My goal in creating this blog was to inform people about advancements and processes in materials and metallurgical engineering. I believe that I have managed to do this by relating it to golf and sports in general. Although I think some of my earlier posts were somewhat boring and followed the deficit model I feel that I have been improving and making my posts a little more interactive. I think that I have met all of the requirements when making my posts.
Sean
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Golf - Not so GROOVY anymore!
If you've followed any professional golf over the last two years it's highly likely that you've heard of the new groove rule. The discussion has been the major news on golf technology since the USGA made the decision to implement the rule in 2008. The decision was made then, but the rule did not take effect until January 1, 2010.
For those of you who don't know, grooves are the long lines of indents on the face of the golf club. The grooves impart backspin on the golf ball at impact allowing the ball to fly higher and straighter as the consistent spin helps stabilize the ball in the air. Particularly important on irons, the grooves, by increasing backspin allow the golfer to hit more accurate shots into the green. The extra spin causes the ball to stop shortly after landing and thus makes it easier to control the distance that the ball is hit. Although these grooves may seem very simple to the naked eye, there are many factors involved that can greatly affect the response of the golf ball. The depth, sharpness, and shape of the groove are the main parameters that can be controlled.
Many recreational golfers wonder why they are unable to get the backspin that professional golfers do. The way to get the most backspin on a ball is to make sure that when striking the ball there is no grass in between the head of the club and the ball. Professional golfers are very accurate when striking the ball and will almost always contact the ball before the ground. Grooves come in especially handy for recreational golfers as their design allows for grass to be trapped inside and an cleaner contact between the club and ball to be made. Recent groove technology has created sharper, deeper, U-grooves that can close the gap between a well struck shot and a poorly struck shot. The USGA (governing body for golf in the United States) felt that these grooves were closing the gap between the elite ball strikers on the PGA tour and the good ones and decided to create a new rule regulating the specifications of the grooves. Grooves now have a maximum depth and the shape must now be a V-groove. This takes away a lot of the efficiency of the groove and puts more emphasis on the quality of the shot.
This new rule as posed some very big questions on how technology is regulated in golf. Although it makes sense on the professional level, the new groove rule will most likely affect recreational golfer's the most. Even if they don't realize it the grooves helped their shots immensely and they will find the game much more difficult when playing these new grooves. Although the rule is only in affect for professional golfers and recreational golfers can use whatever clubs they want, golf club manufacturers will no longer produce the old grooves starting in 2011. As golf club technology increases greatly every year I always suggest to every golfer no matter what skill level to update their golf clubs as much as possible. New technology makes the game easier and more enjoyable for recreational golfers. With the new rule however, there will be a big drop in performance between clubs manufactured after 2011 compared to before.
It makes me really wonder if golf club sales will drop greatly in the next few years and whether the industry will be able to make it through unscathed. I often wonder if perhaps the USGA has shot itself in the foot with this new rule as the golf club industry (very important to the game) may very well be entering some hard times.
Technology is greatly advancing in sports. New golf clubs hit the ball farther and straighter and new hockey sticks shoot the puck harder and faster As the professional levels begin to regulate the technology should the game perhaps look towards professional baseball for advice? The technology between wooden baseball bats, and metal ones is very extreme and therefore metal bats are illegal at the professional level. It makes sense at that level but they have let the amateur players to continue using the better metal bats. This makes a lot of sense to me and I wonder if pressure from golf club manufacturer's will push the USGA in the same direction;
For those of you who don't know, grooves are the long lines of indents on the face of the golf club. The grooves impart backspin on the golf ball at impact allowing the ball to fly higher and straighter as the consistent spin helps stabilize the ball in the air. Particularly important on irons, the grooves, by increasing backspin allow the golfer to hit more accurate shots into the green. The extra spin causes the ball to stop shortly after landing and thus makes it easier to control the distance that the ball is hit. Although these grooves may seem very simple to the naked eye, there are many factors involved that can greatly affect the response of the golf ball. The depth, sharpness, and shape of the groove are the main parameters that can be controlled.
Many recreational golfers wonder why they are unable to get the backspin that professional golfers do. The way to get the most backspin on a ball is to make sure that when striking the ball there is no grass in between the head of the club and the ball. Professional golfers are very accurate when striking the ball and will almost always contact the ball before the ground. Grooves come in especially handy for recreational golfers as their design allows for grass to be trapped inside and an cleaner contact between the club and ball to be made. Recent groove technology has created sharper, deeper, U-grooves that can close the gap between a well struck shot and a poorly struck shot. The USGA (governing body for golf in the United States) felt that these grooves were closing the gap between the elite ball strikers on the PGA tour and the good ones and decided to create a new rule regulating the specifications of the grooves. Grooves now have a maximum depth and the shape must now be a V-groove. This takes away a lot of the efficiency of the groove and puts more emphasis on the quality of the shot.
This new rule as posed some very big questions on how technology is regulated in golf. Although it makes sense on the professional level, the new groove rule will most likely affect recreational golfer's the most. Even if they don't realize it the grooves helped their shots immensely and they will find the game much more difficult when playing these new grooves. Although the rule is only in affect for professional golfers and recreational golfers can use whatever clubs they want, golf club manufacturers will no longer produce the old grooves starting in 2011. As golf club technology increases greatly every year I always suggest to every golfer no matter what skill level to update their golf clubs as much as possible. New technology makes the game easier and more enjoyable for recreational golfers. With the new rule however, there will be a big drop in performance between clubs manufactured after 2011 compared to before.
It makes me really wonder if golf club sales will drop greatly in the next few years and whether the industry will be able to make it through unscathed. I often wonder if perhaps the USGA has shot itself in the foot with this new rule as the golf club industry (very important to the game) may very well be entering some hard times.
Technology is greatly advancing in sports. New golf clubs hit the ball farther and straighter and new hockey sticks shoot the puck harder and faster As the professional levels begin to regulate the technology should the game perhaps look towards professional baseball for advice? The technology between wooden baseball bats, and metal ones is very extreme and therefore metal bats are illegal at the professional level. It makes sense at that level but they have let the amateur players to continue using the better metal bats. This makes a lot of sense to me and I wonder if pressure from golf club manufacturer's will push the USGA in the same direction;
Concussions - Inevitable?
Every week, generally on Wednesday nights I play in a roller hockey league. Last week I took a pretty nasty fall, when someone from the other team clipped my skate as I was skating backwards. Taken totally off guard I fell backwards and my head hit the ground pretty hard. Even though I have a brand new state-of-the-art helmet that most manufacturers these days promote as "concussion-proof" I have been suffering from pretty bad whip-lash and mild concussion symptoms in the last week. This is not new to me as I played very competitive hockey growing up and have suffered concussions before.
If you are a hockey fan and follow the NHL fairly closely as I do you may have noticed that concussions are becoming more and more of a problem. If though the NHL has tried to implement new rules that help differ the chances of concussions the trend in the number of them has continued to increase. The other day as I was checking NHL.com for the scores from the night I noticed a FAQ interview with Gary Bettman, the commissioner an Dr. Reuben Echemendia, the head of the NHL/NHLPA Concussion Working Group, about the trend in concussions. The interview can be found at the following link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=551900#&navid=nhl-search
The interview touches on the policies that the NHL has regarding concussions, as well as the technology involved in preventing them. The latter is what caught my attention. With my interest in sporting equipment and materials engineering I was somewhat perplexed as to how there has yet to be a great development in concussion preventing protective gear. The interview touched on this subject. In order to prevent a concussion a helmet must be able to absorb a significant amount of energy produced during a blow to the head. Unfortunately with the current technology, for this to be possible helmets would have to be much bulkier and heavier making them much too uncomfortable and awkward to play in. The intention of today's helmets, which are comprised of a hard, polycarbonate shell, is to transfer the energy. The reason for this is to prevent more serious injuries such as depressed skull fractures and lacerations. Although concussions can be very persistent causing players to miss a month or two, such as Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, or even the rest of the season, such Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins, they are not perceived as an extremely dangerous injury. It is also a common belief that a mouthguard is successful prevention to concussions. Echemendia argues that although mouthguards are very important dental and jaw protection, there has been no evidence that they are efficient in the protection against concussions.
It is obvious to me that concussions are becoming much more frequent in the sporting world. This could perhaps just be because they are becoming much better at diagnosing them. I do believe, however, that this is becoming a serious problem and I would expect to see a lot more research and development in the future geared towards protecting athletes from concussions.
Sean
If you are a hockey fan and follow the NHL fairly closely as I do you may have noticed that concussions are becoming more and more of a problem. If though the NHL has tried to implement new rules that help differ the chances of concussions the trend in the number of them has continued to increase. The other day as I was checking NHL.com for the scores from the night I noticed a FAQ interview with Gary Bettman, the commissioner an Dr. Reuben Echemendia, the head of the NHL/NHLPA Concussion Working Group, about the trend in concussions. The interview can be found at the following link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=551900#&navid=nhl-search
The interview touches on the policies that the NHL has regarding concussions, as well as the technology involved in preventing them. The latter is what caught my attention. With my interest in sporting equipment and materials engineering I was somewhat perplexed as to how there has yet to be a great development in concussion preventing protective gear. The interview touched on this subject. In order to prevent a concussion a helmet must be able to absorb a significant amount of energy produced during a blow to the head. Unfortunately with the current technology, for this to be possible helmets would have to be much bulkier and heavier making them much too uncomfortable and awkward to play in. The intention of today's helmets, which are comprised of a hard, polycarbonate shell, is to transfer the energy. The reason for this is to prevent more serious injuries such as depressed skull fractures and lacerations. Although concussions can be very persistent causing players to miss a month or two, such as Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, or even the rest of the season, such Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins, they are not perceived as an extremely dangerous injury. It is also a common belief that a mouthguard is successful prevention to concussions. Echemendia argues that although mouthguards are very important dental and jaw protection, there has been no evidence that they are efficient in the protection against concussions.
It is obvious to me that concussions are becoming much more frequent in the sporting world. This could perhaps just be because they are becoming much better at diagnosing them. I do believe, however, that this is becoming a serious problem and I would expect to see a lot more research and development in the future geared towards protecting athletes from concussions.
Sean
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Self-Interview
What is the purpose of this blog?
The purpose of this blog is for me, personally, to improve my science communication skills. My goal is also to communicate metallurgical knowledge by relating it to something that is much more popular, SPORTS.
The purpose of this blog is for me, personally, to improve my science communication skills. My goal is also to communicate metallurgical knowledge by relating it to something that is much more popular, SPORTS.
Man, You're Breaking My Balls!
In my last post I mentioned that I would attempt to have a couple of blog posts that everyone can relate to. So I got to thinking: How can I write about golf technology and appeal to the vast majority of people. I somehow got to thinking of my childhood and my fascination with breaking things. As a kid I liked to either take things apart or break them and see what was inside. This included toys, rocks and in my teen years GOLF BALLS. As a teenager I worked in the proshop at the local golf course. On rainy or cold days business was very slow and there wasn't much to keep a guy occupied. I often spent these days repairing and re-gripping golf clubs. However when I no longer had any clubs left to repair I would use my trusty torch for something else. Myself and couple of friends who also worked there would go out on the deck and burn the hard outer layer of golf balls off to get to the inside. This created quite a bit of entertainment as some of the golf balls were either comprised of a wound rubber band inner core or a liquid core. If we were lucky enough to choose one of these balls, we were in for quite a surprise. As the flame of the torch melted through the outer layer of the ball and contacted either the rubber bands or the liquid the insides would explode and shoot out of the ball. One of my favorite stories to tell people is that if you were very careful, and only removed the outer layer of a Titleist Professional golf ball (a rubber band wound type) you could remove the inner wound core without breaking the rubber band. If you were successful it was possible to unwind the entire rubber band and when stretched out this band covered a span of nearly 300 yards. As much entertainment as these "shinanigans" provided it got me interested in golf ball technology at an early age.
The golf ball has gone through many changes throughout the years. In the very first stages golf balls were made out of wood. These balls were very easily manufactured however they could not fly very far, averaging about 100 yards. Later on someone came up with the crazy idea that if feathers could help birds fly why not golf balls? The result was a ball made out of boiled duck or goose feathers encased in a leather coating. This introduced a ball that was capable of flying 200 yards. The problem with this was the manufacturing process was very slow as only a couple of balls could be made in a day. Later on the balls were made out of tree sap from Malaysia. And finally the technology of dimples which as stuck around until now was introduced. Someone noticed that a ball that was scuffed up after taking numerous of blows flew further. The result was a ball with an outer casing comprising of hundreds of indentations.
Today's balls are all very similar on the outside. They consist of a cover with 330-500 dimples. The inside is the important part and can make a big difference in how far the ball flies and how much control the golfer has over its flight. They are divided into two general categories: wound balls and non-wound balls. Wound balls consist of a liquid or solid core surrounded by strips of rubber while non-wound balls have a solid or liquid core surrounded by a pressurized urethane solid material.
Golf ball technology has played a very big part in the evolution of the game. For those golf enthusiasts out there, I seriously suggest breaking open you're favorite ball on a rainy day and exploring the material technology that plays such a big part in you're game. It definitely provided me with hours of entertainment in the past.
Sean
The golf ball has gone through many changes throughout the years. In the very first stages golf balls were made out of wood. These balls were very easily manufactured however they could not fly very far, averaging about 100 yards. Later on someone came up with the crazy idea that if feathers could help birds fly why not golf balls? The result was a ball made out of boiled duck or goose feathers encased in a leather coating. This introduced a ball that was capable of flying 200 yards. The problem with this was the manufacturing process was very slow as only a couple of balls could be made in a day. Later on the balls were made out of tree sap from Malaysia. And finally the technology of dimples which as stuck around until now was introduced. Someone noticed that a ball that was scuffed up after taking numerous of blows flew further. The result was a ball with an outer casing comprising of hundreds of indentations.
Today's balls are all very similar on the outside. They consist of a cover with 330-500 dimples. The inside is the important part and can make a big difference in how far the ball flies and how much control the golfer has over its flight. They are divided into two general categories: wound balls and non-wound balls. Wound balls consist of a liquid or solid core surrounded by strips of rubber while non-wound balls have a solid or liquid core surrounded by a pressurized urethane solid material.
Golf ball technology has played a very big part in the evolution of the game. For those golf enthusiasts out there, I seriously suggest breaking open you're favorite ball on a rainy day and exploring the material technology that plays such a big part in you're game. It definitely provided me with hours of entertainment in the past.
Sean
Framing
In my Communicating Science class last week we talked about framing. Framing is a communication tool where you present an idea in a manor that influences how that idea is perceived. The class looks at the difficulties in communicating science with the general public. A previous comment asked me if my blog will only reach golfers. Like I said in my first post I will attempt to touch on as many sports as possible. However golf is what I know best and there is the greatest amount of metallurgy and material applications in golf. A few of my posts will attempt to reach all readers and not just the golf fanatics. My goal in this blog is to discuss some of the advancements in metallurgical engineering by relating them to sports and more specifically golf. I also recently read a statistic that in 2005 approximately 26 million people in the United States played at least one round of golf that year. That is nearly 10% of the entire population. It is my opinion that if I can find a way to make metallurgical engineering relate-able to one tenth of the entire population of the United States then I have found a pretty decent method. I realize that the majority of these golfers are recreational and perhaps only play a couple times a year, which is why i will attempt to frame my blogs in such a way that will interest the average recreational golfer, or whatever sport I am discussing.
Sean
Sean
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