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This stuff really intrigues me.....there is more real science out there on the golf swing than you might think.

I started another thread for an article on movement variance....and then I found this article.....and then some others. So I decided to start a catch-all thread.

Moderators feel free to add the other article to this thread if you think it's necessary.

Anyway, to start the ball rolling.....

Here  is a link to a paper by Bob Grober, PhD.  Bob is an adjunct at Yale's department of applied physics. He has done a lot of study on tempo in the golf swing, and even sold a product called "Sonic Golf," which was reviewed here in a Sand Trap thread.

The paper caught my eye because we have noted in other threads the issue of variation in golf swings. The counter-intuitive or surprising finding that even crappy golfers have "repeating" swings has been noted. The recent thread on this showed a handicap golfer making two virtually indistinguishable swings, which produced wildly different results.

In the paper there are three graphs which represent the swing duration measurements of three groups of golfers: Tournament professionals, teaching pros/high level amateurs, average/chopper golfers.

I wish I could put the tables right in this post, but I can't. The essence of it is, however that the variability of backswing and downswing duration gets progressively greater as the skill level of the golfer decreases. Touring pros had extremely consistent swing durations, while choppers were all over the map, and the teaching pros somewhere in between. It's a good read. Most of the article is fairly basic (although beyond my immediate understanding....I was never great in physics) Newtonian mechanics, modeling the golf swing as a harmonic oscillator (HO). An HO is a system where a force is applied to a mass, which is connected to a spring, and the mass moves to and fro. The system is such that the duration of the oscillation remains THE SAME no matter how much force is applied. It's been shown that the duration of expert golfers' swings are basically the same no matter what club they play and often whether or not they are playing a full or a partial shot. In the biomechanical model, the Mass component is the club, the arms, and torse (maybe the legs too?), and the spring is the combination of biomechanical elasticity and the muscle patterns that govern the endpoint of the swing and the transition to downswing, etc.

More geeky stuff for your reading pleasure....

Please feel free to add any studies in this thread that you think are interesting.  

 

JP Bouffard

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Tour Tempo I think are the ones who developed apps and such to help you get into that 3:1 range that Tour players seem to be around.

I find it fascinating that the tempo is relatively consistent with all types of shots played.

 

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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Hi There,

My name is Gisle, I suppose I qualify as a geek in the world of golf.  I have invented and patented a way of matching golf clubs, called BioMatch.  I have attached my paper on Scientific Matching of Golf Clubs.  The paper is currently under peer review before being published.  If you are fascinated by the physics of the golf swing you should like it.  It solves the centuries-long problem of matching golf clubs so that one consistent swing can be applied to every club.

Club_Matching_APA_R4.docx


  On 3/31/2016 at 8:13 PM, Gisle said:

Hi There,

My name is Gisle, I suppose I qualify as a geek in the world of golf.  I have invented and patented a way of matching golf clubs, called BioMatch.  I have attached my paper on Scientific Matching of Golf Clubs.  The paper is currently under peer review before being published.  If you are fascinated by the physics of the golf swing you should like it.  It solves the centuries-long problem of matching golf clubs so that one consistent swing can be applied to every club.

Club_Matching_APA_R4.docxFetching info...

Expand  

So basically MOI matching, but you can find out what their ideal MOI is?

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You are on the right track.  The BioMatch method determines the optimum MOI and Mass for each club.  But there is a relationship between optimum MOI and Mass.  Thereby it is possible to determine the optimum weight, no matter what the MOI is.  If the MOI for say a driver is very large, you may end up having the add a lot of mass to the grip end of the club in order to get to the optimum Mass.  In such case, it is advisable to reduce the MOI of the driver by reducing the length of the driver.  Then the new actual MOI of the driver can be measured again (or calculated).  The application will then yield a lower optimum mass.  

It is easier to adjust the overall weight of each club than to adjust the MOI of each club.  If one preferred, one could leave the total mass as it is and adjust the length of each club to obtain the optimum MOI.  Assuming that the clubs are fitted at the correct length for the golfer, you do not want mess around with the length of the club in order to obtain maximum MOI.  One can also adjust MOI by adjusting clubhead mass.  I personally do not think that is a good idea as it alters the properties of the clubhead.

Hope this is of some help.


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Club length affects other important things too, like club head speed and ultimately distance.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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Note: This thread is 3247 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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