Scientists unravel the physics behind golf’s most frustrating phenomenon: lip outwhen the ball takes an unexpected turn.
That moment when the ball seems to have followed the ideal path, it seems like the shot was perfect…but then go around the holealready at the edges, already “halfway inside”, and doesn’t go in. Turn around the relva.
And the lip out. Some call it the “curse” of golfers, the “golfer’s curse”. And there are those who get visibly irritated when this happens – and without realizing how.
Now, the physical believe they have finally deciphered the mystery behind this enigma with centuries of history, identifying the precise mechanisms that allow the ball to leave the hole after appearing to have fallen.
The , entitled “The mechanics of the edge of the lip out”, was led by John Hogan, engineering mathematician at the University of Bristol, and Mate Antali, mechanical engineer at Széchenyi István University.
And it offers the first unified mathematical explanation for the three main types of lip out: ballistic, edge and hole.
Os lip outs ballistic occur when the ball hits the opposite end of the hole at excessive speed and bounces.
Os lip outs edge They happen when the ball touches the edge of the hole and makes a full turn before escaping.
The most intriguing type — the lip out from the hole — occurs when the ball enters the hole and, inexplicably, rises again, seeming to defy gravity.
To model the phenomenon, Hogan and Antali redefined geometry of the problem. Instead of using traditional axes linked to the ground or the rotation of the ball, they analyzed the movement through a mobile reference which follows the trajectory of the ball and the point of contact. This approach allowed describing all types of lip out based on the same physical principles.
The conclusions reveal that, Upon entering the hole, the ball begins to rotate around its point of contact.
I know movement slow down Before reaching the bottom, inertial forces can reverse the trajectory, making it rise again along the inner wall of the hole, describes the .
The phenomenon occurs in a state known as “saddle balance” — an unstable balance in which small imperfections, such as a small dent in the rim, determine whether the ball stays in or leaves the hole.
This study is unlikely to help players hit the hole more often. But experts believe it is an important advance in understanding sports dynamics.
John McPhee, systems engineer at the University of Waterloo, sums it up: “It’s gratifying to see such an elegant solution to one of golf’s oldest mysteries.”
