Authors:
Jan-Bernd Menke-Zumbrägel
;
Anna Brinkmann
and
Andreas Hein
Affiliation:
Assistance Systems and Medical Device Technology, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany
Keyword(s):
Golf, Launch Angle, Computer Vision, Sports.
Abstract:
n golf, several parameters can be measured that describe how the golf ball was hit and how the ball lifts after
impact with the golf club, the so-called launch parameters. In addition to the spin rate or the velocity of the ball
and club head, the launch angle is an important value that describes the vertical component of the ball’s launch
direction. For professional use, there are systems called launch monitors that use either radar-technology,
multiple high-speed cameras or a combination of both to measure the above parameters. Despite their high
accuracy, these systems can suffer from disadvantages such as some inconvenience regarding size, weight or
setup, and an inaccessibility regarding high cost. Therefore we present a method for vertical launch angle
measurement based on monocular low frame rate video and audio data, by detecting the motion blur structure
created by the launching golf ball. This approach allows the vertical launch angle to be measured with a
simple a
nd inexpensive setup that achieves an accuracy of ± 0.74°, which is comparable to a commercial
launch monitor.
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