Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in biomechanical variables of golf driving motion according to gender. Method: A total of 21 healthy golfers (11 men and 10 women) who have more than 5 years of professional experience and have been registered in the Korea Golf Association was recruited. A 250-Hz 8-camera motion capture system (MX-T20, Vicon, LA, USA) was used to capture the motion trajectories of a total of 42 reflective markers attached to the golfer`s body and club. Moreover, two 1,000-Hz AMTI force plates (AMTI OR6-7-400, AMTI, MA, USA) were used to measure the ground reaction force. The mean and standard deviation for each parameter were then calculated for both groups of 21 subjects. SPSS Windows version 23.0 was used for statistical analysis. The independent t-test was used to determine the differences between groups. An alpha level of .05 was utilized in all tests. Results: There were differences in joint angles according to gender during golf driver swing. Men showed a statistically significantly higher peak joint angle and maximum range of angle in sagittal and frontal axis of the pelvis, hip, and knee. Moreover, women's swing of the pelvis and hips was found to have a pattern using the peak joint angle and range of angle in the vertical axis of the pelvis and hip. There were the differences in peak joint moment according to gender during golf driver swing. Men used higher joint moment in the downswing phase than women in the extensor, abductor, and external rotator muscles of the right hip; flexor and adductor muscles of left hip joint; and flexor and extensor muscles of the right knee. Conclusion: This result reveals that male golfers conducted driver swing using stronger force of the lower body and ground reaction force based on strength of hip and thigh than female golfers.
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