Dimples in golf balls: the what and why?
Dimples are depressions in the surface of a golf ball; These depressions have a major effect on the trajectory and elevation of the ball’s flight, as well as the distance it travels.
The effects of dimples on the trajectory and distance of the ball’s flight were accidentally discovered in the 19th century. Golf balls were originally manufactured with a smooth, dimple-free surface. Golfers quickly began to realize that used balls with cuts, bumps, scrapes, and dents flew higher and higher than new, softer ones. The first dimpled ball was crafted by hand using a sharp-edged hammer to create depressions with a consistent pattern; it was called hand hammered Gutta-Ball.
Although golf ball dimples vary in size, shape, depth, and alignment, they all have one common purpose: to provide the golfer with a longer, higher, more predictable, and controllable flight of the ball. Golf balls vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. For example, Titleist has a different number of dimples for the Pro V1 (392), Pro V1x (332), NXT Tour (332), but the alignment of the dimples for Titleist balls is a consistent pattern with the icosahedral name. . The dimples should be evenly spaced across the surface in recurring combinations of a shallow dimple and a deep dimple. The number of dimples on a regulation golf ball ranges from 300 to 500; the number of dimples does not directly correlate with the distance the ball travels. A dimpled ball can travel up to three times as far as the same ball without these dimples.
Dimples reduce air resistance and increase ball lift. When hitting the ball, a rapid recoil is created that causes the airflow to descend and creates an opposing upward force that provides lift. The dimples on a golf ball create boundary layer turbulence. The thin layer of air that surrounds a golf ball when it is thrown through the air is called the boundary layer. The dimples are used as cubes to collect air and move air towards the back of the ball. This process creates less resistance by decreasing the amount of air pressure that pulls the ball back. The trajectory tends to rise with shallower dimples, while the deeper dimples prevent the ball from rising as high.