Which ever way you look at it, Golf is a simple game.  Get that little ball into 18 holes in fewer strokes than the competition and you win.  The art of winning of course has led to optimising the performance of the equipment to get the edge.

The most obvious point for enhancement is with the golf club. Optimising the balance between club weight and swing speed will effect the force transfer to the ball.

Club head size and weight can work better for different swing styles. If we look at the impact of the ball on the golfing game surely there can be little to improve on?

You can look at this in a couple of ways. For the business owner if a ball has a reputation of being pricey but good then you’ll be happy to use them as logo golf balls as personalised golf gifts for important golf playing customers.

Nothing will kill your reputation quicker than giving a cheap ball in that circumstance. But price is not everything of course.

Sometimes you’ll find a pro that uses a mid price ball. He has found something in that ball that makes his game top level.

What are the features than can be exploited to improve a ball’s performance.

To squeeze out every drop of performance in your game the golf ball is an imporant focal point . In the top flight of the game matches and millions of dollars of prizes can be decided on just one or two shots.

Many years ago it was observed that scratched and dented balls performed better than clean new balls.  In physical terms, the dents in the ball that led to the dimples we see in all golf balls today, cause turbulence during the flight of the ball..

This turbulence forms eddies in the air that reduces the air drag on the ball.  This is the way the ball travels further.  This is of course good news if you use golf balls as personalised golf gifts.

A battered and old ball with your corporate logo may perform better but it doesn’t really look the part.

With this simple fact why do we not have just one type of golf ball?.  This is far from the case.  There is a wide range of golf ball makers out there .

Each ball offering different and arguably better performance than its closest competitor. Golf ball technology is now close to rocket science .

Just a scan of the products of the following major manufacturers whom all supply balls to  professionals, amateurs and also custom golf balls to corporate golf event organisers, Callaway, Srixon, Wilson, Pinnacle, Titleist shows the following areas of improvements.

A lot of talk on ball softness.  A slightly un-scientific concept.  Improved golf ball velocity and extreme distance.  A responsive short game for accuracy and controllable ball spin.  Improved accuracy off the tee and thin outer ball cover that grabs the green for precision.

We also see multi-layer balls, where the power imparted from the club is transmitted smoothly to the central core.

Going back to our dimples. Dimples are not any old dimples, the shape and arrangements are tested aerodynamically.  There are even patterns within patterns.

Are we being blinded by technology, this is just a golf ball after all.  Is it only going to be the pro that is looking for the small improvements that benefits?  Unless you have a scientifically accurate technique yourself will the randomness of your ability result in no performance increase.

Is it the case that the more expensive the ball the better you play.

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