Biomechanics of the golf swing using OpenSim

A study was conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in the dynamics of body motions during the golf swing. A series of model simulation programs were developed in OpenSim to control the characteristics of the biomechanical model of the body. The resultant model parameters were put in an Excel file, which allowed these parameters to be modified. OpenSim model simulation run was paused at various points of the golf swing and screenshots were taken. MATLAB was used to find the positional value of the center of clubface for each screenshot and the Euclidean distances of the clubhead position between poses. A series of simulation trials were then conducted using various time increments between the poses in order to calculate the clubhead velocities. Three of these trials were selected to illustrate the swing patterns of players of varying skill levels ranging from basic beginner to highly-skilled. These simulations using OpenSim can serve as a platform for understanding the dynamics of body motions in sports and biomedicine. •This article investigated simulation of golf swing motions through the control of body components under OpenSim.•A series of poses provided snapshots of the human body over the range of motions during the backswing and the forward swing.•Swings of beginner, more advanced, and highly-skilled players were simulated by adjusting the time differences between poses.•An important contributor to peak clubhead velocity is the time difference between the poses just before clubhead impact.•Our technique can serve as a platform for further investigations of complex body motions in sports and biomedicine.