Rocket Science and Golf

While it may not take a Doctorate degree in physics to play golf, success in the game of golf largely depends upon the interplay of the sciences especially the areas of neurobiology, physics, Kinesiology and even Meteorology.

There is no room for error in the design of the club itself. If a clubface is ½ degree less than square to the ball, is possible that the ball can go off course by 20 yards. The slightest difference in the curve of the downswing can spell the difference as to whether the ball hits its target or is 30 yards off course.

While the golfer gets ready to hit the ball the cranial and peripheral nerves spring into action carrying information from the eyes to the brain to the muscles and back and forth. A vast network of about a 100 billion neurons is utilized by the body to execute this extremely complex action. The right hemisphere is working vigorously to imagine the golf into the hole, while the left brain is determining the correct posture and the perfect swing. Compared to what really takes place in the golfer's head, what is described here is only a fraction of what really takes place. All of these takes place in just a fraction of a second and has to be executed in sequential order and requires precise timing. Force is generated by the golfer through larger muscle groups and then to the smaller muscles at an accelerated motion to achieve the highest speed the moment the club hits the ball. The right coordination between hands, hip and club and the proper contraction and relaxation of the muscles must be achieved so that the golfer can hit his target. It has been said that a total of 32 pound muscle must be generated in order to achieve this feat. The golfer must ensure that the weight must be distributed properly in his body when doing his swing as this proper weight shift move could increase the club-head speed by 14% which could mean that a drive could travel 229 yards instead of 200 yards.