BIOMECHANICAL GOLF SWING ANALYSIS

Abstract

The Biomechanics Laboratory of the Australian Institute of Sport has spent eight years developing a comprehensive golf swing analysis system. The system is designed to assist the golfer and professional golf coach in identifying problems within the goWs swing and enable corrections to be made so that the golfer may reach full potential. Correct weight transference is a major component of the perfect swing. The Golf Analysis System measures changes in the centre of pressure of the golfer during the swing which provides a measure of the golfer's weight transference pattern. The path the club follows during the swing is directly related to the quality of the swing. An automatic digitising system is used in the Golf Analysis System to capture the location of the club shaft every one two-hundredths of the second during the swing. This path is then reconstructed by computer, plotted on paper and animated on video for review purposes. Views from the front, side and above the club path plane are reconstructed in relation to the movement of the leading shoulder for examination. The absolute velocity of the club's head is obtained and plotted out for 0.1 sec. before impact to 0.1 seconds after impact. The velocity components of the club head in the forward, crosswise and vertical direction are also plotted out which provides information as to the direction the club head is moving at the time of ball contact. A graph of the angle that the club is making to the desired ball path is also graphed out from 0.02 seconds before impact to 0.02 seconds after impact. A split vision video image of the golf swing is f h e d during the swing. This is captured by way of two shuttered S-VHS video cameras located directly above and to the open side of the golfer. The video provides a complete visual image of each entire golf swing analyzed. The position of the golf club head during ball contact phase has a direct relationship to the path the ball will follow after ball contact. In the Golf Analysis System the path of the golf club head is captured by a high speed video camera (400 frames per second) several frames before ball contact to several frames after contact. Sensors in the tee-off platform provide immediate feedback on the velocity of the club head immediately before impact and velocity of the ball immediately after impact. The direction and elevation of ball flight is also measured by sensors. A printout of this information together with where the ball would have landed as a d tof the swing is also provided in printouts. The Golf Analysis System provides valuable information about the golfefs swing which if used properly can produce drastic improvement in the goWs game. To be most effective a professional golf coach should be utilised to eliminate faults which are disclosed by Golf Analysis System. The swing analysis of 65 third year apprentices in the Australian P.G.A. professional coaching course has come up with some interesting information. This information will be presented at the ISBS 1995 Symposium.