Science of the Golf Swing


Book Description

Michael Jacobs has spent the last nine years working with the world's foremost golf scientist to develop the first analytics system to measure the actual forces and torques at work in a swing. Jacobs is uncovering the real physics of the swing-what causes the movements you ultimately see out on the course, on film or in a photograph. In this ground-breaking book, Jacobs takes you through both the science and the practical application of that science in unprecedented detail. You'll see the hidden similarities and differences between swings of players at every ability level, and learn how to evaluate your own swing based on real data-not guesses, estimates or anecdotes. The Science of the Swing will give any player or teacher powerful tools to unlock the full potential in every swing. You don't have to subscribe to a specific swing method or approach when you know how to optimize what you do with your skills and your body using fundamental physics applied to the golf swing with this cutting-edge research and technology. Michael is one one of Golf Digest's 50 Best Teachers and Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers in America. In 2012 Jacobs won the Metropolitan PGA Section Teacher of the Year, and in 2017 he was a keynote presenter at the PGA National Teaching and Coaching Summit. Jacobs' research partner and collaborator Dr. Steven Nesbit is a professor of mechanical engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., and is the author of golf science's most authoritative movement research. Series editor Matthew Rudy is Golf Digest's Senior Instruction Writer and the author/co-author of more than 30 golf, business and peak performance books.




Swing Like a Pro


Book Description

A leading biomechanics expert and a premier golf instructor share the secrets of the perfect swing using a breakthrough learning tool—for novice and advanced golfers alike. For seventeen years, CompuSport International’s biomechanics expert Dr. Ralph Mann devoted himself to studying the swings of more than 100 PGA and LPGA Tour players to uncover the keys to a better game and a lower handicap. The results: the computer-generated composite Pro, which embodies the mechanical elements of the holy grail of the golf swing—efficient, effective, and now achievable. Illustrated with 175 animated 3-D stills of the Pro that pinpoint the exact motions of a body executing the perfect swing, Swing Like a Pro provides accurate, consistent information about how to play the game properly, breaking down the exact steps you can take to develop and refine your skills at performing every aspect of the shot. Mann teams up with renowned golf instructor Fred Griffin to examine and explain • Setup, including how to grip and align the club properly while finding the perfect balance for your body • The seven characteristics of a great backswing, with drills for improvement • How to achieve distance with accuracy through your downswing • How to put all these elements together with both timing and tempo • And much more! With its unique cutting-edge, scientific approach, and the expertise of its authors, Swing Like a Pro promises to be the best golf Pro you ever consulted to help you improve your swing and shave strokes off your handicap—and proves that there is such a thing as a perfect swing.




The Physics of Golf


Book Description

This revised and expanded bestseller includes a new chapter on putting, a new appendix on the fundamental physics covered in the book, increased coverage of modern club design, and an updated reference section. As in the previous book, most of the mathematics is relegated to a technical appendix. The first edition of this book was enthusiastically received by the both the science press in Physics Today, IEEE Spectrum, and Nature and the golf world in American Golf Pro and Golf Week.




Golf Science


Book Description

Golf is perhaps the most complicated simple game ever invented. Watching the professionals gives you only a glimpse of the complexity of what is happening, with each shot involving biomechanics, aerodynamics, ballistics, materials science, probability, even meteorology. Golf Science takes a timely new look at the game by investigating the scientific wonders that transfer the ball from tee to hole. Each chapter investigates a different area of the game and is organized around a series of Q&As. What is the optimum length for a driver? How does backspin work? The answers and the data are presented through illuminating info-graphics. The perfect way to analyse your own kit and technique, by studying the techniques of the professionals and the latest innovations in design and coaching. Golf Science is the ultimate accessory for any golfer wishing to understand their craft.




The Single Plane Golf Swing


Book Description

“Through this wonderful book, frustrated golfers can learn to swing like Moe [Norman] and improve their games.” —Anthony Robbins, #1 New York Times–bestselling author The mysterious and reclusive genius Moe Norman is acknowledged as the best ball-striker in the history of golf by many of the game’s greats. The Single Plane Golf Swing: Play Better Golf the Moe Norman Way reveals the secrets of the swing that enabled him to hit the ball solidly with unerring accuracy and consistency—every time. Norman’s simple, efficient, and easily understood Single Plane Swing has improved the games of thousands of golfers. Golf professional Todd Graves, known as “Little Moe” and regarded as the world authority on Norman’s swing, comprehensively teaches readers the mechanics, drills, and feelings of the Single Plane Swing that Moe called “The Feeling of Greatness.” Graves shares Norman’s brilliant insights and liberating approach to the game and demonstrates why the conventional “tour” swing is too complex and frustrating for the majority of amateurs. Illustrated with more than 300 photographs and written with Tim O’Connor, Norman’s biographer, the book also engagingly tells Norman’s bittersweet life story and explores the teacher-student bond forged between Norman and his protégé Graves. “One of golf’s greatest untold stories, Moe Norman’s life illustrated a simple and powerful truth: greatness is built from practicing the right swing in the right way. In this book, Todd Graves has given us a blueprint for that swing, for those practice habits, and most of all for a process that builds success.” —Dan Coyle, New York Times-bestselling author of The Culture Code




The Golf Swing


Book Description

'An effective golf swing will produce a thousand correct positions - but a thousand correct positions won't produce an effective golf swing'. Using a thorough analysis of more than 200 research articles, author Chris Riddoch - a scratch golfer in his teens and one of the UK's leading sports scientists - explains why this statement is true. In The Golf Swing, he describes why we must avoid the endless technical complexities of the 'swing theory quagmire'. He explains how dissecting the swing into countless angles and positions and trying to recombine them actually stifles our best learning weapon - our powerful, innate skill-learning mechanisms, which thrive on simplicity. The Golf Swing combines two sciences: golf swing mechanics and human skill learning. The result is an approach to swing development based on just four movement skills - key skills - each of which can be learnt using the simplest of swing thoughts. In contrast to other books - which merely describe the swing - The Golf Swing explains the best way to learn it. Grounded firmly in high-quality science, yet written in a non-scientific, entertaining style, The Golf Swing cuts through the buzzing bewilderment that surrounds the golf swing. All golfers - from beginners to tournament professionals - will benefit. 'For any other human skill, we know we can do it, but we don't know how we do it. In the golf swing, it's the opposite - we know everything about how to do it, but we can't DO it'.







The Science of the Perfect Swing


Book Description

The Science of the Perfect Swing appeals to those who are seeking a clear explanation of the inner workings of golf. It allows golfers to visualize the underlying physics of their sport, and so enjoy a deeper appreciation of good shot making. With numerous charts, tables, and drawings, Peter Dewhurst walks the reader through every scientific aspect of the game--including factors that many readers aren't even aware affect their game at all! Each chapter is concerned with the findings and consequences of the science on actual shot making; rather than with the science itself. The science is relegated to the back of each chapter as optional reading. The intention of the work is to foster improved technique in the light of a broader fundamental understanding of the game. The majority of case studies in the book are taken from PGA and LPGA Tour players. With this engaging treatment of the science of golf, the seeming impossibility of the achievements of the world's best players becomes all the more incredible. To drive a tiny ball hundreds of yards using a selection of equipment, to loft it over and around obstacles, to stop it on a green that it impacts at high speed, and then roll it over slopes and surface imperfections into a hole which can seem barely bigger than the golf ball itself, seems to defy, rather than illustrate, the laws of physics! Perhaps because of this, golf has remained wildly, and widely, popular for the last half-millennium. Peter Dewhurst helps clear up any confusion about the fundamentals of golf by examining all of the details from the one-second generation of speed in the swing, to the 0.0005-second explosive transfer of energy into the ball, through the dimple-powered flight, to the final elements of finesse leading to capture in the hole. Dewhurst combines expertise, from decades of award-winning engineering research and effective teaching, to make his writing engaging and educational for all readers.







Routledge International Handbook of Golf Science


Book Description

Golf is one of the world’s major sports and consequently the focus of world-class scientific research. This landmark publication is the most comprehensive book ever published on the science of golf, covering every sub-discipline from physiology, biomechanics and psychology to strength and conditioning, youth development and equipment design. Showcasing original research from leading golf scientists across the globe, it examines the fundamental science underpinning the game and demonstrates how it can be applied in practice to improve and develop players. Each chapter provides a definitive account of the current state of knowledge in a particular area of golf science, addressing the limitations of existing research, presenting new areas for development and discussing the implications for coaches, players, scientists and the wider golfing public. Truly international in scope, the variety of topics explored include: biomechanics and equipment skill learning and technology performance development psychological techniques for success the golfing body. This is an essential reference for any student or researcher with an interest in the game, or any coach or professional looking to improve their knowledge.