'Bio servo control'

Golf, we most likely do agree, is not the easiest of sports. Yet it could have been virtually impossible to play without the help of inertial forces, these enigmatic entities everywhere around and frequently not considered to really have an existence.

Let’s have a look at the fact that when we are wheeling that big driver we manage to obtain in most swings quite readily very similar impact conditions for the club face. If you don’t think this to be rather surprising than this post is not meant for you.

If we look at Figs1a &2a there are very different swings at work yet there is one striking similarity - the near identical positions of inner and outer segments at impact for both these very dissimilar swings.

Conditions - the initial angle is resp. 120 and 60 deg. These angles are ‘frozen’ using dead stops till the inner segment reaches the horizontal, from there on there is free hinging. Same constant torque applied at the center, for both cases, throughout the whole swing.

The angle is kept ‘frozen’ till the inner segment is horizontal. Hence in the short remaining span of 90 deg till impact, the swing automatically manages somehow to correct for a difference in 60 deg in cock angle between the two swings and still end up with almost identical impact conditions.

Figs2b and 2b give an idea why this happens. Notice that for swing1 there is first a larger positive torque operating for a longer time, but subsequently the negative torque is much smaller and operating over a shorter period, when compared with swing2.

There is a 20 mile/hour gain in swing impact speed with the second swing. From Fig2c it is evident that the arms are giving up there kinetic energy to the club in a much more efficient way. This lead to more pronounced ‘pinning’ through impact.

I realize that we don’t have an exact model of a real swing but it should nevertheless give some weight to the admonishment used through many centuries to let the club do the work. It really seems that you don’t have to necessarily manipulate the club head to obtain consistent impact conditions. However not doing what comes naturally is not easy for many.

It is as if nature was geared for golf and dislikes any deviation from correct impact conditions. However there is a condition - no manipulation of the club with active wrists/hands. It seems to play into the hands of those referring to ‘centrifugal swinging’ in their teaching methods.

Those who have read Jorgensen might perhaps think of his five experiments. But in a nutshell it could be taken as if there was a bio servo control at work with near optimal impact conditions built in as the equilibrium condition for the loop.

mandrin

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