Off Season Golf Part 5: Do Dimples Make Difference?
Read
other Parts from the
Technology & Distance
series and Short Game
series here, Archives.
Email
me if you'd if there's anything you'd like to see discussed
or analyzed in
the next or future
newsletters. Now
on to this week's
topic.
V.
Do Your Dimples
Make a Difference?
The
topic of this newsletter
is golf ball dimples.
Do the different
dimple patterns on
the various golf
balls actually make
a difference?
Firstly,
having a dimpled
golf ball is essential
to hitting it long.
A well hit dimpled
ball would fly about
250
yds, while a smooth
ball would only fly
about 100 yards.
The dimples reduce
the amount of air
drag on the ball
so that it remains
in the air longer
and flies farther.
In
2001, Beasley and
Camp of Clemson University
conducted a study
to investigate golf
ball dimples called
"Effect of Dimple
Design on the Aerodynamic
Performance of a
Golf Ball." It was
published in Science
and Golf IV of
the Scientific Congress
of Golf.
Beasley
and Camp investigated
a dimple pattern
used my some Dunlop
and Slazenger balls;
the pattern has 392
dimples, having two
different sizes.
The measured the
amount of lift and
drag on the various
balls and then used
those values to simulate
how far the balls
would fly.
The
dimple diameters
of the balls did
not differ significantly,
but the dimple depths
did. The depths of
the dimples varied
from 0.188 mm to
0.208 mm. The distances
of the balls ranged
from 225 yards to
239 yards. The greater
distances were correlated
quite strongly with
the shallow dimple
depths. The balls
with deeper dimple
depths, flew higher
and did not carry
as far.
On
the market, there
are hundreds of different
balls, that have
widely different
dimple patterns.
Some balls are advertised
as low trajectory
and some as high
trajectory. The ball
that is high trajectory
could have deeper
dimples or could
just spin more, thus
have greater backspin.
Ball manufacturers
don't provide many
of the specifications
of the balls clearly.
How
far a golfer hits
the ball depends
on ball speed, backspin
and initial trajectory
angle. A golfer that
already hits the
ball high, may benefit
by hitting a low
trajectory ball (low
spin and/or deep
dimples). A golfer
that already hits
the ball low, may
benefit by hitting
a high trajectory
ball (high spin and/or
shallow dimples).
For you? You'll need
to experiment.
If
the conditions
are windy, a low
trajectory ball will
keep the ball from
being as greatly
affected by the wind.
Unfortunately, manufacturers
don't specify the
depths of their dimples
so it's difficult
to determine which
balls truly fly lower.
Suffice to say, however,
that for most golfers,
the difference between
playing low trajectory
and a high trajectory
balls is not that
great. Long ball hitters
would realize the
greatest difference.
Don't
concern yourself
about the number
of dimples on the
ball. There isn't
a significant difference
in the effects of
the number of dimples
(i.e 392 vs 450).
Ball manufacturers
wouldn't produce
a ball with an "inefficient"
number of dimples. If
you are more interested
in finding out which
golf ball is best
for you and your
game, consider the
following:
Longest
Golf Ball Report -- a statistical
analysis of different
golf balls hit by
an
Iron
Byron Robot machine.
Discover
the secret "missing
link" in your
golf game. Understand
which golf balls
REALLY make a
difference in
each stroke!
I'll
provide some more
suggestions about
new technology in
my next newsletter.
A list of resources that have been used to produce this newsletter
can be found on my
website here.
The focus
of my site
is to utilize science
and math to lower
your score. New technology
is one
way to achieve this,
but to be honest,
the technology is
one small piece of
the puzzle.
To actually improve significantly,
we all need to:
1. Improve our swings using CD
Interactive, Hit
Down Dammit!
2. Learn how to swing simpler
like the Iron Byron
with the great coffee
table book, Swing
Machine Golf!
3. Improve our physical fitness
and strength.
The
Golf Trainer Power
Performance Program™ and Ultimate
Golf Fitness Ebook
4. Improve our mental games.
Golf
Mind Software
5. Improve our Probable
Golf games.
Learn how to make better
choices on the course
through knowing how
shot patterns and reading
the elements and course
better.
Click on the links above to
take a look at
ways that I personally
use myself and
recommend you try
as well.
Hope
I provided some useful
ways for to become
better prepared for
you best golf season
ever.
Ken Tannar
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