Beginner - Do Balls matter?

[mdl]

Obviously agree with the clear consensus that as a beginner there's absolutely no need to buy premium balls at $3-$4 a pop.  In principle I agree with Erik that as a beginner your ball striking is so inconsistent that any differences between balls is easily swamped by your own inconsistency striking the ball, even with the putter.

But if you're serious about improving, it's much easier to start to gain at least halfway decent consistency with the putter and the very short green side chips and pitches than it is to do with the full shots.  That's to say, it shouldn't be TOO long before you can be consistent enough with putter distance control and little <25 yard pitches and chips from good lies, so it can't really hurt to follow Rustyredcab's advice and find a budget ball that you like something about (as far as you can tell the differences between balls at this point) to eliminate hitting a different ball being a possible cause of different results.

For example, one of my oft used green side shots from maybe 10-20 yards off the green is a soft, high pitch where I'm trying to get good spin relative to how short the shot is and have it land soft and roll out as little as possible.  Switching back and forth constantly between a hard and a soft ball, it might be hard to figure out whether sometimes you're just not getting good contact and thus less spin and that's why sometimes the shot rolls way out, or whether it's just that you do alright with the soft ball but have to hit it almost perfectly to get the short roll out with the hard ball.

[ajst22]

Until you can use a ball for more than 1 round, then I wouldn't recommend trying to find some special ball. At your point, it really wouldn't be worth buying expensive balls with more spin and more layers since they will probably HURT your game. Right now you can basically use any ball since you are in that stage where you are still getting the basics down and trying to play consistent golf. I wouldn't worry too much about what ball you are playing right now, just work on whatever aspects of your game need the most work.

[ajst22]

Originally Posted by mdl

I agree with Erik that as a beginner your ball striking is so inconsistent that any differences between balls is easily swamped by your own inconsistency striking the ball, even with the putter.

That is right on...excellent point

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by ajst22

Until you can use a ball for more than 1 round, then I wouldn't recommend trying to find some special ball. At your point, it really wouldn't be worth buying expensive balls with more spin and more layers since they will probably HURT your game. Right now you can basically use any ball since you are in that stage where you are still getting the basics down and trying to play consistent golf. I wouldn't worry too much about what ball you are playing right now, just work on whatever aspects of your game need the most work.

I agree with both playing similar balls each time out and playing balls with lower greenside spin. It's important to get feel for landing the ball on different spots at varying trajectories and speeds in order to get it to the hole. A high spin ball might produce the odd good hope and stop or sucked back approach, but learning how to play a bump and run and to stop a lesser ball on a hard green means he'll be able to play anywhere in the world.

[Jessie P]

Not that I'm a pro or anything but I play the red box Nike Crush's. For me the feel great off the tee and roll nice on the greens. I pay 14.99 per box. At my local sporting goods store they have deals on the them all time like by 2 boxes get the third box free. I went from the Top Flight DT2's to these and have seen a way better performance in ball flight, slicing, roll etc. I'm not all pro like most of these guys on here so if this post sounded retarded then I'm sorry.

[joekelly]

Give yourself some golf goals.  Start with fifty cent used balls, white, round and clean. Put your money into practice, a lesson or two. When you can score under 100  on two consecutive rounds then upgrade to dollar used balls. Shoot under 90 twice, buy any ball you want.

[Will Par]

As you continue to play, you will discover yourself which ball you prefer to play.  Until that happens, buy balls as you have been doing, vary the brand occasionally, and play with any ball you find that is in good condition.  Eventually you'll know which ball works best for you.

[Josh531]

I would, in your case, just make sure that they are low-compression balls.  2 reasons for this.  First, they are usually pretty cheap.  Second, you probably don't swing at very high speeds (115+mpg).  I know I CAN swing over 120mph, but I rarely do this anymore as I rarely hit the ball well (if at ALL! LOL).  I average a speed of 107mph now and hit the ball MUCH better.  I also switched to lower compression balls which allow me to swing slower without losing distance.  My point here is that if you use lower compression balls you will be able to slow down your swing and work on its mechanics while not having to lose distance or try to kill the ball with every swing.  The ONLY downside is that you will lose almost ALL greenside spin with most low compression balls.  I'm at that stage where I need that spin, but the balls I have don't provide any, but at the same time I still can't control the spin off the driver as well as I should to be able to use better balls.

[DoglegJoe]

Just played 9 holes, scoring myself honestly for the first time. Shot a 60 over 9 holes but felt good about how I played and know where I need work. Didn't lose a single ball and par-ed my first hole - the 4th hole, par 3 at Dyker Beach Golf Course.

Once I establish some consistency (at least in terms of losing balls) I'll likely be purchasing something like the nike pd soft. For now, i'm using $6/doz Lynx Yellow Balls

[DoglegJoe]

Dyker Beach Scorecard - June 16th, 2012

[rustyredcab]

Joe,

As to thee point of your OP, keep using the same ball and work on dropping your putts to 18. There are less reasons that a beginner cannot putt well. It may take a while to learn a good full swing, but one can learn to putt competently at any level. I'm not suggesting we can all be great putters but we can average less than two putts per green. Using the same ball will help a bit and sure can't hurt.

Then learn how to get on the green sooner by improving your full-swing game. At this point, which ball you use does not make much difference in your full swing results.

[JohnLund]

The name of this game is consistency. Everything is geared to finding a repeating swing that works. Anything you can do to get to that spot is helpful be it fitted clubs, a positive mindset, or a ball that works for your game. To that end I would suggest that you find a reasonably priced ball that works and stick with it to aid in getting a consistent feel around the greens and repeatable distances with the longer clubs. So yes, sticking with a ball you like is moderately important even in golf's beginning stages. But to put this in proper perspective, it is not nearly as important as taking lessons and practicing on a regular basis.

[jackvamps]

cant remember the last time i bought golf balls, theres no need, i probably on average find one good ball a round (pro v or equivalent), well while your learning just save up all the good ones you find, and you should have a good amount by the time you feel more confident to use them.

I usually split them into groups

soft - pro vs etc

medium - nxt tour etc

play with one type for a while then switch to the other, that way youl have consistancy and not need to bother buying (because you should find)

[tefunk]

I think it depends on what type of contact one is making with the ball.  If you are topping, chunking or blading 80+% of your shots, and don't strike your putts on the correct part of the face at least 50% of the time... then the ball will pretty much not make any sort of difference.  One needs to have some consistency with making solid contact, be it a putter, an iron or a wood.

As other's have stated, throw your money into some lessons vs. any particular ball.  Just use what you find or buy the cheapest ones.

But, once you start making consistent solid contact in an area or two of your game (maybe chipping and putting), it would probably be beneficial to stick with a similar type of ball, if not the same one.  The Nike PD line offers really nice, cheap balls (about $15 a dozen) to maybe check out once you're more consistent.  The Top Flights are even cheaper (I have a friend who is a 8-9 handicap who only plays Top Flights).

Those are my thoughts, for whatever they're worth.  Good luck with the game!

[slodsm]

I personally like to play the same type of ball over and over because I want the consistency. I can hit repeatable shots with only 3 clubs, a Driver, PW, and Putter (I am a noob who practices constantly but the irons and woods are beating me to death) and I lose probably 2 balls a round. What I do is search ebay and lost golf balls for either E6's or treosoft balls for good deals. It's my favorite ball out of all the 20-25 buck a dozen balls I've tried because I can somewhat repeat performance with those 3 clubs so if I can get them for 15 bucks a dozen or less I buy them to have them in stock.

Currently avg 51 on the 9 hole course a mile from my house I'm a member of and when I can consistently shoot a 45 or better and keep the same ball round after round, I'll start experimenting with others but for now this strategy works well for me.

[kregan]

When I was first starting I decided early on to pick a ball I liked ( played found balls for a while)

and then purchase 6 dozen or so from lostgolfballs.com.  In my case it was the DT SoLo.

By doing this I had the same feel on all my shots (putter feel it important) and the balls are so

inexpensive I did not have to stress when looking for a lost ball.   I would go to the location I hit

and if I couldn't find the ball just drop and move along.

[tiger187126]

i play the bridgestone e series, but you can get them used in pretty good condition for ~$.50 a piece. i made a big order so shipping was free, but now i have a crap-ton of balls so i don't have to worry about buying them retail and spending $2 a pop on new ones that might just end up in one of my future orders of "once hit" balls.

the tee to ~100 yards does not matter to me what kind of ball i use. from 100 yards in i can tell the difference between my old ball (nike mojo, $20/24 balls) and my bridgestones. the putting especially. my number of putts dropped off drastically after i switched and i don't even use the "good" short game ball from the e series.

i recently got some e7s mixed in with my order so i might give those a try to see if they hold a little bit better, because those e6's do not like to spin.

[Steven Sargeant]

There are better balls with less spin that will help you around the greens. When buying cheap balls you may get distance but you will have less scoring chances around the green. Hitting straight shots is not only about ball spin but more about your swing. Like my pro once told me, "It's not the arrow, it's the Indian". Get a pro and take lessons. Anyone can hit a high end ball straight with proper alignment, grip and plane. Don't learn mistakes....they're harder to unlearn.