[Martee]

No doubt that the longer lever is generally a bigger advantage than more mass, however I would indeed be curious to see data on same speed, center contact by two 'machines' with different mass.

If you were somehow to assume that resistence to deceleration at impact were always the same given a club of the same mass, then it would be the case that they would produce similar shots.

However if you took a club and tied it to a string and were somehow able to swing it at the same speed as a club connected to a steel rod, the steel rod would provide more resistence to deceleration. I suppose the actual speed here would also be a big factor, a slower moving club not resisting decel as much as a faster moving one. At a slow speed it could literally 'bounce' off the ball.

Again, it would be nice to see some data from Ping or similar on just how much difference mass can make in real world golf swings.

I wonder if it boils down to 'arm weight', as a 'heavier lever'.

Ed, I don't believe you will find any Imperical Data regarding a golfer''s mass. The mass involved with clubhead speed and acceleration relates to the clubhead.

The thought of the arm weight as a 'heavier lever' would only impact the ability to move the club. Would the arms experience overrun? Would the heavier arms continue at a faster rate than the smaller arms after the resistance has been meet? Since both arms would be moving at the same rate, meeting resistance the lighter arm would have to apply more force than the heavier to attempt to maintain the previous rate. Here the lighter arm could exceed its capability before the heavier arm. Also it took more effort to get the heavier arm moving equal to the lighter arm.

It is a thought. I could equate this to what happens to electical motors but I would have to substitute mass for horsepower. When both motors running at the same speed come across resistance, they will attempt to maintain speed by drawing more current. Obviously the motor with the lower horsepower will when reaching its peak, slow down while the other will continue till it reaches its peak. The mass had negligible if any effect.

Plus we need to keep in mind that the golf ball weight is about 1/8 to 1/10 that of the clubhead and the clubhead is moving while the ball is static.

Right Forearm? It is something to think about, but with role of the rt arm between swinger and hitters, one has to wonder if it just doesn't come down to technique and the individual golfers attributes including being able to apply them efficently.

Sorry, I have probably overstayed my time on this topic...