Launch speed, angle and spin in golf

The impact of a golf club with a golf ball has previously been analysed by several authors, assuming that the ball rolls across the club face. In this paper it is shown that the ball grips the club face, rather than rolling, with the result that the outgoing ball spin is generally larger than previously estimated. Experimental results are presented for three different balls, showing that the ball spin can vary from one ball to the next, depending on the tangential coefficient of restitution of the ball.