Tom, when you say "hit" you are talking the broad side of a barn with a sling shot or bb gun. Build a rig to hold either one and see what kind of repeatability you get. The baseball thrown without a spin (knuckleball) darts and dives unpredictably based on the air currents prevailing. If you throw a knuckleball in a still environment it would exhibit none of that. Thank God ballparks are wind havens!
The spin on a rocket, bullet or baseball imparts stability.
The flow around the golf ball isn't about the area at the surface, but the nasty flow after it separates. The same reason the flow is better on a truck with the tailgate up instead of down. The closed gate creates a higher pressure area in the bed that helps the flow.
The rotation on a golf ball with dimples imparts lift, and with the lower drag from the dimples THATS the one NASA has to track. Right Joe?
As to dimples, if you have a flow separation area the dimples might help. That's what the wind tunnel testing told you, right?
