Srixon Z star X & TM TP Red vs. Pro V1x

[MSB256]

ha, I'm with clambake on this one. Except like I said, I'll just let my fiance pick one... that way I know it's a random selection.

At least with the V1 and V1x you know what you're getting. For feel you want the v1 for distance you want the v1x, right?

Why can't taylormade make it that simple to figure out?

I know it's old news but since the guy who designed the V1 and V1x moved over to taylormade, wouldn't you expect those balls to be just as good?

[TomDonS]

Well see, what had happened was...

TP red = Pro v1x

TP black = Pro V1 Z Star = Pro V1 Z Star X = Pro V1x Just talked to the rep.

[leezer99]

I've played all of these and can say the Srixon while still a good ball doesn't stand up to the Titleist or TM. Right now I am playing the Nike Tour D and find that it's the perfect balance between distance, spin around the greens and softness when putting.

[TomDonS]

I've played all of these and can say the Srixon while still a good ball doesn't stand up to the Titleist or TM. Right now I am playing the Nike Tour D and find that it's the perfect balance between distance, spin around the greens and softness when putting.

Nike Tour D? Really? How does it putt.

[iacas]

We had this discussion last year. TaylorMade's done nothing to clear up the matter in the meantime.

When you ask them directly, they say the TP Black is the firmer, lower-spinning ball (making it the Pro V1x in the pair) and the TP Red is the softer, higher-spinning ball (making it the Pro V1 in the pair). Like Pro V1x, TP Black launches higher off the driver. Like Pro V1, TP Red launches lower off the driver. But like Pro V1x, TP Red is a four-piece construction. And like Pro V1, TP Black is a three-piece construction. TM also seems to like to say that TP Red is for players looking for less spin (and vice versa). Softer balls tend to launch lower and with more spin. Firmer balls tend to launch higher and with less spin. So who knows anymore? TaylorMade gives you two different answers depending on whether you talk to the engineers versus the I know they were very clear with the first release of their TP balls - which is when we wrote the review - and then they seem to have flipped. I'm going to quote myself and a comment I made ( here is the link ):

I've emailed TaylorMade and will get an answer.

That said, even that information is from early 2008. They haven't changed the balls since then, but they have again muddied their marketing message.

[duffer888]

From the '08 Golf Mag ball review, the TP Black/V1x spun more than the TP Red/V1. The Black/V1x feel firmer than the Red/V1. I prefer the Black/V1X over the Red/V1, so that matching seems to make sense to me. YMMV.

However, for '09, I have no clue what it is as I haven't tried the new Titleists yet, and don't plan to, as $45 for a box of balls is ridiculous.

[iacas]

From the '08 Golf Mag ball review, the TP Black/V1x spun more than the TP Red/V1.

Titleist has said that for certain kinds of iron shots, the V1x might spin more than the V1 - but that wasn't true off the driver, and it shouldn't be true with the '09 versions - the Pro V1 should spin a bit more on virtually every shot.

However, for '09, I have no clue what it is as I haven't tried the new Titleists yet, and don't plan to, as $45 for a box of balls is ridiculous.

But it wasn't last year? Because the prices haven't changed...

Anyway, here's the response I got from TaylorMade's primary ball engineer, Dean Snell:

Source: Dean Snell The old times in golf where softer golf balls means more spin are gone. Look at the two pc category today. The golf balls are now in the 50 and 60 compression, and feel and sound very soft. However, they DO NOT have high short game spin. They are still truly distance balls with feel. Today, with materials and multilayered constructions, we are able to "dial in" feel and spin much better. So when we started with TP RED and TP BLACK in 2006, we made two golf balls that ended up close in feel, and close in short game spin... both very close to V1x and V1. So, based on tour players and better player feedback, we learned that these 2006 versions were good, and had PLENTY of short iron (8, 9, pw, sw) spin. In fact, a lot of players thought too much, and had trouble getting to back pins due to too much spin... so they would try to take spin off the short, use less clubs and choke down, etc. They asked us to make golf balls that: 1) kept spin like we had (TP BLACK), and 2) try to lower the full short iron spin shots... This is what we did with the new TP RED LDP and TP BLACK LDP... We held the full iron spin (high) with the TP BLACK LDP, and we created a 4pc ball with a very soft inner mantle that did two things... It lowered the compression (softer feel), and also lowered the full short iron spin... and when a golf ball is softer in compression and feel, it typically comes off the face lower. So, the TP RED LDP is a softer feeling ball than TP BLACK LDP (and Pro V1x), and lower spinning on full short irons than TP BLACK LDP and Pro V1x, and launches slightly lower off the irons for better control... This helps players who spin the ball TOO MUCH keep spin down, and launch down is less affected with wind, and gives that player better control on these shots. Conversely, for the players who NEED more spin on these shots, we still maintained this higher level with the TP BLACK LDP. Most choices for players are better understood on feel, since most players do not know their own short game spin.. therefore, as a feel recommendation, the TP RED LDP is softer in feel than TP BLACK LDP, and more like the Pro V1... whereas the TP BLACK LDP is firmer, like the Pro V1x.... So we recommend that if you play PRO V1, then try RED and if you play V1x, then try BLACK... then let the spin and launch be the secondary test which is different for every player.

So it seems that they've confused people a bit because they DO in fact have a "low launch, low spin, soft ball" and a "high launch, high spin, firm ball." They may be the only people with that slightly bizarre combination. And coming from the guy who designed the balls, I consider this the definitive word.

[Aaronsrix17]

Z-star woot!