[BerntR]

nmg,

I found your response rude and insulting. It's certainly not something I am used to from people with scientific pretensions.

The Q-factor I linked to is more relevant to the the discussion than you seem to have comprehended:

Physically speaking, Q is 2π times the ratio of the total energy stored divided by the energy lost in a single cycle or equivalently the ratio of the stored energy to the energy dissipated per one radian of the oscillation.[1]


If we can exclude all the working forces and just "hold on to the rope" prior to impact we can actually measure the q-factor of the swing. It would be a function of swing speed reduction per degree of rotation. But of course, the experiment must be led by someone who knows how to measure the stored, kinetic energy.

Here's another example of an energy storage device based on rotating mass. I've never heard of it before. I simply googled for something more similar to the golf swing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel_energy_storage

The flywheel energy storage accumulates energy by rotating mass up to speed. Kinetic energy in the form of 1/2mv2. If you don't see that the same thing happens in the golf stroke then your understanding of physics and mechanics has serious flaws.