The ‘feel’ of a golf club is a subjective perception that is difficult to define. Interviews with golfers revealed that the sound and vibration at impact perceived by the player could contribute significantly to the ‘feel’ of a club. Variations in sound characteristics between different clubs, such as the pitch, tone colour, loudness and duration of the impact sounds, were described by the golfers and affect the desirability of a club. Sound also appeared to have a psychological effect on the golfer; louder, crisper sounds, generated by modern, hollow metal clubheads, gave the golfer the impression that the ball had been propelled from the clubface faster and would, therefore, travel further. It may also be possible that some of the feel characteristics that have previously been thought to relate to tactile sensations at impact are influenced more by the impact sound.
Aim
The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between golfers’ subjective perceptions of the ‘feel’ of a shot and the sound and vibration from impact.
Approach
- Different techniques explored for quantifying and analysing golfers’ subjective perceptions
- Small, lightweight accelerometers attached to the shaft and to an adaptor plate gripped by the golfer between hand and club
- Two herringbone strain gauges mounted directly opposite each other on the shaft immediately below the grip to measure torsional vibration
- Impact sound measured using a sound level meter
- Golfers hit shots with a range of different clubs; both subjective and objective data captured simultaneously from each shot
- In further testing, golfers rated sounds of golf impacts played back to them through calibrated headphones during a jury evaluation. Sounds were recorded in an anechoic chamber using an in-ear binaural microphone headset
Key Findings
- Techniques have been developed for measuring sound and vibration from impact that are representative of the tactile and auditory feedback received by the player
- A shot was rated as having a pleasant feel if it had, in the preferred vocabulary of the players, a loud, crisp, sharp sound and a lively feel
- Torsional vibration and impact sound were found to have the greatest influence on the feel of a shot
- Positive correlations were found between golfers’ subjective ratings and acoustic metrics such as Sound Pressure Level, Zwicker’s loudness level and sharpness
- Psychoacoustic models potentially need further refinement for short duration, impulsive sounds
Publications
- Roberts, JR, Jones, R, Rothberg, SJ, Mansfield, NJ, Meyer, C (2006). Influence of sound and vibration from sports impacts on players’ perceptions of equipment quality, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications, 220(4), pp.215-227.
- Barrass, D, Roberts, JR, Jones, R (2006). Assessment of the impact sound in golf putting, Journal of Sports Sciences, 24(5), pp.443-454.
- Roberts, JR, Jones, R, Mansfield, NJ, Rothberg, SJ (2005). Evaluation of impact sound on the ‘feel’ of a golf shot, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 287(4-5), pp.651-666.
- Roberts, JR, Jones, R, Mansfield, NJ, Rothberg, SJ (2005). Evaluation of vibrotactile sensations in the ‘feel’ of a golf shot, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 285(1-2), pp.303-319.
PhD Researcher
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