The Double Peak of Force
As referred in a previous article, the high peak force optimally must occur before impact to efficiently transfer the ground reaction force to the club head.
If the maximum peak of ground reaction force is created and then delivered at impact or even later, you will have wasted your maximum energy you created from the ground because you didn’t use it at the right time!
You can also observe multiple / double high peak* with certain players. This double peak is observed with players trying to avoid being lifted from the ground and straighten up during impact and follow through. For this reason, they stop loading and pushing vertically under their feet (mostly lead leg) to “maintain their posture”.
These players then start again pushing into the ground after impact when the ball is gone. So he or she does not use all is power that can be created with vertical force. A good comparison would be a jump shot in basketball. In a jump shot, the maximum amount of energy is not released when a player is bending his or her knees, but on the way up…using ground reaction forces to propel their legs, arms, and then the ball. It is the same with the golf club!
No energy you have created is wasted…it’s about maximization. So, the ultimate goal is to erase a double peak when you have one, so you can really tap into all your potential force and energy you can create and deliver that to the club and the ball! This is what we at Smart2move can measure and then improve with our portable and accurate force plates.
Don’t make any confusion between a double peak and the second peak observed by a player which is “jumping” due to the big amount of vertical force applied before impact, and then a second high peak created when he or she is landing after their jump.