The Importance of Golf Ball Dimples

Interesting graphic for sure!

Amazing video

Do balls compress as much now as they did years ago

When you watched the slow motion footage years ago it was as if the ball was half size when compressed ... watch slow motion now and there seems to be no compression

Just my thoughts

To note, a large membership club and its house brand ball and a privately held golf club OEM with a recently released ball use the same dimple pattern. While they both use the same factory in Vietnam for contracting, they may use a different core material. Not uncommon in the DTC ball market.

Need dimples to fly! I remember a video from Titleist with shot of balls with dimples, without and then with a ball on having half dimples!

I remember the demonstration that we had at the TT Invitational at the TPC Pointe Verde (Jacksonville, FL) a few years ago. Where a PGA pro was hitting a golf ball without dimples and then one with half dimples. Helped us understand their importance. A Pro that could move a ball 300 yards barely moving it what he would normally hit maybe an 8 iron with half dimples. Was funny but very informative.

interesting read!

This is interesting. How does the depth of the dimple pattern affect spin rates on short irons?

Speaking off the cuff here, but I believe the dimple depth is hand-in-hand with spin. As more spin = more height, deeper dimple = less height. So a no dimple ball will sail up but not gain distance, a deep dimple (like AVX) will punch out more in comparison.

If you click on the link, immediately you see an image of the 4 balls. I zoomed in on this to get a great view of dimple pattern difference from ProV1, ProV1x, ProV1x Left Dash, and AVX. Using this image zoomed in, in conjunction with the knowledge provided from Mr. Rick V, it starts to make sense and sink into memory.

Speaking off the cuff here, but I believe the dimple depth is hand-in-hand with spin. As more spin = more height, deeper dimple = less height. So a no dimple ball will sail up but not gain distance, a deep dimple (like AVX) will punch out more in comparison.

If you click on the link, immediately you see an image of the 4 balls. I zoomed in on this to get a great view of dimple pattern difference from ProV1, ProV1x, ProV1x Left Dash, and AVX. Using this image zoomed in, in conjunction with the knowledge provided from Mr. Rick V, it starts to make sense and sink into memory.

Decades ago, there was a golf range (big facility) near me that had a very much 'dirt' landing area. After a summer of use, the balls started to show cover/dimple wear. These balls would start a normal flight when struck and then quickly nosedive into the dirt. It was a stark contrast to the Titleist Balata Low Trajectory ball that had the deep dimples. That ball would have a low trajectory but stay airborn!

Titleist really does have a huge R&D budget, and it allows them to create and test different dimple patterns. Think about all the hobs and dimple cavities that are created just to test new aerodynamic patterns, never mind all the materials used in cores, mantles, casing layers, and covers on the premium models. And, then there are the performance models. It's staggering!

Since the dimple pattern for a specific model is the same on every ball, is where "Titleist" or the alignment aid's are stamped always done on the exact same spot/exact same dimple pattern? Thinking more so for consistent roll while putting, if the alignment aid is always on a consistent dimple pattern so you don't have to find it.

Also, before stamping, is the equator/balance point of the ball found? I am experimenting with a device that's suppose to find the perfect equator line on the ball. In other words, I can mark a 360 line on the ball where it balances perfectly, therefore, if struck square and pure, the ball will roll end over end more consistently with less/no wobble. So far, this line usually does not match any of the stamps.

Take a trip to Ball Plant #3 and see how they are produced. No, the stamping is not in the exact spot every time, you can tell if you mark your ball with a dot in a dimple like I do. As for balance, that was an issue in the days of wound balls where the solid center had wrapped bands around it and the technology was difficult to keep them centered. That is why Titleist was the first company to X-ray balls to ensure center alignment. With the current technology of producing solid golf balls, your device to mark the "balance point" is unnecessary and really just a marketing ploy for them to sell those devices. You will have much more variation in the ground as you hit a putt that any minuscule difference in each ball. Tell me when you see a PGA pro on the first tee marking his ball for the balance point. If he does not need to for $M's of dollars, we do not need it for a $5 weekend skins game.

Titleist is still the leader in quality control worldwide. But the other tour grade urethane balls are well constructed. There is one house brand ball available at sporting goods stores that is purported to have the alignment stamp to match the balance point but that may relate when it had a dual core like the Pro-V1x. Most other 4 piece balls have gone to a dual mantle to improve the quality. My Spy Golf runs a lab testing ball quality. The other ball plant company in Massachusetts had a dual core 4 piece ball that was infamous for not centering the inner core. Besides investing millions to improve manufacturing they went to a dual mantle.

In summary, Titleist balls are pretty much good to go out of the box. The balance tools are not very precise and Titleist balls roll fairly well. Like shaft purring, if you have more confidence finding a balance point, that’s your choice.

An interesting fact from doing the ball plant 3 tour, the Titleist script is located on the same dimple pattern spot relative on every Pro-V/AVX ball. The ball plant 2 balls don’t get finished that way. So no, there is no magic in the side mark based on finding a balance point.

Precision, Quality Control and Performance make Titleist #1 in the golf ball market.

You guys are over-thinking it. I prefer to let Titleist R&D figure it out, and I just put it into play.

Saw the importance in person at the Titleist ball launch in the desert earlier this year when Stewart Cink hit smooth balls, dimples on half the ball.. I dont think the dimple less ball went over 175 yards with driver!

If you aren't able to get to Ball Plant 3, the technology Titleist uses is an optical device that 'finds' the staggered parting wave line and orients the ball so that the side stamp is along this pseudo-seam, while the "Titleist" logo ends up on the poles of the ball. Now, keep in mind that the pole of the ball could rotate along the axis, so the logo won't be in 'exactly' the same location. Try looking at the balls in a sleeve to see if you can tell.

BTW, this is only for the Premium golf balls and does not include the Performance models which are randomly stamped.