Why Do Golf Balls Have Dimples?

In the physical world of air pressure, turbulence, and aerodynamics, structure of the surface is a critical design exercise. There are several historical events that have contributed the design and make-up of the golf ball. Eventually, after 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.

When the game of golf started on the eastern coast of Scotland, nearly all of the players used antiquated golf clubs and balls in order to play the game of golf which was a more informal game than it is today. At that time, the first golf clubs and golf balls are made of wood.

It was in 1618 that the feather golf ball was first introduced and gained popularity. This form of the golf ball became known as the "Featherie". This feather golf ball was a handcrafted golf ball made with goose feathers securely pressed into a horse or cowhide sphere. The whole process was carried out while the ball was still wet. As the ball dried out, the the leather would contract and the feathers expanded to create a hardened golf ball.

Because these types of golf balls were specially handcrafted, they usually cost more than the golf clubs. As a result, only the wealthy people had the money to play the game of golf during this early period.

After the 'Featherie' the next type of ball , to gain in popularity was the Guttie golf ball. This ancient type of golf ball was made from the rubber like sap from the Gutta Percha tree which comes from the tropics. These Guttie balls could be simply shaped into a sphere when hot. as they cooled, they kept their shape and could then be used as a golf ball. With its rubber nature, Guttie balls could be cheaply reproduced and could be simply quickly 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 much further than the rubber Guttie. This apparent paradox was eventually confirmed as being due to the difference in surfaces. The smooth surface of the Guttie reduces the capacity of the golf ball to travel over greater distance.

With this new knowledge, the makers of golf balls eventually designed with balls with the "dimples" that are found on modern golf balls in use today.

Dimples are put onto golf balls so as to get rid of the aerodynamic drag, which acts on the ball and is higher if it were totally smooth. The cause of this is because smooth balls, when flying through the air, leave a huge pocket of low-pressure air in its wake so creating drag. The drag performs as an anchor and the ball reduces in speed.

Alternatively, by having dimples on golf balls, the difference in pressure gets lowered and the drag is reduced. These dimples create turbulence in the air around the golf ball. This, in turn, makes the air clasp the golf ball more closely. By doing so, the air flows in to the wake created by the ball instead of traveling past it. This results in a smaller wake and less drag. Consequently, 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 concept of putting dimples on golf balls can be traced back to the Gutta Percha phase of development. It was Coburn Haskell who came up with the one-piece rubber cored ball encased in a Gutta Percha cover. It was during this time that players first noticed how their shots became more and more predictable the longer that they played with the same ball. They noticed that the more the balls became scuffed the more precisely 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 current shape. So the dimples were born. 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.

Nowadays, there is a large selection of golf balls suitable for different golf games and conditions. Some golf balls offer greater control, while some others offer greater length. However else these golf balls vary, they all have one attribute in common and that is the dimple. Golf balls are not just pieces of golf equipment; they are a paradigm of a physics concept!