Ball fitting

I flit between most of the lower end balls, anything from soft feels, which are nice, to DX2's to mizzy d201's they're all pretty much the same TBH I can't tell any difference

Soft feels are nice off the putter but that's about the only difference I can tell
 
I can't tell the difference of the tee for any decent ball, 2,3,4 or 5 piece. A couple of Christmasssss ago I was given some Top Flights and it was like hitting balls of iron!

I agree with others that around and on the green you can tell the difference between balls by feel and sound. When I'm on my own and the course is quiet I play 2 or 3 different balls.

Recently found a mint Callaway Supersoft and was very impressed putting with it, felt good. Probably all in the mind.... :p
 
I play a ball that feels pretty good (not the best, but I'm 'happy' with it) off the putter but feels really good off Driver and irons. As a 'complete package' I like it the best - though I have found a few more of my previous favourite, so may play that tomorrow to compare. All balls seem to be just as 'bad' as each other off wedges for me!

Up to a point, I agree with Nemicu. But while I really like the Hex Black off the putter, I can't stand it off the Driver, so that's out! So, for me, it's a matter of weighting rather than one or the other - with Putter feel being a shade higher than Driver feel and Wedge performance.
 
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I am pretty sure that if the names were erased from the balls, at my level of golf I would not be able to tell the difference. But the golf snob in me wants to play the better quality balls. I know it's stupid but hey, what can you do? Having said that I never buy them at the full price and always wait till they are on offer.
 
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hovis said:
I play with a chap who plays on the euro pro tour. He uses a pro v1 and i use a nxt tour. One day we walked down the fairway and come to his ball, he hit his 80 yard wedge into to green and said " i'm just loving the feel of these new pro v1s. They feel so nice off the face and look how much check i got" little did he know he just played my nxt!
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Boom. In one.
 
nemicu said:
So why bother fitting a ball in order of the clubs you're least likely to hit? If you look at the average round of anyone, then the putter and wedges hit more shots than than any other club. The driver hits only around 14 if your course dictates - maybe even less. And before you say anything about spin or distance, it's not "measurable" enough between balls to make much of a difference to your skill level - i.e. if you are a skilled golfer, you will tend to gravitate towards a soft ball with good spin and feel qualities - distance is irrelevant. Conversly, a high handicapper is unable to eek the best performance out of any ball and is likely to slice the hardest or softest ball equally as badly. The one area where a ball would be of benefit is around the green and on the putter - ironically where high handicappers tend to use a ball ill-suited for this purpose. If you really believe getting fitted for a ball where it gives an alleged extra yard or two on a drive (which may or may not go straight) for around 12 of your 90 strokes per round (on average), then you may need to reconsider what part of the game the ball needs to be most suited to your game. Simply put, it isn't the driver - and it probably isn't any club longer than a PW either...
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Are you saying I will hole more putts if I change to a NXT or Bridgestone or Srixon or whatever from the Taylormade I normally play?
 
I think that there's just as much rubbish wrote about balls as there is divers.

If you're a high handicap player that fights a fade/slice avoid urethane coverd high spin balls, this includes the new Dunlops which may surprise some ball snobs, however remember that on many parkland courses, once the greens firm up you may still struggle to stop the ball.

If you want the ball to check up on the greens and spin, buy a tour ball matched to your swing speed.

If you want low spin off the driver but spin on the greens look at the urethane distance balls but remember these balls are a compromise.

All the manufacturers provide balls that fit the above categories however or me the most important factor taking the above into consideration is feel on the putting green. Putting it simply, (no pun intended), if you lack feel off the putter face how do you judge roll and distance?

You may be able to get it within 5 yds with a wedge but if you can't judge the putt, you might as well be 10yds away as it will still be a 2 putt.

There was a very good debate in my local pro shop a few weeks ago with the outcome that the putter is the most important club in the bag, exactly for the above reason.

Ref the Bridgestone E6 and Srixon Soft Feel, performance wise there isn't much in it, the Srixon may edge it on distance however for me the E6 would edge it on feel as I find the Srixon to be quite springy of the putter face which can make it a little more difficult to judge putts. Both ball compress well off the driver and irons for mid to low swing speeds.
 
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drive4show said:
Are you saying I will hole more putts if I change to a NXT or Bridgestone or Srixon or whatever from the Taylormade I normally play?
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That's for you to discern. The simple fact is, you are more likely to hole putts that are:
(a) closer to the hole
(b) feel right off the putter
I don't know what that ball is for you - but it highlights the importance of fitting a ball around putting rather than driving.
 
nemicu said:
That's for you to discern. The simple fact is, you are more likely to hole putts that are:
(a) closer to the hole No **** Sherlock!
(b) feel right off the putter Nonsense, feel is purely subjective. Whether the ball 'feels' hard or soft off the putter has no effect on the roll
I don't know what that ball is for you - but it highlights the importance of fitting a ball around putting rather than driving.
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:eek:
 
It is a proven fact that 'feel' has an important role (pun intended) in distance control. It is totally subjective, but most prefer to putt with a ball that doesn't feel like a rock - specifically for this reason. You are more likely to be closer to the hole with a ball possessing decent feel and spin qualities. And why do most ball companies now strive to produce all of their product range with soft feel qualities?
Srixon even has a ball called "soft feel". Feel is subjective - but it's not totally indistinguishable either, meaning you can feel the difference between a hard or soft ball. And where does this become most apparent? When you putt.
 
nemicu said:
It is a proven fact that 'feel' has an important role (pun intended) in distance control. It is totally subjective, but most prefer to putt with a ball that doesn't feel like a rock - specifically for this reason. You are more likely to be closer to the hole with a ball possessing decent feel and spin qualities. And why do most ball companies now strive to produce all of their product range with soft feel qualities?
Srixon even has a ball called "soft feel". Feel is subjective - but it's not totally indistinguishable either, meaning you can feel the difference between a hard or soft ball. And where does this become most apparent? When you putt.
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Are you seriously saying that how a ball feels off the face of a wedge can help you with distance control? absolute rubish. The destiny of the balls distance was decided way before the ball was struck. I'm not saying said ball wont react differently when it hits the green. But how the ball feels isnt going to make any difference with distance control as thats down to technique.
 
nemicu said:
You are more likely to be closer to the hole with a ball possessing decent feel and spin qualities.
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it is inappropriate to put these two together nowadays - you can have balls that feel very different having the same spin qualities, and vice versa.

I think what others were trying to point out is that the spin qualities around the green may not be the most appropriate in getting too the green and that the putter is the least relevant club against which to base the selection of a ball's spin qualities.

I agree with them, and disagree with your first post on the thread completely.

In general you can get a ball with the feel and the spin qualities you want; that bits not rocket science. Unfortunately in every ball thread I have seen here, and elsewhere, the two factors get merged.

There's actually a sub-set of spin qualities, best termed trajectory, as the ball manufactures continue to produce a wider and wider range of variable spin elements based on impact conditions and combine these with both cover material and dimple patterns.
 
How a ball feels off the putter directly affects distance control. If you can't feel the ball to judge the distance- distance and control is affected.

An example of this is the Srixon Soft feel which flies off the face like a power ball. Now take one of the old Nike tour balls, they felt like you were hitting a block of plastic. You could also put the Pre Hex Callaway tour balls in the same category, they felt hollow and clicky.

Although plenty of golfers use the above balls a lot won't use them because a) they lack feel and b) because of the lack of feel/feedback, they found it difficult to judge distance when putting.

It is subjective and personal preference also comes into the equation, however it would be difficult to argue that feel does affect distance control or if somebody wanted to argue the case, perception of distance.
 
nemicu said:
It's good that there is a healthy debate about such things - even the humble golf ball. I merely offer my opinion, which seems to be shared by Titleist and Mark Crossfield.
http://www.titleist.co.uk/golf-ball-fitting/#titleistapproach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z09lXwipOVs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUNgHa6nXwY
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You where stating a fact not your opinion. showing evidence from a titliest marketing page is not proof.

My opinion is we spend way too much time selecting golf balls when i wouldnt be suprised if they all come out the same factory. I do swap my balls to a premium ball in the summer when greens are not receptive but even then i have screwed pinnacle gold balls back off the green in summer too. Again in my opinion i refuse to believe we can select a ball on feel when its on the club face for a fraction of a second. I think its all in the mind
 
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Dave B said:
How a ball feels off the putter directly affects distance control. If you can't feel the ball to judge the distance- distance and control is affected.

An example of this is the Srixon Soft feel ....
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leaving aside your personal (subjective as you agree) views on the Srixon Soft Feel (which you seems to post rather a lot?) the problem I have with your first statement is that it implies that the feel element is an active part of shot control.

That statement is what is being challenged by the posts of hovis, myself and others.

I completely agree that within a practice environment there is room for such feel, feelings, to contribute to a feedback loop ie I swung like this, it felt like that and I got result X - swing less, different feeling result Y. Going for a shot Y subsequently you are looking for the associated feeling, and will know from that before the ball finishes that you got it (or not) but it's the swing that you did to get the feeling and the shot that actually matters and is the active part of the shot. By the time you get the feeling the shots done and dusted - even if the ball hasn't finished rolling.

The same applies to full shots - some balls give many golfers better feedback on whether they 'got it right' in exactly the same way as certain club head material and designs.

Such feedback is useful, helpful, comforting (mostly!) but it doesn't affect the shot making at the time.

There is certainly a valid argument that if a good shot feels bad in some way it's probably time to change the ball; you will mentally struggle to swing properly - but that's a completely different matter that is increasingly at the extremes of ball manufacturing processes and, generally, only a matter for balls at the 10p price point. Painted concrete and bouncy rubber at the extremes.
 
hovis said:
Again in my opinion i refuse to believe we can select a ball on feel when its on the club face for a fraction of a second. I think its all in the mind
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Then why would companies bother to engineer feel into golf equipment? Why not just use ultra durable rubber for balls and reinforced steel for golf clubs? Every time a new ball or club comes out, it's always touted as the new level in feel and softer. Why would they bother to do that if the difference was not discernible and the choice was not open to personal preference? Has a ball ever been advertised on the basis of being "reassuringly rock hard"? The answer is no because there is difference and human beings are capable of selecting a golf ball based on feel even when it's on the club face for a fraction of a second. It's why companies have also dropped the compression rating (as a means for selection) for balls because the feel is a more important overall factor. I've yet to see a pro who put a ball into play that he or she didn't like the feel of. Feel is everything - and it's also a valid point in selecting a golf ball. And as for the original premise of this thread - fitting a golf ball to suit a driver isn't a sensible approach to golf ball selection.
 
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