Rolling of a rigid ball on a horizontal deformable surface

Abstract The rolling of a ball on a horizontal deformable surface was investigated under the assumptions that the ball was a rigid sphere and the surface was elastic. Finite strain theory was used to develop theoretical results which were found to match observations well in cases where the ball and surface involved were such as to ensure no slipping at the region of contact, including a lawn bowl rolling on a grass rink and a billiard ball rolling on carpet. The theory did not match well the behaviour of a golf ball on a grass green because the ball was too light to enforce the no-slipping condition.