THE SCIENCE OF GOLF potx

[...]... devoted to an analysis of these subjects We then come to putting, the subject of Chapter 9 As in a drive, the striking of the ball is important, but now there is the further complication of slopes, to say nothing of the effect of winds and the vagaries of hitting the hole Add to this the imperfections of the ball and there is a lot to understand And we shall see why it is useful to put golf balls in salt... dominate and the angle between the force on the clubhead and the line of the shaft decreases Towards the end of the swing the force on the clubhead is along the shaft, so at these later times the shaft is essentially being pulled along its length The angle between the shaft and the path of the clubhead is such that the force along the shaft balances the centrifugal force and also allows the clubhead... and finds that there is a lot of physics involved in the brief half-thousandth of a second of contact It is here that we shall examine how the theory of the impact explains the consequences of the various types of mis-hit The fourth and fifth chapters deal with the aerodynamics of the ball The understanding of the aerodynamics follows from the scientific contributions of many scientists, including... hour at the time of impact with the ball, and the distance the ball is hit increases by about 3 yards for each 1 mile per hour increase in clubhead speed So clearly the purpose of the drive is to produce maximum possible speed of the clubhead without, of course, any significant loss of control The control of the clubhead achieved during the swing is remarkable The starting point is the address of the ball,... however, that the importance of dimples was discovered by the golfers themselves The science described in these chapters puts us in a position to study the trajectory of the ball from a specified hit and to calculate its range Given the clubhead speed and loft of a driver, we can calculate the speed, spin, and launch angle of the ball, and these in turn determine its trajectory and range The theoretical... along shaft shaft Path of of clubhead clubhead Fig 2.15 Graph showing how the angle between the force on the clubhead and the line of the shaft changes during the swing o 60 o 40 Angle of force to shaft 20o o 0 0 0.1 0.2 Time (seconds) 0.3 The role of the wrists Throughout most of the swing, the pull along the shaft provides the dominant force on the clubhead This shows that the wrists are mainly acting... 1-pound load We see, therefore, that the 3-inch bend of the shaft implies a force of 2 pounds perpendicular to the shaft Fig 2.19 Experimental measurement of the flexibility of the shaft by holding the grip in a vice and applying a load to the clubhead Vice Vice Bend Bend Load Load THE SWING 25 A related experiment measures the natural frequency of vibration of the club With the grip end of the shaft again... Figure 2.13 shows the result at a sequence of times during the first part of the swing, the arrows giving the magnitude and direction of the force At early times the force is at a substantial angle to the line of the shaft, initially about 50° At this stage the force on the clubhead can be thought of as part pushing and part pulling the clubhead along its path As the centrifugal force grows, the balancing... introduction the importance of handicaps in the success of the sport of golf was recognized The author’s experience is that the role of handicaps is widely misunderstood Most players appear to believe that the purpose and effect of handicaps is to give all players an equal chance of winning Whatever the intentions of the designers of the British handicap system were, equality is not what it provides In the. .. analyse this motion to determine the forces which bring it about This way we come to see clearly the sequence of events during the swing In turn, the forces on the club imply forces on the player, through to his hands and arms to his body, and so the analysis of the behaviour of the club can be connected to the experience of the player as he makes the swing The speed of the clubhead in a long drive typically . accelerating the club through to impact with the ball. To further understand the swing we shall look at the bending of the shaft and its in uence on the effective loft of the club. THE SCIENCE OF GOLF4 The. choice of loft. THE SCIENCE OF GOLF 5 One of the uncertainties in calculating the range is the run of the ball. The trajectory calculations give the carry, which is the horizontal distance the ball. the players in both matches and competitions. Three further chap- ters then discuss the performance of players, the equip- ment of golf, and the economics of the game. It is the nature of science