What's with the dimples on a golf ball?

Golf balls have come a long way in design and performance over the years.

I recall the only ball I favored and played with was a Titleist balata-wound ball that would really spin as you hit onto the green. It had 392 dimples when I played it, but at one time had 332 dimples. It was the preferred ball on the PGA Tour. It was also a ball you had to keep checking to make sure it didn't go out of round on hot days. Your caddie had a measuring device to see if it indeed was out of round after each hole. This ball was eventually replaced by the ProV1.

So what about dimples? What is their purpose? In a few words, they produce lift and distance.

How?

Like an airplane wing, lift is achieved by the wind going over the wing and not underneath. It is the same for dimples. The surface of the ball and speed at impact produces a turbulent layer of air that adheres to the ball and moves to the rear and reduces the wake of air, thus creating distance.

It appears that the number of dimples has evolved to become fairly standard at 392, though some manufacturers have experimented with higher numbers of dimples.

What does vary, however, is the depth of those little indentations.

What kind of dimples are best? It depends on the type of ball. If you have a higher spinning ball you would purchase a ball that has deeper dimples. If the ball is lower spinning, then go for a ball with shallower dimples. Performance is very sensitive to dimple depth.

The design of the dimple is also important. Callaway, for example, has experimented with a dimple within a dimple. Another dimple feature that has been seen is one with a hexagonal pattern.

Tour players do change balls on occasion. It depends on the quality of the turf. If it is very wet they will play a ball that stays in the air longer, but has little to no roll. You may have noticed many balls hit by the driver of the pro achieve extra yardage by means of the roll out. This is all because of the dimples.

In all of this you should still purchase the ball that works for you. There are great similarities among balls, but it all starts with dimples.