Overcomplicating GOLF by simulating every possible shot

Extra note: I'm starting a Facebook page for AlphaPhoenix with video updates and info about projects I'm working on! / alphaphoenixchannel
In this video I take a trip to Thistle Dhu, the famous putting course at Pinehurst and write a matlab program to simulate a million putts at once, all in an effort to map "Phase Spaces" of golf. There's a common scientific mindset normally referred to as a phase space or parameter space, where you express everything that could happen in an experiment in terms of the variables you can control. In the case of putting a golf ball, the ball can go in the hole, or it can miss completely - if it misses, we also care how far from the hole it stopped. You only actually have control of two variables while putting a golf ball, the initial speed and initial direction. After you hit the ball, physics takes over!
By popular request, here's some code!
github.com/BrianHaidet/AlphaP...
Music:
I Dunno by grapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626
Graphic based on plot from McSkimming et al., (2014) 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2013.10.013

[@StuffMadeHere]

Very cool. It would be neat to invert the solver by sending balls FROM the hole in every possible speed and direction. This would give you a 4D map of all possible starting locations + speeds + directions that go in. Not directly visualizable, but you could slice it like an MRI to look up the solution for any given shot location…

[@alec-md1zo]

so are you gonna make another lock or what

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Nice to see you here! Also - cool idea! Somebody else on this thread suggested that you would use this style of algorithm to make an automated golf machine but you’d need like a lidar 3D model of the green… I got nerd sniped real hard by your second lock video and according to the hastily scribbled sketches from about 4am the next day, I totally think it could be done with 4 concentric rings with a few connecting sheet metal parts in the back. Maybe or maybe not cheaper to machine… Haven’t had time to CAD yet cause ive been moving… to Raleigh…

[@bjaaro4380]

that would be very interesting as the ball would have to accelerate more the further from the hole it gets and given that shots break at a higher rate the slower the ball is moving that would create a very interesting visual effect.

[@SirRebrl]

@onetoone It just has to simulate the physics backwards. Like, instead of simulating the ball rolling up the hill, simulate it _unrolling down_ the hill. Which looks like rolling up, but gives numbers for rolling down.

[@Roter_Wolf]

Raytracing vs Pathtracing

[@johngaleazza3652]

I love when analytics like this confirm what are traditionally held ideas. Typically a golfer is taught to line up their put such that the ball will come to rest about 18 inches beyond the hole. This is fast enough for the ball the sink, but not so fast that there is a chance that the ball skips out of the cup. Should you miss you will have an easier second shot at the hole vs a missed bullet shot. And since golf is a sequence of shots with the goal of completing the course in the fewest shots possible rather than a series of independent shots than clearly it is advantageous to set up an easier subsequent shot.

[@Arrica101]

Related but also not, i love the fact that the whole idea of golf is to play the least amount of golf

[@wojciechbieniek4029]

@@Arrica101 I think it might relate to the myth/tradition, that a bottle of whisky holds 18 shots ;)

[@hutchmusician]

@@Arrica101 Funny, but also true for all kinds of races: the runner who spends the least time running wins the race; the driver who drives for the shortest time wins…

[@itap8880]

@@hutchmusician This rule could also be generalized to account for some proffesions that exist to delete the object of their work (for example, the object of having a police force is to have nobody break the law).

[@chriso1373]

@@hutchmusician not necessarily true for racing. In endurance racing, whoever does the most laps in the allotted time wins 😉

[@joeym5243]

Minigolf designers: "WRITE THAT DOWN! WRITE THAT DOWN!

[@afrye51]

It's interesting seeing this, the engineer's solution of just simulating it a million times where so many math youtube channels would try to describe it with equations. Keep up the good work!

[@RonWolfHowl]

Probabilistic math is math too! This is known as a Monte Carlo method.

[@appa609]

honestly most of these situations can be solved by hand fairly easily.

[@Aerroon]

@@RonWolfHowl And it's quite common with programming. Simulating a result can often be easier than going through all the equations, because you only need to think about a realistic setup for the system.

[@YourPhysicsSimulator]

Innacurate, you didn't simulate me not hitting the ball on every single shot.

[@asailijhijr]

The top left pixel in every single diagram.

[@YourPhysicsSimulator]

@@asailijhijr More like bottom left? Also, since he puts SLOW and not the quantity I don't know which is the latest speed (probably 0, but It doesn't have much computational sense) Edit: I've looked his codes and in the ones I've looked there were no 0 velocities. I am probably mistaken. Correct me if it is so.

[@darrenlo9802]

@@YourPhysicsSimulator Inaccurate

[@darrenlo9802]

@@YourPhysicsSimulator Inaccurate

[@erumaaro6060]

@@asailijhijr nope, bottom line: no speed, angle undefined. no put indented...

[@brandonrogers917]

This video has CRIMINALLY low views! Very well made! Also, is your simulation code available anywhere?

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Thanks! and yes, is now - link's in the description. If you know any golfers, computer scientists, or anybody else who might want to help with that view count... let them know!

[@Frack_Black]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Bryson DeChambreu wants your number. 😄

[@miamatti]

@AlphaPhoenix love your video, excited to look over your matlab code. looks like a fun project to study to up my skills (as an ME undergrad)

[@chiragsingla.]

Now see it go boom, the youtube recommendation doing its thing

[@themightyripples6582]

Man, you make very cool videos, i especially am entertained by the visual gags you do (not many in this vid, admittedly) to put your point across. Very creative, very scientific, love your videos!

[@dereknalley]

I feel like this channel is the second generation of what KZbin could be.

[@badoem5353]

The hive mind develops and grows with each spec of it's whole

[@cloak5857]

Don't hold your breath.

[@1ucasvb]

Excellent video! Simulations like these are super fun! By the way, I'm pretty sure the more accurate term would be "parameter space". Phase space does imply dynamics, where here you are plotting initial conditions.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

I think you're right that these should be called parameter spaces. Phase space officially I think I've only seen in multi-pendulum examples with something like angular velocity plotted over time? It still maps out forbidden regions and stable regions. Phase diagrams (as in states of matter or different crystals formed by the same alloy) are also very similar because you pump in some controllable variables and a state pops out.

[@kingminceraft9487]

Hence the golf is a great example of phase space, but not so much the crystals

[@columbus8myhw]

Maybe configuration space?

[@JonathonBrearley]

a professor of mine uses "design space"

[@jacobdawson2109]

I always thought it would be neat to draw out the phase space of a roulette wheel. Since roulette wheels are physical devices the outcome is completely deterministic (under classical mechanics) and depending on how we choose to simulate our roulette wheel, could depend on just a few starting variables, like the speed of the ball and it's starting angle with the wheel. Because roulette wheels are designed to be "random" I suspect the phase space to be quite chaotic, with fractal like boundaries, but it would be interesting to see if that were actually the case.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

it is obviously the case

[@sirsanti8408]

@@pyropulseIXXI mm yes very obvious

[@RobertMilesAI]

There'll be an interesting non-chaotic region as the speeds get low enough

[@alan2here]

Easy course, the flags in a dip. Pro tip, don't take the shot with a frictionless ball.

[@nicolasribeiro7914]

Hate it when my shots just become an interactive representation of spacetime

[@maxpoppe]

you could make a phase space with cooking, the combination of the temperature and time is all you can controle, but there are multiple correct outcomes that cook it correctly I mean for this example there are formula's of course if you ignore that you can burn the food or cook it unevenly but yea xD still an interesting idea

[@satibel]

you can put it on a gradient from not safe to eat to burned, with a well cooked region in between.

[@weeveferrelaine6973]

@@satibel More than that, cooking at too high a temperature will cook the outside of the dish, but not the inside- It can be both burned, and not safe to eat. Similarly, many dishes rely on being cooked at too high of a temperature to get a "crust", or like for a Turkey, to cook the skin to a crisp, yet to just get the inside of it cooked far enough to not lose all the moisture. Some other dishes, such as ones that depend on rising agents, have complex curves as well, either in time, or in temperature, where you might need to hold one temperature for a time, then bring it up to a different temperature for another time, then lower it again to a third temperature for a time, to achieve the result you wanted.

[@cdburner5911]

Ok, time to make dinner, time to break out my Ti89! =]

[@John_Longbow]

I never knew Golf could be this interesting

[@Krantz_]

I never knew Golf could be interesting

[@birdiesnbritts1391]

I think it’s too interesting!

[@Vladimir_Lemon]

Always has been.

[@thepootato]

This is more interesting than actual golf lol

[@Mukna132]

:O WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT!

[@vintyprod]

watching people do such beautiful engineering analysis for an oddly specific question no one has ever asked is my jam. i'm so glad i found this channel.

[@nickkonkle541]

"I decided to let my CPU do all the work" sums up just about anything I do that is mildly difficult. also, this is an incredibly well made video. it's crazy that it doesn't have more views. thanks for continuing to put out great content and putting effort into each video. hope you get the recognition you deserve

[@charlestatum2511]

This would be of great interest to a miniature golf course designer.

[@Tiniuc]

I remember watching my grandad hit a ball like a bullet into the flagpole, making the pole bend, then the ball falling straight down and directly into the hole. It was quite a ways away too.

[@rerere284]

If you look up "magnet pendulum fractal" you get videos of another situation like this. You can also plot firing a ball in space with planets, and plot what planet the ball lands on at each angle in 360 degrees.

[@ro-ce8vg]

I’m glad KZbin is recommending me your older videos that I haven’t seen yet, every vid you’ve put out is SO good I don’t have the firmest grasp on machine learning but I’m pretty sure it’s somewhat similar to this. you have to find a minimum of the loss function (the minimum being like the hole in golf) and the parameters are the weights/biases for each node. When you’re learning about machine learning you see examples in 3 dimensions because they only show 2 parameters to make it simple, but there can be thousands of nodes, and the problem is to find the “hole” in the 10000-dimensional green I think.. it’s been a while since I learned that stuff

[@GilmerJohn]

In theory, you can control the initial "spin" of the ball

[@DiamondSane]

also there is friction, and jumping. you cant control this, but this matters.

[@liggerstuxin1]

@@DiamondSane well also air resistance. Thermal dynamic influence. Rigidity and age of the gold ball. Strength of gravity at that particular part of planet. And God knows how many other variables that are too small to calculate.

[@DiamondSane]

​@@liggerstuxin1 much lol. Don't you state that friction is negligible, do you?

[@QwertyuiopThePie]

@@liggerstuxin1 The entire point of the phase space is that it's meant to cover the variables we *can* control. Unless you know some way to control the local gravity? If you can't control it, then it belongs in the simulation, but not in the phase space.

[@liggerstuxin1]

@@QwertyuiopThePie I was replying to a comment where someone stated variables that you can’t control but still “matter” (heh, I will pretend I did that on purpose). I suppose I went off on a tangent there, but I was also mentioning that there are so many variables that we cannot calculate that also matter. Many more than we even know obviously. But sooooo many we know we can’t calculate.

[@Dysiode]

I love how you built up the simulation resolution, it's honestly interesting to see the lower resolution before the higher ones. The crazy phase spaces at the end were so cool! As for other applications, the thing that comes to mind immediately would be for coffee brewing, temperature vs. technique/grind/amount/flavoring. It's probably not super exciting, but I'm sure it's been done by some coffee nerds out there!

[@auxencefromont1989]

I think technique is a bit too discrete, ho would you order them on an axis ?

[@squorsh]

@@auxencefromont1989I think you'd just end up with a one dimensional phase diagram per technique. But since there's no continuous division, i think you'd really want to plot it as a third dimension to every other comparison

[@e2rqey]

In Golf, you have control over the speed, the initial direction, and the spin of the ball. 0:33

[@super8bitvideos]

"when you putt a golf ball..." not when driving or hitting a normal shot.

[@asyncasync]

You also have control of the time you choose strike it at, which can have different results depending on the wind strength and direction at the time of the strike.

[@5MaTu5]

@@super8bitvideos You can have a little sidespin when putting tho

[@willmungas8964]

In putt putt it doesn’t leave the ground though, so you can reasonably simplify it

[@robert_t_golf]

@@super8bitvideos You can still spin it, it's just not the smartest idea on a putt

[@SuperElephant]

My god this video and channel is a hidden gem in youtube's space.. I think we don't have to wait for much longer until this channel explodes with millions of subs.

[@Reeman93]

Really interesting video, thanks for this. I’m a curler, and in that sport we spend a lot of time thinking about phase spaces actually. We don’t use that term, but in assessing possible shots given the current rocks in place and, crucially, how the ice is playing we think through a similar two dimensional space. We have a small wedge of possible angles and a range of ‘weights’ or speeds we can throw with. Part of what makes curling so interesting is the fact that the faster you throw the straighter the rock will travel, and slower shots will curl more. Once you have other stones in play you can find interesting places in that phase space, like maybe there’s a spot that I can get to throwing light where my opponent won’t be able to hit me out because if you throw hard enough for a hit you can’t get to that same spot. Phase space seems like a great tool for describing curling, I guess I’m off to go draw some diagrams!

[@bobbyberry]

One of my favorite videos I’ve seen in a while! I’ve thought about this exact idea on the course before and it was awesome to see it done so well

[@mrjhrock2010]

Thanks for visiting Pinehurst! Love your videos man!

[@TheVersionController]

This video was surprisingly AMAZING. So glad I watched it. Thanks!!

[@cameroncartier8281]

This is one of the best KZbin videos I’ve watched in a long time

[@ThomasGabrielsen]

I really like Numberphile, but your approach to the different topics suits me better. I like watching simulations, and I love prototyping. I have never played or been interested in golf at all, but you just made me watch a 14 minute video about golf, and I found it very interesting. This channel is massively underrated when it comes to subscribers. Greetings from Norway!

[@adamkrefting25]

Fascinating. I will definitely try applying the phase space idea in my work. Thanks for sharing!

[@marco_gallone]

God I love the KZbin algorithm, Matlab enthusiast+golf psychopath=phase space putting sim Thank you for this, really fascinating simulation

[@72dreaton]

You gotta love people in academia that have passion. I met way to many people in my ME undergrad that just couldn't care less. Keep up the content!

[@McShavey]

I learned this intrinsically over playing for a while, and this perfectly describes the mental process I came up with to understand how to get better at putting. Good video.

[@JL-cy1ks]

I think this approach could be used in F1 or other racing, as the combination of speed, gear and RPM (and param of steering wheel angle) showing perfect line to drive (as simulation f.e.)

[@ethandavis7310]

Racing lines are dynamic though

[@zovisapphire]

indeed and someone took it one step further and used deep-learning AI to simulate Trackmania racing, figuring out absolute most efficient racing lines.

[@Beerbatter1962]

Wow! This is so interesting and so well done. You're simulations are phenomenal. An excellent introduction on phase space. Also, so many aspects of the sport I never thought of. I'm subscribed.

[@veni1]

this is gonna get millions of views now the algorithm has chosen it

[@borislavangelov5853]

Notch has helped too

[@tricks200205]

hope the algorithm blesses this video, this was awesome.

[@betacenturion237]

I'm with other people watching this. This video is indeed criminally underrated. As a physics undergrad that has been searching for the more in depth videos in science, I'm subbing.

[@daan327]

Found your channel recently, really amazing content! Love your approach to these complex concepts

[@Tunatunatun]

When testing and debugging silicon products, I regularly express the properties of the test results in phase spaces for frequencies, voltages and signal delays providing insights into testing margins and others. Very fun stuff 👌🏻

[@churrundog]

There's a local paddle tennis league in my hometown and a friend of mine is in it. Every time I go see him play, I get these visualizations that I've been trying to verbalize and this fuckin video has finally given me the words to do it. I basically imagine how every time a player hits the ball, there's an imaginary shape made up of all the vectors that result in a valid bullet shot (meaning it hits the floor first and then the wall), and because the edge of the court is a straight line, there's a very defined angle at which these shots cross into invalidity. This shape gets weirder than what I can imagine when we start considering volley shots at lower speeds, which would allow for higher angles to end in the court, because they would curve back down. Thank you so fucking much for this video.

[@cleanpoop9929]

This is such a rad channel. Thanks!

[@hadiakbari740]

Wow!! Bravo again! You’re so brilliant 👏👏👏👏

[@acaander]

Really enjoyed this video! Mustve been recommended to me as a golfer - loved it

[@AsymptoteInverse]

Phase space/parameter space has to be one of my favorite concepts in physics. Another great example of a change in mathematical perspective making a process a lot less complex-looking and a lot more intuitive.

[@jimbo_bomberino8606]

Sir you have been blessed by the algorithm. Congrats.

[@erictheepic5019]

While not quite everyday (unless you're an astrophysicist, aerospace engineer, or Kerbal Space Program player), DeltaV graphs are a perfect example of phase space, and I never knew it. Are prospective space program wanting to send something to another planet can be viewed as only being able to control two things about the launch: the date of departure and the date of arrival. The result is a phase diagram where each value is the DeltaV (change in velocity, can be thought of as fuel, however fuel and DeltaV don't have a constant ratio) required by the minimum energy trajectory for a given departure and arrival date. They're often times called 'porkchop plots', because the graph is bimodal, and has two adjacent regions of low DeltaV requirements, which somebody thought looked like porkchops.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Haha I just watched that Scott Manley video! And ABSOLUTELY it’s a phase space or parameter space. I find stuff literally all the time where I feel myself walking through some crazy high dimensional space without realizing it at first. It’s a fun way of looking at problems.

[@wrex509]

This was a great approach to demonstrate the concept.

[@pvic6959]

really enjoyed the visualizations, thanks!

[@alexanderpovey1973]

Omg this is so interesting please do more phase maps and golf maps please!(finding a phase map that looked like a fractal , or working backwards from having a fractal as a phase map and building a golf turf around it would be fun)

[@ArruVision]

You just managed to make golf interesting. Well played, sir!

[@Harishimomo]

This crosses over with a great video I saw explaining the interaction of chaotic systems and fractals. The inverted pyramid in this video might be a great example of that, where similar putts continually have different outcomes, even with miniscule changes, when viewed from a phase graph perspective

[@wanchufri]

i met your channel today and I really love it!

[@andy.robinson]

Oh... Bryson's going to be all over this scientific approach!

[@sergemalikov6829]

very well done and quite insightful. Thanks!

[@pikulicluka]

Man, this video was AW-SOME! You should definitely do more simulation stuff on the channel. Also, really cool and intuitive explanation of a commonly encountered Diffy Qs concept.

[@InfernalPasquale]

Love the mix of maths, physics, engineering, and coding ideas. Thanks for such an interesting video! Subbed

[@brimmed]

i've never golfed in my life. but i'm an engineer and i like simulations so i watched. glad i did. wish i knew how to model stuff like this

[@gizmoguyar]

A year or two I went down a massive rabbit hole of making bread. I started creating phase space diagrams for baking temp and time. I then realized that temperature could be varied throughout the baking process, which would turn it into a 4D vector field plot. I never went this far, but it was fun. Phase space diagrams are also very common for motors and engines. RPM and %throttle (or, for electric motors, current and phase) on the X and Y axes, and efficiency (or just about anything else) on the Z axis. These are extremely useful to visualize the most efficient (or best in some other way) operating regions.

[@orangefruit1738]

beautiful visuals, excellent explanation, very interesting topic. nice.

[@knownas2017]

This was surprisingly interesting. Thank you!

[@thomasr1051]

I love this. Thanks for the entertaining content. I'll think about the world just a little bit differently now

[@mekkler]

Thanks to you, golf is now even MORE complicated.

[@drputtswell]

Thanks for this. It was interesting and fun. As a golfer I would mention that putts wobble a good deal as they lose speed/energy, which makes a big difference in line and direction.

[@gazzmania150]

We all know the "fast straight" shots, and a lot of the ones close to them would just go over or flick out of the hole.

[@jordananderson2728]

Can't wait to see the sign on the wall say 2^20! What a fascinating channel!

[@AdamIsaacs1]

this is the same thinking that led to machine learning algorithms as well. its basically building a phase space, but instead of colors as you used, you assign a 'cost' to each node in phase space based on how far it is from the solution you want, then you minimize the cost function by following the gradient of cost through phase space to arrive at a solution. amazing way of looking at the world.

[@T1cksandLeeches]

Without knowing it until now...I 100% think of each putt in phase space. I take the angle that my mind assumes is the highest chance of a make with the lowest rollout on a miss. I see the angle in my head and then once I'm aimed...I have a little bit of leeway on the speed. The most important aspect is that I give enough speed to create a made shot, without going too far passed on a miss. That's cool and I fully plan on nerding out hard tomorrow when I'm playing

[@gretchenmorfea5988]

As a golfer and math nerd, I loved this video! Subscribed! Oh, and I know fast greens. Very well.

[@mere_music]

This is awesome! Keep this up, so impressive.

[@bkucenski]

This is a great analysis to get an objective measure of the difficulty of a course. The third dimension is angle up since you can pop the ball up and not just roll it flat across the ground. The next step is to build a machine that systematically shoots golf balls to see where they end up on a real course.

[@coasterairtime]

This was a very nice video. It depicts scientific thinking strategies very well.

[@samp-w7439]

You, sir have just earned a subscriber.

[@Drrobverjones]

This is the third video I have been suggested by you. Some pretty good content you have going here.

[@Wildminecraftwolf]

You could pair a drone to do an aerial topography scan with a putting robot and implement this with it.

[@chakra6666]

actually an incredibly interesting video

[@roryh2241]

I’m a golfer but I definitely learned something new from this! I always wondered if it was possible for there to be no way to make a putt because I sure have had some tough ones 😂

[@Jessassin]

This is super cool. I would love to see a similar video about how phase space diagrams might look on a pool table!

[@andrewmason4004]

An explanation of what most golfers learn without any understanding of the maths/physics ☺️

[@mattjohnstondev]

awesome video! I play a video game called Peggle with my parents and had been thinking a lot about this concept but just now learned the term "phase space"

[@Alex-nl8kf]

Great job, I loved this video!

[@jmtrad1906]

Finally KZbin is recommending good content

[@MightyElemental]

Love this concept

[@BorisNVM]

GOOD ONE KZbin!!! THESE ARE GOOD RECOMENDATIONS FOR PHYSICIST

[@brentkelly9864]

This is awesome! I’ve recently been obsessed with disc golf, and an hoping to (eventually) produce similar analysis/simulations of possible disc flights!

[@DevashishGuptaOfficial]

Absolutely freaking beautiful.

[@tonyennis1787]

As a computer programmer, I frequently think of how inputs lead to outputs. It's nice to have a word for it, so now I can look it up.

[@truegret7778]

Design of Experiments - Taguchi method comes to mind. This, as I recall, allows for multidimensional variables and a reduction of "number of tests/experiments" to get to the answer needed. Great video, great simulation - Python is cool.

[@michaelmolter6180]

I always forget about phase space and then am mind blown by a novel application of it. So cool!

[@Fogmeister]

This is the first video of yours I have watched. It was excellent. Thanks. Trying to think of everyday phase spaces now. 😆

[@RobertMilesAI]

I'm curious about the specific functions you used for the wavy greens. Some polynomial? Sum of a few low frequency sine waves?

[@ThatBuckskin-Frank]

Only saw 2 videos... already subscribed

[@TheGutatu]

congratulations, you'll have a million subscribers in no time

[@jedidiahwest4619]

5:00 is where this relates to real golf. I like seeing that where we are told to aim statistically makes sense. Because even if we aim the ball perfectly we still have to hit it perfectly.

[@renegadewolfhound8786]

Loved it! Do more golf videos!!!

[@andy.robinson]

Interesting to hear it's scientifically beneficial to shoot slightly past the hole. Good golfers also do this so that if they miss, they can at least get a "read" of the putt coming back the other way.

[@antonjanus7340]

You have a beautiful mind. Wow. This is great! Got my brain in gear.

[@TheUntamedNetwork]

you're a genius man, keep on the grind and you WILL be amongst the youtube science/tech greats. You already have the evil scientist machinery!

[@mikewabrown1052]

Such a cool video!

[@MrLuigiBean1]

This is a SUPER cool video! :D

[@gammallama]

Awesome video!