What are the biomechanical principles involved in maximising the distance of a golf drive?

Striking a golf ball to obtain the maximum distance involves a variety of biomechanical principles. What is interesting about a golf swing and more importantly a golf stroke for greater distance, is it is a very open skill. What is meant by this is that there are a variety of different factors outside one’s own performance that effects the distance a golf ball will travel. Air resistance, which plays a role in almost every physical activity in some way or another, plays a large role in the distance a golf ball will travel. This is obviously greatly affected through wind, which can be either a great hindrance or a great advantage when trying to achieve maximum distance on a golf drive. Another large factor in gaining maximum distance outside one’s own performance is the equipment used. A lot of research has gone into the types and styles of golf clubs used. Factors such as length, weight, friction of the club head through the air and also on impact on the ball have all been considered and are said to provide an increase in distance when the optimal equipment is used.

While vast amounts of research has been conducted on the outside forces of golf such as the types of equipment, an extensive amount of research has been conducted on the personal performance of a golf swing and the optimal way in which greatest distance can be achieved. A golf swing is a very technical  and precise action. Because of the size of the object being struck and the speed at which it is happening, a great deal can go wrong within a stroke play with only millimetres of differentiation. As a result of this, much attention has been payed to what is known as the kinetic sequence of a golf swing.  It is therefore these elements that must be deeply considered and utilised when trying to obtain the greatest distance on a golf drive.

Kinetic sequencing plays a large part in achieving a good golf swing. The exact definition of kinetic is “of, relating to, or resulting from motion”. Therefore, Kinetic sequencing is the idea that a sequence of motion will apply greater distance for a golf swing when there is a sequence of motion as opposed to one single grouping of motion (Blazevich, 2012). As we can view in the video posted below on “Kinetic Sequencing” the most common view and interpretation of a golf swing is that all the motion moves into the backswing together and all the motion comes forward during the downswing together. The video demonstrates that this is impractical when comparing the form of a shot putter and a baseball pitcher. In shot put the action is more of a ‘push-like’ movement pattern. Through this, all the joints in the kinetic chain are extended simultaneously (Augustsson, Esko, Thomee, Svantesson, 1998). It is not to say that this is an impractical exercise and that the action of a shot putter should be changed because they are not experiencing the distance that they potentially could, however, the push-like movement pattern is better suited to exerting all energy into moving an object with a great deal of mass. This is the preferred movement in exercise such as a leg press and squat lifts and other related exercises (Blazevich, 2012). The method that should be taken into consideration for a golf swing is the ‘throw-like’ movement pattern. During a ‘throw-like’ movement momentum generated in the proximal segments through the production of large muscle forces is transferred to the distal segments. During a throw a person will generate hip and shoulder rotation, it will then progress through to elbow acceleration, through to wrist acceleration, finger acceleration and then finally all the force and momentum is transferred into the object that is being thrown (Blazevich, 2012).

The idea of a throw-like movement pattern, or at least the idea of the force generated behind it, should be taken into consideration when analysing the golf swing.  Through this method the individual can focus their attention to the mobility of their body as the kinetic sequencing will help immensely in obtaining the appropriate force needed. As suggested by Pedra (2012)  the most important factors in a golf swing in order are mobility, stability, balance, body awareness, strength and power. This statement shows the emphasis placed on the kinetic chain and the mobility responsible for it. As we can see in the video the force of a golf swing is initially generated from the lower body. When swinging through after a back swing the initial momentum is generated from lower legs, as the club begins its decent from the back swing into the stroke play momentum is then generated though to the torso as the hips begin to add to the force, the midsection then gains in momentum, after which the shoulders and arms complete the swing by bringing the club through to strike the ball. All the force generated from the initial stages of the lower body is then transferred into the ball and will allow for greater distance to be gained when conducting a drive.

 Outside forces also largely impact the significance of a golf drive. Forces beyond the control of the individual play a vital part in the distance a golf ball will travel such as rain and wind. However, one of the more interesting and noticeable impacts on a golf ball comes under the category of air resistance, more specifically, the Magnus effect. The Magnus effect describes the phenomenon where spin placed on a ball will cause a pressure differential and will cause the ball to swerve in the air (Pechier, Guillen, Cayzac, 2001). The force that is created by the unequal pressures is called the Magnus force. The spinning ball drags a boundary layer of air with it. On one side of the ball the air spinning with the ball collides with oncoming air and slows down. The slower velocity air is associated with high relative pressure. The opposite occurs on the other side of the ball which creates a pressure differential and therefore the ball will swerve in the air. A simplified explanation of this interesting effect is that a spinning ball “grabs” the air that flows past it because of the friction between the air and the ball and as a result the air particles start to spin the ball (Blazevich, 2012).

 

One factor that is evident and makes a difference in obtaining large distances with a drive is the length of the club. When you look at a driver next to a regular club you notice the driver is significantly longer than the regular club. The reasoning behind this is an issue involving leavers and momentum. A golfer swinging a golf club is a third class lever (Stanley, 2009), by knowing this we can understand how increasing the length of the golf club will improve the distance of the shot. Having an increased length of the golf driver means that the head of the golf club travels a greater distance to get to the ball. From the top of the backswing to the point of contact with the golf ball a longer driver travels a greater distance as opposed to a regular club. This means force is applied to the club for an extended period of time and momentum is able to be built up over a greater length of time. Therefore, by the time the club makes contact with the ball it has had a greater amount of force applied to it meaning that is then transferred into the golf ball equating to greater distance in the golf ball.