Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Determining the essential elements of golf swings used by elite golfers

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  • The golf swing involves a complex sequence of body movements which adjust according to the demands of a given shot. The purpose of this study was to determine common characteristics and essential elements of the golf swing under various conditions. The swing patterns of thirteen elite professional golfers were analyzed using three-dimensional kinematics to determine the essential elements of optimal movement patterns for distance (DS; 1W), accuracy (AS; 8I), and intermediate (IS; 3I) shots, and a general model of golf swings. Two high-speed video cameras (250 frames per second) recorded frontal and sagittal views of the golf swings. Three-dimensional data were subsequently normalized across; (a) duration of each swing (N1) and (b) range of values and duration (N2). For these normalized data sets, F and t-tests were calculated for each kinematic variable for each point in normalized time across conditions. An ensembled plot was created for each data set and commonality and uniqueness analysis techniques were used to determine the essential elements of the golf swing. Despite similarities in the temporal characteristics of the golf swing across conditions, significant differences were observed in the top of swing positions (TOS). Lower body TOS preceded upper body TOS which preceded club TOS (p<.01). This sequencing suggested the existence of a wind up motion preceding downswing. The range of rotation for the hip, shoulder, and golf club segments were significantly different across conditions (DS>IS>AS, p<.05). Adjustment in the rotations depended upon the club selection and was proportional to the duration of the swing and the range of motion of the three segments. Commonality analysis results indicated that an optimal golf swing may be represented by a single model rather than a specific model for each golf club. The critical element during the swing was the constraint of the right knee and hip during the take away phase. During take away, the lower body rotated about the right leg while the upper body rotated about a point near mid-shoulders. For all clubs, the wind up motion initiated the downswing phase and was perhaps responsible for an initial delay of wrist uncocking during this phase.
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file details FujimotoKanataniKoichiro1995.pdf 2017-11-10 Public Download