Jacobs 3D is the first golf pro commissioned software to measure the forces and torques that the golfer applies to the club during the swing.
The golf club is moved to and fro in the swing by the golfer pulling and pushing on the club (forcing), and also by twisting and rotating it (torquing). Jacobs 3D captures the swing and then computes the forces and torques that the golfer applied.
Almost all 3D systems in golf measure and compute kinematics, which describe the movement of objects like a golf club. Details like the exact location in 3D space the club is located and how fast it translated or rotated from place to place, are industry standards.
Jacobs 3D measures and computes the kinematics of the club as well, including some parameters that no other system does. But what makes Jacobs 3D so groundbreaking is its measurement and computation of kinetics. Kinetics is the study of forces that cause motion and create linear and angular motions like those of the club by the golfer.
The software was commissioned by Golf Digest's #32 ranked teacher in America, Michael Jacobs, also a Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor. The dynamic duo of long time close friends Manzella and Jacobs form the Jacobs 3D Initiative, a program that utilizes their independent findings from the software and teachings for the benefit of golfers and instructors.
Over the past 20 years, Mechanical Engineer Dr. Steven Nesbit has conducted the most influential research in the history of golf. As a researcher for the USGA he conducted research on equipment, the actions that the golfer applies to the club during a swing and a full biomechanics study on the human body during a golf swing. His research has shaped the rules of the game and the understanding of how the golfer moves their club and body in a swing.
Jacobs and Manzella, along with a few other golf pros, first met with Nesbit in 2010 to discuss Dr. Steve's research. Soon after, Jacobs began to visit Nesbit often, many times accompanied by Manzella. The duo began experiencing much success in their private instruction and golf school they conduct together by learning and applying Nesbit's explanations of the physics of the golf swing. Jacobs soon became Dr. Nesbit's science-of-the-golf-swing protege, and Steve’s interest in golf was reinvigorated. In 2014 they decided to launch a new layer of research together with the commission of the Jacobs 3D golf swing analysis software.
This relationship and Jacobs' continued research resulted in a book, Elements of the Swing Fundamental Edition, written by Jacobs (with Matt Rudy and Nesbit ) that explained and illustrated the essentials of golf club kinetics. This book was the first ever book written by a golf pro on the subject. He followed Elements of the Swing with The Science of the Golf Swing t fully illustrated a golfer’s force and torque application to a golf club, with over 100 images and over 40 samples, and has become a staple in the library of golf swing enthusiasts.
Along with the kinetics, Jacobs 3D includes over 100 kinematic parameters which display the golf swing as never seen before. Planes of motion, center of curvatures, velocities, accelerations, timing, and pathways are just some of the descriptions that are used . The master edition of the book will follow in the coming months. And Alpha Man, a new version of the software which similarly computes the kinetics of 17 body segments is near completion.
Currently, Jacobs' golf school on Long Island is the only place to have your swing analyzed by Jacobs 3D.