Golf balls have not changed much on the outside over the years. However, what's inside has changed drastically over the course of golf's history and continues to evolve today. The center of a golf ball can have a significant impact on how far the ball will travel when hit and how much control the golfer has over the trajectory of the ball.
Types
Today there are many types of golf balls on the market. Pretty much all golf balls fall into one of two categories: Wound balls have a rubber or sometimes liquid core surrounded by strips of rubber that look something like a rubber band. This is encased with the classic hard dimpled shell. Non-wound balls have a similar design but feature a solid core.
Misconceptions
The most popular myth about golf balls is that the center is either poisonous or explosive. Generations of children have been fascinated by the thought that the inside of a golf ball was filled with a poison gas or potentially explosive material. Fortunately, this is nothing but an urban legend. In 1898, B.F Goodrich produced golf balls with a compressed air core that had the unfortunate habit of exploding from time to time. This may be the origin of the current myth.
Benefits
Wound balls used to be the choice of professional golfers because they were easier to control, even if they did not travel as far. New technology has rendered them almost entirely obsolete because non-wound balls now have softer covers so they are easier to control, and the solid core makes them travel farther.
Risk Factors
The popularity of one golf ball versus another is usually based how far the travels. Golf balls with solid centers tend to travel farther, making them more popular balls for golfers. The downside to this is the danger of errant golf balls. People have been injured and property damaged when golfers lose control over the golf balls as they travel over great distances.
The United States Golf Association has actually been trying to reign in golf balls in recent years. They have asked manufacturers to submit prototype balls that travel shorter distances.
Evolution
The outside of today's golf balls looks very similar to the golf balls of long ago. Inside though, they are very different. During the early 1700s, golf balls were stuffed with boiled goose feathers, and in the late 1800s brought the occasionally exploding golf ball. Today's golf balls are more a marriage of function and science than function and tradition. They tend to be multi-layer balls with pressurized urethane cores.
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