Golf Balls... could someone put the record straight !!

Hendy

Hendy

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Ok folks, just out of interest is there like a general rule of thumb when it comes to what type of ball to use for different levels of HC?

I mean is there much point of a 20+ HC player using Pro V? will they gain anything? or are they just likey to lose distance and slice the sh1t out of it?

Even thinking about myself I play off 16 and use Bridgestone Tour B330 but do i really need to be playing with these?? Maybe I would be better with some AD333's?

Any info/advise in general would be great on the matter.
 
hendy, if it helps ive always been an anti pro ball player thinking their too expensive, why lose w £3.00 ball when i can lose a £1.50 ball etc, not seeing the point of expensive balls, but always using something 2 piece middle of the range sort of stuff.

This is fine for the winter but ive been really struggling with control on chips into hard greens and shots into greens either not stopping, and generally not being happy with the feel off the putter

Against my better judgetment a 2 months back i started playing with proV1 and i have shot 2 rounds of my life in under a month Broke 80 (which was my target for the year) around our local and now a 10 over around a harder course local to me.

Im a pretty long hitter woods wise and hit average level irons (7i will hit around 160/165) so its not about distance, but the biggest change in my game is stopping balls on the green and being more accurate with my puts. unfortunately for my wallet i do put this down to playing with better balls.

I play off 16 but i will say after 2 great games i have no doubt that i should be playing off about 12 by the end of the season. i will go back to cheaper balls through the winter tho.....
 
all depends if you can feel a difference. can you tell the difference when playing? some folk just play whatever they find. i can feel the difference between prov1 and provx. provx too hard for me around green. if you can tell the difference then go for a better ball. imo
 
I used to play the AD333 over the last few years.

At the start of this year I vowed to play the ProV1x for the whole of this year and see how different they were.

I started the season at 16 and have dropped 4 shots so far this year alone and I would say 3.5 of those shots were down to playing the Prov1x. I hit it quite long off the tee and I've not lost any distance there but the control around the greens and the feel off the putter are like night and day....

Everyone will be different but I won't be going back, I trust it that much.
 
Ok folks, just out of interest is there like a general rule of thumb when it comes to what type of ball to use for different levels of HC?
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None what so ever. If balls were 50p per dozen we'd all just use Pro V's. Higher h/cappers tend to use cheaper balls as they lose so many. Balls do have slightly different characteristics but you have to keep it in play to notice... and find the middle of the clubface :p
 
If you have a slice that goes further sideways than forwards, play off 28 on a good day, then you would be mental to play a premium ball. It will be expensive, and will make your slice worse. Distance balls would be a better bet.

If you are a mid handicap golfer, then any mid priced ball should be fine. I don't get this rubbish about not being able to hold the greens with a mid range ball. If you can't stop a 333 (for example, but insert ball of choice here, NXT, PX3, whatever) then you aren't hitting it right.

That said, if you are a really good golfer, it probably wouldn't matter. Some guys I play with play with rocks, and still shoot low 70s.

I play ProV1, mainly because I have a cupboard full of them. I also play Bridgestone 330RX, again, I have a cupboard full, so why not. Does it benefit my game? Probably no more so than a mid range ball.

I do feel a bit like a golfer though when playing a decent ball. All the way until I swing a club at it.
 
I don't get this rubbish about not being able to hold the greens with a mid range ball. If you can't stop a 333 (for example, but insert ball of choice here, NXT, PX3, whatever) then you aren't hitting it right.
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ive got to disagree, i played two identical shots at tilgate forest a few weeks back, one failed to stop on the green, the second pitched and landed in exactly the same position and checked up alot quicker to hold the green.

Unfortunately i was an at angle where i was playing over a bunker lip from a riased approach and the green was at its shallowist of depths where i was aiming for, a harder 2 piece ball middle of the range simply didnt stop & ran through up the fringe and into the semi rough, the taylor made penta stopped, and infact stopped bloody quick. Looking at the divots both were almost identical in length and depth, and bothing pitches were around 2/3rds in swing lenth.
 
No disrespect to Hendy.
But how many "which ball" questions can this site cope with?????
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in he's defense there are so many with contridicting statements in each, it may be a good idea for the forum admit to do a Q&A on balls... it may tidy the place up.

We have had to do a simular thing on another forum i visit for motocross. just to stop repeated questions.
 
It may be a good idea for the forum admin to do a Q&A on balls... it may tidy the place up.
We have had to do a simular thing on another forum i visit for motocross. just to stop repeated questions.
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It was the same on the VFR Forum. Wasn't a day go by without somebody asking which was the best after market can for the bike. In the end, somebody tidied it all up and any questions on end cans was directed straight to the relevant section.
I wasn't having a pop at Hendy. Far from it. But there must have been at least six or seven different threads on golf balls over the last couple of weeks...
 
Thanks on the words of advise i know there is a fair few questions about the golf ball. And i am sure there will be alot more..


To answer a question above about notice much differece i would have to say not alot.. I dont spin the ball.. But if i am hitting into a green from hight my ball would in most cases stay on the green.. Of course its a different story when playing some local links course with us having so much dry weather i have heard about a links course not to far from me having problems on the fairways.. (they are cracking) lol
 
ive got to disagree, i played two identical shots at tilgate forest a few weeks back, one failed to stop on the green, the second pitched and landed in exactly the same position and checked up alot quicker to hold the green.
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Having played at Tilgate Forest yesterday all I can say is the greens must have been a hole lot softer when you played than they were yesterday because I couldn't get my Bridgestone's to stop for toffee and I know I get a lot of spin with them and I know I was stopping them at Ascot on Friday. It was like the green's were dead, no spin on full wedges, no check on chips, no nothing, nada.

Aside from that, Premium balls do stop better than cheaper balls assuming you hit it properly.
 
If it is something that is playing on your mind that much why not find a driving range or golf club that does ball fitting sessions? They'll be able to put you on their radar tracking system which will measure club head speed and spin rates etc - and then recommend a ball based from your stats.

Nick
 
At the risk of seeming controversial most average golfers wouldn't be able to benefit from using a premium ball in terms of compressing it correctly to gain optimum performance and so would be better off with mid-range balls like AD333 etc.

However I concede that there is a world of difference between some of the mid priced balls and the cheaper rocks and the top end balls in terms of feel especially off a putter and it is here that the expensive balls score highly in my book. I am fortunate to probably have more premium balls than even I'm likely to lose in a very long time sitting at home and so it isn't an issue for me. I prefer to use them for their stopping characteristics with wedges and the aforementioned feel factor.

At the end of the day it all comes down to personal choice and budget. If you lose 2-3 balls per round but can afford £25-£35 per dozen for the various premium models and are happy to fork out then why not use them if you think it will help. If you aren't so sure and feel and control aren't the holy grail for you, then there are plenty of middle of the road makes out there that will give you both some degree of control and a few extra yards. If you really struggle to get it round without losing a good few, then in my opinion, your game hasn't reached a level where the ball choice will make a difference. Budget balls (Topflite etc) would be my way forward.

However if you are still keen to see what the fuss is about, refurbished balls offer a compromised entry into the premium ball market if you still want to go down that road (although lake balls are notoriously unpredicatable and no two will play the same)
 
Just out of interest, are you a big hitter?

The Bridgestone website says the B330 is best suited to driver swing speeds of over 112mph. That's fast. Probably equivalent to a driver carry of about 260-270.

If you get on well with it then to hell with what Bridgestone say, but if you don't swing that fast you'll be losing distance with a ball designed to be hit that hard.
 
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