Exclusive report by Kiran Kanwar.

This final piece on the ‘science of golf’ discusses what might be causing the inconsistency and injury among the top golfers of the world.

The 2015 Hero World Challenge, which benefits the Tiger Woods’ Foundation and took place at the Ernie Els designed Albany in the Bahamas saw some fantastic scores, including a brilliant 25 under par over the four days, by the winner Bubba Watson.

Ironically, the winner himself said one of his goals for the coming year includes becoming a very consistent golfer, which will require him to reduce his misses which currently ‘scare’ him and can be to both the left and the right.

Bubba does not use either a swing coach or a mental coach to help him sort out this problem.

Double Major winning Bubba Watson ends his season on a high in capturing the Hero World Challenge but then he does not work with a swing or mental coach.  (Photo – www.pgatour.com)

What is the cause of all the inconsistency and injury leading golfers are seeing today, perhaps to an extent greater than ever seen before? To be able to follow along better, start the stopwatch on your cell phone and then stop it by the time it reads 00:00:33. That is, in about 1/3rd of a second. That is all the time a golf downswing lasts – at most. So how much can a mere human do – well – in that much time?

If you were in a race which lasted just 1/3rd second, would you run backwards first before moving forwards? If you have to do a maximum number of stomach crunches in that time would you make them straight up and down or add in some side twist? In general, the less movement there is, the more efficient one can be with the required motion.

So, here are some questions which are of the ‘what sense does that make’ ilk. At address, and once again at impact, the trail shoulder is lower. What sense does it make to raise it during the backswing? It then requires the golfer to drop the trail side down while also trying to rotate the body and straighten the trail arm, during the downswing. Does the golfer have the time?

Some golfers these days try to drop the body down during the downswing (1/3rd second!) and then raise it back up in time for impact. The ‘raising back’ is vital for speed, as a longer lead arm plus shaft length produce greater clubhead velocity. So, while raising up pre-impact is important, how many golfers have the speed and strength to drop and then lift the body in 1/3rd of a second? Why not keep the lead side higher throughout the backswing?

And then there is weight shift. A skilled golfer, according to research, moves about 12 cm to the trail side during the backswing, then about 8 cm towards the front leg during the downswing. Can he shift this weight consistently at all times? Or might some synchronization issues cause him to stay back on the back leg and not transfer weight forward at the right time (a case of being ‘wrong-footed’, such as Bubba is everytime he slices the ball). Is there some way to shift forwards from the weight being just mid-stance instead of from being all the way back? Yes! Lateral thinking is the need of the day in golf.

Besides all the whole-body side-to-side and up-and-down movements discussed, the golf swing also fails to be more consistent because individual joints get awkwardly placed at the top and cannot be easily re-routed during the downswing. Simple examples might be, if the head is tilted to wards the trail shoulder at impact, why have it anywhere else during the backswing? If the lead knee has to be higher at impact, why drop if forward and in during the backswing? Every additional joint which must be rerouted requires some physical time to make the move, especially when that movement is not suitable for it to make, based on its design capabilities.

And all the confusion at the top of the backswing is expected to be erased or undone during that undefined movement termed transition, which this author feels is the time a golfer spends ‘undoing the unnecessary. Why not get to the top of the downswing instead of the top of the backswing? With every joint positioned for its role in the downswing and no backswing whole body motion in any direction.

Look out for future articles which will discuss the STATE OF GOLF SCIENCE as seen with the PGA TOUR’s ELECTRIC EIGHT.

Any guesses who the ELECTRIC EIGHT might be?