The influence of club shaft characteristics on the hip-shoulder separation angle during the golf drive

The way in which club head speed is generated during the golf swing has often been explained using the 'double pendulum model' (e.g. Budney and Bellow, 1992). However, recent research has suggested that club head speed generation is related to the separation angle between transverse plane hip and shoulder rotations (e.g. Cheetham et aI., 2001). It is possible that the shaft characteristics of golf drivers may affect swing mechanics and alter the magnitude of the hip-shoulder separation angle. Generally, it is now recognised that single-individual designs are valuable in sports science research (Bates, 1996). The purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate the effect of club shaft characteristics on the hipshoulder separation angle during the golf drive using a single-individual design