Effects of friction and tangential compliance in golf ball bounce #

Stanisław W Biber, Alan R Champneys, Robert Szalai

11:10 Tuesday in 2Q42.

Part of the Mathematical modelling in sport session.

Abstract #

The flight of the golf ball has been well understood and modelled for a number of decades now. Similarly, a lot is known about the impact of the club against the golf ball, but less work has been done on the final stage of the golf ball’s journey – the bounce and roll. In this talk we focus on the models for the golf ball bounce – we present observations from a recent, large scale experimental campaign and attempt to explain the data with an appropriate model. Contrary to previous studies on similar topics, we carefully consider the effects of friction and tangential compliance. Together, these give raise to a discontinuous dynamical system (known as a Filippov system), where the switching conditions overlap, yielding a two-fold switching point. Analysis of this formulation helps us understand the phenomena observed in the experimental campaign and sheds light on the future modelling of the problem.