Golf Swing Basics – What Is Work Done?
In physics, work is energy that is transferred from or to an object through the application of force with a given displacement. In its most basic form, this is often represented by the product of first-order displacement and second-order force. If a cylinder is placed on top of a table, and you pull the handle of the cylinder downwards, the cylinder will be pushed down into the table because it has first-order momentum; the downward pull of the cylinder’s weight on the table causes the downward movement of the table on the cylinder’s top. The amount of work done by the cylinder is called the velocity of the cylinder.
A second type of work can be performed on an object by adding to the downward force the momentum of the object with which it is spinning. This can be done in a similar way as previously: if you were to place a cylinder on top of a table, you would push the cylinder with the momentum of the table downward, causing the cylinder to be pulled down into the table. The amount of work done is equal to the total momentum of the object times the square of the velocity. There are three terms that are often used in calculating work: total work, positive work, and force. The total work done is simply the sum of all the downward displacements on the surface of the object due to work. Positive work is just the opposite of total work.
It should be noted that the definition of “work” is relative. Work is a unique energy, and there are numerous instances when one type of energy may be preferred over another. For instance, during the operation of a car engine, energy is put into the engine through the operation of the alternator, and it is moved to the rear wheel drive transmission where it transfers to the engine again through the power clutch. This process of energy transfer is called dynamic compression. In physics class science, when two types of energy are combined, the resulting force will be kinetic energy, which is known as radial force acting directly between the source and the target.
An example of kinetic energy is the swing in a golf swing. The player applies upward pressure on the club (its shaft) and swings the club in a clockwise direction. When this swing reaches the top of the swing, kinetic energy is created. This energy is then transferred from downwardly directed force into the upward directed force times the distance from the point of impact. This creates a downward force times the velocity of the swing that is perpendicular to the direction of motion. This downward force is what we call lateral momentum.
The second term in the definition of work done is constant force. In the case of the golf swing, this term refers to the continuous output of energy regardless of how the initial swing starts. This continuous output or motion comes from the kinetic energy of the golfer and the downward force of gravity acting on the body hitting the ball. In general, the more force that is exerted on an object, the more work it will take to change the state of that object. Constant force is one-way.
The third term is called dFD cos. In the case of the golf swing, this refers to the direction of where the clubhead is when the ball is hit. The force magnitude on the clubhead is not constant, but changes direction from time to time. The distance from the point of impact also changes from time to time. DFD cos(angle) measures the angle formed by the distance from the center of the strike to the horizontal line drawn from the imaginary line drawn from the clubhead to the ball. This angle is measured as the angle formed between the horizontal and vertical elements of the force vector, which is a constant.
