In the golf ball design world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structurestructure of the surface is a major design element. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball. Over a period of hundreds of years, the optimum design and make up of the golf ball has been achieved, based on scientific understanding . The humble golf ball is a good example of the development of the history of aeronautical engineering.
When the game of golf began on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used hand-made equipment in order to play the game which was a more varied game than it is today. At that time, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.
In 1618 the feather golf ball was first introduced and made popular. This version of the golf ball gained the nickname of the “Featherie”. This feather golf ball was a handcraftedhand made golf ball made with goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide sphere. This was done while the ball was still wet. As the ball dried out, the leather shrank and the feathers expanded to form a hardened golf ball.
Because these types of golf balls were hand made, they could easily cost more than the golf clubs. As a result, only a few privileged people had the money to play the game of golf during this early period.
The next version , to gain in popularity was the Guttie golf ball. This prehistoric form of golf ball was constructed from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree which comes from the tropics. These Guttie balls could be easily formed into a sphere when hot. as they became cooler, they kept their shape and could then be used as a golf ball. With its rubber nature, Guttie balls could be produced cheaply and could be simplyquickly repaired by reheating and reshaping.
In a comparison between the two earliest forms of golf balls, the feather golf ball was known to go a longer distance than than the rubber Guttie. The answer to this puzzle was eventually identified as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie reduces the ability of the golf ball to cover more distance.
With this scientific understanding, the makers of golf balls eventually produced with balls with the “dimples” that are associated with modern golf balls in use today.
Dimples are crafted onto golf balls so as to reduce the aerodynamic drag, which acts on the ball and is raised if the surface were totally smooth. This is because smooth balls, when flying through the air, create a large pocket of low-pressure air in its wake therefore producing drag. The drag acts as an anchor and the ball slows down.
Alternatively, by having dimples on golf balls, the difference in pressure gets lowered and the drag is reduced. These dimples create turbulence in the air around the golf ball. This, in turn, forces the air to flow around the golf ball more closely. By doing so, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of flowing past it. The result is a smaller wake and less drag. As a result the ball travels a longer distance.
Dimples also help players to put backspin on a shot thereby making the golf ball break off on the putting green.
The concept of placing dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha coating. It was during this time that players bacame aware of how their shots became more and more predictable the more they played with the same ball. They noticed that the rougher the balls became the more accurate and further they could hit it.
When William Taylor applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, golf balls finally took on their modern shape. So the dimples were born. From that time on, dimpled golf balls were officially used in every golf tournament. In 1921, the dimpled golf balls took on a standard size and weight.
Today, there is a large choice of golf balls to fit different golf games and conditions. Some golf balls offer greater control, while some others provide greater length. However else these golf balls vary, they all have one attribute in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just items of golf equipment; they are a paradigm of a concept in physics!
Roger Titley is a successful webmaster who manages http://www.newgolfputter.com which is dedicated to all aspects of golf
- Roger Titley