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Why do golf balls bounce? The must-know reasons for the bounce

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Many aspiring  golfers  have been curious to know why Golf balls Bounce ? How high will a golf ball bounce?Do more expensive golf balls bounce higher? and so on.

I did a lot of research and I found out these and happy to share with you all.

In this blog I am going to talk about the reasons why golf balls bounce and many other bounce related quries.

Why do golf balls bounce ?

The Science behind Golf ball Bounce: Physics. They are made to compress when hit – when they land with any force at all the compress as well. 

Newtons Law of for every action there is a equal and opposite reaction causes them to therefore bounce until the energy is expended.

When you drop a Golf ball, gravity pulls it toward the floor. The ball gains energy of motion, known as kinetic energy. When the ball hits the floor and stops, that energy has to go somewhere.

The energy goes into deforming the ball — from its original round shape to a squashed shape. When the ball deforms, its molecules are stretched apart in some places and squeezed together in others.

As they are pushed about, the molecules in the ball collide with and rub across each other.

Rubber is the main component of a golf ball. Plastic, a thermoplastic resin called Surlyn, or urethane are used to coat it.

Whatever the ball is formed of determines what happens to these molecules as they are stretched and squished. So when you drop a golf ball it strikes the floor and bounces because they are made up of core rubber and coated with Palstic.

This is the classic difference between an elastic and inelastic collision. 

The golf ball striking something, or being struck by something, results in an elastic collision.

When compressed, either by the club-face or the surface that the ball has just struck, the ball stores energy.

When the energy is released, the shape of the ball is restored, and it “bounces”.

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Why does a golf ball bounce higher than a tennis ball?

The simplest explanation I can give (without getting into the Laws of Physics) is that a tennis ball will deform more when it hits the ground and the energy of the falling tennis ball is, in part, used in that deformation process whereas a golf ball is made of much stiffer materials that don’t deform as much.

So more of the golf ball’s energy is preserved and results in the upward acceleration that we see as “bounce”.

Do golf balls bounce higher than most balls?

Voila! It is all about physics, so I will address this question from that point of view.

So, consider this Instance:

  • The average distance a home run hit by a Major League Baseball player travels is 340 feet.
  • The average distance a tee shot hit by a professional golfer travels is 325 yards, which is close to 1,000 feet, or about three times the distance.

And here’s some purely anecdotal evidence. During one summer when we were  was around 14, a bunch of friends and I gathered a collection of as many different types of balls that we could find, and then went to a local baseball diamond to see which would travel the farthest when hit by a baseball bat.

We had several different kinds of baseballs, a racquetball, tennis ball, super ball (which I though would win), squash ball, handball, croquet ball, and a golf ball.

The croquet ball traveled the shortest distance, but that’s because when my friend tossed it into the air and swung the bat, the croquet ball shattered the bat into several pieces, and someone had to ride their bike back home to get another bat.

The ball traveled a total of about 3 feet. The tennis ball, racquetball, handball, and rubberized baseball all traveled roughly the same distance.

The squash ball, which is pretty dead, only traveled about 50 feet. The hard baseball, like they use in the MLB, traveled about 200 feet.

The super ball took off like a rocket, but it only traveled about 250 feet. But the clear winner was the golf ball. It sailed far past the 300 feet sign on the fence in center field, and likely traveled as far as 350 feet.

The Reasons a Golf ball bounce

Materials used to make Golf balls:

Each golf ball is made up of a variety of materials. Surlyn is a popular material for golf ball exteriors. This material is quite durable and inexpensive. Golf balls are typically constructed on the inside with resin-type materials or rubber.

Additionally, some golf balls may contain weights in the centre to increase their weight. The materials used in golf balls combine to create the golf ball’s signature bounce.

Golf ball Shape:

A golf ball’s shape is critical to its bounce. In comparison to odd-shaped footballs, golf balls are spherical in shape, which enables them to easily bounce straight off the ground.

Hardness of golf ball:

Golf balls vary in terms of their shell hardness. This hardness varies according to the shell material and ball design. Balls with a higher hardness tend to bounce higher than their softer counterparts.

Construction of Golf ball:

All newer golf ball designs incorporate a spherical-shaped object within the golf ball’s shell. Earlier designs incorporated materials such as unevenly shaped goose feathers.

Several popular designs include wrapping rubber thread around the core until it forms a ball, creating a one-piece ball by wrapping a round core in the shell, and multilayer construction.

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How Can Bouncing a Golf Ball Help You on Golf Course?

When you’re on the golf course, a bouncing golf ball may either assist or damage you. In a straight fairway, you’ll love watching your drive bounce as far as possible, adding distance to it.

To take advantage of the course’s bounce, you may even intentionally hit the ball with a lower trajectory if it is on solid ground.

Perhaps the most disappointing stroke in golf is the approach shot that reaches the green, but bounces off into the rough or a bunker after bouncing off of it.

Improve your backspin and trajectory on approach shots to prevent excessive bounce. 

Use less club on certain approaches when there are no hazards in front of the green, and aim to place the ball just short of it, in hopes that it will bounce back and fall on your putter’s face

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