Well not quite the Bat on Ball, but Club/Driver on Ball. Was going through my final round images from the Travelers Championship, (others posted at this 2009 Travelers Championship Final Round) today and came across this one.

1.

Geoffrey... how were you able to get past the no shoot on swing rule?

Paul I was a good distance away, with my D300 w/ 300mm & 1.4x teleconverter, still would prefer to be a little bit farther away.

And from how I understand the rule its no shooting on the back swing, although I don't fire away till I know it is extremely close to contact or if I am too close not until the follow through.

Great timing Geoffrey! Like I told you this is harder than ball on bat, as the clubhead speed is extremely fast (in the order of 120mph+ I believe).

Paul, Geoffrey and I were up by a hospitality suite shooting between the trees. I didn't get brave enough until Sunday to press the shutter sooner to get some ball action, but none as close as Geoffrey's.

a few milliseconds after:

I think for the pros, if you are far enough from the player, that they won't hear your shutter, then you would be fine. it is the ones that are right next to the tee, 10 feet from the player that are the problem.

and typical club head speed for the average pros, is somewhere around 100-110, not until you get into the field of Tiger, and some of the really long hitters do you get much higher club head speed.

Those are all great shots BTW, pre-contact, or just post-contact are some of my favorite golf shots.

P Alesse wrote:
Geoffrey... how were you able to get past the no shoot on swing rule?

Geoffrey,

Further to Paul's question (written by one of the premier pro golf shooters out there, Robert Beck):

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/826

Unless you really know what you're doing and if it's your first golf tournament trust me: you have no idea - don't ever even begin to contemplate the thought process for activating the necessary neuromuscular skills for pushing a shutter button between when a golfer has begun his "routine" and when he or she hits the ball. And if you do, do it when you're on a different hole than I am! Translation of above paragraph: Don't shoot on the backswing. Or when a player is standing over the ball. Or any other time that your gut instinct tells you that by pushing that button, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb. This is where using your head comes in to play. Seriously, the reason I sound so concerned about this? Because those are the rules, folks. Like it or not, all sports have rules for photographers. If you don't believe me, try covering a baseball game from the pitcher's mound or walking into an NBA locker room at half-time or shooting an NFL game from the sidelines on the 50. Like it or not, all leagues dictate, to one extent or another, how we can (and can't) work.

I haven't done a lot of pro golf, but I recall this rule is pretty sacrosanct. Sure being a 400/500/600mm lens' distance away puts you mostly out of earshot, but, like ball-on-bat shots, this is more of a curiosity of physics than a genuinely good sport shot since you're not going to get much of a good face. I wouldn't think it would be worth the risk. Shots of the follow-through, with the golfer gazing after his/her shot are a lot more compelling IMO.

Artflake, even then I'm not normally trying to get club on ball contact. It just happened this time.

Dennis I wasn't trying to get the shot, just wanted to get a decent ball in flight with the golfer looking towards or glimpsing towards it. Even though i know it most likely wouldn't happen. I just happened to get it at the right timing.