Golf Ball Dimple Aerodynamics (2D)

Launch

Ball speed 50 m/s

Launch angle 12°

Backspin rate 2500 rpm

Ball Surface

Ready — press Launch to compare both balls.

Live Readout

Cd smooth (ref)

0.50

Cd test ball

0.25

Distance smooth

– m

Distance test ball

– m

Airspeed

– m/s

Lift coeff. Cl

–

How it works

A smooth sphere sheds its laminar boundary layer early (around 80° from the front stagnation point), leaving a wide low-pressure wake and a high drag coefficient (Cd ≈ 0.5). Dimples trip the boundary layer into turbulence while it is still attached; a turbulent layer carries more energy near the surface and clings on much longer (to roughly 120°), shrinking the wake and cutting drag in about half (Cd ≈ 0.25) — the classic "drag crisis".

Backspin adds Magnus lift: the ball drags air faster over its top than its bottom, creating a pressure difference that pushes the ball upward, flattening its fall and extending carry. More rpm (up to a point) means more lift but also more induced drag — real drivers are tuned to land near an optimum spin, not the maximum.

Toggle dimples off to see how far a smooth-surfaced ball of the same size and speed would actually travel — dramatically less.
Raise backspin to watch the trajectory flatten out and hang in the air longer before landing.

Smooth ball (reference) Test ball (dimples togglable)