Wind effect???

[Chieflongtee]

How much effect does wind have on a straight ball? In other words how much effect does a 10 mph crosswind have on ball flight? 20 mph? 30 mph? 40 mph?

Is there an equation?

[mpare]

If you really want to know the answer to your question, have a look at this article that appeared in the American Journal of Physics on the "Effect of Sidespin and Wind on Projectile Trajectory, With Particular Application to Golf" : http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/serv...00100009330000

[jvincent]

Straight ball? What's that?

According to Trajectoware it's approx 1 yard per MPH with a ball speed of 139MPH and a launch angle of 9.3*.

If you plug in different launch conditions and change the wind direction to 90* you can get the numbers.

[Chieflongtee]

Sorry, the article page you requested does not exist, or the article has not been published yet.
If you think you have received this message in error, please contact the helpdesk at help@scitation.org.

Link does not work Michael.

[mpare]

The link simply provides the particulars of the article. You have to gain access through the library or online to the journal to read it. Sorry, but I don't have a full copy of it. I'll see if I can track it down, though.

Link does not work Michael.

[Gary Madore]

It boils down to a vector addition problem.

Back in the day (grin) I was taught to do it manually (drawing the traiangle), then learned to do it with "whiz wheels" but we have computers now.

There's some good reading on sites like this:

http://www.auf.asn.au/navigation/wind.html

Googling "wind triangle" will yield plenty of geeky and mind-numbingly boring material

I don't have time right now, but later (assuming there's still interest) I'll manually work out a couple of examples that people can use as "rules of thumb."

Cheers!

Gary

[Chambokl]

Chief... no straight answer... too many variable. It is all about algebra (vectors)...

Vector from ball speed
Vector from wind (have to also consider the angle)
Any spin on the ball (might be straight)
How long is the ball in the air (launch angle)

It will move quite a bit, especially if you have a side spin... if you slice or draw your ball it is exaggerated when you are playing into the wind... damn physics...

[jvincent]

Trajectoware factors in all of the things you mention since it computes spin (back and side) as well as time in the air, etc.

If you've never checked it out, it's a good tool for showing what REALLY affects distance.

[Chambokl]

Trajectoware factors in all of the things you mention since it computes spin (back and side) as well as time in the air, etc.

If you've never checked it out, it's a good tool for showing what REALLY affects distance.

I have check it out... I might download it to play with it... and maybe use it my my grade 12 vector class...

Gary, the problem with this problem is that different people have different launch angle so the ball will stay in the air longer so the ball will be more affected... Example with boat or plane don't work the same way with a golf ball...

For example, my friend hit his irons quite low... so ball might be in the air 5 seconds on a 125 yards par 3... my ball flight is really high... so on the same hole the ball will be in the air for 8 to 10 seconds... so the wind will affect it more for the same speed and same wind.