THE DYNAMICS OF A GOLF BALL 



197 



Let us now consider the effect of a cross-wind. Suppose the wind 

 is blowing from left to right, then, if the ball is pulled, it will be 

 rotating in the direction shown in Fig. 26; the rules we found for 

 the effect of rotation on the difference of pressure on the two sides 

 of a ball in a blast of air show that in this case the pressure on the 

 front half of the ball will be greater than that on the rear half, and 

 thus tend to stop the flight of the ball. If, however, the spin was 



58. 



Fig. 29. 



that for a slice, the pressure on the rear half would be greater than 

 the pressure in front, so that the difference in pressure would tend to 

 push on the ball and make it travel further than it otherwise would. 

 The moral of this is that if the wind is coming from the left we should 

 play up into the wind and slice the ball, while if it is coming from the 

 right we should play up into it and pull the ball. 



I have not time for more than a few words as to how the ball ac- 

 quires the spin from the club. But if you grasp the principle that the 



Pig. 31. 



action between the club and the ball depends only on their relative 

 motion, and that it is the same whether we have the ball fixed and 

 move the club, or have the club fixed and project the ball against it, 

 the main features are very easily understood. 



Suppose Fig. 27 represents the section of the head of a lofted club 

 moving horizontally forward from right to left, the effect of the im- 

 pact will be the same as if the club were at rest and the ball were shot 



