Rocket Science and Golf

While it may not take a Doctorate degree in physics to play golf, success in the game of golf largely depends upon the interplay of the sciences especially the areas of neurobiology, physics, Kinesiology and even Meteorology.

There is no room for error in the design of the club itself. If a clubface is ½ degree less than square to the ball, is possible that the ball can go off course by 20 yards. The slightest difference in the curve of the downswing can spell the difference as to whether the ball hits its target or is 30 yards off course.

While the golfer gets ready to hit the ball the cranial and peripheral nerves spring into action carrying information from the eyes to the brain to the muscles and back and forth. A vast network of about a 100 billion neurons is utilized by the body to execute this extremely complex action. The right hemisphere is working vigorously to imagine the golf into the hole, while the left brain is determining the correct posture and the perfect swing. Compared to what really takes place in the golfer's head, what is described here is only a fraction of what really takes place. All of these takes place in just a fraction of a second and has to be executed in sequential order and requires precise timing. Force is generated by the golfer through larger muscle groups and then to the smaller muscles at an accelerated motion to achieve the highest speed the moment the club hits the ball. The right coordination between hands, hip and club and the proper contraction and relaxation of the muscles must be achieved so that the golfer can hit his target. It has been said that a total of 32 pound muscle must be generated in order to achieve this feat. The golfer must ensure that the weight must be distributed properly in his body when doing his swing as this proper weight shift move could increase the club-head speed by 14% which could mean that a drive could travel 229 yards instead of 200 yards.

The moment the player hits the ball, he must ensure that precise force is applied; a slight difference in velocity could mean a ball landing near the hole or out of bounds. The angle at which the ball must be struck must not be too high because if it is ¼ too high it will just weakly bounce into the fairway .Striking it too low even if it is only ¼ to low will land the ball up to the sky falling short of it's intended target. The golfer must learn to strike "through the ball" as the energy transferred from the club head to the ball is greatly reduced.

During tee off, the moment the club hits the ball and starts flying out into the air the ball backspins between 4,000 and 5,000 revolutions per minute, causing the air to move faster over the top of the ball, where the dimples above are spinning with the air flow, The dimples underneath the ball counter to the air flow, the higher pressure under the ball lifts it into the air. A slight alteration in the dimples even to the thousand of an inch will change the way how the ball flies.

Weather has to be taken into consideration as this is considered as an external force that may affect where and how the ball will land. A mistake in estimating wind speed thinking that it is only a 20 miles per hour head wind when in reality is a 30 miles per hour head wind may cause a 120 yard approach shot to drop 20 yards in the green instead of near the hole.

With all the scientific data and fact available with regards to the science of golf, it is difficult to implement this near perfect scenario since the individual characteristics of the player has to be taken account. While science may inform the player what is the proper measures are in order to achieve a perfect form, speed or velocity, it is up to the player to use these data and apply it to his unique physical characteristics in order to achieve what he wants.

Golf may not be rocket science, but with these scientific facts involved it may take a PhD to play it!