Sports equipment peformance quantification

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a golf club head includes: (a) providing a model of a golf club head, the model including a striking face portion and a first plurality of structural attributes; (b) generating first data comprising relationship information between locations about the striking face and predicted coefficient of restitution or characteristic time values based on modeled golf ball impact; (c) providing second data comprising relationship information between generalized striking face position and impact probability; (d) calculating a first expected overall performance value based on the first data and the second data; (e) modifying the first plurality of structural attributes based on the first expected overall performance value, resulting in a second plurality of structural attributes different from the first plurality of structural attributes; and (f) forming a golf club head having club head structural attributes corresponding to the second plurality of structural attributes of the model.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing a golf club head, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing a model of a golf club head, the model including a striking face portion and a first plurality of structural attributes;   (b) generating first data comprising relationship information between locations about the striking face and predicted coefficient of restitution or characteristic time values based on modeled golf ball impact;   (c) providing second data comprising relationship information between generalized striking face position and impact probability;   (d) calculating a first expected overall performance value based on the first data and the second data;   (e) modifying the first plurality of structural attributes based on the first expected overall performance value, resulting in a second plurality of structural attributes different from the first plurality of structural attributes; and   (f) forming a golf club head having club head structural attributes corresponding to the second plurality of structural attributes of the model.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the relationship information of the second data further comprises associations between a plurality of area regions of a generic striking face and impact probability values, such that each of the area regions are associated with an impact probability value representing a likelihood that a golfer's impact with a golf ball would be located within the particular area region based on a predetermined impact distribution. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second data comprises a continuous function wherein impact probability is a function of spatial coordinate values about the generalized striking face. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step (e) of modifying the first plurality of structural attributes includes selectively thickening and thinning portions of the striking face of the model. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein, in step (c), the generalized relationship information is based on a particular impact distribution model selected from among a plurality of different impact distribution models. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of impact distribution models are each associated with a distinct skill stratum. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the striking face portion includes a face center, and, in step (b), the relationship information governs striking face location including information provided about a region of the striking face defined by horizontal extents of +/−22.5 mm from the face center and vertical extents of +/−12.5 mm from the face center. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, subsequent to modifying the first plurality of structural attributes in step (e):
 generating third data comprising relationship information between second locations about the striking face of the modified model and predicted coefficient of restitution or characteristic time values at each of the second locations based on modeled golf ball impact;   calculating a second expected overall performance value based on the third data and the second data.   
     
     
         9 . A method of golf club selection, the method comprising the steps of:
 (a) providing first data comprising, for each of a plurality of distinct golf club heads, relationship information between coefficient of restitution or characteristic time values and striking face location;   (b) receiving second data comprising impact location information based on plural impacts about a striking face of a test golf club generated by a particular user;   (c) calculating, based on the second data, third data comprising relationship information between impact probability and striking face location for the particular user;   (d) based on the first data and the third data, calculating, for each of the plurality of distinct golf club heads, an expected overall performance value specific to the particular user; and   (e) causing to be output recommendation information based on the calculated expected overall performance values.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein step (e) further comprises:
 based on the expected overall performance values, determining a recommended golf club head selected from among the plurality of distinct golf club heads,   wherein recommendation information comprises identification information associated with the recommended golf club head.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein step (c) further comprises representing the impact location information by a predetermined standard distribution curve using best-fit analysis. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the relationship information of the third data further comprises associations between a plurality of area regions of the striking face of the test golf club and impact probability values, such that each of the area regions are associated with an impact probability value representing a likelihood that the user's impact with a golf ball would be located within the particular area region. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the striking face portion includes a face center, and, in step (c), the relationship information governs striking face location including a region of the striking face defined by horizontal extents of +/−22.5 mm from the face center and vertical extents of +/−12.5 mm from the face center. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the impact location information is obtained using a launch monitor.