An Obscure Influence in the Golf Shot

Abstract

Over 20 years ago the author began to apply a little science in his search for the cause of a tendency to “slice” his golf shots. His 1957 ASME paper [1 ] defined the object of the search as “An obscure influence which brings the club head from a position trailing the shaft (for the greater portion of the down swing) to a position abreast of the shaft at impact.” Many informative measurements were described, but the “obscure influence” remained obscure. Since his retirement in 1968 the author made an exciting discovery about the left wrist, which led to an understandable theory, thus making the obscure less obscure. A crude mechanical analog was built, the performance of which, checks the theory, at least to the satisfaction of the author.