Golf stroke

[berniethebolt]

Watching a video with Neil Tappin and Jezz Ellwood on when is a golf stroke a stroke Jezz noted in passing the somewhat bizarre situation that if the head comes off your club during the back swing it did not count as a stroke but if it happened on the down swing it did. Surely he should have qualified this by noting not if you abort the swing before you reach the ball?

 

[Steven Rules]

Your elaboration of the principles is correct. I haven't seen the video but these three extracts from the Definitions and Clarifications of "stroke" are relevant to the situation described here:

The player's action does not count as a stroke when .... during the backswing, a player's clubhead separates from the shaft. The player completes the downswing with the shaft but does not strike the ball.

If a player starts the downswing with a club intending to strike the ball, their action counts as a stroke when .... the clubhead separates from the shaft during the downswing and the player continues the downswing with the shaft alone, whether or not the ball is struck with the shaft.

A stroke has not been made if the player .... decides during the downswing not to strike the ball and avoids doing so by deliberately stopping the clubhead before it reaches the ball or, if unable to stop, by deliberately missing the ball.

 

[backwoodsman]

I guess it does make sense though.

A stroke is the  forward movement of the club (with the intention of striking the ball). So if the head falls off on the back-swing, you have not yet made a stroke. And by the time you start making the forward movement, I guess that the lack of a head means you no longer have a club in your hand - so still haven't made a stroke? But if the club is whole when you start the downswing, then you have made a stroke with a conforming club - even if it doesn't stay that way for the entirity of the stroke (unless you deliberately pull out that is).

 

[berniethebolt]

Your elaboration of the principles is correct. I haven't seen the video but these three extracts from the Definitions and Clarifications of "stroke" are relevant to the situation described here:

The player's action does not count as a stroke when .... during the backswing, a player's clubhead separates from the shaft. The player completes the downswing with the shaft but does not strike the ball.

If a player starts the downswing with a club intending to strike the ball, their action counts as a stroke when .... the clubhead separates from the shaft during the downswing and the player continues the downswing with the shaft alone, whether or not the ball is struck with the shaft.

A stroke has not been made if the player .... decides during the downswing not to strike the ball and avoids doing so by deliberately stopping the clubhead before it reaches the ball or, if unable to stop, by deliberately missing the ball.

Thank you that is very informative.