Optimal design of golf shaft depending on the swing motion characteristics of each player

Abstract

Taylor-made designs are required for golf clubs, in particularly for golf shafts, because the golf equipment have great effects on the performances of players. Our objective is to establish an optimal design method of golf shafts for each player depending on their swing motions. We measured the swing motions with a 6-axis sensor that inserted into the grip end not to prevent normal motions. We analyzed the head motions at the impact using FEM with the swing data, and we tried to figure out the best shaft spec for an optimal impact. The optimization algorithm was followed 4 skilled shaft designers, which means that we had optimized the 4 SPECs in turn as below; 1) Weight, 2) Torque, 3) Flex, 4) EI pattern. As a result, the distance of a subject, a female professional golfer of JLPGA, was improved 11yrd more with the optimized shaft, and she uses the optimized shaft for more than 2 years. Thus our method was proven to be efficacious for some typical players. On the other hand, we were not able to get desired results for another 2 subjects. We believe the causes of undesired results are that some players change their swing motions depending on the shaft spec. We ought to consider the motion adjustment depending on the shaft spec in order to design optimal golf shafts for each player in the near future.