ourMike Jordan is responsible for more than 40 golf ball patents. He started with Titleist after graduating from Furman University, where he has led the design of many of the products you know and love and many that have made the products you love even better. From there, he went on to lead golf ball engineering at TaylorMade. Mike joins us in a series of blog posts to help you better understand golf ball basics and choose the right ball for your game.
Next on the first stepping stone… CTA Mike Jordan!
golf balls 101
“A golf ball is the most important piece of equipment you use when playing golf. You hit it with every club in the bag as you move from the tee to the green. If you’re playing by USGA rules, you can’t change it in the middle of the hole. Its inherent properties allow you to hit monster drives, And make tight draws with long irons, putt darts on the pin with wedges, and roll real putts into the hole. So, let’s dig deeper into the golf ball and learn how it affects your game.”
Golf ball design
“While specific swing characteristics influence much of a golf ball’s behavior, golf balls are designed to improve the golfers’ inherent capabilities. Swing speed and spin profile (backspin and lateral spin) are key inputs to golf ball performance. But, a golf ball is designed to maximize good of your swing while reducing bad. If the swing speed is slow, there are golf balls to maximize the distance.
If you have a high swing speed but plenty of back and side spin, there are golf balls that will reduce excessive spin while maximizing distance. If you are a strong tackler of the ball around the green and tend to generate a lot of spin that pulls balls off the green, there are golf balls that reduce green side spin. A modern golf ball will determine your distance from the tee, how you hit your approaching shots, how you attack the pin, and the feel of each shot.
Distance captures the attention of most golfers and is an integral part of the game.
The “formula” for long distances is high ball speed, low backspin (with limited lateral spin) and high launch angle. Golf ball designers are all in the business of providing the highest speed the USGA allows and over the past 20 years golf balls have gotten really fast! Next is rotation control. There are a lot of golf balls on the market because of the spin control.
Ball pressure, construction (core sizes and layer thicknesses), and material choices determine the golf ball’s spin profile. Golfers need to find a golf ball designed to maximize the performance of their inherent swing conditions. Launch angle is influenced by golf ball construction and material choices, and similar to spin profile, golfers need to be aware of maximizing their launch through their choice of golf balls.”
Golf ball control
“Control of a golf ball in flight has changed over the years. When PGA TOUR players used hit balls, they needed to manipulate the path and trajectory of flight to hit the shots they needed. They called it ‘operability’, maneuvering the ball by generating a lot of Rotation.
TOUR-level golfers can generate and control how much spin they want in the ball’s flight for a tight draw, long fade, or hit the back of the green and return the ball twenty feet to the pin. All that spin cost a straight line and they were always prone to a missed shot.
There was a lot of risk to go along with the potential reward. Golfers were open to new, less dangerous ways of playing. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Spalding, Bridgestone, Callaway, Nike and Telelist all adopted solid three-piece structures to prioritize distance with low-spin golf balls that were more consistent in play. Golfers would really hit bombs right on the fairway and then they could aim for the pin and catch the green.
Today’s golf balls are viable but much less wound than the balls of yesteryear. Today’s golf ball designers give golfers choices on how to control the ball through construction (coat thickness) and material choices (Surlyn vs. urethane) with an emphasis on short play of iron and wedge. You can still pull the ball off the green, but today it’s much more difficult.
Controlled ball flight and aerodynamic performance (think dimple design) are paramount when considering golf ball control. Hitting a great shot only to see it explode in a headwind or knock 30 yards offline is sad. How a golf ball performs in the air is determined by its aerodynamic construction and design. Often, golfers think of aerodynamics (dimple pattern) as focusing only on maximizing distance when it determines how the ball will track in all wind conditions. Golfers can find the ball with accurate flight regardless of wind conditions.”
Feel the golf ball
“The feel of a golf ball is an emotional reaction to what happens when the putter hits the golf ball. It is determined 100% by the construction of the golf ball (think seams), materials (think Surlyn and urethane), and design (think pressure). The feel The “good” golf ball is subjective as I may like a firm feel golf ball while you want a softer ball How you perceive the golf ball when you hit is essential and is an attribute to look for when choosing your golf ball.
Just know that a lot of what you think feels is how the ball feels on the tee and how it feels when you hit it. These are all things golf ball designers influence in their design choices.
This simple golf ball overview lets you see how golf ball design affects every shot you make. In this series, we’ll look progressively deeper at each component critical to performance and design. The goal is to arm you with the knowledge and information you need to find and select the best golf ball to maximize your game.”
OnCore Chief Technical Advisor Mike Jordan has worked in the world of golf ball design and engineering for 30 years. He will contribute regular blog posts full of useful information to help you improve your game.