wing. The flow of air over the top of the ball produces a low-pressure region. The low pressure resulting from the increase in speed of the air over the top side of the ball in conjunction with the high pressure below the ball produces the lift of the ball. But how do the dimples periodically help increase the Magnus lift? Before understanding this question, we must grasp the concept of the second main element of aerodynamics spoken about – drag. Visualize with me again if you would: golfer swings with all he’s got and right before he swears he’ll never golf again, the ball is undergoing a lot of pressure. The ball will be influencing pressure once it hits the bottom of the pond, however, that’s not the pressure I’m speaking about. The air hits the front of the ball in its flight, creating a high pressure area, and splits around to the sides. But it is traveling to fast and separates from the surface leaving a low pressure area behind. This combination of high pressure in front and low pressure in back is the main source of the balls drag. When the surface of the ball is covered with dimples, a thin layer of air next to the ball (aerodynamicists call it the boundary layer) becomes turbulent. Here’s the good part: a turbulent boundary layer has better tires. It stirs the air up a bit. It can better follow the curvature of the ball’s profile. It travels farther around the ball before separating, which creates a much smaller wake, and much less drag. In fact, a dimpled ball has only about half the drag of a smooth one. The aerodynamic lift and drag on a spinning golf ball have at least three variables to consider, the speed of the ball through the air, the rate of the spin of the ball (which averages from 3,000rpm to 10,000rpm), and the surface texture of the ball. This means that both the lift and drag forces vary throughout the flight of the ball. The dimples aid the rapid formati...
