Should slicers steer clear of high spinning balls?

One of our regular 4 ball insists on playing with Pro V1s. He's a slicer and loses so many balls per round it's not even funny.
Is it true, that seeing as such a ball will spin well around it's horizontal axis if a pro hits it with a wedge and stops immediatly on the green then by the same logic if a slicer hits this ball it will be more inclined to spin about it's vertical axis and so will slice even more than a plain 2 piece ball? I myself believe it would but don't want to go giving incorrect information to a guy.
My previous advice to him which he took me up on was to bin his 9 Deg driver in favour of an 11 Deg ( I did advise him at 12 deg at a min but this was a start )
In short slicers should not be playing with these type balls, True or false?

if you're playing against him - don't say anything!

I like your theory - It makes sense to me. I don't see how a high spinning ball can help you to hit the ball straighter - yet a lot of people insist on hitting Pro V1's. Titleist have it down to a tee with their marketing and advertising. Not only do most of the top players use them but Titleist will get every chance to tell you!

A lot of amateurs are obsessed by backspin - unfortunately for some, they usually tend to get sidespin

I would agree. There was a time when I was slicing really badly. A few lessons later I had that straightened out, but the pro told me to dump the Pro V1 for a two piece ball. We started with a Titleist and ended up with a Callaway Hot. It made all the difference. Granted I cannot suck back a wedge, but I could not do that anyways. I have never understood the fasination with "backing a ball up." Unless you have killer distance control it can hurt you greatly.

The short answer is yes.

The long answer can be found in the marketing. Hit it longer and straighter are the mantras for the distance balls as they all feature lower spin rates as a selling point. A lower spin rate off any club, especially the driver, increases control for the slice prone golfer.

Its also good to strike a balance. Slicers may not hit many greens in regulation and a ball that works well around the greens is a plus. To play a pure distance, low spin ball may not be your best option if your not a super high handicap but have some short game skills. The NXT Tour is a good compromise ball giving decent distance and performance/feel around and on the greens.

Less spin is better for chronic banana ball.

Depends.

I have seen a lot of players who deliberately play a slice and very consistently! A slicing ball will run almost like it has top spin on it and you can get tremendous roll

A high spin ball will definitely slice more than a low spin ball with an outside in swing, and there are balls out there that will virtually eliminate a spinning slice. However, if you are just pushing the ball right a low spin ball will not help.

90% of the slicers I see have the classic flying right elbow.

I think it depends also...

My slices and hooks only occur with the driver, whereas my irons are fairly straight if not a slight draw. So for me, I like a ball that spins because I am forced to make saves quite often off the tee.

Come on Divot, I know that saving par from the junk is rewarding, but surely you would rather be in the fairway...right?

And yes, I will stop calling you Shirley.

is there a ball that has low spin off the driver, but still maintains good back spin around the greens

I believe the Laddie claims to do that and gets great reviews. Low spin but still green friendly.

Geez your buddy must be pretty well off if he can afford to slice Pro VI's into the woods all day!

What course does he play at so I can go digging through the woods and find them?

Truth be told your theory sounds good to me. Side spin is what is slicing his ball (among other things like his swing) then using a high rate of spin ball doesn't make much sense....

As others have said, I think your theory is correct. I'm a recovering slicer myself and still fight it, though to an ever lessening degree.

The problem with slicing is it rarely is consistent. Sure, I would lineup and aim left, but I could never guarantee whether I'd slice back into the middle or clear across to the other side.

What's more, a head wind makes the slice worse, so a high spinning ball becomes even harder to control.

So yes, a ball with low spin off the driver should help a bit. Of course, as everyone told me when I asked this question, the real solution is to stop slicing, but I'm sure he knows that.

A weak grip and too much tension in my swing were the primary culprits for me. The weak grip encouraged an open club face, which of course is the real reason for a slice, and then the tension resulted in a steep outside in swing path, and resulted in all kinds of other issues. Like I said, I've still got issues, but it's getting better.

But yeah, the best ball should be one with low driver spin. It also seems most slicers don't benefit much from spin around the green, so it's not likely he needs that anyway. If he needs to have a "name" ball, from what I know the Callaway HX Hot has low driver spin.

yeah, i slice.

yeah, i'm smart enough to play a ball that will make my ball slightly less in the hazard

Would I like to be in the fairway? Sure. But I hit my driver far fewer times than my scoring clubs...so I choose based on that....

If your friend is looking for a quick-fix that won't really solve his problem... then yes, a lower-spin ball would help.

Notice also, I said help. A ball with lower spin-rates is not going to keep him from slicing his ball, it just might save him a couple yards to the side. But he will still be slicing the ball.

The only way your friend is going to eliminate his slice, is to fix his swing. The ball is not causing his slice, so changing something that is not the cause of the problem is not going to solve it... it just might keep it from being as profound.

My advice would be to focus on fixing the root cause... not getting it into your (his) head that changing a ball will fix his slice. I am left-handed and went from having a hard slice to a consistent fade, but I've been using the same balls (Noodles or NXT's) the whole time. I have hit a few rounds with Pro V1's, and honestly... I am not any better or any worse with them. I can't get any super spin with them or any other ball it seems.

Anyways, my advice is to use a ball that won't amplify his slice as much... but to get that swing fixed if he really wants to get that slice under control.

I think is your flat out slicing the ball. what type of ball should be the least of your worries.

essentially, the reason for the slice is an off-centre stroke, causing high left-to-right spin.

or an open clubface or both. You can't just call it one thing or the other without seeing the swing on tape and/or some impact tape.

Every manufacturer claims to make a high spinning balls for wedges and be low-spinning off the driver. The simple truth is that you can't have you cake and eat it too. While there have been great strides in achieving that goal -- the modern multilayer ball really helps -- I don't think that there will ever be that perfect combination. A ball that is high spin with the wedges will still have a higher spin off the driver than a ball that low spin off the driver and have lower spin with the wedges. Like I said, the modern multilayer ball really helps with this. The outer urethane layer is very good at picking up spin from the grooves on the wedges, especially on less than full shots where the grooves are the primary source for the spin. Then, the middle or mantle layer is very good as being low spin -- it is designed to be hard and dense specifically to increase the ball's MOI which helps is resist spinning (just like the large MOI driver heads) and to be squashed against the driver face instead of sliding or rolling on the driver face which also adds spin. But, like I said, I don't think that you can ever have the best of both worlds, because the urethane cover of the ball will be easier to slide along the driver face again contributing to more spin. Nevertheless, we have it better than any golfers ever before us, and I do think that there is room for improvement -- the new Callaway balls have 4 layers as have some Wilson balls for a while now -- I think that this is probably going to be the trend, to add more layers each with specific properties to increase wedge spin and decrease driver spin.