Any of you change ball for windy days?

[elsito99]

Sunday shot 93 in what felt like 30 mph wind all day, mostly against us. It turned long par 4 into 5's and so on.

I had a very good time from the tee, but that improved slightly when I changed from a ProV1 to a NXT tour. I "felt" that it pierced the wind more than the Prov1.


I got 2 drives higher than I wanted (with the prov1) and the wind took them for a complete distance of about 150 if at all. With the NXT I had a 264 drive which is very good for me and the conditions.


So is it better to change to a harder ball on windy days? or is this just a placebo effect??

[Kcas77]

The Taylormade TP red and black are supposed to be very wind resistant.

[elsito99]

Have you played those??

It would be interesting to keep a good wind ball in the bag for days like that.

[iacas]

I'm of the belief that a well struck ball tends to get through the wind pretty well all by itself.

So I play the same ball as the rest of the time.

[Dub]

Never changed for wind....I have changed for temperature, though.

I played some rounds this year that were cooooold....at least for around here. I switched over from my regular balls to Wilson Zips.

[GaijinGolfer]

I never use a different ball for windy days. You just gotta learn how to play the wind.

[PiKapp23]

On really windy days I will sometimes switch up which ball I use based on the direction of the wind on a particular hole. Into the wind I use a Bridgestone e7+ or Bridgestone B330. With the wind at my back I'll switch to something a little softer like a Bridgestone B330-S or Srixon Z-URS or whatever other lower compression, high spin ball I have in my bag.

[ACE]

I stick to the same ball persoanlly.

[kyota85]

I'm of the belief that a well struck ball tends to get through the wind pretty well all by itself.

Wouldnt a less spin ball not baloon as bad in windy head on conditions?

[flanagan]

I got 2 drives higher than I wanted (with the prov1) and the wind took them for a complete distance of about 150 if at all. With the NXT I had a 264 drive which is very good for me and the conditions.

I doubt your NXT contributed 114 yards difference. I agree that a ball that spins less should be less affected in some ways, but never noticed enough of a difference that I want to give up my feeling of how my regular ball will perform, especially around the greens. Maybe the NXT is just a better fit for your swing, wind or no wind.

[iacas]

Wouldnt a less spin ball not baloon as bad in windy head on conditions?

Not really, no. Ideal launch conditions are ideal launch conditions.

If your ball doesn't balloon when you hit it 165 MPH, a 20 MPH headwind's not going to change that much. The ball flight might be "squished" a bit, but if you don't balloon normally you generally won't balloon into the wind. That's with a driver... obviously with a wedge or other short iron, the natural ball flight includes a lot more lift (and a lot less ball speed), so 20 MPH makes a difference. Regardless, a well struck ball is a well struck ball. You can always take more or less club into or downwind - it's sideways wind that people generally talk about when they talk about a ball's performance in the wind, and a well-struck ball gets through that just fine.

[kyota85]

Ok thanks.
I do understand the "well struck ball" for sure.

[RC]

For historical information, there was once a time when changing balls made a lot of sense, at least for non-tournament play (but small wagers.) The old English balls were smaller and designed for windier conditions. A ball like the Pinfold Heart would pierce the wind much better than the American ball.

In wind at 30 and above, I have a bit more of an issue with ProV1's that ProV1x's but there is a trade off regardless. With skill, a well struck shot can be played no matter the wind, but the balls that spin more are affected more in a strong side wind for me. Most of the time, I just play what I've been playing... unless it is really cold.

Icaras wrote a great review of the TP reds and blacks on this forum. At the time, I think the ProV1 was not the current version, but it had the highest spin rate. Just for discussion sake, what do you guys think now? I think the ProV1 has slightly less spin than before, and is now pretty close to the TP version of their higher spin ball. Don't know about the current ProV1x, but having just bought two dozen, I guess I will find out. Currently, it hardly matters -- they aerated and sanded the greens this week and everything lands like a lawn dart, even downwind in 30 mph conditions. Five foot putts are more luck than skill. But hey... we have spring and green grass.

[elsito99]

Maybe it was the holes I played with the prov1, or specific shots, or mind games.


But I felt the wind affected the softer ball more. And contrary to the sideways wind post, I was talking more about head and down winds. I felt the prov1 ballooned a lot more on headwind shots, but maybe it was just the shots themselves.


Anyways, next round I will switch again and see what happens.

[Zeph]

I agree with iacas. When you get that penetrating shot, the ball will lose very limited distance. I would rather try to keep it lower than changing ball.

If you hit it high and loose, obviously the wind will catch it more, but if that is the case I don't think a ball change will help.

elsito99: It's easy to assume things, but can you "feel" how far a ball goes? This topic is really no harder to investigate than find a windy day and practice shots with the same club and a couple of different balls. The shots of course have to be somewhat similar for the experiment to work. Hitting a bad shot with one ball and a good one with the next (like the OP did, no way the ball change contributed to 114 yards) wont tell you anything. I don't think the difference will be significant at all. You'll also have to put the general distance of the ball into the equation. If you test Pro V1 vs Pro V1x you'll have to take into account that the V1x is supposed to be longer.

[David in FL]

No change here.

I will change the flight of my shots to accomodate differing conditions, something that I think even mid-handicappers could do more often than most of them tend to.

[RC]

Lots of good information and opinions on this topic, but something not often talked about is how important it is to know how to reduce spin when you need to. Into the wind, hitting a ball hard but with a lower trajectory may not be the best answer. We all know a slower swing speed imparts less spin, so rather than hitting a lot of knock downs, consider clubbing down and using a solid 3/4 or even 1/2 swing. I'm not embarrassed to say I have hit a 7 iron from 100 yards in a raging wind... I might have hit a 6 if I thought the ball would stop where I wanted it. When the pressure is on and the wind is 30+, no one worries about the number on the club you hit if you can put the ball on the green and in good position. In high winds, I hit lots of knock downs, but I also hit more iron many times, and almost pitch the ball to the green, even over traps. In a true 2 or 3 club wind, sometimes a 4 club drop is an easier shot -- if you have practiced hitting them.

[Lefty22]

Regardless, a well struck ball is a well struck ball. You can always take more or less club into or downwind - it's sideways wind that people generally talk about when they talk about a ball's performance in the wind, and a well-struck ball gets through that just fine.

Wow, those Well Struck balls sound like just the thing to pull out on a windy day

- Sure wish I knew where to pick up a few dozen of them I'd like to play them even if there's no wind...