A Load of Balls

[PJ87]

Not true. Pro v1 is a lowish spinning ball with a driver.

Only if you swing fast enough

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

Only if you swing fast enough

Doesn’t matter how fast you swing, it’s always low spinning with driver.

 

[VVega]

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.

Out of interest, do you not agree with the results of MyGolfSpy testing which concluded the following?

High Compression Golf Balls Can Work for Nearly Everyone​

There is a pervasive belief that lower swing speed golfers need lower-compression golf balls. The results of our test again suggest that many lower swing speed golfers would benefit from higher-compression offerings.

Even in cases where the slower swing speeds all but eliminate the speed advantage of high-compression balls off the driver, the higher spin rates provide a greater ability to hold greens.

For higher swing speed golfers, the distance advantage of firmer compression offerings is clear. For all but the highest spin golfers, lower compression leads to reduced distance off the tee.

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

Out of interest, do you not agree with the results of MyGolfSpy testing which concluded the following?

No I don’t disagree. But I question the value of paying £50 for a dozen balls which don’t offer real advantage. Whereas I can understand a high speed player using them.

 

[VVega]

No I don’t disagree. But I question the value of paying £50 for a dozen balls which don’t offer real advantage. Whereas I can understand a high speed player using them.

I see, that’s fair - most expensive equipment delivers most value to professionals - doesn’t stop amateurs to “aspire” to use it though That’s how people buy high performance cars, cameras etc

Personally, I believe there is a difference in quality control in manufacturing between balls but wouldn’t be able to quantify it.

The prices are mad either way, used to be able to buy ProV1s for just over £30 per dozen, now the best is over £45…

 

[Imurg]

Personally, I believe there is a difference in quality control in manufacturing between balls but wouldn’t be able to quantify it.

Check out MyGolfSpy Ball Lab.......

 

[Singlefiguregokfer]

I see, that’s fair - most expensive equipment delivers most value to professionals - doesn’t stop amateurs to “aspire” to use it though That’s how people buy high performance cars, cameras etc

Personally, I believe there is a difference in quality control in manufacturing between balls but wouldn’t be able to quantify it.

The prices are mad either way, used to be able to buy ProV1s for just over £30 per dozen, now the best is over £45…

At my club the pro, when he started there a new got loads of Bridgestone and Srixon balls. No one bought them. Instead they all use Pro Vs, even the old boys and hackers (of which there are plenty).
I have a dozen Bridgestones (the blue box with Tiger written on the balls). They are pretty much a Prov equivalent, but £10-15 cheaper.
I’m off 2 and would say I’m not good enough to spot the difference, so I don’t understand why short hitters or poor players pay the premium.

 

[VVega]

Check out MyGolfSpy Ball Lab.......

Have they done something recently? Haven’t been following them for a couple of years. The 2023 test quoted above explicitly excluded manufacturing quality from considerations.

 

[Imurg]

Have they done something recently? Haven’t been following them for a couple of years. The 2023 test quoted above explicitly excluded manufacturing quality from considerations.

The Ball Lab just tests quality...roundness, weight, layers, compression variance etc etc

Ball Lab - Golf Ball Quality Comparison Tool

Every ball we test, side by side.

mygolfspy.com

 

[Mark1751]

I’ve just swapped to a titleist tour soft as I found I wasn’t getting much much from the pro v1 which I have used for a free years now.

I saw I think it was Patrick Reed explaining that most amateurs don’t compress the ball enough so a low compression one is better.

I feel that I’m getting more of what I want around the greens from the tour soft versus the pro v.

 

[Oddsocks]

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!

Maybe the prov1x is better suited, you’re just not swinging hard enough.

Rumour is if you untuck your shirt you’ll gain 10mph club head speed

 

[Pants]

I struggle to reconcile the "feel off the clubface" comments we always get in these ball discussions. By the time that your hands, arms, and brain have registered the contact, the ball is well on it's way. How the "feel" of the contact cannnot possibly affect the shot just played - I suppose it could affect the next one if it didn't feel "nice" and didn't produce the required outcome though.

 

[Klimski]

Titleist TruFeel for me - value for money. Although strangely, whenever I find a proV1, I tend to do well with them haha

 

[Springveldt]

At my club the pro, when he started there a new got loads of Bridgestone and Srixon balls. No one bought them. Instead they all use Pro Vs, even the old boys and hackers (of which there are plenty).
I have a dozen Bridgestones (the blue box with Tiger written on the balls). They are pretty much a Prov equivalent, but £10-15 cheaper.
I’m off 2 and would say I’m not good enough to spot the difference, so I don’t understand why short hitters or poor players pay the premium.

Those Bridgestone balls are urethane covered as well, that's why you don't really notice a difference between them and a ProV1. I can definitely notice the difference between an AVX and a ProV1, not just on "feel" off the clubface (the ProV1 makes more of a click) but it's a noticeably different flight and the AVX doesn't stop anywhere near as quickly on the green unless they are soft.

I'm not really a stickler for a certain ball, I'll play anything that is urethane covered and I can get at a decent price. Over the last few seasons I've played Taylormade Project(a), Bridgestone BR-X, Honma TW-X, AVX, yellow ProV1 and this year I got the ProV1x Left Dash in the 4 for 3 offer to try them out. As you can see, I usually favour the lower compression urethane balls as they go slightly further off the irons due to their lower compression and less spin. I normally try and stick to the same ball all season though.

The left dash feels like a brick (much clickier off of everything, even putter) compared to all the other balls but weirdly I'm liking it. I've noticed that way more putts make it past the hole now when I'm usually the guy that leaves everything 2 foot short. Not sure why, if it's just the noise or I'm hitting putts harder without noticing.

 

[Springveldt]

I struggle to reconcile the "feel off the clubface" comments we always get in these ball discussions. By the time that your hands, arms, and brain have registered the contact, the ball is well on it's way. How the "feel" of the contact cannnot possibly affect the shot just played - I suppose it could affect the next one if it didn't feel "nice" and didn't produce the required outcome though.

For me it's more the sound than "feel". As you say, if you hit it out the middle they all feel pretty much the same to me but you can hear a difference with different balls.

 

[Slab]

I picked up a volvik neon green out of the 2nd hand bucket in the pro shop last week for no other reason than it was neon green. Played with it Saturday and Sunday and what with it already being 2nd hand its looking really scrappy now after putting another 36 holes on it. Still I'll give it a proper clean and redo markings so its ready to go for Saturdays stableford comp

 

[RichA]

Never bought them new, but I've settled on Tour Speed, just as they've been discontinued.
"Soft" balls always feel/sound a bit too soft and bouncy. ProV1s and similar feel and sound a bit too hard.
Just bought another 40 Tour Speeds on eBay for £36. They always turn up looking like they've only been hit a couple of times and I can't bring myself to spend 3 or 4 quid on a golf ball.

 

[Pants]

I'd just like to again say thank you to all you lovely folk who buy, and lose, so many good quality balls. I haven't bought a golf ball in over 20 years and have a supply of found but barely used balls that will probably now see me out. I strongly believe that unless you are a single figure h/capper then the ball you use (within reason) will not make much, if any, difference to your scores.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'd just like to again say thank you to all you lovely folk who buy, and lose, so many good quality balls. I haven't bought a golf ball in over 20 years and have a supply of barely found used balls that will probably see me out. I strongly believe that unless you are a single figure h/capper then the ball you use (within reason) will not make much difference to your scores.

To be fair I already have more balls than I'll need so I have no issue losing premium balls. Two full bags for life plus several other carrier bags sorted by make and heaps of balls by the dozen in boxes so will be bringing some to H4H

 

[Orikoru]

I'd just like to again say thank you to all you lovely folk who buy, and lose, so many good quality balls. I haven't bought a golf ball in over 20 years and have a supply of found but barely used balls that will probably now see me out. I strongly believe that unless you are a single figure h/capper then the ball you use (within reason) will not make much, if any, difference to your scores.

For subtle differences between premium balls, I think you're right. But between premium and non-premium there are golf balls that are potentially 15 yards longer than others, that would absolutely make a difference to your score.