Winter Ball Logic - Softer or Firmer

[sunshine]

When I use a hard ball like a Titleist Velocity I've noticed it goes a bit further than my standard Pro V1. Noticeable with a short iron into the green, where the pitch mark from the Velocity will be 3 or 4 yards further, and then the ball rolls on a yard or two, compared to a Pro V1 which finishes close to my pitchmark. Hard to measure driver distance, because the amount of roll varies from shot to shot and I rarely hit two identical drives in a row, but probably a few yards extra distance, nothing major.

However I still use a soft ball in winter for feel rather than distance. When the ball is cold I feel that I don't compress it, so a softer ball feels better off the clubface. This is not scientific, but feel is such an important factor in golf. I don't want to be hitting a rock that feels like a Top Flite. I recognise I've used the word feel a bit too much, but I don't believe that there is a significant distance drop off.

 

[kp17]

Always just played proV1/proV1x at all times in the year but tried titleists AVX a few months back after recommendation from club pro, they give this feeling that they fly so much better and definitely longer from the tee, just not as convinced yet that’s it’s worth switching with their feel around greens/putting etc but would like to try them out when course is in a bit better nick, also the fact they’re cheaper

 

[hambugerpete]

Agree that a high compression ball will go further if everything is equal but the problem usually is that the higher compression urethane balls also tend to be the higher spinning balls (main exception the left dash).

MyGolfSpy did a bunch of testing with the Ping robot back in 2023. A higher compression ball will go further off the driver in almost all cases, even slow swing speeds but with irons the longest balls for the slow swing speeds were all low compression balls. At the mid speed there were a couple of high compression balls near the top but they were the low spin options while at a high swing speed it was a mixture of both.

On a personal observation they had the high swing speed for an 8 iron at 87mph and mine is around that. I clearly don't strike it anything like the robot though which had a 117mph ball speed, mine is usually more like 110mph although I have seen a single rogue one being 118mph but I pulled it 40 yards left. I'm nowhere near the 115mph for the driver speed though, so I think they should have had that 8 iron more in the 90mph range.

Ultimatley theres not much in it really when it comes to distance from diferent balls and too many other variables on course that affect spin as opposed to robot testing. Just find ones you like and stick with those.

 

[harpo_72]

I do change or have done. But I have done some testing and for me there is definitely a point where the compression kills driver distance. My Garmin stats show a 15 yard loss with some balls.
For me too soft feels like hitting a rotten potato and I hate it plus all the jumping about and rolling on I hate.
I do think I can reduce my compression for winter due to swing speed restrictions but I also need to be able to keep my spin up. I need spin on my driver so I migrate towards Pro V1x , chrome soft x , Wilson staff x and my current favourite chrome tour x .. in winter I would use AD333 and swear by them but I don’t want to give up 15yards off the driver .. so now I am looking at a cheap option that is slightly firmer. The tour speed started okay but dropped away as I warmed up.. so I need something around the 87-95 compression for winter. Summer 95-105 is fine might feel a bit firm but it is okay.
But as mentioned earlier spin characteristics are critical.. especially off the driver for me and to be fair rarely do the modern balls stall on me in fact they are all pretty superior in the wind.

 

[Hxck]

Generally the best thing is to find one you like and stick with it year round. Make sure it has an appropriate compression rating for your swing speed and remember, if it's right for Rory, it probably isn't right for you.

 

[Orikoru]

Always just played proV1/proV1x at all times in the year but tried titleists AVX a few months back after recommendation from club pro, they give this feeling that they fly so much better and definitely longer from the tee, just not as convinced yet that’s it’s worth switching with their feel around greens/putting etc but would like to try them out when course is in a bit better nick, also the fact they’re cheaper

AVX was the one that started me off thinking about it actually - a couple of weeks ago I lost the Q-Star Tour I was playing and grabbed an AVX out of the bag that I happened to have. I promptly ripped a drive that was my longest that day, then hit the back of the green with an 8 iron when I thought I'd only get to front/middle. It was noticeably longer and me wonder why we bother switching to 'softer balls' in winter when it's maybe costing us distance. Other than money-saving obviously, when you'll lose more to plugs etc. (Which is exactly what happened to that AVX a few holes later - saw it land in plain sight and never found it as it must have plugged so bad it was underground!)

 

[sunshine]

AVX was the one that started me off thinking about it actually - a couple of weeks ago I lost the Q-Star Tour I was playing and grabbed an AVX out of the bag that I happened to have. I promptly ripped a drive that was my longest that day, then hit the back of the green with an 8 iron when I thought I'd only get to front/middle. It was noticeably longer and me wonder why we bother switching to 'softer balls' in winter when it's maybe costing us distance. Other than money-saving obviously, when you'll lose more to plugs etc. (Which is exactly what happened to that AVX a few holes later - saw it land in plain sight and never found it as it must have plugged so bad it was underground!)

I don’t follow this. The AVX is a softer ball isn’t it? So switching to it gave you more distance.

By the way I used AVX during November and December and quite liked them. Saving them for March now.

 

[Chip&Run]

I dont believe switching balls in winter has any meaningful effect on my scores. Course's play shorter, preferred lies etc etc just play your golf and enjoy being out. Keep the swing moving is my only aim over the winter

 

[RichA]

Played the first 6 holes today with a 60p low compression Ram ball, next 6 with a brand new £4 ProV1 and the last 6 with a battered Tour Speed that was one of a load I bought on eBay for about 90p each.
This bang average golfer didn't notice any difference.
Didn't lose any of them but the ProV1 got a few tree kisses.

I didn't change my club selection on the basis of any of the balls' spin or compression ratings.

 

[Orikoru]

I don’t follow this. The AVX is a softer ball isn’t it? So switching to it gave you more distance.

By the way I used AVX during November and December and quite liked them. Saving them for March now.

Q-Star Tour is softer than AVX.

 

[harpo_72]

Q-Star Tour is softer than AVX.

Q-star tour “67” AvX “77” on the compression side according to MGS 2023 measurements.. might have changed slightly.
Chrome soft is “72” .. the premium stuff is 88-94 ish and the x stuff is around 95-104 ish ..
But it’s the spin characteristic as well because you have the left dash stuff being high 90s in compression but low spin ..
So it’s hard to be specific about which ball to use and you may find same brand or you may mix brands ..
I am factoring in cost as well and I do find the titleist premium stuff pretty fragile .. hence me looking away from the Pro V1x.
But honestly speaking I am the biggest variable.

 

[Orikoru]

Q-star tour “67” AvX “77” on the compression side according to MGS 2023 measurements.. might have changed slightly.
Chrome soft is “72” .. the premium stuff is 88-94 ish and the x stuff is around 95-104 ish ..
But it’s the spin characteristic as well because you have the left dash stuff being high 90s in compression but low spin ..
So it’s hard to be specific about which ball to use and you may find same brand or you may mix brands ..
I am factoring in cost as well and I do find the titleist premium stuff pretty fragile .. hence me looking away from the Pro V1x.
But honestly speaking I am the biggest variable.

I view AVX as a more premium ball than Q-Star Tour so maybe I thought the compression difference was greater than it is. The PXG that I used last time is definitely up there though with 97 compression according to MGS.

Yeah I tend to avoid Titleist as well, since whichever ball you look at it, it's priced £5-10 higher than it's equivalents from most other brands.

 

[harpo_72]

I view AVX as a more premium ball than Q-Star Tour so maybe I thought the compression difference was greater than it is. The PXG that I used last time is definitely up there though with 97 compression according to MGS.

Yeah I tend to avoid Titleist as well, since whichever ball you look at it, it's priced £5-10 higher than it's equivalents from most other brands.

Yes AVX is premium.. I used to play it but it was not great off the driver but my 5 wood it was awesome.. and then I went down a rabbit hole of driver stuff

 

[Grizzly]

Very unscientific but in temperatures around zero, I find a thinned Supersoft hurts significantly less than a thinned Pro V1x....

 

[jim8flog]

At the moment I have been using up the odds and ends, mainly because my game is so bad that it does not really matter, having a sort out on Monday I cam across some Bridgestone B330 RXSs that had seen better days which I used yesterday. Having not played at all last summer I regained a lot of confidence from seeing just how much these balls stop on greenside shots. No real loss of club distance with them either.