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Why Are Golf Balls Dimpled?

In the golf ball design world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, surface structurestructure of the surface is a essential design consideration. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball (http//www.newgolfputter.com/#GolfBall). Over a period of hundreds of years, the ultimate design and composition of the golf ball has been achieved, based on scientific research . The humble golf ball is a good example of the development of the history of aeronautical engineering.

During the early days of the game of golf on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used antiquated equipment in order to play golf which was a more disorganized and less formal than it is today. In these early days, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.

feather golf ball was used for the first time and gained popularity. This version of the golf ball gained the nickname of the "Featherie". This feather golf ball was a handcraftedhand made golf ball that comprised of goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide skin. 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 (http//www.newgolfputter.com) were hand made, they could easily cost more than the golf clubs. It is not surprising that, only those people with time and money could afford to play the game of golf at this time.

After the 'Featherie' the next version , to gain in popularity was the Guttie golf ball. This prehistoric kind of golf ball was made from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree is grown in the tropics. These Guttie balls could be easily shaped 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 easily re-cycled by reheating and reshaping.

In a comparison between the two earliest forms of golf balls, the feather golf ball was said to travel a longer distance than than the rubber Guttie. This apparent paradox was eventually identified as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie limits the ability of the golf ball to cover more distance.

With this new scientific analysis, the manufacturers of golf balls eventually came up with balls with the "dimples" that are found on 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 increased if the surface were totally smooth. The cause of this is because smooth balls, when sailing through the air, create a large pocket of low-pressure air in its wake therefore creating drag. The drag acts as an anchor and the ball slows down.

Alternatively, by having dimples on golf balls (http//www.newgolfputter.com), the difference in pressure goes down and the drag is reduced. These dimples create turbulence in the air around the golf ball. This, in turn, makes the air cling to the golf ball more closely. By doing so, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of flowing past it. This results in a smaller wake and less drag. As a result the ball travels further.

Dimples also help players to put backspin on a shot so making the golf ball break off on the putting green.

The idea of putting dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who created the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha coating. It was during this time that players first observed how their shots became more and more predictable the longer that they used 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 form. So the dimples came into being. 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 selection 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 fearure in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just items of golf equipment (http://www.newgolfputter.com); they are a paradigm of a physics concept!

Roger Titley is a successful webmaster who manages http://www.newgolfputter.com (http://www.newgolfputter.com) which is dedicated to all aspects of golf