Why do dimples on a golf ball allow it to travel farther?
Every aspect of a golf ball has a purpose, and that includes one of the ball’s most recognizable features: the dimples. A golf ball’s dimples allow for a smooth, controllable flight and also give the ball lift by impacting the way the air flows around the ball. There is science behind the design, and the dimples are not just for show.
How do they put dimples on a golf ball?
Feb 19, 2022 · Why Does Golf Ball Have Dimples? When Dimples are installed on golf balls, the surface surface is covered in thin, turbulent layers of air. Using this method, the air should be able to travel more rapidly through the back side of the ball and therefore, have the size of the wake decrease. Table of contents
Why are golf ball dimples make it go further?
Oct 01, 2021 · Why Do Golf Balls Have Dimples? by Bixente Artola October 1, 2021 Dimples are famously crucial for the aerodynamic properties of a golf ball: They generate a turbulent flow that reduces the ball’s drag. However, doesn’t this sound counterintuitive? In general, smooth objects are more aerodynamic than rough ones.
Why do golf balls have those little dents in them?
Jan 31, 2013 · About a century ago, after someone realized that a scuffed-up ball travels farther than a shiny new one, balls gained dimples. Now manufacturers invest …
What is the purpose of dimples on a golf ball?
Dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface. This allows the smoothly flowing air to follow the ball's surface a little farther around the back side of the ball, thereby decreasing the size of the wake.Sep 19, 2005
What happens when you remove the dimples from a golf ball?
The small depressions found all over the ball ultimately determine velocity, launch and spin rate after it leaves the clubface. Alter the depth of a dimple by as little as 1,000th of an inch and you could negatively affect the ball's aerodynamics (lift and drag) while it's rocketing through the air.Jul 1, 2020
Why do golf balls have 336 dimples?
Dimples create the aerodynamic ability to hit golf balls for distance. A ball without dimples would not travel very far. The decision to experiment with dimples on golf balls grew out of the discovery that dented or chipped balls actually flew farther and straighter than smooth ones.
What are the dimples on a golf ball called?
In most cases, golf ball dimples are simply referred to as dimples. However, there are some instances when they will be called indentations or more thoroughly referred to as the golf ball dimples pattern.Jun 30, 2020
Are more dimples on a golf ball better?
More dimples being on a golf ball are not necessarily better. The number of dimples that are on a golf ball is less important than the dimensions of the dimples themselves. Too many dimples mean more drag, and too few dimples mean an unpredictable flight trajectory.Jun 27, 2021
How far would a golf ball go without dimples?
about 130 yardsAccording to Frank Thomas, Golf Digest's chief technical advisor and former technical director of the USGA, a smooth golf ball with no dimples would travel about 130 yards when hit with a modern driver by a tour-caliber player.Oct 12, 2004
What is the liquid inside a golf ball?
Contrary to golf folklore, the liquid cores aren't dangerous. Titleist, for example, has used a salt water and corn syrup blend. Today's core is generally made from synthetic rubber -- which may be mixed with bits of metal, such as tungsten or titanium -- or a plastic-like material such as acrylate.
How many dimples does a Pro V1 golf ball have?
The new Pro V1 has 388 dimples, and the new Pro V1x has 348 (both in a tetrahedral pattern), marking the first time the dimple counts have changed since 2011. Dimple patterns, however, are far more than simply the number of them.Jan 21, 2021
How many dimples does a Callaway golf ball have?
332 dimplesTypically though, there are 300-500 dimples on any branded golf ball. For example, TaylorMade has 322 while Callaway has 332 dimples. Then there's Titleist Pro V1, one of the best beginner golf balls, with 352 dimples.
Who invented the dimples on a golf ball?
Coburn Haskell introduced the one-piece rubber cored golf ball encased in a gutta percha sphere. Then in 1905 William Taylor applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell golf ball, thus giving rise to the modern golf ball as we know it today.Oct 16, 2018
Can you dent a golf ball?
A single dent is noticeable enough. An incident with a golf ball can leave you with ugly stretched damage that can really take away from the beauty, value, and look. Conventional body shop repairs for golf ball damage tend to be much more expensive and time consuming.
Why are golf balls textured?
The dimples on golf balls accomplish both of these things by creating turbulence in the layer of air around the golf ball, called the boundary layer. In simple terms, the dimples more or less scoop the air and direct it inwards towards the back of the golf ball.Dec 17, 2010
How many dimples are on a golf ball?
Anywhere from 300 to 500.
Why are there dimples on a golf ball?
Originally, golf balls were smooth; but golfers noticed that older balls that were beat up with nicks, bumps and slices in the cover seemed to fly...
What golf ball dimples do?
The dimples on a golf ball are simply a formal, symmetrical way of creating the same turbulence in the boundary layer that nicks and cuts do.
Have golf balls always had dimples?
No, golf balls were originally smooth.
Is it better to have dimples on a golf ball?
Yes. The nicks and cuts were acting as "turbulators" — they induce turbulence in the layer of air next to the ball. In some situations, a turbulent...
How Do Golf Ball Dimples Work?
Any object moving through the air faces the force which the air exerts on it. There are two components to the force an object flying through the air undergoes:
How Do Golf Ball Dimples Improve the Game?
Now that you understand at least a bit of the aerodynamics involved with golf ball dimples, you can look at how exactly this appears in an average round of golf. For the player, golf ball dimples serve two purposes:
Have Golf Balls Always Had Dimples?
Golf has been around for a long time, and for a lot of that time, people played with smooth balls. However, at some point in the 1800s, players noticed that their dented golf balls actually performed better than the perfectly smooth ones.
Are All Golf Ball Dimples the Same?
After learning how vital dimples are to a golf ball’s success, you may be surprised to learn that golf ball dimples are not regulated. They can have different shapes, different depths and appear in varying amounts on balls.
Golf Ball Dimples Are Not Everything
There are other things that go into how smoothly and how far a golf ball flies beside the dimples.
Conclusion
Two key forces affect your golf ball’s flight: drag and lift. Golf ball dimples have a massive impact on both, which is why they are so crucial for effective golf balls. Dimples reduce drag and increase lift.
Take Action – What You Can Do Today to Get Better
What does this mean for you? I believe in the following recipe to get better:
Why do golf balls have dimples?
Very simply stated, if a golf ball were smooth, the air would flow quickly over the top and create quite a bit of turbulence behind the ball.
What is a dimple on a golf ball?
Like many other great inventions in history, dimples on a golf ball were discovered accidentally. Throughout history, golf balls took on many different designs. At one point, they were even constructed with feathers inside them. As golf grew, people started to realize that a golf ball with cuts and scratches in it would fly further ...
When did golf balls start to have bumps?
Golf balls began to be produced with raised bumps on them until the very early 1900s.
Do golf balls perform well?
Although golf ball design and features will vary within the acceptable limits, most golf balls will perform equally well over an extended period of time. That being said, choosing the right golf ball for you can be related to feel, swing speed, and personal preference.
From Observation to Mathematical Model
As a child, I occasionally would walk around a nearby golf course with my family on rainy days; the only times when no golfers would dare to play. Our own game was to find lost balls from previous, unfortunate players. The person who found the most balls would win.
The Drag Crisis Observation
Throughout history, the flows around many different shapes have been studied by scientists. For example, vortex streets are generated by the flow around cylinders. Although a sphere does not generate this type of large alternating flow structure, the flow characteristics can also be linked to the Reynolds number.
The Reason for the Drag Crisis
First of all, let’s recall that the drag of an object is caused by two sources:
Modeling the Aerodynamic Forces of Golf Balls
Now we understand why golf balls have dimples in the first place. Let’s remember that the drag is lower and therefore the ball can go further. To find out how much further the ball can go, we first need to compute its trajectory.
Finding the Optimal Launch Angle
The effect of the dimples on a golf ball should now be clear: They make the ball go further. However, in practical terms, this does not say much about how I should hit the ball.
Conclusion
In today’s blog post, we answered a seemingly simple question about golf ball dimples, which has to do with the behavior of the turbulent boundary layer over a sphere at a specific range of Reynolds numbers. This also outlines a classical process in engineering.
Try It Yourself
Try computing the trajectory of a golf ball in COMSOL Multiphysics. Click the button below to access the model file featured in this blog post:
