golf ball trajectory

[Rickk]

I recall a while back someone what looking for info on golf ball trajectory and getting them to spin.

I stumbled across this on the net, and oddly enough the spin was first observed with cannon balls and bent barrels:

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae423.cfm

Apparently, you could get a good spin on a ball by intentionally boring a slight bend in the barrel. Fom the article I am guessing a slightly downward bent barrel would make it tend to loft upward. This method would avoid the possibly dangerous, previously given suggestions of intentionally introducing an obstruction on one side of the muzzle.

[moose53]

Good information ,Thanks 

[Cat Whisperer]

Ahhhhhh. There is another way of introducing spin -  bore the bore straight and bore the powder chamber off center.

Easy enough to test.  Then one could also test the effect of top vs. bottom spin; hook vs. slice.

[GGaskill]

From the article I am guessing a slightly downward bent barrel would make it tend to loft upward.

It has been previously reported that a recent development in paint ball guns is a long barreled gun with an intentionally downward bent barrel to cause the aforementioned spin to increase range and accuracy.

An interesting experiment would be to mount the trunnions off center below the bore centerline with a resilient link between the breech and elevation screw to intentionally cause the barrel to flip the muzzle when firing so that the shot would be caused to roll against the bottom of the bore and get a top spin to cause lift.  The vent should be drilled through the cascable so the barrel could be inverted and the experiment tried with the trunnions above center, too, since the dynamic nature of the barrel flip might actually give the opposite of the most obvious effect.  You could alternatively put the trunnions on a band and rotate the barrel in the band to reposition the curve.

[Artilleryman]

Gibbon's discusses cannon ball spin.  In a smoothbore the cannon ball bounces in the barrel imparting some spin.  Also since cannon balls are not perfectly round and the densities are not evenly distributed, the cannon ball to spins and it effects the accuracy and range of the cannon ball.  If you put the heaviest part of the ball at the bottom of the bore you get a reduced range, and if you place it up in the bore you get an extended range.  Obviously if you put it to one side or another you get a dispersion to the right or left.

[Dictator]

In shooting my golf ball cannon, when I used a newspaper wad around the ball I got a tremendous curve in trajectory, up, down, right, left. Never consistent, just all over the place. Without a wad, the ball flies much straighter.