Do crappy range balls damage clubs?

[Lean, Mean, Hitting Machine]

I was just wondering if the old/hard crappy range balls I use would actually damage my club face/head/grooves, or if it doesn't really make a difference...I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter, but since I just got new clubs, I would like to know what people think. Thanks!

[out_in_30]

no..
crappy range balls tend to have very low compression... if anything, ure cclub inflicts more damage on them than the reverse. sometimes u can hit a crappy range ball and u see it just lose flight or die off to the left or right. but no, these dont damage your irons or woods. they are like hitting marshmallows.

[tsajjad]

great... everyone hear keeps telling me not to hit the driver at the range cz the hard balls will damage th new clbface and leave dents..

[sean_miller]

no..

I get more distance from marshmallows.

[sean_miller]

great... everyone hear keeps telling me not to hit the driver at the range cz the hard balls will damage th new clbface and leave dents..

They may be referring to dirty balls and super long driving range tees - you can damage the top of your driver.

[Clambake]

great... everyone hear keeps telling me not to hit the driver at the range cz the hard balls will damage th new clbface and leave dents..

Are the people who are telling you this your playing partners who don't want you to practice and get better and take their money?

[Cesar]

no..

It's true they will not damage your irons, but too low compression on a golf ball can certainly damage a driver/fairway wood if you have any kind of swing speed. The low compression makes the clubface work that much harder.

I've cracked a driver face with a range ball and shattered an R9 TP 3Wood out there. Not fun. Nowadays, I tend to save the rocks I find out on the course, or pick the decent non-rangeballs out of the bucket to hit woods. I'll keep my woods exposure to rangeballs at the bare minimum. If I need to work on those clubs, I'll do it out on the course with real golf balls.

[tsajjad]

Are the people who are telling you this your playing partners who don't want you to practice and get better and take their money?

LOL. no though they dont have to keep me from the range so i cant practice. I always want to to go to the course while they practise and take my money!!

[Lean, Mean, Hitting Machine]

If they can damage my woods, why would they not be able to damage my irons? Are you sure my irons are safe?

[Shindig]

If they can damage my woods, why would they not be able to damage my irons? Are you sure my irons are safe?

Different surface. The driver, especially, has a very thin metal on the club-face. The iron is a bit more reinforced - even blades, I believe.

[Dub]

I've never given the matter that much consideration.

I suppose the range balls could wear your grooves faster....but then again I don't know if I've ever worn out the grooves on a set of irons.

Of greater concern is hitting off the matts. Lie angles getting beat about.....wrist damage....etc.

[Caddyshack]

on another note, i know range balls are much shorter but do they slice more than regular balls? i always seem to have more of a fade at the range than i do on course

[lumpuckeroo]

on another note, i know range balls are much shorter but do they slice more than regular balls? i always seem to have more of a fade at the range than i do on course

They could, usually the range balls have the dimples worn out on them, the dimples are what create the lift so the balls will fly true. If the dimples are worn out or unevenly worn out it will definitely effect the flight of the ball.

[ArrrrJay]

I just noticed the other day while cleaning my clubs, that a few of my irons have deep chips/dents in them, after going to the range a lot.

I use a Bridgestone B330-rx at the course, so I can't imagine that ball would mess up my clubs... The range I go to has the normal crappy floater balls, but also has many no name, regular old balls mixed in. I think there were some rock hard old stale balls in there.

My irons are cheap golfsmith cast iron cavity backs, so I'm thinking they would be easier to scuff/dent/chip.

[David in FL]

It's true they will not damage your irons, but too low compression on a golf ball can certainly damage a driver/fairway wood if you have any kind of swing speed. The low compression makes the clubface work that much harder.

That's the first I've ever heard of that......and certainly none of the manufacturers mentions any issue with range balls or recommends their non-use. Do you have any reference? I'd love to read the specifics......

[GTV8]

I don't see how a clean range ball can cause any damage to a club. But, if the balls are dirty with sand or dirt than I can see how that could scratch the club face more than normal. Same thing can happen hitting a dirty premium ball off the fairway.

[wolverine_man]

I actually have a slight scuff mark on the center face of my driver, which possibly came from a range ball. Unless the thing blows up in my hands, I really don't care about scuffing the unpainted bare titanium face. It's going to happen. Now skymarks, those are the just desserts of a hack.

[WUTiger]

Range balls proably won't damage your irons, but the astroturf mats at the range sometimes can.

If you go to a cheaply built range, they may just have some thin mats sitting on a concrete walk. Over time, this can hurt your irons. The more you really hit down (have sharp swing descent) on your irons, the worse the problem.

Some mats are thicker/better than others. Anybody know the details on hitting mats? Any teaching pros that use ranges and would know?