The vision strategy of golf putting

Golfers, coaches and researchers alike, have all keyed in on golf putting as an important aspect of overall golf performance. Of the three principle putting tasks (green reading, alignment and the putting action phase), the putting action phase has attracted the most attention from coaches, players and researchers alike. This phase includes the alignment of the club with the ball, the swing, and ball contact. A significant amount of research in this area has focused on measuring golfer’s vision strategies with eye tracking equipment. Unfortunately this research suffers from a number of shortcomings, which limit its usefulness. The purpose of this thesis was to address some of these shortcomings. The primary objective of this thesis was to re-evaluate golfer’s putting vision strategies using binocular eye tracking equipment and to define a new, optimal putting vision strategy which was associated with both higher skill and success. In order to facilitate this research, bespoke computer software was developed and validated, and new gaze behaviour criteria were defined. Additionally, the effects of training (habitual) and competition conditions on the putting vision strategy were examined, as was the effect of ocular dominance. Finally, methods for improving golfer’s binocular vision strategies are discussed, and a clinical plan for the optometric management of the golfer’s vision is presented. The clinical management plan includes the correction of fundamental aspects of golfers’ vision, including monocular refractive errors and binocular vision defects, as well as enhancement of their putting vision strategy, with the overall aim of improving performance on the golf course. This research has been undertaken in order to gain a better understanding of the human visual system and how it relates to the sport performance of golfers specifically. Ultimately, the analysis techniques and methods developed are applicable to the assessment of visual performance in all sports.

System of integration of modularised assembly FMS

The modularised assembly FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) cascade is a form of system design which, the authors feel, could be viable in a variety of organisational and operational settings where high product mix manufacture and unitary batch sizing are common features. The philosophy behind the concept is that production facilities are market-driven and customers' orders place a direct demand pull on final assembly which, in turn, triggers all preceeding activities. Greater flexibility~is recognized as a necessary feature in modern manufacture and the implementation of modularised FMS in conjunction with state-of-the-art hardware and computer software systems enable conditions under which more flexible processing can take place.