title: Inter-joint coordination between hips and trunk during downswings: Effects on the clubhead speed.
abstract: Understanding of the inter-joint coordination between rotational movement of each hip and trunk in golf would provide basic knowledge regarding how the neuromuscular system organises the related joints to perform a successful swing motion. In this study, we evaluated the inter-joint coordination characteristics between rotational movement of the hips and trunk during golf downswings. Twenty-one right-handed male professional golfers were recruited for this study. Infrared cameras were installed to capture the swing motion. The axial rotation angle, angular velocity and inter-joint coordination were calculated by the Euler angle, numerical difference method and continuous relative phase, respectively. A more typical inter-joint coordination demonstrated in the leading hip/trunk than trailing hip/trunk. Three coordination characteristics of the leading hip/trunk reported a significant relationship with clubhead speed at impact (r < -0.5) in male professional golfers. The increased rotation difference between the leading hip and trunk in the overall downswing phase as well as the faster rotation of the leading hip compared to that of the trunk in the early downswing play important roles in increasing clubhead speed. These novel inter-joint coordination strategies have the great potential to use a biomechanical guideline to improve the golf swing performance of unskilled golfers.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Bio-Mechatronic Engineering, College of Biotechnology & Bioengineering , Sungkyunkwan University , Suwon , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ahnryul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: b Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine , Chungbuk National University , Cheongju , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In-Kwang
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: c College of Information and Communication Engineering , Sungkyunkwan University , Suwon , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Mun-Taek
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: a Department of Bio-Mechatronic Engineering, College of Biotechnology & Bioengineering , Sungkyunkwan University , Suwon , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Joung Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Mun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006055:Golf; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012399:Rotation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D060726:Torso
keywords: Hip joint; continuous relative phase; golf; inter-joint coordination; trunk