Balls

[Orikoru]

But in real life there's not much in it. I don't notice a drop off in distance when I switch from Pro V1 to TP5.

A major manufacturer just would not release a premium ball that travelled significantly less distance than its competitors. Distance is a huge characteristic.

This is the thing - almost none of us would notice the difference, due to inconsistencies in the distance we strike the ball anyway. That's why I like the comfort of cold, hard data telling me the things I wouldn't notice myself.

At the fastest swing speed, ProV1 is 10 yards longer than the TP5, total distance. At medium speed it's only 6 yards but then at slow speed it's 10 yards again, so that's pretty consistently longer across the board. But again, as I say, we know that our drives probably vary by 30 or 40 between a great one and a bad one anyway.

I just like knowing that I've chosen a solid ball, even if I can't see it with my own eyes. e.g. If I was a ProV1 player myself, and I saw another ball giving the exact same numbers and was half the price, I'd switch balls and stop wasting my money.

 

[sunshine]

At the fastest swing speed, ProV1 is 10 yards longer than the TP5, total distance. At medium speed it's only 6 yards but then at slow speed it's 10 yards again, so that's pretty consistently longer across the board. But again, as I say, we know that our drives probably vary by 30 or 40 between a great one and a bad one anyway

You have to take the MGS data with a pinch of salt.

TM is just about the biggest name in golf. They must have invested millions in ball technology to challenge Titleist. Every year they spend loads on releasing a new driver that adds an incremental 1 yard of distance. Commercially they just wouldn't release such an inferior product. If the prototypes were 10 yards behind the ProV1 they would just tweak it, giving up something else to match the distance.

Top tour players like Rory use the TP5. They wouldn't give up 10 yards. Just think of all the effort they go to fine tuning their drivers for an extra yard, when they could just swap to Titleist and gain 10?

At the slow end it's a different story, and I understand how some balls won't work for a slower swing speed.

 

[Orikoru]

You have to take the MGS data with a pinch of salt.

TM is just about the biggest name in golf. They must have invested millions in ball technology to challenge Titleist. Every year they spend loads on releasing a new driver that adds an incremental 1 yard of distance. Commercially they just wouldn't release such an inferior product. If the prototypes were 10 yards behind the ProV1 they would just tweak it, giving up something else to match the distance.

Top tour players like Rory use the TP5. They wouldn't give up 10 yards. Just think of all the effort they go to fine tuning their drivers for an extra yard, when they could just swap to Titleist and gain 10?

At the slow end it's a different story, and I understand how some balls won't work for a slower swing speed.

I dunno, they might just not be as good at making balls as they are at clubs? Plenty of players have used inferior products before because they were getting paid - Bubba's Volvik balls and Rose's Honma clubs spring to mind. A.Kim said it in an interview as well that the Nike clubs were very poor but they paid big to get them in players' hands. Rory hits it plenty of distance, I think he might actually sacrifice 10 yards if the ball gave him the right spin profile he wanted.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

You have to take the MGS data with a pinch of salt.

TM is just about the biggest name in golf. They must have invested millions in ball technology to challenge Titleist. Every year they spend loads on releasing a new driver that adds an incremental 1 yard of distance. Commercially they just wouldn't release such an inferior product. If the prototypes were 10 yards behind the ProV1 they would just tweak it, giving up something else to match the distance.

Top tour players like Rory use the TP5. They wouldn't give up 10 yards. Just think of all the effort they go to fine tuning their drivers for an extra yard, when they could just swap to Titleist and gain 10?

At the slow end it's a different story, and I understand how some balls won't work for a slower swing speed.

I completely agree with everything you’ve said.

Also to further quantify the results my colleague/mate experienced, we were chatting further this afternoon at work instead of actually working . Where he said he couldn’t discern a loss of distance talking through it today and going back through his hole 19 app stats. He thinks there was actually a gain in yardages off the tee because he was hitting the same irons into greens he normally would but conditions were colder, fairways a lot wetter and as such was less run on the ball and usually in those conditions he’s usually 8-10 yards further back than where he usually hits from in normal conditions.

He does have a slower swing speed with his driver speed topping out at 90mph max but average usually 85-90mph he can’t get any quicker due to a previous shoulder & arm injury that’s led to a couple of pins in his left arm. So even though we’ve done some light hearted ball fitting using AI he’s realised playing a 5 piece isn’t really giving any advantage as he doesn’t compress it enough, and was basically talking himself into playing it for the short game. Hence why he’s going to look at the Triad with its softer compression and still has some stopping ability.

As for me I’m actually looking forward to Fridays ball fitting, almost in a geeky way as I get to spend time on GC Quad and then go watch the Ryder Cup

 

[Imurg]

My take on balls is to pick a category of ball - ProV1 style, X style, Tour Response style etc etc. - and use one or more brands in that category.
As has been said, our ball striking deficiencies will minimise any differences to the point of having a negligible effect on our shots.
Pick a category and stick to it...although I'll use any and all of the above at some time or another but that's me....

 

[Neilds]

Another thing to factor in with ball manufacturers, do they make their balls to perform best with their own clubs? Should you only play TP5s with TM clubs? It’s a minefield!

 

[Imurg]

Another thing to factor in with ball manufacturers, do they make their balls to perform best with their own clubs? Should you only play TP5s with TM clubs? It’s a minefield!

Back in the day, TopFlite produced 2 " different" balls for the new titanium drivers from Callaway and TM...
And, yes, they were printed on as such.
The spiel was that the balls were engineered to perform best with each brand's driver.....
I kid you not....

 

[Orikoru]

Back in the day, TopFlite produced 2 " different" balls for the new titanium drivers from Callaway and TM...
And, yes, they were printed on as such.
The spiel was that the balls were engineered to perform best with each brand's driver.....
I kid you not....

So one of them was only rock hard, while the other one was flipping hard?

 

[Imurg]

So one of them was only rock hard, while the other one was flipping hard?

They weren't that bad to be honest...based on the Z Balata - which wasn't- at the time it was a fairly decent ball......
Certainly some got sucked into the hype..

 

[irip]

Topflite released the softest ball ever when they produced the “balata” so soft it was like butter.
You used to buy them individually and they came wrapped up like a Ferrero Rocheau.
Only problem was every time you hit the ball properly it split and you had a great big smile in it.

Commando & Penfold was the ball of choice for top golfers at that time so it was a while ago.

 

[bobmac]

I was sucked into the technical bumf and bought some Uniroyals with the hexagonal dimples.
They didn't last long.
ProV1 for me

 

[Slab]

I see Tour Edge are entering the ball market with a 3-piece ball coming out next month

 

[Burnsey]

Interestingly, the ProV1 outsells the ProV1x massively, but fitters reported they find the x is better for 70% of players.

Shows the dominance the ProV1 has.

 

[GreiginFife]

I was sucked into the technical bumf and bought some Uniroyals with the hexagonal dimples.
They didn't last long.
ProV1 for me

I think Callaway revived the hexagonal dimples, that didn't last long either.

 

[GreiginFife]

Interestingly, the ProV1 outsells the ProV1x massively, but fitters reported they find the x is better for 70% of players.

Shows the dominance the ProV1 has.

Quite surprised by that, wouldn't expect 70% of club golfers to have the speed required for the X.

 

[Burnsey]

Quite surprised by that, wouldn't expect 70% of club golfers to have the speed required for the X.

I too was surprised.

 

[D-S]

Quite surprised by that, wouldn't expect 70% of club golfers to have the speed required for the X.

They swapped them round about 6 or 7 years ago. The features oh an x are now similar to a ProV1 from a few years ago and vice versa.
As said above the x is what most people get recommended from Titleist - I have a slow swing speed and Titleist fitting said use the x.

 

[Orikoru]

They swapped them round about 6 or 7 years ago. The features oh an x are now similar to a ProV1 from a few years ago and vice versa.
As said above the x is what most people get recommended from Titleist - I have a slow swing speed and Titleist fitting said use the x.

Did they say why? At slow speed, it has the least distance and highest spin with driver, and also the least distance with irons by a long way, but high spin. And only fractionally more spin with a wedge than the others. Looking at these numbers, I cannot see why you would fit a slow swing player to the ProV1x.

 

[Klimski]

Those numbers confirm my choice of the TruFeel. Really like that ball.

 

[Orikoru]

Those numbers confirm my choice of the TruFeel. Really like that ball.

Of course, your trade-off is giving up any sort of spin in the short game, but if you're happy landing the ball short and letting it run up to the flag then it's all good.




This does make me wonder why the Velocity exists, since it does seem to be worse than the TruFeel in every capacity.