Do PGA Tour Golf Balls Have Built-In Trackers?

Watching golf on TV, it’s common to see pro tracer technology accurately showing ball flight, curve, and landing spot for players’ shots.

This leads many fans to theorize that PGA Tour balls contain internal tracking sensors allowing this ball tracking effect.

In this article, we’ll examine whether today’s PGA Tour golf balls truly incorporate built-in sensors and communication technology.

We’ll also look at how broadcast networks achieve accurate ball flight tracing without trackers inside the actual balls.

Why Internal Sensors Appear Plausible

Given rapid advances in microelectronics and communications, the theory holds some merit for tiny sensors embedded inside tour golf balls:

• Miniaturized circuitry and power sources enable embedding sensors.
• Radar, GPS, or RFID tags could relay ball position.
• Encapsulated sensors avoid affecting ball flight per regulations.
• Transmitted ball data would integrate easily into digital broadcast graphics.

While technically feasible, actual PGA Tour balls avoid such internal electronics. But what explains their apparent tracking?

How PGA Tour Ball Tracking Actually Works

Rather than embedded sensors, PGA Tour ball flight tracing leverages an external ball tracking system using high-speed cameras:

• Radar equipment tracks the ball’s initial velocity off the clubface.
• High-frame-rate cameras then follow the ball’s entire trajectory.
• Powerful computers calculate the 3D flight path using this external data.
• Graphics systems overlay the digitally-produced ball flight onto video in real time.

So despite reasonable theories, the ball tracking effect gets enabled entirely by external technology, not sensors within the actual balls.

Why PGA Tour Balls Avoid Internal Electronics

While miniaturization makes it possible, PGA Tour balls avoid electronics for some valid reasons:

• Altered Weight – Even tiny circuits marginally change interior mass.
• Electromagnetic Effects – Wireless comms could vary ball oscillations.
• Reduced Durability – Layers protecting sensors may crack over time.
• Manufacturing Complexity – Electronics complicate manufacturing consistency.
• Unnecessary Costs – External tracking avoids complexity and expense.

For these reasons, tour balls achieve responsiveness and quality control by minimizing components solely to those improving flight.

Usages for Internal Electronics in Other Sports Balls

While PGA Tour golf balls avoid internal electronics presently, other sports do leverage embedded sensors:

Baseball – Pitch tracking systems embed sensors enabling pitch velocity, spin, and movement tracking.

Tennis – Sensors assist referees in making accurate in/out calls on close shots.

Soccer – Chips with accelerometers reliably detect goals, passes, and hard tackles.

When unobtrusive to overall play, wireless sensors provide real-time analytics and automation capabilities.

Alternative Internal Golf Ball Electronics Research

Beyond transmitting location, researchers have prototyped other electronic uses inside golf balls:

• Core modifications – Fine wire coil or ferrite microwave elements alter core hardness activated by radio waves.
• Embedded batteries – Mini zinc-air or magnesium-air cells could power electronics.
• Wireless charging – Inductive charging circuity enables recharging internal batteries without contact.
• Inertial sensors – MEMS accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers track orientation.
• Active illumination – LEDs powered by internal cells or inductive charging could aid night play.

These concepts remain confined to labs but give glimpses of potential future internal golf ball electronics applications.

The One Internal Sensor Allowed in PGA Tour Balls

There is only one embedded electronic sensor permitted by PGA Tour rules – acoustic microphones for detecting potential Energy Transfer violations:

• Monitors audio output on impact to identify balls producing sounds exceeding allowable limits.
• Analog microphones pick up subtle acoustic differences from the ball compression.
• Thresholds classify strikes as compliant or exceeding distance limits.

So microphones represent the only electronic sensors currently incorporated into PGA Tour balls.

Potential Future Internal Ball Sensors for Amateurs

Cost reductions in MEMS and microelectronics could someday enable internal sensors for regular amateur balls providing handy shot metrics or game enhancements:

Swing Diagnostics – Accelerometers identifying face angles, club paths, impact locations, and swing tempo.

Full Shot Tracing – Integrated radar, GPS, and inertial sensors plotting tee-to-green ball flight.

Virtual Caddie Assistance – Club recommendations, playing strategies, and tips based on localized conditions.

Automated Scorekeeping – Built-in scoring capability, GPS course mapping, and statistics.

Club Fitting Insights – Optimized club recommendations based on your data.

While not plausible today, embedding useful golf metrics and electronics into ball cores could become cost-effective with future miniaturization and manufacturing improvements.

Conclusion

In summary, while technically possible, current PGA Tour golf balls avoid purposefully embedding active electronics or sensors due to potential negative effects on flight consistency and manufacturing quality.

Regulations also restrict components solely to those improving performance and playability.

Instead, separate launch and ball tracking systems enable creating the sensation of ball flight graphics for television.

But miniaturization trends do present opportunities for future balls tailored specifically for amateurs to incorporate helpful electronics and sensors internally.

So eventually, your golf ball itself may become an intelligent caddie and coach offering handy advice and insights hole after hole. But for professional tournaments, classic rubber and polymers built solely for maximizing flight remain king inside the ball.