Golf Equipment• Anatomy of the golf club• Shaft function, composition, and length• Golf club head• Loft of irons• Distances with different clubs• Club matching – swing weight• Perimeter weighting• Ball-club impact characteristics• Recent innovations in clubs, shafts, and balls• References and websites

Golf Clubs - Anatomy

Shaft• Function is to place clubhead

in position for ball contact

• Composition, flex (feel), length

Golf Clubs - Head• Function is to impart velocity and spin to ball

• Important features: loft (fig 9.4, p 112), size of face, weight, moment of inertia, hardness (COR)

Loft of Driver, 3-, and 5-Woods

Loft of Irons

Average Distances for Clubs

Club Matching – swing weight

Club MatchingSwing Wt Conversion:

Some clubs are matched for “Feel”, or stiffness, or vibration frequency (driver -4.2, 2 Hz, 5 iron - 5.7 Hz, 9 iron - 6.8 Hz)

Perimeter Weighting - Irons and Putter

Perimeter Weighting - Driver

Larger and hollow, lighter & stronger material on perimeter

Perimeter Weighting in Putters:

Shaft Flex During Swing:

What happens at impact with real ball?

What Happens if impact is with an inelastic ball (top) and perfectly elastic

ball (bottom)

The “Gear” effect

Reason for rounded face on driver

Ball lift and Flight:

Recent Innovations in Golf Clubs• New materials allow larger clubs and perimeter weighting concept

to be applied to a greater degree• Results in more “forgiving” clubs• Titanium - greater strength/mass ratio• Putters - more variations and gimmicks than any other club (soft

face, curved face, offset head• Irons - investment casting allows cavity-backed, perimeter

weighting• Metal woods - are hollow, larger and perimeter weighted

• Claims of trampoline effect - more lively, or greater COR

Recent Innovations in Shafts• New materials allow stiffer, lighter shafts• Steel is still used by most golfers and comes in

different levels of stiffness,or flex• Carbon graphite is lighter and stiffer, but earlier

models lacked torsional stability• Titanium is popular, but expensive and too stiff

for most golfers• Some clubs are matched for resonate frequency

Golf Balls• For many years there were two main types: balata

(3-piece with liquid-filled rubber center, rubber winding, and soft balata cover; and surlyn (2-piece with plastic core and surlyn cover).

• Newer balls are either of two pieces (core and cover), or three pieces, as shown here.

                                              

A.Core B.Ionomer CasingC. Urethane elastomer coverD. Dimple design

Golf Equipment References

• Cochran and Stobbs. (1986) Search for the Perfect Swing.• Daish, C.B. (1972) The physics of ball games.• http://www.cobragolf.com/• http://www.titleist.com/• Tech Line Corp, Technology in Golf (

http://www.techlinegolf.com/)• DaveT's Club Design

(http://www.clubmaker-online.com/intro.html)

My Favorite Golf Hole: