METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING FEELING OF HITTING GENERATED BY GOLF CLUB

• US 20080115582A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co Limited (Bridgestone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bridgestone Sports Co Limited (Bridgestone Corporation)
• Inventors: BAN, Wataru, SATO, Fumiaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,870,790 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 73/649
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2220/40 Acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3632 Clubs or attachments on clubs, e.g. for measuring, aligning A63B69/3614 takes precedence; clubs for swinging exercises in general A63B15/00

Abstract

A method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club, includes: measuring vibration of a golf club appearing in a circumferential direction of a shaft when a golf ball is hit by the golf club having the three-axis accelerometer attached to the shaft by a three-axis accelerometer; analyzing the vibration of the golf club along the circumferential direction of the shaft measured by the three-axis accelerometer by a hand-arm vibration measurement filter; and evaluating feeling of hitting of the golf club in accordance with a result of analysis of vibration of the golf club appearing along the circumferential direction of the shaft by the hand-arm vibration measurement filter.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club, comprising:

measuring vibration of a golf club appearing in a circumferential direction of a shaft when a golf ball is hit by the golf club having the three-axis accelerometer attached to the shaft by a three-axis accelerometer;

analyzing the vibration of the golf club along the circumferential direction of the shaft measured by the three-axis accelerometer by a hand-arm vibration measurement filter; and

evaluating feeling of hitting of the golf club in accordance with a result of analysis of vibration of the golf club appearing along the circumferential direction of the shaft by the hand-arm vibration measurement filter.

2. The method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club according to claim 1, wherein

a distance between a rear end of the shaft and the three-axis accelerometer ranges from 250 to 300 mm.

3. The method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club according to claim 1, wherein:

when the three-axis accelerometer is attached to the shaft of the golf club, a block-shaped jig in which a recess whose bottom assumes a circular-arc shape is formed in one surface and a surface of the jig opposite the surface is a plane is used;

the jig is fixed to the shaft while the shaft remains inserted into the recess; and

the three-axis accelerometer is attached to the plane of the jig.

4. The method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club according to claim 1, wherein

when the vibration in the golf club head along the circumferential direction of the shaft measured by the three-axis accelerometer is analyzed by the hand-arm vibration measurement filter, vibration in the golf club appearing in the circumferential direction of the shaft at a specific frequency ranging from 30 to 60 Hz is analyzed.

5. The method for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club according to claim 4, wherein

when feeling of hitting of the golf club is evaluated in accordance with an analysis of vibration of the golf club along the circumferential direction of the shaft by the hand-arm vibration measurement filter, the feeling of hitting of the golf club is evaluated in accordance with a time difference between a time when the vibration of the golf club in the specific frequency is attained a peak value and a time when a specific value falling within a range from 40 to 80% of the peak value.

6. An apparatus for evaluating feeling of hitting of a golf club, comprising:

a three-axis accelerometer attached to a shaft of a golf club, the three-axis accelerometer measuring vibration of the golf club appearing in a circumferential direction of the shaft when a golf ball is hit by the golf club; and

a computer which captures a signal pertaining to the vibration measured by the three-axis accelerometer and which analyzes the vibration through use of a hand-arm vibration measurement filter.