Gravity of vibrations

[dan19_83]

For anyone that saw Tiger Woods' super putt yesterday in the masters.

 

It just stopped for a second before it went down the hole. I mean the ball did actually stop for a second or two. The question is:

Did the ball fall due to gravity or do you think that the crowd roaring caused vibrations and the ball fell?

 

I think it may have been a bit of both.

[ed84c]

I think it was on a small decline, it had essentially stopped as far as the hit off tigers putter is concerned, it started rolling almost infinitely slow, slowing gathereing speed and acceleration on the decline, finally falling in the hole.

 

Thats my theory anyway;

 

"The ball lay [finished] on a small decline, which led to it rolling in the hole"

[Douglas]

Maybe Tiger had some spin on the ball and it sat there for a second spinning it's wheels, then accelarated toward the hole.

[dan19_83]

If you saw the shot you'd know it didn't spin.

The commentators were calling it one of the greatest shots of all time and i tend to agree.

It actually just stopped for maybe a second ans a half and then fell. the crowd were going nuts and when it dropped, the place went wild.

 

Maybe ed84c is right. it was on a bit of a downslope so gravity just took a while to kick in!!

[Ophiolite]

Grass is compressible.

Fuller explanation provided if required.

[dan19_83]

Are you sayiny that the weight of the ball pushed down on the grass and the ball eventually went it. The grass on greens is cut very short, like 1-2mm.

[Asimov Pupil]

THE PHANTOM OF THE PUTTING GREEN!!!!!!!whew! *composure*

 

I have to agree with ed! The ball must have been on a downslope.

[Ophiolite]

Are you sayiny that the weight of the ball pushed down on the grass and the ball eventually went it. The grass on greens is cut very short, like 1-2mm.

Exactly. I know its short (certainly way shorter than the grass where I spend most of my round.), but it still has mobility. The individual blades can be pushed closer together by the weight of the ball. That could be just enough to for the effect we are discussing.

On practice putting surfaces I have observed the blades spring back after the ball has 'fallen' into the hole. Now, you make a very good point that the greens at Augusta are cut very close - closer for sure than a practice green - but I still think its a plausible explanation.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Exactly. I know its short (certainly way shorter than the grass where I spend most of my round.)' date=' but it still has mobility. The individual blades can be pushed closer together by the weight of the ball. That could be just enough to for the effect we are discussing.

On practice putting surfaces I have observed the blades spring back after the ball has 'fallen' into the hole. Now, you make a very good point that the greens at Augusta are cut very close - closer for sure than a practice green - but I still think its a plausible explanation.[/quote']

 

I agree with your assessment. The grass can "buckle" and then recover, partially or otherwise and always with some energy loss. The ball looked to be still poised to go downhill when it "stopped" but with the grass underneath straining/slowly collapsing under the weight. Crowd noise "plausibly" or butterfly wings flapping in Australia a week earlier "possibly" could have "tipped the scale".

[dan19_83]

Another idea i got from a friend yesterday was slight gust of wind.?

[DavidAngelMX]

I agree about the slope, but a slight gust of wind could have helped to break the balance of the ball, leaving the rest of the job to gravity. But I think it's improbable that the gust of wind moved it by itself until it was inside the hole, because then the "slight gust of wind" wouldn't have been so slight, don't you think?

[dan19_83]

lol. agreed