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What Are Golf Balls Made Of That Make Them Go So Far?
By Gregg
In the chemistry of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structures are vital physical element. History has it that there are things that seem to be peculiar on their make-up hundreds of years ago which eventually came up with a better composition based on scientific research. And a ball is the best paradigm of this theoretical stand in history.
During the earliest days of on the eastern coast of Scotland, most players used ancient apparatus in order to play the game in a more disorganized and informal way. Here, the first clubs and balls are made up of wood.
It was on 1618 that the feather ball was finally introduced. This was commonly known as the "Featherie". This feather ball was a handcrafted ball made with goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide sphere. This is being done while the ball is still wet. After drying, the leather shrank and the feathers expanded creating a hardened ball.
But because these kinds of balls are specially handcrafted, they usually cost higher than the clubs. In doing so, only a few privileged people could afford to play during those times.
Next, came the Guttie ball. This prehistoric kind of ball was made from the rubber like sap of the Gutta tree that can be found in the tropics. Normally, these Guttie balls can be easily shaped into a sphere when hot and eventually used as a ball. With its rubber nature, guttie balls can be cheaply reproduced and can be easily repaired by reheating and reshaping.
However, between the two earliest forms of balls, the feather ball was said to travel farther than the gutties. This is due to the smooth surface of the gutties that limits the capacity of the ball to cover more distance.
With this new scientific analysis, the developers of ball finally came up with balls with the "dimples" that are predominant in modern
balls nowadays.
Dimples are crafted into balls so as to reduce the aerodynamic drag, which will be acting on the ball if it were totally smooth. This is because smooth balls, when sailing through the air, leave a huge pocket of low-pressure air in its stir therefore creating a drag. With the application of drag, the ball slows down.
Hence, by having dimples on balls, the pressure differential goes down and the drag force is reduced. These dimples create turbulence in the air surrounding the ball. This, in turn, forces the air to clasp the ball more closely. By doing so, the air trails the warp created by the ball towards the back instead of flowing past it. This results to a smaller wake and lesser drag.
Dimples also help players to put backspin on a shot making the ball break off on the putting green.
The idea of putting dimples on balls can be traced back during the gutta percha phase. Coburn Haskell introduced the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a gutta percha sphere. It was during this time when the players observed how their shots become more and more predictable as their balls turned rough from play.
When William Taylor applied the dimple pattern to a Haskell ball in 1905, balls finally took their modern form.
From then on, dimpled balls were officially used in every tournament. In 1921, the balls took its form with standard size and weight.
Today, there is an abundant selection of balls to fit different game and condition. There are balls that offer control, while some offer distance. In whatever ways balls vary, only one thing is common and known. balls are not just elements of the sports arena; they are more than ever paradigm of a concept in physics.
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