Pro V1 and swing speed

[walfice]

Many ball manufacturers show a recommended swing speed for each ball they produce but I can't find this info for the Pro V1/x. Does anybody know what the minimum recommended swing speed is for these?

[lumpuckeroo]

I was listening to a podcast several weeks ago and a Titleist rep was on, they did not say what swing speed they were intended for, but he said he was an average golfer, average drives less then 250, hit a 7 iron 150 and he played the Pro V1x, if that helps any.

[iacas]

There is no recommended swing speed. Choose the ball that suits you, likely from the green working backwards.

[TheNatural]

There is no recommended swing speed. Choose the ball that suits you, likely from the green working backwards.

I have to disagree, lower compression balls are meant for slower swing speeds and higher compression for high ss. If a High SS golfer hits a lady precept the balls energy will be lost at impact and a knuckleball flight may even result. I dont think prov1's are good balls for 90 mph ss and under http://www.golfballselector.com/pdf/...2.08_FINAL.pdf its a yr old chart but handy.

[DavidFehertysBike]

My driver swing speed is between 105-110 and ive found much success with the new prov1 the last few rounds ive played with it. I used to use nxt tour and ive found much better performace with my irons now that i use a softer ball.

The 1x will go a little further off of the driver, but i find the softer prov1 so much easier to compess with the irons. So what i lose with the driver (probably no more than 5 yards) i pick back up with the irons. So it works out. If you have a lower swing speed, it seems to me like you would want to choose the softer of the two.

[Guest]

I believe if your 100 mph+ you can play ProV1 or 1x. sometimes temperature has an effect. A lower compression ball will play better when the temp is in the lower 60s and below.

I play both ProV1 and ProV1x. On a calm day I choose the ProV1 on windy days I choose the ProV1x, because of the lower spin rate off the driver. the 1x will get you into a little less trouble off the tee on a windy day.

[goblue107501]

I think more than anything it is about how you make contact with the ball. I have a friend who swings much slower than I do (he is generaly a club/club and a half shorter). He uses a V1x. This is the better ball for him because of the way he hits the ball he produces a ton of spin and the regular V1 will spin too much. I use the regular V1 and it is just right for me at most courses. I could use the V1x, but I have an easier time around the greens with the regular.

That being said, for me, it sometimes comes down to the course. A few of the courses I play use zoysia fairways and cut them really tight. For whatever reason, this grass type helps me put more spin on the ball and I use a V1x at those courses because with certain clubs I have a hard time keeping the ball on the green with approach shots. Conversely, my friend from above will switch to the regular V1 at these courses because he has a hard time getting enough spin on V1x. Any other type of grass and I am fine, with zoysia, I get a bunch of spin.

I will say that in my opinion, there is a certain amount of swingspeed that is needed to use either ball to its full benefit. If your (anyone) swing isn't that hard, or you don't consistantly make good contact, you are just wasting your money, because you won't be able to fully utilize the properties of the ball. Meaning that you (anyone) won't be able to tell much difference in a variety of balls, so why spend the extra money.

[SteelDriver]

it doesnt matter what a ball was designed for, its what ball works for your liking. i have a fast ss, but i prefer a hard ball like a nike one black or burner ball. i like the distance and im used to working a ball around the green that doesnt spin a lot. thats just me. i dont like the balls that some say fit my ss.

[cigarnut81]

Fit your ball from the green back to the tee.

[wrx_junki]

I can't really tell the difference between golf balls besides the fact that they are hard/soft. Spin isn't much of a factor since most greenside shots are bump and run. Also, my irons go fairly high so not much roll. I like balls that I can compress with my irons but not too squishy for my driver.

If ProV1's are for 90+ SS, I guess my bucket of used V1/x's will be for sale.

[JetFan1983]

I have to disagree, lower compression balls are meant for slower swing speeds and higher compression for high ss. If a High SS golfer hits a lady precept the balls energy will be lost at impact and a knuckleball flight may even result. I dont think prov1's are good balls for 90 mph ss and under

Natural,

I respectfully disagree with you here. I have a slow swing speed. I have no idea what it is because I've never been hooked up to a golf monitor, but off the tee is the worst part of my game. However, the harsher feed back off the tee is really important to me. When that ball flies true, I know I swung correctly. And most importantly, my game is based entirely on my short game. I wasn't blessed with distance, but I seem to be good at getting clean contact with my 56, which has sharp and powerful square grooves on it. The Pro-V1 spins so damn much, even mediocre contact allows you to put bite on the ball. Pin seeking is my strategy around the greens in a good lie, and at least for me, this gives me a higher probability of executing the shot than trying to account for roll. IMO everyone should use a high spinning ball, but that's just me.

[pachardos]

It should be 85 and over because Golf magazine said that tour balls really work with all swing speeds.

[TheNatural]

Natural,

THey are the highest spinning balls on the market. true. It is the driver and woods where this probably has the biggest impact. In your case if you arent driving over 220 im guessing there may be a ball that could give you more distance but again the spin on 50 yd -150 yd shots wouldnt be as great as prov's. have you tried a low compression ball to see what it will do off the driver? just curious.

[Bourbon and Coke]

Fit your ball from the green back to the tee.

Well that's just oversimplification.

There are certainly cases where performance off the tee is more important to a player than performance around the green. Poor performance around the greens is measured in a few feet or a few inches. Poor performance off the tee is measured in penalty strokes, punch outs, and cart paths. If you're having trouble getting a ball in playable locations off the tee, it doesn't really matter how great the ball performs around the green. If you're deciding on a ball and comparing playable tee shots to great tee shots and playable greens to makable greens, then I agree you are better served choosing better short game performance. But that's far from the case for many golfers, and is probably just bad advice for the majority of the world's players.

[anthonykim3]

i think he means find a ball that spins on the green but if you spin it to much of the driver and slice it go back to the green and pick another ball till it works with all clubs

[iacas]

Well that's just oversimplification.

It is, but it's not an extreme one.

There are certainly cases where performance off the tee is more important to a player than performance around the green. Poor performance around the greens is measured in a few feet or a few inches. Poor performance off the tee is measured in penalty strokes, punch outs, and cart paths.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaa? There are no two golf balls that vary so dramatically that one will find the center of the fairway while the other will consistently find OB.

The short game is a far, far, far larger percentage of your scoring than off the tee, and that's where the advice comes from. Your assertions about "a few inches" are incredibly poorly informed, and choosing the right ball for your short game is orders of magnitude more critical than choosing the ball that suits you off the tee. Suffice to say that there are no two golf balls (obviously excluding whiffle golf balls, Caymans, etc.) that can contribute to as much stroke saving (or stroke wasting) from the tee as around the greens. If you can dump one kind of ball consistently into the water hazards from the tee, you can do that with any kind of ball.

If you're having trouble getting a ball in playable locations off the tee, it doesn't really matter how great the ball performs around the green.

And again, such a ball doesn't exist that varies so much from the tee. Some balls may hook or slice a bit more than others. Some may spin more or less and rob you of distance. But in both of those cases, you'd be hard pressed to find even a 10% difference in the extremes - yet with the short game, some shots simply aren't even

possible with certain classes of golf balls. My general advice is to start from the green and work backwards. Eliminate, at each step, balls that don't perform. Keep any that are "okay." Start with, for example, five ball models, putt them all. Maybe you get down to four. Chip and pitch (bunkers, grass, etc.). Now you're down to three. Try some partial or full wedges from the fairway and rough. Maybe all three survive. Try some full iron shots. Maybe you drop down to two because one balloons. Finally, hit the tee, and choose the one you like best there. In the end, you'll have the best all-around ball for your game from those you started with.

[rebby]

My general advice is to start from the green and work backwards. Eliminate, at each step, balls that don't perform. Keep any that are "okay." Start with, for example, five ball models, putt them all. Maybe you get down to four. Chip and pitch (bunkers, grass, etc.). Now you're down to three. Try some partial or full wedges from the fairway and rough. Maybe all three survive. Try some full iron shots. Maybe you drop down to two because one balloons. Finally, hit the tee, and choose the one you like best there. In the end, you'll have the best all-around ball for your game from those you started with.

I agree 100%. Well put.

[JetFan1983]

THey are the highest spinning balls on the market. true. It is the driver and woods where this probably has the biggest impact. In your case if you arent driving over 220 im guessing there may be a ball that could give you more distance but again the spin on 50 yd -150 yd shots wouldnt be as great as prov's. have you tried a low compression ball to see what it will do off the driver?

For a while I used the Dunlap Crazy-LoCo. Solid cheap golf ball. Then I switched to the Pinnacle Soft, which is actually a distance ball despite its name, and really liked it a lot. I had actual roll on my drives after the carry, which was nice.

I honestly don't see too much difference though in the type of spin I generated off the tee between the Pinnacle Soft and the Pro-V1. I still sliced or hooked the ball with both. I didn't get much roll with the Pro-V1 though. Short game wise is really where using a Pro-V1 can come in handy. Still though, when you chip with it or make poor contact with it, it has almost no spin and can run off the green like any low compression ball would under the same chip shot or mis-hit. I remember the Pinnacle softs having decent check on them though, but with 5-6 feet of roll even with good contact. The Pro-V1 stops dead in its tracks on good contact, which allows me to go right at the pin. Keep in mind you need a sandwedge with good clean grooves. The newer the sand wedge, the sharper the grooves. And box grooves are the best for adding spin. Obviously though this backfires when you hit it short. That's when I wish the ball had roll on it. Out of the sand, the Pro-V1 is versatile as well. When I take a decent amount of sand, the ball will roll like any other ball. If you pick it somewhat clean, it has its typical bite on it. Short iron wise, the backspin can be a detriment every now and then. I've had shots land right at the pin and then roll back 10 feet. The Pro-V1x spins 30% less or so than the Pro-V1, so maybe that's the better all around ball to be using of the two. Long iron wise, the Pro-V1 can often roll off the green, so even here it acts like any lo-co ball would. But off the tee, this has been my experience: I said goodbye to whatever roll I was used to with a lower compression ball. You can still get roll though with good-high-on-the driver-face contact, but sometimes I get no roll at all. But when I mishit driver and get that 200 yard stinger, the Pro-V1 is almost 50% roll. It's still a ball after all and will roll out considerably on mishits. Hooks and slices off the tee are exaggerated though, probably a good 20%. I would assume if I hit the ball farther, these hooks and slices would be even more exaggerated. With my shorter irons, especially on lies where the ball is below my feet, I get a much stronger fade when using the Pro-V1. I just have to account for them a bit more. I guess it's hard for me to compare my experience with low compression balls with the Pro-V1 since my swing has gone through changes since I made the switch. I first broke 90 with the Pro-V1, so maybe that's why I like it. I used to have a strong right hand grip, where the V in my right hand pointed towards my shoulder. I switch that, and now the V points to my chin. The Pro-V1 forced me to make this grip adjustment. I obviously still hook and slice it. I hit two fairways the last time I played . I was leaving myself anywhere between 200 and 135 yards for my approach shot. I miss a lot of greens, so being left with 30-50 yards while still in the fairway is, at least in my experience, where the Pro-V1 is its biggest advantage. It just gives me more options to choose from around the greens I guess, in terms of what I want to try to accomplish. It works out enough for me to keep coming back to it. I think! When I lost balls at a fairly low enough rate where I could justify to myself buying a box of Pro-V1s- that's more or less when I made the switch. I'll probably start experimenting with different balls at some point later in the season, but so far, playing the game through the lens of the Pro-V1 has been the most interesting in my experience. List of balls I've played for at least a month straight: Dunlap Crazy Loco, Pinnacle Long, Pinnacle Soft, Topflight XL Distance, Wilson Ultra, Callaway HX Hot Plus, Titleist Pro-V1.