A Load of Balls

[PaulMdj]

A mate has had a bit of a clear out and given me a mixture of about 60 Pro V1, which included 36 Brand new in boxes.

I normally try and stick with 1 ball in the summer and 1 ball in the winter, so last week, as the weather has warmed up and the course is looking good I decided to use the balls he’d given me for this season, as, why not?

However, I feel I’m losing distance off the Tee and I’m not getting the benefit of the top end ball as I don’t have the swing speed or consistency to use them.

The question is, is this in my head or should any player be able to use any ball.

Last summer I used the Taylormade Tour Response and winter the Titleist Truefeel.

 

[Orikoru]

I find it crazy that countless amateurs use ProV1s when they're designed for tour players or very good amateurs. Most regular players with slow or average swing speeds will undoubtedly lose distance because of the amount of spin they give you. It's too much spin for most people. Baffles me that people spend £48 on these when they'd be better off using a softer, lower spinning ball that costs £15 less.

 

[PaulMdj]

I find it crazy that countless amateurs use ProV1s when they're designed for tour players or very good amateurs. Most regular players with slow or average swing speeds will undoubtedly lose distance because of the amount of spin they give you. It's too much spin for most people. Baffles me that people spend £48 on these when they'd be better off using a softer, lower spinning ball that costs £15 less.

In fairness to him, they have a Company logo on and he was given them over the last 12 months.

 

[HPIMG]

I used prov1s last year and this year I’ve been using Srixon z star. I like a premium ball more for chipping I like the feel of softer balls. I was in Costco last week a got two dozen of the Kirkland v3 balls because they were cheap, they are horrible to hit feel rock hard.

 

[Bratty]

A mate has had a bit of a clear out and given me a mixture of about 60 Pro V1, which included 36 Brand new in boxes.

I normally try and stick with 1 ball in the summer and 1 ball in the winter, so last week, as the weather has warmed up and the course is looking good I decided to use the balls he’d given me for this season, as, why not?

However, I feel I’m losing distance off the Tee and I’m not getting the benefit of the top end ball as I don’t have the swing speed or consistency to use them.

The question is, is this in my head or should any player be able to use any ball.

Last summer I used the Taylormade Tour Response and winter the Titleist Truefeel.

There is a school of thought that says that a ball has an "appropriate" swing speed and an "appropriate" compression factor to get the most out of it.
I find the Prov1 spins too much for me and the Prov1x isn't suitable for my compression ability. The AVX on the other hand is very good for me.
It's not in your head, IMHO.
Others will shortly be here to say it's all a myth!

 

[IanM]

Test it.

Do what works for you.

 

[Albo]

Test it.

Do what works for you.

I was going to say this!
Get in an indoor trackman and hit all types of balls and let the numbers be your guide.
Chances are not too many of us are consistent enough to really notice a difference. 5 /10 yards off a drive can be as much about swing speed or strike location as it can about ball

 

[PaulMdj]

Test it.

Do what works for you.

I’ve played 3 times with them now hence the post. Is it my head or other factors.

 

[Bratty]

I’ve played 3 times with them now hence the post. Is it my head or other factors.

Even if it is only your head, if you don't like them, you don't like them.
Flog them and buy some more TM balls!

 

[PaulMdj]

I was going to say this!
Get in an indoor trackman and hit all types of balls and let the numbers be your guide.
Chances are not too many of us are consistent enough to really notice a difference. 5 /10 yards off a drive can be as much about swing speed or strike location as it can about ball

I use Arccos and the last 12 months has me at an average of 224yds with the Driver, last 3 rounds have averaged 206.

Obviously 3 rounds v 12 months is not equal, and that’s what got me thinking about swing speed, as my accuracy is quite good at around 60% fir.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Pro Vs are very soft compared to a lot of other balls and they are great for those with a higher swing speed , they will produce a good amount of spin which is good for around the greens but will mean losing distance from the tee

Feel will always be good around the greens

But it’s very likely that there is too much spin with the driver etc

best thing to do is get a ball fitting and find out what’s best for you

 

[Golfnut1957]

I once read something about the TP5 which went along the lines of; while it won't hurt your game, you will not get the maximum benefit of its construction unless you can compress all five cores, and specifically the inner core. Compressing the inner core requires tour club head speed, which means the average golfer cannot get the maximum out of the ball.

 

[jim8flog]

My experience of Tour Response v ProvI is the the former is slightly longer but has less stop due to lower spin rate. So it depends on what you are looking for in the old distance verses control conundrum.

 

[Crow]

Tour club head speed will get the most out of every ball, so why worry about playing the ball you want to play just because you can't get the maximum possible distance from it?

Rory will hit a Callaway Supersoft further than I do just as he'll hit a ProV1 further than I do.

Play whatever you like.

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

Pro V’s are rock hard balls. You need to swing fast to compress them enough. Probably 90% of ams don’t need them. I reckon the TM tour response is a good ball for those not quite fast enough.

 

[Springveldt]

I use Arccos and the last 12 months has me at an average of 224yds with the Driver, last 3 rounds have averaged 206.

Obviously 3 rounds v 12 months is not equal, and that’s what got me thinking about swing speed, as my accuracy is quite good at around 60% fir.

Isn't that more to do with the weather and ground conditions though? Shot Scope has my performance average at "only" 254 yards for 2024 when it was 261 yards for all of 2023 (and at 272 during the summer). I thought I drove the ball well today but my average was 236 yards due to it being cold, more holes into the wind that with and there being a lot of dew/water on the ground.

I doubt you will lose much yardage using a ProV1 with your driver as they are pretty low spin off the driver but you will lose some yardage on your irons as they spin a decent bit more than a Tour Response. If you don't need the spin (soft greens) or prefer your pitches/chips to roll out then go back to a Tour Response.

The clubhead speed and compressing the ball is all a bit of nonsense as tests have shown that off the driver the high compression balls are typically the longest no matter what swing speed. I'm sure when MyGolfSpy tested them the Vice Pro Plus and ProV1x Left Dash were the longest off the driver for an 85mph driver swing speed.

Here's the test, look at the longest ball off driver for 115, 100 and 85mph. All of them are high compression, urethane balls.

2023 Golf Ball Test

This is the biggest golf ball test we've ever completed. Find out how we tested and which balls might be right for you.

mygolfspy.com

 

[PaulMdj]

Isn't that more to do with the weather and ground conditions though? Shot Scope has my performance average at "only" 254 yards for 2024 when it was 261 yards for all of 2023 (and at 272 during the summer). I thought I drove the ball well today but my average was 236 yards due to it being cold, more holes into the wind that with and there being a lot of due/water on the ground.

I doubt you will lose much yardage using a ProV1 with your drive as they are pretty low spin off the driver but you will lose some yardage on your irons as they spin a decent bit more than a Tour Response. If you don't need the spin (soft greens) or prefer your pitches/chips to roll out then go back to a Tour Response.

The clubhead speed and compressing the ball is all a bit of nonsense as tests have shown that off the driver the high compression balls are typically the longest no matter what swing speed. I'm sure when MyGolfSpy tested them the Vice Pro Plus and ProV1x Left Dash were the longest off the driver for an 85mph driver swing speed.

I fully understand 3 rounds isn’t much too make a decision against 12 months of stats, hence asking the question whether it was in my head, just not sure how long I should persist, if at all.

 

[Springveldt]

I fully understand 3 rounds isn’t much too make a decision against 12 months of stats, hence asking the question whether it was in my head, just not sure how long I should persist, if at all.

It wasn't even so much the 3 rounds, more just saying it's not exactly been warm lately and a lot of courses here in the north east are still dealing with softer fairways. Your 2023 average will include all the summer months. It feels like some days I'm not hitting the ball anywhere but I'm still on average the 20 yards behind my playing partner that I normally am.

When I played the other Wednesday evening when it was around 19C it felt like the ball was going for miles suddenly. This morning it was 11C but with the cold north wind it had a feels like temp of 8C, the ground was wet from all the dew and a drizzle that lasted the first 30 minutes of the round. Just felt like drives and irons where going nowhere, had to hit at least a club more than the other Wednesday.

 

[Jigger]

I find it crazy that countless amateurs use ProV1s when they're designed for tour players or very good amateurs. Most regular players with slow or average swing speeds will undoubtedly lose distance because of the amount of spin they give you. It's too much spin for most people. Baffles me that people spend £48 on these when they'd be better off using a softer, lower spinning ball that costs £15 less.

I’m a mid teen handicapper and did loads of testing of different sleeves back in the day. Pro v and AVX were definitely better for me in control and distance. I’ve since moved to a seed ball which is quite equivalent be as a precious slicer, the AVX gave me a much better ball flight.

 

[Voyager EMH]

My playing experience is...

Pro V1 are a very good ball and generally "does what it says on the tin".
I have little use for them other than a windless dry day with perfectly dry fairways and rough. Those conditions I will use one.
They are a "high performance" ball as far as my game is concerned.
But that performance, for me, is not noticeable on damp and/or breezy days, and on those days, they feel like they are working against me.
On our back nine, there is only one flat green. All the others have a slope against you. I really don't need any more spin than I get from a Softfeel or Supersoft on those holes.