Hi,
Great group.

A bit out of my field with this, so thought I'd ask.

Regarding the lift a golf ball experiences when driven forward:

The backspin that is apparently imparted to the ball by the driver, when
added to the the
flow it sees do the forward flight, adds at the top of the ball, and is less
at the bottom.

So, I guess that one can say that due to Bernoulli, the flow vel. is higher
at the top, hence a reduced p, hence
lift in the upward direction. Is this the Magnus effect, or is the Magnus
effect really due to the
wake differences and/or boundary layer effect differences (such as
thickness, separation, etc.) as I've asked following ?

But I think this is an oversimplification.

Doesnt the fact that the boundary layer and trailing wake are distorted, and
different, for the upper
part of the ball vs the lower half really have "more" to do with the
imparted lift than Bernoulli ?

Might someone explain, please for a golf ball in flight:

- the magnus effect
- the magnus effect vs the Bernoulli effect, and which is greater
- the overall effects on a golf ball due to backspin and forward flight
- etc.

I've looked up Magnus Effect on the web, but the explanations i've
pulled up appear, at tleast to me, to be incomplete, oversimplifies, and in
some cases
obviously wrong.

Would appreciate a good, complete, explanation as to what happens,
understandable for
someone who is not an expert with Circulation theory.

Thanks,
Bob