120 Comparison between physical pendulum and golfer in putting movement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare between golfer's putting motion and the physical pendulum. One skilled golfer participated in this study. He executed ten putts as accurately as possible, in order to reach a target distance of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5m. Movement pattern characteristics were assessed by kinematic analysis. In addition, putt of the same distance were tried using the physics pendulum of firmly fixed putter. It was found that the putter head speed, at the time of impact in the human putt, exceeded that for the physics pendulum putt. The initial velocity of ball at impact of golfer's putting was faster than that of the physics pendulum's except aim distance 0.5m. Therefore, the difference between human putting and the physics pendulum was shown. However, it was understood that successful putts are achieved by having skillful motor control.