Cal State Fullerton. Thanks to Kathryn New and Robert Dudley for getting me set up and recording my swings. They have an awesome facility here, equipped with Qualisys cameras, two force plates, FlightScope and a simulator.

What's the point of all this? Basically there are certain things you can't see or can't measure precisely with cameras, getting this 3D info just gives us a better idea of what is really going on in the golf swing. Will also further illustrate commonalities of good players. Cameras are still a very good tool to use and obviously the most accessible to the majority of golfers/instructors. Understanding how the swing functions 3 dimensionally will help the golf instruction world to analyze swings more effectively in 2D. With more and more players/instructors doing this kind of data collection, the golf world will be able to move further and further away from the "feel is real" type of instruction.

Dana Dahlquist teaches Mike Drake, who is a mini tour player, much better swing than mine

Took some pic of the lab when Mike Drake was hitting

And some of my data. Might need @iacas to interpret some of these numbers

@mvmac ,

Are you going to play with those ping pong balls attached to you from now on?

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the cool videos.

Yowza! I'd be in traction if I tried to do that.

Wearing that stuff actually felt kinda weird, little restrictive with how they taped up my arms and thighs. At least I didn't have to get naked like Grant did

A lot of this stuff just further verifies what we already know happens in a functional golf swing. From the torso measurements you can see that on the backswing my side tilt increases as my forward tilt lessens, I'm "stretching and bending" which allows my head to be steady.

Then there is also some interesting little things like my right knee is flexed two more degrees than my left at address. Looking at what my neck and wrists do is also pretty cool. Going to teach with Dana next Monday so we'll spend some time going over my numbers.