A question about golf

or baseball or that matter. When a player strikes the ball with a club or a bat what difference does "follow through" make? It appears that as soon as the ball is struck it leaves the instrument that struck it. Would it not make logical sense that if the club or bat stopped immediately, the ball would still go the same distance without follow through.

Originally posted by kirksey957
or baseball or that matter. When a player strikes the ball with a club or a bat what difference does "follow through" make? It appears that as soon as the ball is struck it leaves the instrument that struck it. Would it not make logical sense that if the club or bat stopped immediately, the ball would still go the same distance without follow through.

One would assume that it changes the way (direction / angle / speed) in which the ball is hit.....

I think the concept of follow-thru is largely for the benefit of the person swinging the bat/club. If you have it in your head that you are going to swing through the ball it limits the chance that you will simply slap at the ball which would decrease power and accuracy.

Essentially, follow-thru helps a person's swing, but does little or nothing once the ball leaves the bat or club.

Originally posted by TheSkipper
Essentially, follow-thru helps a person's swing, but does little or nothing once the ball leaves the bat or club.

That sounds right. Someone that doesn't follow-through is probably already decelerating the club/bat/whatever by the time it hits the ball, so they are using power.

Originally posted by mtthw
That sounds right. Someone that doesn't follow-through is probably already decelerating the club/bat/whatever by the time it hits the ball, so they are using power.

"Losing" power, obviously 🙂

Originally posted by mtthw
That sounds right. Someone that doesn't follow-through is probably already decelerating the club/bat/whatever by the time it hits the ball, so they are using power.

Believe it or not, this is also true in archery! The 'follow through' is to maintain the bow arm in a stationary, horizontal position, until the arrow has hit the target. This guarantees that the archer does not begin to drop the bow arm before the arrow has left the bow.

Penguin.

You'd have to be extremely strong to be able to stop a swing immediately after contact. Far better to let it slow down while it's completing its natural movement without wasting the "stopping" energy.

Originally posted by Penguin
Believe it or not, this is also true in archery! The 'follow through' is to maintain the bow arm in a stationary, horizontal position, until the arrow has hit the target. This guarantees that the archer does not begin to drop the bow arm before the arrow has left the bow.

Penguin.

And in running.
When you've run a 100 meter race, you don't stop immediately after the finish string, do you?
You just get the speed out of your body slowly.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
And in running.
When you've run a 100 meter race, you don't stop immediately after the finish string, do you?
You just get the speed out of your body slowly.

Yes, I was just thinking about that. I remember being taught at junior school to aim for a point about ten metres after the finish line, otherwise you naturally slow down right at the finish.

Originally posted by kirksey957
or baseball or that matter. When a player strikes the ball with a club or a bat what difference does "follow through" make? It appears that as soon as the ball is struck it leaves the instrument that struck it. Would it not make logical sense that if the club or bat stopped immediately, the ball would still go the same distance without follow through.

This has nothing to do with the "follow through" question, but the reason for a slice in golf, or a curve ball in baseball has to do with the rotation of the ball.

If the ball is rotating after you hit it, it will curve.

Imagine the axis of rotatioin is perpendicular to the ground. If the ball is speeding away from you, then the side that is rotating away from you is actually moving faster relative to the air, than the side rotating twords you.

This causes lower pressure on the side that has a higher relative wind speed, causing the ball to curve towards the low pressure.

All this thanks to Bernoulli.

Originally posted by mlprior
This has nothing to do with the "follow through" question, but the reason for a slice in golf, or a curve ball in baseball has to do with the rotation of the ball.

If the ball is rotating after you hit it, it will curve.

Imagine the axis of rotatioin is perpendicular to the ground. If the ball is speeding away from you, then the side that is rotatin ...[text shortened]... speed, causing the ball to curve towards the low pressure.

All this thanks to Bernoulli.

Bernoulli was a great golfer.
Hitler was not. He died in the bunker.

Originally posted by mlprior
This causes lower pressure on the side that has a higher relative wind speed, causing the ball to curve towards the low pressure.

All this thanks to Bernoulli.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but the Bernouilli principle is involved (via something called the Magnus effect). You need to worry about boundary layer separation as well.

A related explanation is the one as to why the dimples on a golf ball help it go further.

When I was a child at a summer camp in the Boston area, Ted Williams, the last and only player ever to bat .400, came and gave us batting lessons now and then.

I remember what he said about the follow through. He said that if you did not mentally prepare to follow through completely, your swing would be weaker, incomplete, and you'd miss the ball more often.

He said that if you train yourself to perform a complete swing, then you will more likely consistently make contact with the ball and also make the ball travel farther than if you shorten your swing by failing to follow through.

I know the same thing applies in golf -- while I was a good, if not powerful, hitter in baseball, I've really found my game in golf. Even in the short game, using a wedge around the green, you have to follow through the ball, not swipe or punch at it, to get consistently good results. You get better results in controlling the distance the ball travels by changing the height at which you elevate the wedge on the backswing, not by limiting the follow through. The same is true for running the ball up using a longer iron.

Does Correolis Acceleration also contribute to movement of the golf ball? This is an additional effect of accelleration due to a body's angular accelleration in a system that already has an angular acceleration. This is what makes whirlpools move the same way in the northern hemisphere and stuff like that.

Originally posted by dinosaurus
Does Correolis Acceleration also contribute to movement of the golf ball? This is an additional effect of accelleration due to a body's angular accelleration in a system that already has an angular acceleration. This is what makes whirlpools move the same way in the northern hemisphere and stuff like that.

Yes, it has. But only at the most centimeters in very long distances.