What Effect does Drag have on the Flight of a Golf Ball?

by Andrew Taran

Submitted : Spring 2009

The game of golf is full of uncertainties (where will the ball go, will the ball hit the center of the club face, etc…), but possibly the largest golf conundrum is how far the ball will carry through the air. The general consensus is that the harder and faster wing the golf club, the further and faster the ball will go. But other factors influence the flight and distance of a golf ball. These factors range from the wind to the humidity of the area. But the factor that is present in every swing of the golf club is the drag force due to the golf ball. Unfortunately, the effect of drag can only be altered by a miniscule amount because of the USGA (United States Golf Association) restrictions on golf balls. But we can use our knowledge of physics and calculus to find the difference in distances in a golf ball affected by a drag force, and a different ball, with the same ball speed, but without the effect of drag. I also threw the influence of wind into the equations to actually give the full sensation of a golf ball and the forces that act upon it while it is in flight. So, I had three situations: 1) golf ball with no resistance, 2) golf ball with resistance from drag and going into a head wind, 3) golf ball with resistance from drag and being influenced by a tail wind.

                I gathered my basic statistics from a swing of the world’s best golfer, Tiger Woods.  In this specific swing, Tiger Woods had a ball speed of 182 miles per hour, which is equivalent to 81.361 meters per second. The launch angle of the golf ball in relation to the ground was around 8 degrees. I found that the mass of Tiger’s golf balls is 46.5 grams or 0.0465 kilograms and the drag coefficient was 0.5 kilograms per second. For the wind, I used 5 meters per second, which is a pretty easy and calm breeze.

[ Back ]