Is there really a 'longest ball' out there?

[dave s]

The more I play and improve, it's becoming obvious that getting closer to the green off the tee sets up the best opportunity for success. Right now, the better part of my game is inside 150 and around and on the green. I practice pitch/chip/putting regularly to keep from throwing away shots there.

I've found a driver that I hit well and I think my swing is maximizing the distance at which it can hit. What balls out there, if any, will actually improve distance off the tee for me?

I currently use Callaway HX Hot and Titleist NXT Tour. Not exactly sure why, but I like them. The HX Hot seems to be the longest ball (for me) that I know of.

Any other clear cut ball choices to help hit the 'long ball' off the tee? Thanks.

dave

[joshtpa]

To me, distance wise, they all seem fairly similar. Any 2 piece hard ball will be long.

[iacas]

There is no one "longest ball." However, there will be a few balls you hit longer simply because they match your launch conditions.

However, almost all the premier balls will go within about 5-10 yards of each other off the tee. Titleist recommends - as do I - that you pick the balls you like to putt with, then the ones you like to chip and pitch with, then the ones that behave as you like on approach shots, and only after you've weeded the others out, that you consider the tee ball.

Work from the green back to the tee. You waste (or save) a lot more shots around the greens than you would giving up 5-10 yards off the tee.

[Lange]

Finding the ball you putt best with to me is the best way to go first, as it's majority of your strokes a game. A good putting game is considered to be about 29 putts, which isn't always a simple task pending on how well your approach is. So if your shooting a final score of 80 and you have 35 putts.. there's half your score

[FlopShotArtist]

No one longest ball, but I find the Bridgestone e6+ to go pretty far.

[Sandwedge74]

regarding the e6 I have to disagree - I played a round yesterday and used it for the first three holes and noticed a ten yard drop on my yardadge off the driver and about 5 yards off of irons - the nxt is longer but it does spin a lot more so if you have slice or hook issues the e6 may be a better bet - i went back to the nxt and picked my yards up again

[dave s]

Work from the green back to the tee. You waste (or save) a lot more shots around the greens than you would giving up 5-10 yards off the tee.

Stellar advice. Thank you VERY much! I love this place for this reason. I really prefer the softer balls around the green and for putting. Also, I hit greens but don't HOLD greens because of the low-spin, longer launch balls I use. Have a recommendation on a 'softer feel' ball that doesn't say Pro-V1 and cost $60 a dozen? Thanks again for your green to tee advice. Sound and makes sense. dave

[dave s]

Finding the ball you putt best with to me is the best way to go first, as it's majority of your strokes a game. A good putting game is considered to be about 29 putts, which isn't always a simple task pending on how well your approach is. So if your shooting a final score of 80 and you have 35 putts.. there's half your score

Makes perfect sense and thanks for pointing out something that hasn't occured to me ... at ALL!!!

dave

[iacas]

Have a recommendation on a 'softer feel' ball that doesn't say Pro-V1 and cost $60 a dozen?

There've been lots of threads that discuss this sort of thing, yeah.

[lucky7]

i really don't think any balls go that much farther. I always c those brookstone commercials about how their balls go 20 yards farther but that is definetly a lie. The farthest ball i can think of is a pinnacle and it really doesn;t much longer.

[RX Phoenix]

There is no one "longest ball." However, there will be a few balls you hit longer simply because they match your launch conditions. . . .

I just started a thread on this topic and can verify that this is really true, even among the 'best' balls, there can be significant differences based on launch conditions.

As far as longest ball, I recommend gettng a ball that will hold the green on long approach shots, check up after a bounce on chips, and putts soft . . . for me it's still the ProV1 and I've not found a cheap substitute, or even an expensive substitute. TopFlite is advertising a new 3 piece ball which might be worth looking into.

[JYB]

IMO, the longest ball is the hardest ball.

I played a Ben Hogan practice ball the other day and i gurantee it wasn't more than just a cover and a shell with some rubber in it but boy, did that thing fly! It was hard as a rock but when i hit it with the driver, it must have flew 300 and rolled another 35. I usually can only drive it 300 MAX with a super bomb shot but this thing was just outrageous.

If you want a distance ball, try getting a hard one.

[dave s]

There've been lots of threads that discuss this sort of thing, yeah.

Yep. Saw your writeup and thread on the new Taylormade balls. Hope they're on sale tomorrow before my scheduled 'fathers day' round with the boys!

dave

[klvanzu]

I a big fan of Noodles. They feel great and come with a pretty great price. What kind of balls do you guys prefer?