Isn’t that a large part of club fitting? Well, watch out club fitters because The Yokohama Rubber Co. is looking to automate this process. This week an interesting patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090270204 titled “Method for Golf Club Selection, and Golf Club,” which describes the invention as:

A method for golf club selection uses a behavior of the golf swing when a golf club is gripped and swung. The method for golf club selection has a step of obtaining information of a vertical movement direction relative to a horizontal plane of a golf club head immediately before striking a golf ball, and information of the horizontal movement direction of the golf club head immediately before striking the golf ball on a plane parallel to the horizontal plane, a step of classifying the golf swing step as a predetermined type using the information of the vertical movement direction and information of the horizontal movement direction obtained, and a step of selecting a golf club suited for the classification according to the classification result.

The application includes the following drawings and description of how the system works.

















So, are you a Type A, B, C, or D in the figure above? The application goes on to explain:

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for selecting a golf club, and a golf club, and specifically relates to a method for golf club selection using the behavior of the golf swing of a golf club when the golf club has been gripped and swung.

[0003] Conventional methods for measuring and analyzing golf swings include methods which photograph a golf swing with a camera, analyze the behavior of the golf club head from the photographic image, and extract the characteristics of the golf swing; methods which directly measure the behavior of the golf club head with a magnetic sensor; and methods which measure the behavior of the golf club head using an interrupter type optical sensor that senses the passage of the golf club head as it intersects a plurality of light beams disposed at predetermined positions.

[0004] Although all of these methods can measure the approximate track of the golf club head, they cannot accurately measure the behavior of the golf club head immediately before impact with the golf ball which determines the track and height of the golf ball trajectory.
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[0007] In the measurements of the behavior of the golf club according to JP 2001-314540 A and JP 3073828 B, however, information cannot be obtained for selecting a golf club which matches the track, such as a hook, slice and the like, of the golf ball, even though the incidence angle of the golf club head relative to the golf ball can be approximately known.

[0008] Today, golfers want to select golf clubs suited to their personal golf swing, as well as improve their golf swing in order to make golf more enjoyable. Given this situation, the devices disclosed in JP 2001-314540 A and JP 3073828 B cannot obtain information for selecting a golf club which is suited to the golfer's own swing that influences the track of the golf ball, such as hooking and slicing as well as a higher or lower golf ball trajectory.

[0009] To solve the problems of the conventional art, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for selecting a golf club capable of selecting a golf club optimally suited to the golf swing according to the results of a golf swing analysis. Another object to the invention is to provide a golf club for use in this selection method.

[0010] A first aspect of the present invention provides a method for golf club selection using a behavior of a golf swing when a golf club is gripped and swung, comprising the steps of: obtaining, during a golf swing, information of a vertical movement direction relative to a horizontal plane of a golf club head immediately before striking a golf ball, and information of a horizontal movement direction of the golf club head immediately before striking the golf ball on a plane parallel to the horizontal plane, classifying the golf swing as one of predetermined types using the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal movement direction obtained, and selecting a golf club suited for the one of the predetermined types according to a classification result.

[0011] Preferably, the step of classifying the golf swing as the one of the predetermined types is performed by plotting a state of the golf swing for which the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal direction were obtained, in a two-dimensional chart in which values of the horizontal movement direction and values of the vertical movement direction are plotted on coordinate axes using the information of the horizontal movement direction and the information of the vertical movement direction obtained.

[0012] Further, preferably, the step of obtaining the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal movement direction uses measuring means to obtain three-dimensional position information of the golf club head by photographing a golf club from at least two directions, and obtaining the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal movement direction from the three-dimensional position information.

[0013] Preferably, the step of obtaining the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal movement direction obtains the information of the vertical movement direction and the information of the horizontal movement direction using separate measurement sensors.

[0014] Preferably, the suited golf club is selecting from among at least two types of golf clubs, which differ in one or both of a centroid distance which is a distance of a shortest line connecting a center of gravity point of a golf club and a center axis or an extended line of the center axis of a golf club shaft, and an angle of centroid representing a direction of the shortest line.

[0015] A second aspect of the present invention provides a golf club selected by the method for golf club selection according to the first aspect of the present invention, comprising a display medium for displaying information of a classified swing type.

[0016] The present invention can select a golf club according to a classified golf swing because information of the movement in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction of the golf club head is obtained and the golf club swing can be readily classified using this information.

[0017] Particularly, a golfer can easily be made visually aware of his own golf swing because the measurement results can be presented on a two-dimensional chart plotting the information of the movement in the vertical direction and information of the movement in the horizontal direction. Furthermore, golf club selection to which the golfer assents can be executed because golf club selection is performed according to each type.

I am not sure that a system exists that could process all the movement in my swing, and I know that I would not want to see it illustrated on a screen. Nonetheless, wouldn’t it be great to have an automated system that recommends the best club for your swing regardless of the manufacturer, salesperson incentives, or what brand of clubs the winner in last week’s tournament played? Ah, a golfer can dream.

Dave Dawsey  - Tracking Golf Training Inventions

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