ABSTRACT
This study investigated the use of accelerometry as a means of obtaining information about the impact of the ball with the club. Fourteen golfers with handicaps ranging from 0 to 35 hit fourteen shots each using a driver to which a lightweight accelerometer had been attached at the rear of the clubhead. Three-dimensional video analysis was used to provide kinematic information about the clubhead position and speed at impact with the ball for comparison. The magnitude, frequency spectrum, and pattern of acceleration curves were analyzed with respect to club-ball impact location and clubhead speed at impact. The average impact duration was 417 microseconds with an average peak acceleration of 5114 g’s. There were significant correlations between peak acceleration during impact and handicap (r=−0.74), and for peak impact acceleration and clubhead speed at impact when measured across subjects (r=0.89), but not when measured for shots within-subject. The location where the ball makes contact with the clubface was significantly correlated with impact accelerations for 9 of the 14 subjects, and significant relationships were also found between impact location and the frequency content of the acceleration signal. The study demonstrated that accelerometer measurements can provide information that characterizes club-ball impact, and accelerometry may be a useful tool for learning more about club-ball interactions at impact.
