COMPARISON OF GOLF SWING PATTERNS IN SKILLED FEMALE GOLFERS AMONG THREE DIFFERENT CLUBS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare golf swing patterns using three different clubs among skilled golfers. Five right-handed female professional golfers used their own three clubs (driver, 5-iron, and 9-iron) to hit standard golf balls in our laboratory. 3D coordinates of body and club landmarks during the swing motions were recorded using a 3D motion capture system with operating at 250 Hz frame rates. As the results, the acceleration of club head in each club during downswing reached a maximum around about 0.08 s before impact during similar swing time, and the height of club head at the maximum acceleration showed about 55% of ratio for the body height despite differences of clubs. Skilled golfers therefore might feel as the similar patterns of golf swing even if they are swinging with different length clubs.