Ball State Biomechanics Laboratory Experience

The Ball State experience gave me some good insight as to why I can swing 135+ MPH and how the average golfer can use the same principles to increase their maximum golf swing speed, club head speed and driver distance.

X Factor
The X Factor is a common measurement of dynamic flexibility levels and is also a good representation of a golfers ability to develop power in their golf swing. It is simply defined as the rotational angle of the hips compared to the rotational angle of the shoulders. In theory, the greater the X Factor the greater the power a golfer can develop.

What Did We Find Out?
A biomechanical analysis of my swing using state of the art motion capture technology revealed that at the top of my backswing my hips rotated to about 40 degrees while my shoulders had rotated to about 90 degrees. That is a 50 degree differential. That means that my shoulders rotated about 1.2 times as far as my hips. This is a recipe for developing tremendous golf power. This is a picture of the top of my backswing.

Compare that to the average golfer who usually has around 45 degrees of hip turn and 80 degrees of shoulder turn for a 35 degree differential. That means the average golfers shoulders rotate only .7 times as far as their hips.

Compare the average amateur to the positions I hit and you will see that my hip to shoulder rotation ratio of 1.2 is almost twice that of the average amateurs figure of .7. What does that mean? It means that I can rotate my shoulders to 90 degrees just like everybody else, but because of my dynamic flexibility and core/total body conditioning I can keep my hips fairly stationary, allowing me to develop and transfer to the ball far more power than the average amateur.

An Interesting Point
There was one interesting trait to my swing that contributed significantly to my ability to generate very high power levels. It was discovered that my X Factor is actually the greatest at the very start of my downswing. In short, this means that I start the downswing with the rotation of my hips, which is basically the same as loading up a spring before you let it go. You can see a picture of where my X Factor is greatest on the downswing here.

Most amateurs begin the downswing with the rotation of their shoulders, meaning that they dissipate the power that is developed by creating a great X Factor. This results in a significant loss of power, club head speed and ultimately distance.

Summary
What are the three main things that allow me to obtain such a high golf swing speed?

• Sound Swing Mechanics
  
• Excellent Dynamic Flexibility Levels
  
• Excellent Overall Core and Stabilizer Strength

What are the three main things the average golfer can do to enhance their golf specific power levels?

• Spend time refining the technical component of the golf swing
  
• Participate in a golf fitness program that focuses on enhancing all of the physical components (speed, strength, power, flexibility, balance, stability) of the golf swing.
  
• Focus on developing great core strength and power along with developing excellent stabilizer strength.

You can see my swing at 500 frames per second by clicking on the picture to the left (1MB file).

Many thanks go out to the entire Ball State Biomechanics Lab team for giving me the opportunity to work with them and their help in gathering this information.