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Why Dimples on Golf Balls ?

March 22, 2007 | under Golf Equipments, Beginners, Golf Balls |

What is the purpose of the dimples on the golf ball ?  I know for sure it is not there for aesthetic reasons.  There are a lot of science involved in the design of dimples on golf balls.  As I am not really “scientifically” inclined, I will not try and confused you and I on the scientific theories; such as the Bernoulli effects or Magnus effects, etc.

In the early days of golf, golf balls are round and have smooth surfaces. It was believed then that the smoothness of the golf ball surfaces will provide lesser wind resistance and thus can allow the ball to fly as far as possible.  Well, sounds logical to me.

Then, it was discovered that golf balls with cuts and nicks performed better, covering more distance than smooth sufaced balls.  This is not discovered by scientists but by golfers.  Theoretically, the smooth-surfaced golf balls should travel the furthest.  However, this does not really hold true for golf balls as golf balls spins in flight after impact with the club face.

Dimples are then introduced to the golf balls. Every modern golf ball has dimples designed to increase and shape the lift and drag forces. Drag slows the forward motion, whereas lift acts in a direction perpendicular to it. And surprising, this results in a dimpled ball generating lesser drag then smooth ones; almost half the drag.  Thus, allow the ball to travel a greater distance. Amazing !

The dimples evolved from random patterns to formally designed rows. Nowadays, you may have realised that there are different dimple patterns on different golf balls.  Most golf balls on the market nowadays have between 300 to 450 dimples on each ball.  Although there were balls produced with a higher dimple count but was not popular.

Dimples on the golf balls can be designed for different purposes. For example, balls targeting distance may be designed with dimples that will cause the ball to fly low with lots of bounce.  There are also other dimple designed to allow higher trajectory and fall fast.

Since the dimples affects the lift and drag of the golf ball to produce the distance required.  This is true when the ball has vertical spins like the backspin. However, if the ball has side spin on it, like when the club face is open, the dimples amplifies the effect as well.  This causes a greater slice.

Lastly, the dimples on the golf ball is only one of the factors affected the ball flight pattern.  Other factors also come into the equation, such as the swing speed, amount of backspin, et al.

So, this concludes my series of post on golf balls.  Hope you have enjoyed it. If you do want to discuss more, please leave me a comment.

Happy Golfing…

 

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