Even the shortest game of golf can be incredibly frustrating for players of all abilities and levels of experience. If there is something just slightly wrong with your golf swing and general technique, the ball will not move in the intended manner or direction and you may end up chasing through woods and wading through lakes to locate your stray ball.

As with all sports, there is a very important scientific element to a game of golf. It is no good simply shutting your eyes, swinging the golf club wildly through the air, and hoping for the best. This week, news has emerged which will come as music to the ears of all golfers. Robin Sharp, an engineer at the University of Surrey, believes that he has found the secret behind the perfect golf swing.

This secret has been uncovered after many years of intense research. Sharp based his research on a model in which a golfer uses just three main points of rotation, located in the shoulders in relation to the spine, the arms in relation to the shoulders, and the wrists in relation to the arms.

The engineer’s work began by constructing a computer model which allowed an accurate study of the swing styles of three legends in the world of golf: Bernard Hunt, Geoffrey Hunt, and Guy Wolstenholme. Their swings were measured in 1968 using innovative high-speed photography.

The golfing world has long been aware of the importance of timing rotations in relation to one another. Timing the rotations to perfection will allow the golfer to achieve a long and accurate drive. However, until this week, nobody has been able to describe these timings in any detail or explain precisely how the power of a golf swing builds up during the movement.

Sharp’s reliance upon the rotation model has allowed him to discover that golfers should not use full power at the beginning of the golf swing. Rather, power should be built up quickly during a later stage of the movement. Furthermore, Sharp has found that the wrists do not play such an important part in the outcome of the swing as was first thought. Rather, maintaining strict control of the arms appears to be the fundamental feature of a successful swing.

Sharp’s model, constructed with the help of the three professional golfers from 1968, has shown that the club-head speed, and subsequent distance of the drive, could be improved by increasing the torque suddenly and maintaining this power through the resultant movement of the golf swing. The engineer found that “generating too much arm speed too soon” results in an “early release”. This early release leads to the club-head reaching its top speed prior to the point of contact with the ball.

Sharp has tried to put the results of his research into language that can be understood by casual golfers. He explains that the “optimal strategy” starts with hitting with the shoulders whilst holding back and maintaining control over the arms and wrists. After a short delay, golfers should hit through the swing with the arms. When the swing is released, the wrists should subsequently hit through.