Balancing Balls like Bryson?

[krupa]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:35 AM, iacas said:

I just watched a FlightScope webinar and they talked about Bryson’s balancing of balls, and Alex said that even Tour balls (Bridgestone?) don’t balance evenly.

So, maybe at his level, he’s actually on to something? Should we be balancing our golf balls?

Do you remember any numbers?  Like how much distance could you lose/gain or deviation per foot for putting kind of thing?

[CarlSpackler]

On 4/16/2020 at 12:30 PM, billchao said:

I have one of those golf ball spinning things, I forget what they’re called now, but that was their logic behind using it.

I always wondered if you did the same golf ball in one of those a bunch of different times, how close do the lines line up?

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, krupa said:

Do you remember any numbers?  Like how much distance could you lose/gain or deviation per foot for putting kind of thing?

They never got into numbers.

[Vinsk]

6 minutes ago, krupa said:

Do you remember any numbers?  Like how much distance could you lose/gain or deviation per foot for putting kind of thing?

Lol.

[billchao]

5 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

I always wondered if you did the same golf ball in one of those a bunch of different times, how close do the lines line up?

If the ball is in balance, they wouldn’t. If the ball is out of balance, all you’d have to do is mark it once, change the orientation, then spin it again and the line will eventually return to the equator.

I’m doing it right now with a cheap Wilson ball and that’s exactly what it’s doing.

[Vinsk]

22 minutes ago, iacas said:

Why? Balls can be made off-center, imperfectly.

If I can find the time I may do a test like @billchao plans to do.

Significant difference is my suspicion. Imperfectly made? Sure. My suspicion is....so what?

[krupa]

Just now, Vinsk said:

Significant difference is my suspicion. Imperfectly made? Sure. My suspicion is....so what?

This has been mine as well.  I have trouble believing that anyone, even a PGA Tour player, can be so perfect that they'd see a difference.

[Vinsk]

Just now, krupa said:

This has been mine as well.  I have trouble believing that anyone, even a PGA Tour player, can be so perfect that they'd see a difference.

Bryson is probably a good kid. It’s fine that he has his little quirks ( OCD). That’s all it is I think. He’s convinced he has to make all those calculations in order to play his best golf. Most of it is just neuroticisms and that’s fine. I’m not buying most of it.

[CarlSpackler]

7 minutes ago, billchao said:

If the ball is in balance, they wouldn’t. If the ball is out of balance, all you’d have to do is mark it once, change the orientation, then spin it again and the line will eventually return to the equator.

I’m doing it right now with a cheap Wilson ball and that’s exactly what it’s doing.

Interesting. I wonder if other brands do the same thing.

[Vinsk]

2 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

Interesting. I wonder if other brands do the same thing.

Is this related to that thread we had that showed the imperfections of the core when the balls were cut open?

[CarlSpackler]

13 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Is this related to that thread we had that showed the imperfections of the core when the balls were cut open?

I'm not even aware of that thread. This is mostly my brain being inquisitive. I'm bored on a Friday afternoon at work while everyone else has gone home.

[iacas]

39 minutes ago, krupa said:

This has been mine as well.  I have trouble believing that anyone, even a PGA Tour player, can be so perfect that they'd see a difference.

At the PGA Tour level, the differences are pretty freaking small. So yeah, I'd call an uneven golf ball a "significant" detractor to performance. It will affect both how the ball flies and rolls, and make everything less predictable.

[dennyjones]

I just did a Srixon Q Star and the same spot rose to the top each time I dunked the ball in salt water.   It took quite a bit more salt than I expected.   I have some of the 4 layer Kirkland and I'm going to try one of them.

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I just did a Srixon Q Star and the same spot rose to the top each time I dunked the ball in salt water.

Yeah, so that's not a good sign.

[dennyjones]

6 Srixon / 6 4 layer Kirkland.  

 

The six tighter shot pictures are the Kirklands.   The more distant shot pics are the Srixon.   The Srixon has a tighter pattern returning to the same spot more often.   There was one Srixon that after three spins returned to the same spot each time.   The patterns don't look random for either.   The Kirklands had more dispersion.

This wasn't a scientific test.   My wife yelled at me to clean up the mess!  (I did).   I added sea salt to a small sauce pan.  It took considerable more salt than I imagined.   I also noticed that the sides of the pan can/could play a part in the rotation of the ball.  I tried to only place a dot if the ball had not touched the side.   Before inserting the balls into the water I turned on the stove burner to expedite the salt concentration.  

All I can conclude from this, BD may be on to something.  Then again, my test, sample size and technique at best were amateurish.   

[iacas]

Dots all over is a well balanced ball. Dots consistently coming up in the same place is a bad ball.

[dennyjones]

Hopefully others will try this to see some variations.  

 

[billchao]

So far all I’ve managed to do is question the validity of the Check Go Pro I have. I spun a couple of balls and marked a line on each. A Titleist DT Spin kept returning to the same orientation when spun, the Wilson Ultra did not. So I assumed the one that the DT Spin was off balance.

Put them both in saltwater and the Wilson Ultra kept pretty much returning to the dot. The DT spin did not. So which ball is off balance?

FWIW I tested all 16 Snell MTB I had and none seemed to return to the same spot in saltwater. I did not run them through the Check Go Pro. I pulled six assorted Titleist balls I had in my bag (found on the course) and four returned to area of the dot in saltwater, with one pretty much hitting the same spot almost every time. I spun that one through the Check Go Pro twice and ended up with two different lines.