Physics of Golf

Physics of Golf

Overview:

• Involves forces and aerodynamics, occurring during the hitting of the ball, during its flight through the air, during the run of the ball and during the putt.
• Having the “perfect golf shot” is not just swinging the club as fast as possible to make it go far.
• To understand the physics of the golf swing you must understand the mechanics of rotational motion.
• When an object travels around in a circle it moves outward, if unconstrained.
• The club is subjected to the effects of centripetal acceleration.
• By uncocking your wrists during the golf swing, the club will move radially outward.
• The players hands are "passive" since they exert no twisting force on the club.
• Uncocking the wrists allows the golf club to "straighten out", and in the process gain additional speed.
• At the top part of the swing, the golf club remains at a fixed angle relative to his arms.
• But in the bottom part of the swing, the golf club begins to "release" and the angle between it and your arms begins to rapidly increase, and the club moves radially outwards as a result.
• At the bottom of the swing the golf club is almost perfectly parallel to his arms.
• One must maintain their grip in a fixed position so that the club maintains a constant angle with his arms.

Sweet Spot:

• In order to hit the ball at the best possible trajectory and distance, the ball must make contact with the “sweet spot” of the club head.
• It is ideal for the line of action of the impact force to pass through the center of mass of the club head.
• The center of mass is actually a very tiny area so the closer the ball is to this area the better the shot.
• If the impact force is overly offset from the center of mass of the club head, then their is an overly eccentric impact.
• Resulting in an excessive rotation and vibration.
• Rigid bodies that eccentric forces, whose line of action is offset from their center of mass, create a torque which causes the body to rotate is a physics property.
• An overly eccentric impact can cause the ball trajectory to deviate from its intended path.
• Energy is also lost due to vibration.
• Hitting the ball in the sweet spot will result in minimal club head twisting and minimal club vibration.
• It lasts roughly 0.0005 seconds and the force of impact can be up to 2000 pounds.

Optimal Loft Angle Of Golf Club Head:

• The loft angle is the angle between the club head face and the vertical plane.
• Also the driving distance is the distance the ball travels through the air plus the distance it travels after it lands.
• The loft angle affects the ball launch angle, the launch speed, and the rate of backspin of the ball.
• The greater the club head speed, the lower the optimal dynamic loft angle.
• The dynamic loft angle is the loft angle of the clubface during impact.
• The dynamic loft angle is not equal to the club face loft angle when the club head is at rest on the ground.
• The difference between the two angles is due to the flexing of the golf club shaft during impact.
• At the top of the swing, the shaft bends back causing the club head to lag behind. This is due to the inertia of the club head.
• When impact occurs the club head is turned several degrees ahead of the position it would have had if the shaft had not flexed.

Aerodynamics Of Ball Flight:

• The dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent boundary layer of air over the ball's surface.
• This reduces air resistance which results in the ball traveling a farther distance than a smooth ball would
• The airflow over the ball follows smooth streamlines until some point beyond the halfway distance
• This creates a turbulent boundary layer and turbulent eddies form inside a resulting wake region.
• The airflow over the rotating ball follows smooth streamlines until some point beyond the halfway distance
• At this point the turbulent boundary layer separates and turbulent eddies form inside a resulting wake region.

Citation: "Physics Of A Golf Swing." Real World Physics Problems. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Jared Blatt

Mr. Gray

Period G

22 November 2016