It must be the ball......

[Slab]

I had an idle questions for the Experts here about what effect the dimples on a golf ball have on our putting attempts

Thought it would be fun to come up with a range of neverbeforeheard one-liner excuses that we can use this weekend to blame the physics of the ball if (when) we miss a shortish putt

Inadvertently Duncan offered up this beaut: The center mass on that ball doesn't seem right!

Over to you...

 

[Captainron]

Damn titleist and their over zealous double digit number stamping! It’s unbalanced my ball!

 

[Imurg]

And red ink is heavier than black so a red numbered ball can't run straight.........

 

[Jasonr]

See this is the problem with dimples on the ball when the dimple on the ball finds a nodule on the putter due to the imperfectness of the metal it pushes on the side of the dimple and causes spin which moves the ball left or right and results in a miss even if the putt is under a foot.

 

[jim8flog]

That dimple turned in to a spot.

 

[USER1999]

The alignment line is printed on crookedly.

 

[Captainron]

This ball is far too aerodynamic. It just flies through the break!

 

[Imurg]

The cover is so soft I have to hit harder

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Apparently if you give a Titleist a good rubbing on one side of the ball before you place it on the tee you'll get even more spin...?

 

[Jasonr]

I get so confused now that the weight of the balls are listed in both ounces and grams I never know quite just how to weight my putt.

Those new brightly coloured balls play havoc with my spatial awareness they appear a lot nearer or further (delete as appropriate) from the hole than they actually are.

It's all this Global warming stuff we all know the ball travels further in warmer air.

It's all this Global Warming stuff we all know that in warm air the synthetic rubber inner core expands so it present more face to the wind and slows the ball down.

Back when we had liquid cores the ball path was a lot more predictable.

I found that ball it must have been mistreated in the past to behave like that.

 

[jim8flog]

I always regret the day they stopped me using a ball with 500 dimples, my putting has never been the same since.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Ok guys cut out the nonsense and waffle, this is serious stuff. It’s not the ball and we all know it.

The amount of space junk we have now is affecting the earths magnetic field, making it unpredictable. This distortion affects the shaft of your putter as you pull it back.

How are we supposed to putt with this variable getting worse and worse.

 

[nickjdavis]

See this is the problem with dimples on the ball when the dimple on the ball finds a nodule on the putter due to the imperfectness of the metal it pushes on the side of the dimple and causes spin which moves the ball left or right and results in a miss even if the putt is under a foot.

Well.... the above was the basis of research originally undertaken by Dr (?) Normal Lindsay who determined and then patented a design of putter face that involved "ridges" as opposed to grooves, the pitch and radius of said grooves specifically made to reduce such effects of dimples. The patents are now owned I believe by Zen Oracle putters and form the basis of their RDE (Reduced Dimple Effect) putter range.

Lindsay also undertook research into the positive (or otherwise) effects of groove technology and simply demonstrated that grooves had absolutely no effect on the "overspin" on a golf ball when putted.

Sadly, the research into overspin due to grooves is difficult to find (I believe the website is now defunct) but the patent information is still findable.

 

[nickjdavis]

but the patent information is still findable.

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search...=&sortOption=&queryString=&tab=PCTDescription