PERFORMANCE

Golf Ball Performance

Golf ball performance can be broken down into 4 primary categories: launch conditions, aerodynamics, durability and feel.

Feel and durability goals are fairly straightforward: the golf ball should feel soft and responsive yet remain durable and tough.

Launch conditions and aerodynamic performance are more complex - the properly engineered golf ball must spin, pierce, climb, cut fade, draw or sit differently depending on the club or shot.

Launch Conditions

Launch conditions describe exactly what the golf ball is doing immediately after impact.

The most critical launch conditions affecting performance are golf ball speed launch angle, backspin and sidespin.  Golf ball speed is the most important factor in determining distance. Higher ball speed directly relates to increased distance.

All shots have backspin. Backspin is certainly helpful around the green for added control, but too much spin can reduce distance.

Aerodynamics

During flight, the launch conditions of the golf ball interact with the aerodynamics of flight to determine the golf balls overall trajectory. The two primary aspects of aerodynamics are lift and drag.

Lift is the force that acts in the vertical plane and drag is the force that opposes the golf ball’s motion.

Unlike drag, lift needs to be optimised in order to produce the desired trajectory. Too much or too little lift can lead to a loss in distance.

Feel

Feel is a subjective but critical aspect of golf ball performance and a leading factor in golf ball selection. The entire golf ball contributes to feel.

The cover is more influential on putts and shorter shots and the core is more prominent in woods and long-iron impacts.