The average flight distance of shots is greatly increased by the evolution of golf balls

Golf balls used in golf are set to have a diameter of 1.680 inches or more and a weight of 45.93 g or less. Although the appearance of the golf ball has not changed for a long time, a movie explaining that the golf ball has undergone great evolution where it can not actually be seen from the outside and a great influence on the golfer's play is released on YouTube You are

The golf ball that made golfers too good


Augusta National Golf Club , located in Georgia, USA, is famous for hosting the Masters Tournament , which takes place in early April each year. The fairway on the 13th hole of such a Augusta National Golf Club is greatly curved to the left.

At the 13th hole, we change the direction little by little from the tee shot, and it is the rule to reach the hole.

However, Bava Watson , a PGA Tour top-class "flyer", showed an astounding strategy in the 2014 Masters Tournament.

The appearance is this. Mr. Watson's shot swinging to the left was sliced to the left, and it looked like a miss shot.

At first the commentator also thought that Mr. Watson had made a mistake shot, but Mr. Watson's shot crossed the trees blocking the course and reached the green near the hall.

Mr. Watson succeeded in making a great shortcut by taking advantage of the ball's flight distance, a course that many golfers go round and round.

After all, with this shortcut, Watson won the 2014 Masters Tournament.

However, there were those who raised one problem in view of Mr. Watson's victory. The problem is, "Isn't the golf ball in recent years flying too much?"

Bernhard Langer , a professional golfer from Germany, is a heavyweight golfer who has been active as a professional golfer since the 1970s. In 2018, Mr. Langer had an average flight distance of 280 yards (about 256 m) for driver shots.

The score is actually 20 yards (about 18 meters) higher than that of 1987, when Mr. Langer was 30 years old. This rise in driver distance is not limited to some players ...

Since 1980, the average flight distance for driver shots on the PGA Tour has increased by more than 30 yards (about 27 m).

What is the cause of this rise in driver distance?

A golfer's shot involves various factors such as the condition of his or her golf club and golf club.

However, the "golf ball" is considered to be the most important factor related to the increase in flight distance, and many golf players have cited it as "a golf ball in recent years may be too much".

The earliest golf balls were probably wooden ...

Before long, it appeared in a spherically-stitched fabric with a golf ball stuffed with hair.

And feathery balls stuffed with feathers inside of leather that has been tied up will be used ...

Finally, golf balls are made using resin that is produced from Southeast Asia-originated trees called Gata-percha .

People who have begun to use golf balls with gutta percha notice the fact that "a ball that is scratched or squeezed and dents will fly farther than a new, clean golf ball." The

People began to draw various patterns on golf balls in an effort to increase flight distance, and it was found that flight distance would be the greatest if there were innumerable depressions called dimples on the surface.

The dimples on the surface of the golf ball create turbulent air flow to protect the ball's perimeter and reduce drag.

However, the discovery of dimples is much older than 1980 ...

It is not a reason to explain the recent increase in flight distance.

One of the most notable changes is the rise of six yards (about 5.4 m) from 2000 to 2001.

The cause of this rise is that the ball is called " Tilistist Pro V1 ". Pro V1 is a ball that revolutionized the golf world.

The appearance of the pro V1 is the same as other golf balls, but the contents are very different.

Nearly a century before the pro V1 appeared, the standard golf ball was a "wound ball".

A thread wound ball is a rubber core inside, and a thread is wound on the outside of the core. Sometimes the yarn may be filled with liquid ...

The liquid leaks from the inside when you tear it apart.

On the other hand, if you open the pro V1, you can see that it is a "multilayer core" that is completely different from the wound ball.

Before the pro V1 appeared, players had to choose between "distance" or "spin" with high accuracy when selecting a golf ball. The distance system has a solid core, and the spin system is a wound ball ...

Pro V1's multilayer core has succeeded in achieving both distance and accuracy. A solid inner core increases flight distance, and a soft outer core allows the golfer to spin the ball and control the ball.

Before 2000, most players chose wound balls, but after the appearance of multilayer core balls, the number of players who use multilayer core balls gradually increased, and almost all professional golfers used multilayer core balls in recent years. You are Above all, the usage rate increase from 2000 to 2001 is remarkable ...

This is related to the increase in average flight distance of 6 yards in driver shots.

The 2017 report shows concern about increasing average flight distance ...

If the distance of the player is too long, most of the gimmicks prepared to increase the difficulty of the course can be avoided by flying far away.

It is possible to shorten the flight distance of golf balls by setting restrictions on the weight and material of golf balls, etc .......

Manufacturers that have made a lot of investment and research and worked to increase the flight distance of golf balls are, of course, likely to oppose the regulations. However, there is also an opinion that "the problem of increased flight distance does not break down the game of golf."

In fact, the topic of “recent golf balls in recent years” has been discussed from a very long time ago, and the same problem was discussed in 1936.

The course side is taking various measures to increase the average flight distance. For example, at Augusta National Golf Club's 13th hole, which Watson captured.

A change was made to shift the position of the tee shot backwards.

In this way, we have succeeded in maintaining the detour to the left of the course, as the distance increases. No matter how much the golf ball travels, it may be possible for the golf course to squeeze the wisdom and not lose the enjoyment of golf.