Influence of sound and vibration from sports impacts on players' perceptions of equipment quality

Abstract

The transition from traditional to modern materials has had a significant effect on equipment performance in many sports. As a result, governing bodies are increasingly placing performance limits on equipment and so other characteristics are becoming important to players seeking the most desirable equipment for their game. The ‘feel’ of the equipment is one such subjective characteristic, which has also been significantly affected by changes in material, but it is difficult to define. Tactile and auditory sensations from impact have been found to contribute to the feel of a shot in several sports and this paper provides further evidence of this relationship. Using golf as an example, this study presents a method for measuring and analysing players' subjective perceptions. The results are then correlated with measurements of sound, linear vibration, and torsional vibration from impact. Stronger relationships were found with the sound data rather than the vibration data, suggesting that the sound is the most significant form of feedback from impact. Psychoacoustic metrics for assessing sound quality are discussed, including perceived loudness and sharpness. Relationships were found between these metrics and the players' perceptions although similar correlations were also found with traditional metrics, such as sound pressure level. The limitations of the psycho-acoustic models for impulsive sounds are also discussed.

Keywords

sport golf impact sound quality perception

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Hocknell

Jones

Rothberg

S. J.

Engineering ‘feel’ in the design of golf clubs. In the engineering of sport: Proceedings of the 1st International conference on

The engineering of sport, 1996, pp. 333–337 (A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, NL).

Pelz

Frank

J. A.

Feel: What it is and how to learn it

Golf Mag., 2001, 43 (10), 110–117.

Hanley

The sense of feel in golf

J. Health Phys. Educ., 1937, 8, 366–367.

Roberts

J. R.

Mechanical and psychological influences on the feel of a golf shot. PhD Thesis, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, 2002.

Merkel

R. C.

Blough

Dynamic characterization and comparison of golf clubs. Proceedings of the 17th International Modal Analysis Conference, FL, USA, 8-11 February 1999, pp. 513–517.

Varoto

P. S.

McConnell

K. G.

Using modal analysis to evaluate golf club performance

Sound Vib., 1995, 29 (3), 20–23.

Hocknell

Mitchell

S. R.

Jones

Rothberg

S. J.

Hollow golf club head modal characteristics: Determination and impact applications

Exp. Mech., 1998, 38 (2), 140–146.

Wicks

A. L.

Knight

C. E.

Neighbors

Blough

The comparison of forged heads and cast heads for golf clubs. Proceedings of the 16th International Modal Analysis Conference, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2-5 February 1998, pp. 1797–1802.

Hedrick

Twigg

The feel of a golf shot: Can we measure it?

Golf: the scientific way, 1994 (Aston Publishing Group, Hemel Hempstead).

10.

Kuwano

Namba

Ohta

Takeda

Sato

Tsuji

Relation between envelope pattern and sound quality of impulsive sounds

J. Acoust. Soc. Japan (E), 1999, 20 (2), 153–155.

11.

Roberts

J. R.

Jones

Mansfield

N. J.

Rothberg

S. J.

Evaluation of vibrotactile sensations in the ‘feel’ of a golf shot

J. Sound Vib., 2005, 285 (1–2), 303–319.

12.

Roberts

J. R.

Jones

Mansfield

N. J.

Rothberg

S. J.

Evaluation of impact sound on the ‘feel’ of a golf shot

J. Sound Vib., 2005, 287 (4–5), 651–666.

13.

Otto

Amman

Eaton

Lake

Guidelines for jury evaluations of automotive sounds. Proceedings of the SAE Noise and Vibration Conference and Exposition, Traverse City, Michigan, USA, 17-20 May 1999, pp. 1315–1334.

14.

Roberts

J. R.

Jones

Rothberg

S. J.

Mansfield

N. J.

Meyer

The feel of a golf shot: A major factor in golf equipment selection. In the Impact of Technology of Sport: Proceedings of the 1st Asia-Pacific Congress on Sports technology, Tokyo, Japan, 2005, pp. 20–26 (Australian Sports Technology Alliance, Melbourne).

15.

David

H. A.

The method of paired comparisons, 2nd edition, 1988 (Charles Griffin & Co, London).

16.

Roberts

Jones

Harwood

Mitchell

Rothberg

Human perceptions of sports equipment under playing conditions

J. Sport. Sci., 2001, 19 (7), 485–497.

17.

Hoffmann

An introduction to measurements using strain gages, 1989 (Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik GmbH, Darmstadt).

18.

Kendall

M. G.

Smith

Babington B.

On the method of paired comparisons

Biometrika, 1940, 31, 324–345.

19.

ISO 532:1975.

Acoustics - methods for calculating loudness level, 1975 (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland).

20.

Aures

Berechnungsverfahren für sensorischen wohlklang beliebiger schallsignale (a procedure for calculating sensory pleasantness of various sounds)

Acustica, 1985, 59, 130–141.

21.

Griffin

M. J.

Handbook of human vibration, 1990 (Academic Press, London).

22.

BS 6842:1987.

Measurement and evaluation of human exposure to vibration transmitted to the hand, 1987 (British Standards Institution, London).

23.

Hassall

J. R.

Zaveri

Acoustic noise measurements, 4th edition, 1979 (Brüel and Kjær, Denmark).

24.

Zwicker

Procedure for calculating loudness of temporally variable sounds

J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1977, 62 (3), 675–682.

25.

Van Auken

Zellner

J. W.

Kunkel

D. T.

Correlation of Zwicker's loudness and other noise metrics with drivers’ over-the-road transient noise discomfort

Noise and vibration research, 1998, pp. 79–90 (Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale, PA).