Sonification of Golf Putting Gesture Reduces Swing Movement Variability in Novices

Area of Science:

• Motor Learning
• Auditory Perception
• Sports Science

Background:

• Novices often struggle with complex motor skills like golf putting.
• Sonification, the use of sound to represent data, shows potential for skill acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if sonification can enhance golf putting performance and swing movements in novices.
• To compare the effectiveness of different auditory feedback conditions.

Main Methods:

• Forty novice participants performed golf putts under four auditory conditions: static noise, personalized auditory guidance, and two error-based sonification strategies (stereo display or roughness modulation).
• Swing velocity and putting performance were measured.
• Mean velocity profiles (MVP) were calculated for personalized feedback.

Main Results:

• All sonification groups showed significant correlations between swing variability and putting performance.
• Auditory guidance and sonification reduced deviation from average swing movements compared to static noise.
• Error-based sonification with stereo display modulation significantly reduced timing variability in swings.

Conclusions:

• Sonification can enhance motor skill acquisition in novices.
• Online error-based sonification is more effective than auditory guidance for reducing movement variability in golf putting.