Evaluation of shaft angle to ball-to-target line as a predictor of horizontal delivery plane angle in the golf swing.

Abstract

The shaft angle to the ball-to-target line at various points in the golf swing is used by coaches as an indication of the horizontal delivery plane angle (HPA). The aim of the current study was to understand to what degree this simplified method of using the shaft orientation can predict the orientation of the HPA. Fifty-two male golfers hit 40 drives each in an indoor biomechanics laboratory. Between-subject regression models were created for the relationship between the HPA and the shaft angle to the ball-to-target line at three different swing positions. Additionally, single subject regression models were created for each subject for the small variables. The only significant between-subjects regression model was for mid-downswing (Adjusted R² = 89.5%, RMSE = 2.41°); however, this was deemed not accurate enough to distinguish differences between typical driver and wedge HPA. The only shaft position to have significant single-subject regression models for all participants was mid-downswing. The mean RMSE for those models was determined to be low enough to distinguish typical driver and wedge swing planes within individuals. Overall, the shaft angle was only deemed accurate enough to predict the HPA within individual subjects, and only for mid-downswing.