Analyzing golf swing variance: unraveling its impact on strokes gained

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024)

This study aims to both accurately measure the variance of a golf swing and to investigate how it is associated with performance of off the tee drives. Until this work, intrasubject swing variability research within golf has been elusive, as the golf swing is considered one of the most challenging motions in sports. Horan et al published a paper comparing males and females variability, but did not specifically analyze the relationship between swing variance and performance variance. In contrast, Tucker et al did examine this relationship but found no statistical correlations between them. However, in their study, Tucker et al calculated swing variability at each body marker instead of considering the overall swing variance. Additionally, their analysis focused on swing velocity rather than employing a comprehensive statistic such as strokes gained (SG). Therefore, this study contributes to swing variability research by modeling the golf swing as a single movement, enabling the examination of intra-subject variance across a series of swings off the tee and its impact on strokes gained and strokes gained variance.