Dynamics
of a Golf Swing
Dynamics
of a Golf Swing
Bill
Pryse
M.E. 2202, Prof. Sadegh
Web Project, Summer 2001
I just recently started taking a golf lessons program for Georgia Tech students. Since the class is geared towards engineers, the golf instructor makes it a point to describe the game of golf in terms of mathematics and science. One of the more interesting subjects of his tutorial was the dynamics of a golf swing. He wanted to ensure that the students understood the correct way to swing, and to understand why his method was best.
The basic principle of his explanation is that your club head should follow a circular path during your back swing and continue the path all the way through the actual contact with the ball. The main purpose of maintaining a circular path is so that the golfer can consistently hit the ball on the “sweet spot” of the club. If the path is elliptical or otherwise irregular, then the chances of striking the ball solidly is slim, since the path is much more unpredictable.
I wanted to find out if elementary dynamics could be used to predict the distance that a golf ball will travel assuming that the golfer can successfully follow a circular path through his swing. To obtain maximum distance, however, the golfer must maximize the radius of the circular path. If the golfer used his wrists as the center of the circle, for example, the radius of the path would be equal to the length of the club. However, if the golfer uses his spine as the center of the circle, then the radius of the path is equal to the length of the club plus the length of his/her arms. Therefore, maximum distance is acquired when the golfer uses his/her spine as the center of the circular club path.
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