Masterful Projectile

As another Sunday past quickly, I spent the early part of the morning watching the PGA's most coveted and treasured tradition of the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. Seeking the green jacket, I watched as Tiger Woods attempted to push for the lead, but in the end Trevor Immelman held on to capture the title. Throughout the entire broadcast I was amazed at how well these people could play golf. Then it hit me, all golf takes is simple knowledge of Physics and you're set. That's when Augusta DOC! came to me and told me that when you drive the golf ball, you just need to know simple kinematics in order to predict where it will land. Wow, the projectile of these balls flying in the air were just simple kinematics. From the amount of energy that you store in your swing, due to the conservation of momentum and energy, when the club hits the ball, energy and momentum is transfered to the ball which allows it to fly. The flight of the ball is a projectile motion. Of course Augusta DOC! pointed out that the this is a lot more complicated than it looks, and that the projectile becomes difficult to figure out as you add in factors of wind and spin on the ball. But all in all, physics is all around the game of golf. No wonder Tiger Woods is so dominant in the golf world, he's a smart dude who must know a thing or two about golf. Lesson of the week: Physics can make you a PGA pro one day.