Scoring better with a distance ball?

I generally use 3 piece urethane balls like proV's and such, but every now and then I'll get distance balls for free in an outing, like pinnacles, and when I play them I always seem to score better. They're a lot straighter and longer which is great, and I actually seem to putt better with them. Obviously the drawback is less spin around the green, but I find if I play short of the pin and plan for the roll out, the trade off is worth it. I'm thinking of playing pinnacles exclusively now. Anyone else have a similar experience with distance balls?

I find myself liking quality 2-piece balls best as well.  I don't have a problem stopping them on the green and like the feel putting.   More durable too.

Depends on the course.  If I'm playing a course with softer greens I find distance balls are better.  To me the only place the higher spinning ball make a lot difference is on approach shots where the pin is on the front of the green.

I have used the NXT Tour Titleist ball several times and have it pretty easy to stop on the greens i play here.

No, I don't even practice my short game with those types of balls. Heck maybe I'm snooty but I don't even like the feel of some types of tour balls. I don't feel too much difference off of full shots, unless I am trying to work the ball, but the distance rocks just really suck around the green.

I don't think it's snooty.  You play what works best for you and the courses you play.  Nothing wrong with that.  But, good quality 2 piece balls are far from distance "rocks".

I've came to the conclusion that the ball doesn't matter to me at this point in my game. I'm a 17, but my last 3 rounds have been 85, 83 and 82 if that matters. Aside from the bottom of the barrel top flite's, the ball doesn't matter all that much and I really and truly can't tell the difference. I've been playing these Callaway's that a friend found online for $6 a dozen and they work just as good as the free sleeve of Pro V's I received earlier this year. What's even more weird is I didn't notice any more spin between the two. I thought I'd be hooking the shit out of the ball with the Pro V's, but they seemed to go just the same as ever other ball I play.

Perhaps, if I get down to a single digit handicap one day, I'll be able to tell the difference. At this point, I'm playing the same game with pretty much every ball. So, I buy cheap one's.

I go back and forth between the Callaway Warbird and Titleist NXT Tour.

Both go about the same distance and I have a pretty high ball flight so their isn't much run out either way.

And I like to play for the roll instead of stopping the ball on shots inside 75 yds.

Doing that helps me to force myself to swing easy and under control.

Plus you can see how the green is rolling and breaking on some shots so you'll

already have an idea how to roll your putt.

I went back and forth for years as my handicap straddled the 12-15 area. Pro Vs seemed to always find their way into ponds and woods and I got tired of spending the money. Then I'd play some good rounds and try Pro Vs again only to start losing them again.

I am now to a level where I can play them (Pro Vs) without losing them hand over fist and the difference for me is huge. I love to work the ball and they allow me to do so without over exaggerating anything. They give me the stop I need on approach shots and even a little back butter. For chipping I can be more aggressive knowing they will check for me rather than guessing how much they will run out. Also helps take break out since I can carry a ridge or other undulations.

Based on my history I would say if you are 15+ then use the two piece or distance ball. Cheaper and more forgiving. When you get to 15 and start moving under you may want to buy some used Pro Vs (or whatever tour ball you prefer) and experiment with it. At this point chipping, pitching and distance from hole on approach shots start to become your primary improvement areas and the tour ball will help you there.

my 2cents :)

I've fallen back on low-end distance balls before when I was conserving my normal balls. I think I always I regretted it. I just can't stop them nearly as well as a decent mid-priced spinning-oriented ball. Last time I tried a Pinnacle Long because the tee shot was a forced carry of 150ish yards and I was running low on good balls (and not driving well). When I got to the green (a par-5) I approached with a PW. It felt like a great shot, dead on line with good distance. It hit the green just in front of the pin and rolled all the way to the back and off a couple feet into the fringe/rough. I'm pretty confident that my normal ball would've held the green and given me 10 - 15 foot putt. Balls aren't a game-breaker, but I sure appreciate the ones that stay about where I put them. Maybe I would have better success with the lower end balls if my swing were better, but for where I am right now I appreciate any help the ball can provide me. That said, it's been a couple years since I tried and the spinning quality of balls certainly continues to improve.

I definitely post better scores with a low spin ball. I picked up a box of top flite "straight" from wal mart ($11 for 15 balls). Everyone is absolutely right about not holding the green but that's a small sacrifice for being able to play my second shots from the fairway! And yes it's like hitting a rock!

Well being that I suck! I judge a ball on how long I have it during a round. One round I went back and forth between some Nike Balls and these Pinnacles. I went through a crap load of Nikes on the front, and only 2 of the Pinnacles on the back. Im now playing Pinnacles. Hopefully at some point Im good enough to worry about how the ball reacts around the green. Now I just wanna find the damn thing.

I've had the opposite problem and I am thinking that it was just a fluke.

My normal ball is the Srixon Q-star. One day I was struggling and decided to pull out a sleeve of Pro V1s and was actually hitting the Titleist 20 yards further than the Srixons off the tee. If there is a legitimate reason for this to happen, I'd like to know. (I havent switched balls since I still have about 6 dozen personalized Q-stars that I cant seem to lose)

That's true, NXTs are definitely better than Pinnacles. Heck, NXTs are better than crappy Nike tour balls IMHO. The only tour balls I like are Callaway, Taylormade, and Titleist. Titleist ProV1x are what I play almost exclusively.

If you dont hit the ball fairly straight, then a high-end ball like the ProV1 is the worst ball you could play.  All the nice backspin that the tour pros use to make the ball stop on the green is going to turn into a huge hook/slice in the hands of a 20-handicapper.

For sure.

But it gets interesting for some of us with say 10-15 handicaps.  I would personally prefer the NXT off the tee, but the Penta or ProV for approach shots/chips on firm quick greens.  lol.

Precisely what I dealt with. Back and forth. Not per shot but per round. Finally at a point I can play ProVs all the time and not break the bank.

I think it depends what the weakness in your game is.  If you hit it fairly straight, then by all means go with a tour ball.  Im actually a big fan of the Bridgestone E5 because its a distance ball with a soft cover.  Its a great compromise between both.