Golf swing analysis apparatus and golf club fitting apparatus

• US 10,252,106 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2015
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Inventors: Okazaki, Kousuke, Ueda, Masahiko, Kato, Masatoshi, Nagano, Yuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Legesse, Nini
• Application Number:
  US14/743,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20150367174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,391 Days
• Field of Search: 473118, 473131, 473223, 473226, 473247, 473409
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6895 Sport equipment
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 24/0003 Analysing the course of a movement or motion sequences during an exercise or trainings sequence, e.g. swing for golf or tennis
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/23 Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training

Abstract

A golf swing analysis apparatus for analyzing a swing action of a golf club is provided. The golf swing analysis apparatus comprises an acquisition unit configured to acquire a measurement value obtained by measuring the swing action using a measurement device; a grip behavior derivation unit configured to derive a behavior of a grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value; and a shoulder behavior derivation unit configured to derive a behavior of a pseudo shoulder of a golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip.

Claims

1. A golf swing analysis apparatus for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising:

a communication device;

a storage;

an acquisition unit of a processor configured to acquire a measurement value obtained by measuring the swing action using a measurement device from the measurement device via the communication device and store the measurement value in the storage;

a grip behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value stored in the storage; and

a shoulder behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a pseudo shoulder of a golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip, the behavior of the pseudo shoulder including a rotary motion of the pseudo shoulder,

wherein the grip behavior derivation unit is configured to derive the behavior of the grip in a global coordinate system, and transform the derived behavior of the grip into a behavior in a swing plane, and

wherein the shoulder behavior derivation unit is configured to derive the behavior of the pseudo shoulder in the swing plane, based on the behavior of the grip in the swing plane.

2. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grip behavior derivation unit is configured to derive a grip velocity and a grip angular velocity, and

the shoulder behavior derivation unit is configured to calculate an angular velocity of an arm of the golfer, based on the grip velocity.

3. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shoulder behavior derivation unit is configured to derive the behavior of the pseudo shoulder, under an assumption that the grip circulates about the shoulder and the shoulder does not move during the swing action.

4. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire the measurement value of the swing action measured by an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor attached to the golf club that serve as the measurement device.

5. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an index calculation unit configured to calculate at least one of a head speed, a torque exertion amount, an average torque, an average power and an energy exertion amount, as a swing index characterizing the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip and the behavior of the pseudo shoulder.

6. A golf swing analysis method of using the golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1 for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising the steps of:

measuring the swing action using the measurement device to acquire the measurement value;

deriving the behavior of the grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value of the swing action; and

deriving the behavior of the pseudo shoulder of the golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip,

wherein the step of deriving of the behavior of the grip includes deriving the behavior of the grip in the global coordinate system, and transforming the derived behavior of the grip into the behavior in the swing plane, and

wherein the step of deriving of the behavior of the pseudo shoulder includes deriving the behavior of the pseudo shoulder in the swing plane, based on the behavior of the grip in the swing plane.

7. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pseudo shoulder is a shoulder of an arm of the golfer, the arm holding the golf club.

8. A golf swing analysis apparatus for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising:

a communication device;

a storage;

an acquisition unit of a processor configured to acquire a measurement value obtained by measuring the swing action using a measurement device from the measurement device via the communication device and store the measurement value in the storage;

a grip behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value stored in the storage; and

a shoulder behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a pseudo shoulder of a golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip, the behavior of the pseudo shoulder including a rotary motion of the pseudo shoulder,

wherein the acquisition unit is configured to acquire the measurement value of the swing action measured by an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor and a geomagnetic sensor attached to the golf club that serves as the measurement device.

9. A golf swing analysis method of using the golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 8 for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising the steps of:

measuring the swing action using the measurement device to acquire the measurement value;

deriving the behavior of the grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value of the swing action; and

deriving the behavior of the pseudo shoulder of the golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip,

wherein the step of measuring includes acquiring the measurement value of the swing action measured by the acceleration sensor, the angular velocity sensor and the geomagnetic sensor attached to the golf club that serve as the measurement device.

10. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the pseudo shoulder is a shoulder of an arm of the golfer, the arm holding the golf club.

11. A golf swing analysis apparatus for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising:

a communication device;

a storage;

an acquisition unit of a processor configured to acquire a measurement value obtained by measuring the swing action using a measurement device from the measurement device via the communication device and store the measurement value in the storage;

a grip behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value stored in the storage;

a shoulder behavior derivation unit of the processor configured to derive a behavior of a pseudo shoulder of a golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip, the behavior of the pseudo shoulder including a rotary motion of the pseudo shoulder; and

an index calculation unit of the processor configured to calculate a value of a wrist-cock release timing that occurs during the swing action, an average power and/or an energy exertion amount, based on the behavior of the grip and the behavior of the pseudo shoulder, and calculate a head speed that occurs at a time of impact as a swing index characterizing the swing action, in accordance with a predetermined regression equation that uses the wrist-cock release timing, the average power and/or the energy exertion amount as explanatory variables.

12. A golf swing analysis method of using the golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 11 for analyzing a swing action of a golf club, comprising the steps of:

measuring the swing action using the measurement device to acquire the measurement value;

deriving the behavior of the grip of the golf club that occurs during the swing action, based on the measurement value of the swing action;

deriving the behavior of the pseudo shoulder of the golfer that occurs during the swing action, based on the behavior of the grip;

calculating the value of the wrist-cock release timing that occurs during the swing action, the average power and/or the energy exertion amount, based on the behavior of the grip and the behavior of the pseudo shoulder; and

calculating the head speed that occurs at the time of impact as the swing index characterizing the swing action, in accordance with the predetermined regression equation that uses the wrist-cock release timing, the average power and/or the energy exertion amount as explanatory variables.

13. The golf swing analysis apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the pseudo shoulder is a shoulder of an arm of the golfer, the arm holding the golf club.