The Math and Physics of Golf Balls
New Research Brings a New Scientific Approach to the Game
Nov 24, 2008
Every true golfer knows that the key to the great distances which can be acquired in hitting golf balls are those little dimples which cover its surface - an invention which goes back a century, to 1908. In fact, the roughly 300 to 500 dimples in each golf ball can reduce the amount of "drag" felt by a golfball by as much as half, thus increasing the obtainable distance by a considerable degree.
The Best Dimple Design
While the physics behind golf ball dimples has long been known, what has not been quite so certain is just how one might find the optimal dimple design - the pattern of dimples which provides the absolute maximum reduction of drag on the surface of the golfball and therefore the most distance.
A team of researchers from Arizona State Univesity led by the Ph.D. student Clinton Smith, presented a talk on Sunday, November 23, 2008 at the 61st meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics, revealing their research on this very topic which has finally led to a mathematical / scientific formalism in golf ball design.
The research team from ASU, in collaboration with a team at the University of Maryland led by Nikolaos Beratlis, have applied complicated mathematical algorithms (repetitive numerical tools used to systematically break down mathematical problems) and advanced supercomputers to finally understand the airflow around a golf ball from a mathematical standpoint.
A New Generation of Golf Balls
Up until now, companies who produce golf balls, such as Titleist and Callaway, have designed their balls' dimple placement by trial and error, knowing that dimples greatly affect the amount of drag on a ball, but uncertain as to the absolute optimum placement. A wide variety of dimple shapes, numbers, and placement are tested in wind tunnels and on courses until the optimum is found.
Where some older golf balls had well over 500 dimples each, on modern balls that number has been lessened, though with the dimples more strategically placed and shaped - while on first glance the dimples might appear to be circular in appearance, they often times are hexagonal or shaped as icosahedrons, which allows more efficient usage of space per ball.
The hope is that with the recent findings regarding the fluid dynamics of the airflow around a golf ball in flight, ball designers will have within their grasp the scientific tools necessary to design their balls for absolute optimum flight, giving golfers everywhere the maximum possible distance. Alternately, this new knowledge will help produce balls tailored to specific needs, such as greater loft or maneuverability.
References:
Eurekalert. The Physics of Golf Balls.
Scientific American."How do Dimples in Golf Balls Affect their Flight?"
