Motor abundance and control structure in the golf swing.

Wallace, E.S.; Morrison, Andrew; McGrath, D.

Abstract

Variability and control structure are under-represented areas of golf swing research. This study investigated the use of the abundant degrees of freedom in the golf swing of high and intermediate skilled golfers using uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis. The variance parallel to (VUCM) and orthogonal to (VOrth) the UCM with respect to the orientation and location of the clubhead were calculated. The higher skilled golfers had proportionally higher values of VUCM than lower skilled players for all measured outcome variables. Motor synergy was found in the control of the orientation of the clubhead and the combined outcome variables but not for clubhead location. Clubhead location variance zeroed-in on impact as has been previously shown, whereas clubhead orientation variance increased near impact. Both skill levels increased their control over the clubhead location leading up to impact, with more control exerted over the clubhead orientation in the early downswing. The results suggest that to achieve higher skill levels in golf may not lie simply in optimal technique, but may lie more in developing control over the abundant degrees of freedom in the body.

Citation

Wallace, E., Morrison, A., & McGrath, D. (2016). Motor abundance and control structure in the golf swing. Human Movement Science, 46, 129-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2016.01.009

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 12, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jan 16, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-04
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 17, 2017
• Journal: Human Movement Science
• Print ISSN: 0167-9457
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-7646
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 46
• Pages: 129-147
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2016.01.009
• Keywords: Golf; Synergy; Redundancy; Kinematics; Coordination
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9569
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2016.01.009