While golf courses themselves haven’t changed much since modern golf began in the 15th century, the same cannot be said of the golfing equipment used by professionals and amateurs alike. Although the typical golf bag has always contained a mixture of 14 golb clubs; 10 irons, 3 woods and a putter, the material used to make the clubs continues to evolve at an impressive rate.
Golfing greats from the 1940s and 50s, such as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, would have played with ‘Persimmon’ headed woods and ‘Hickory’ shafted clubs, all made of wood that was frail and flexible, making it difficult for some golfers to achieve consistent results. Over the eras, manufacturing innovations saw the club heads being made from wood then metal and the shafts of the club evolving from wood to steel and graphite.
Modern driver heads are now generally made of titanium, a thin, lighter metal, with the graphite shafts offering different levels of flexibility to suit different swing speeds. These technological innovations see the ball springing off the face of the golf club in a so-called ‘trampoline effect’. This technology, combined with evolving golf ball technology, has resulted in the average distance of a golf shot increasing by 26% since the game began.
Even though golf courses are being lengthened in an attempt to adjust to advancing technology, just a few years ago, a limit was imposed on the trampoline effect of drivers known as the “coefficient of restitution” due to the rapidly increasing distance being reached by golfers. It is clear that technology is advancing at a much faster rate than the courses themselves.
Another interesting development in recent years comes in the form of the golf putter. A notoriously difficult and intricate part of the game, putting has always been the deciding factor between success and failure, making up to 40% of the total shots taken on any average round. Professional players have recently resorted to different weird and wonderful putter designs that see the end of the shaft resting on either the belly button or chin to improve stability and consistency. The “belly putter” technically breaks the rules of golf as a club is not allowed to anchor into the body. High-profile golfers such as Ernie Els and Keegan Bradley are achieving great success with these putters, which has drawn more critical attention to them and 2016 will see them banned from professional competitions. Chin putters known as “broom-handle putters” used by professionals such as Adam Scott, the Masters Champion in 2013, will also be banned from 2016 onwards. Let’s see whether or not this makes a difference to his game!
Many of our staff are keen golfers, which gives us the edge when dealing with specific golf translations. Past projects include golf course planning permission applications, “improve your game” books and golf equipment manufacturing manuals such as club club aerodynamic reports, plant user manuals and ball performance testing analyses. Give our UK or US office a call today to see how we can translate your golf-related documents:
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