why do golf balls have dimples?
91584
I don't really know why the first three answerers have spiked hair. I presume they share a common trait...guess what...stupidity.\n\nGOLF BALL\n\nAerodynamics \n\nWhen a golf ball is hit, the impact, which lasts less than a millisecond, determines the ball’s velocity, launch angle and spin rate, all of which influence its trajectory (and its behavior when it hits the ground).\n\nA ball moving through air experiences two major forces: lift and drag. Drag slows the forward motion, whereas lift acts in a direction perpendicular to it. The magnitude of these forces depends on the behavior of the boundary layer of air moving with the ball surface.\n\nEvery modern golf ball has dimples; their purpose is to increase and shape the lift and drag forces by modifying the behavior of the boundary layer. It should be noted that drag and lift forces exist also on smooth balls: they are only modified, not created, by dimples.\n\nOne effect of dimples is a reduction of drag, contributing to the increased length of flight of dimpled balls compared with smooth ones.\n\nA spinning ball deforms the flow of air around it, thus acting similar to an airplane wing. Backspin is imparted in almost every shot due to the golf club's loft (i.e. angle between the clubface and a vertical plane). A backspinning ball experiences an upward lift force which makes it fly higher and longer than a ball without spin would. Sidespin occurs when the clubface is not aligned perpendicularly to the direction of swing, leading to a lift force that makes the ball curve to a side. These lift forces are further increased through the presence of dimples.\n\nIn order to keep the aerodynamics optimal, the ball needs to be clean. Golfers can wash their golf balls manually, but there are also mechanical ball washers available.\n \nDesign\n\nMost balls on sale today have about 300 to 450 dimples. There were a few balls having over 500 dimples before. The record holder was a ball with 1,070 dimples -- 414 larger ones (in four different sizes) and 656 pinhead-sized ones. All brands of balls, except one, have even-numbered dimples. The only odd-numbered ball on market is a ball with 333 dimples.\n\nOfficially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. There was a ball that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator, and very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helps the ball self-adjust its spin-axis during the flight. The USGA did not sanction it and changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. The ball supplier sued the USGA and the USGA paid US$1.375 million in an out of court settlement.\n\nThe United States Patent and Trademark Office's patent database is a good source of past dimple designs. Most designs are based on Platonic solids such as icosahedron.\n\n<BEST ANSWER>
299255
The container is sealed because the air inside is PRESSURIZED (not vacuum sealed as another proposes).Tennis balls are pressurized on the inside to give them the right amount of bounce.  Over time, air leaks out of the rubber surface, causing the ball to lose pressure and become flat.  So, the container is also pressurized to keep the balls from becoming flat over time before you even use them!
219929
Well the easy answer is an old joke: Whats the difference between a lost golf ball and a g-spot? Men will look for a lost golf ball. I'd suggest you change your dating habits and be a little more vocal with your partners.
1182971
Yeh, 423 has more dimples than 408, otherwise it's just very technical on aerodynamic that doesn't make sense to most golfers. You need to hit at near zero handicap to really feel the different in golf balls, let alone the number of dimples.
834100
It is absolutely a hole in 1. If the golf ball hits a permanent object (light pole, halfway hut, etc etc) the ball is still considered in play where it comes to rest (unless it comes to rest out of bounds!). \n\nIn your case, it came to rest in the hole, so therefore, it's a hole-in-1. \n\nWell done! Not the most elegant, but still great!\n\nCheers!
494851
Yeah, that's part of the design of the irons, supposed to make them more forgiving. See here for info:\n\nhttp://www.golfdigest.com/hotlist
718514
One of two things lead to most of the tops.  One is make sure you stance is not to wide.  Shoulders length apart.  When you take the club back make sure you keep you knees bent.  A lot of people who top the ball straighten the legs up on the back swing.  You only have to move 1/2 inch to top it and a little more and you miss it.  \n\nThe second item is keeping the left arm straight.  Golfers talk about that all the time.  You bend the left arm and you shorten you golf club, which results in topping the ball.  \n\nYou can sign up for a free golf lesson from a PGA pro at www.playgolfamerica.com  You can also go to www.pga.com improve you game section for more tips.  They have pictures and video.\n\nGood luck
123967
Based on the fact that cold causes things to contract (I won't go into a chemistry spiel) that the golf ball would therefore have less room to retract thus it would not travel as far. Similar to the way a cold basket ball does not bounce as high as a warm one. The Cold air contracts. Hope this helps!
816400
A dent in the driver will affect a pros game to some degree but for an amature golfer I dont think it would make a hill of beans difference.\n\nThe only real difference it could make to an amature is a phycologicle difference if anything. Dont run out and spend hundreds of dollars on a new driver.\n\nLeon
515319
Dimples 380 - 422 for the best selling balls
920173
2 reasons:\n\n1) They create a rougher surface that allows the grooves on a club to impart backspin on the ball better than if the ball was smooth.\n\n2)  Once airborne and spinning, they serve to increase lift and reduce drag, which generates longer shots compared to a smooth ball.
830255
prove it was the fault of the company, packaging or the golf ball itself as they will prove you either punctured it, put it in the sun or on a heater or hot surface.\n\nis a 1 buck ball worth the hassle?  this attitude everyone has of sue sue sue is just sick.\n\nguess that means if you sneeze in my direction I can sue you for the attempted effort of giving me germs or a virus.  come on.
464623
All baseballs are mudded up before the game and are rubbed to be a similar color. Baseballs like all other products can have defects. Most balls that are rejected are because of a defect in the leather or consistency in the stitch. Pitchers like the ball to feel good in the hand. High seams are not bad or disliked by pitchers... they can do more with the ball. But a seam that is uneven, high and low can feel awkward in the hand. Sometimes a ball will be foul tipped into the dirt/gravel and get scuffed badly, umpires check the ball for a smooth surface before they put them back in thier bag. They will unspect every ball that hits the ground and either put it out of play or put it back in thier bag. Pitchers don't always agree that the ball is smooth enough to continue.  Hope this gives you a better understanding!
1140714
Bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a baseball.
1166154
Typically this is called a SHANK.\n\nMany golfers consider "the shank" the worst shot in golf. In a shank (if you are right handed) the ball squirts almost straight right from the moment you hit it. The first time it happens, it comes as a complete shock. You were probably winning and/or about to shoot your best round ever, when it happened.\n\nYou were probably playing "a safe" or "no brainer" shot when it happened. It was "the worst" --- "most unexpected" thing that ever happened to you in golf. The scene gets worse because --- you probably shanked your next shot as well.\n\n\nSo what is a shank?\n\nWell technically it is NOT a "golf shot." A golf shot is something a player tries to hit. As far as I know, nobody has ever tried to intentionally hit a shank on the course while competing.\n\nThe shank is the portion or part of an iron where the clubface and hosel meet.\n\nWhen a golfer hits the ball in that area of the clubhead it produces a unwanted ball reaction which is called and widely accepted as a "shank."\n\nOddly, due to it's recessed position the shank rarely makes contact with the ball.\n\nThe reason a shank happens is because the golfer is trying to play a safe shot. They are trying to "push" the golf ball rather than hit it.\n\nIn other sports or games when we play a safety we "push" rather than hit. In baseball for example a "bunt" is a safety of sorts and we "push" or hold the bat rather than "swing it."\n\nIn golf when we "push," we "push" only the grip portion of the club forward and the clubhead lags behind. When that happens the face twists open allowing the hosel area of the iron clubhead to enter the impact area first.\n\nSo in a shank the hands are in front of the ball (as much as 6 to 8 inches) when the clubhead contacts the ball.\n\n\nNow for the second important part, "What do I have to do to get rid of the shank?"\n\nI'm sorry but as far as I know NO ONE has ever gotten rid of "the shank." We may control it and do our best to prevent it but that's the best we can expect.\n\nSo, how do you prevent or avoid them. Well you need to do, "the opposite."\n\n\nTo correct it, you "must" reverse the club's overall position at impact.\n\nIn this case the clubhead "must" now come into the ball (impact area) before the grip portion of the club.\n\nIn a properly hit golf shot, the "grip" portion of the club and the "clubhead" should be in a relatively straight line at impact. Indeed that is our goal, but at this time we need to overcome and reverse our present bad habit.\n\nSo to do the opposite you must get "the clubhead" into the impact area ahead the hands. Picture a pane of glass so big as to cover an area from the back of the ball up to your hands.\n\nIn a shank your hands or the grip portion of the club make the initial contact with the glass breaking the top of the glass first. Now to correct it, you want the clubhead to break the bottom of the glass first.\n\n\nTo do it properly:\n\nFirst --- relax your grip (this is necessary because the wrists must be able to act like hinges and allow the clubhead to pass in front of them).\n\nSecond --- mentally picture the clubhead hitting the bottom of the glass before the hands.\n\nThird --- just let it happen.\n\n\nOnce a golfer knows what they need to do, then the best way to do it is to simply let the body do it for them. I tell my students, "What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve --- "if" you let it."\n\nThe next thing I had my students do was to shank the ball on purpose. That's right, in order to correct anything you must completely understand why it happens. What better way to understand a shank then by intentionally hitting it.\n\nSo for your drill, I want you to intentionally hit three shanks in
503168
Nike didn't make a liquid center ball, and didn't make balls 25 years ago.  Someone could have put a mark on it to look like the swoosh, so there you go.\n\nI wouldn't play with it anyway - while it was high technology at the time, all the good qualities of the ball have probably been aged out of the ball for 23.5 years or so.\n\nActually, one other possibility - if you find a ball in a pond where it's been submerged for a couple of weeks, it starts to look very old. So it is possible to have a 25 year old looking Nike One golf ball.  Still wouldn't have a liquid center - how do you know it has one?
176596
332 dimples on Titleist golf balls