Millions of dollars are spent on golf swing training devices from unwieldy giant hula hoops, to weighted clubs and collabsible shafts that 'break' when an improper swing is made. Coaches spend most of their time watching the swing ana making corrections. There is now a series of video camera devices for helping golfers see what they are doing wrong. I'd like to eliminate 90% of these devices.
I propose to make a garment (sweater) using newly developed fibers to encode the position of a good golf swing. This encoded swing is used with audible feedback to compare subsequent swings for the objective of consistency training.
When a really effective shot is made, a built-in button allows the sweater to memorize the previous swing in a non volatile memory.
Even though a single good swing is applicable to all clubs used, buttons could save a number of different swings (putt vs drive). Alternately, RFID tags in the club shaft would be recognized by the garment for each distinct situation.
The next time a swing is done, the garment emits a tone indicating proximity to the previously saved 'good swing'.
The tone is emitted at the point of departure from the good swing so the user can adjust to the appropriate position. A variable tone shows where and how far out of position the golfer is.
OR a coach can download good swing dynamics for practice.
The sweater data could even be placed in a display (PDA or Cell Phone) for 3d view of the swing.
This has not been baked yet, but it is entirely feasable.-- subflower, Nov 28 2005 Pressure Sensor Fabric http://www.wearable.ethz.ch/tps.0.htmlElectronic Textiles [subflower, Nov 30 2005] I don't play golf, but I suspect there is more to it than a single perfect position when swinging at the ball.-- DrCurry, Dec 01 2005 The pressure sensor fibers come in conductive versions and a fiber optic version.
Yes there is more than a single perfect position, but it isn't hard to use fuzzy logic to determine a narrow range of positions to match a good swing.
Ask a golfer and they will regale you with very expensive devices meant to create a consistent 'perfect' swing.
The pressure sensors mentioned DO encode position, using the pressure difference of differently positioned fibers. Sheesh. The applications explicitly describe this behavior.
Even if they didn't, it is do-able and would need to be developed for this application.
No one here golfs?-- subflower, Dec 07 2005 Where are my annos?????-- Minimal, Dec 08 2005 //Ask a golfer// Life's too short.-- coprocephalous, Dec 08 2005 random, halfbakery