Switching Balls - Help or Hurt?

[Saig55]

I play a Titleist NXT Tour. But when I am on a Par 3 I switch out to a ProV1. Does it really matter if the swing remains the same as to what ball is being used? The ProV1 will stop dead in it's tracks or row about a foot past where it hits.

Does it make a difference?

[etlreams]

There will be varying opinions on this, of course. But your post interested me because I am doing the same thing right now. I've been experimenting with different balls lately and have found that a low compression, 2 or 3 piece ball is giving me much better distance and accuracy off the tee and with long irons. But....of course, the softer more spinny ball is better around the greens and off short irons.

So....I've been playing the Titleist NXT off the tee and I use a ProV or Nike One Tour on par 3s and if I have to take a drop on a Par 4/5.

Is this bad to do? I don't know. Maybe. Different balls will act differently and I suppose some would argue it will be hard to judge distance, etc. if you are changing balls.... But if you know how each balls plays, then I say why not.

Or....continue searching for a "the ball" that will give you everything you want. Personally, I haven't found that ball yet.

[WUTiger]

Several years ago, Golf Digest put out the Total Golf instruction series for about $15 a year. You got a ring binder, and each month they's send you several glossy, full color pages with assorted playing tips.

One eight-page segment on the short game was called, Match Your Shot to Your Ball Type. It's premise: most balls can be classified as low-spin, high-spin, and mid-spin. Basically, the segment showed you different ways to play six kinds of pitch and chip shots, depending on what ball you used.

So, you need a ball which matches your swing and playing strategy.

I've been a mid-spin person for a long time. Low-spin balls are rough for me to control around the green, and I can't stop them on approach shots. High-spin balls cost too much, and cause me problems checking up tooo quickly (I play chip and run more than most people).

Mid-spin give me decent control around the green, plus a little more distance than the high-spin.

As for NXT vs. ProV1, which ball will work for you in the most situations? There's probably tradeoffs with any ball you pick.

[James_Black]

Nothing wrong with switching.

Tom watson used to do that before the "one ball" rule came in.

[Where's the Cart Girl?]

Timely thread.

Went out to play our Thursday work league last night and there was a Bridgestone "Ball challenge" tent set up outside the club house. So they happened to have two openings that my friend and I jumped on before we had to tee off.

They ask what ball you play then either gave you one of that them or let you use your own, and you hit your driver into a net in front of some simulation equipment that fed back to a laptop. There were also some prefacing questions.. "what are you most looking for in a ball.. what's your HC.. etc."

So you swing a few times, they show you the results, recommend a Bridgestone ball and you do it again.

For me they recommended the B330RX. They said that it would eliminate some of the backspin that was taking distance off my drive with the ProV1 but still had the urethane cover for feel around the greens (because that's what I told them I cared most about.)

After about 10 swings, results were nearly identical. They had me hit the e6 next, with again very similar results. Bottom line, no help for me. Just a free sleeve of balls.

My diagnosis - It's as much in the golfers head as anything. It's proven fact that different materials will produce different compression/flight characteristics in golf balls. But I say figure out which part of your game is weakest and play a ball that can enhance it. I'll never drive the ball 300 yd so I care most about what my ball does from 50 yd. in. because that's where I score. If I had a lights out short game but was erratic off the tee maybe I would play a ball that's just made to go straight.

There's nothing wrong with switching balls when you're playing for fun if one gives you a warm, fuzzy more so than another.

[shades9323]

I play a Titleist NXT Tour. But when I am on a Par 3 I switch out to a ProV1. Does it really matter if the swing remains the same as to what ball is being used? The ProV1 will stop dead in it's tracks or row about a foot past where it hits.

Seems a bit silly to me. Do you hit the NXT off the tee on the other 14 holes and then drop a v1 for your approach shot?

[sacm3bill]

Seems a bit silly to me. Do you hit the NXT off the tee on the other 14 holes and then drop a v1 for your approach shot?

The rules don't allow that. But if they did, a lot of folks would use a distance ball off the tee and a high-spin balll for approach.

Makes sense, don't you think? What the OP is saying is, on par 3's you don't need to have a ball with any distance characteristics, so might as well use one with high spin.

[Saig55]

No, I don't mean that at all. If I tee off with an NXT, I use that for the entire hole. When I get to a par 3, I hit the ProV1 and use it only on that hole.

[pittpanther]

No, I don't mean that at all. If I tee off with an NXT, I use that for the entire hole. When I get to a par 3, I hit the ProV1 and use it only on that hole.

What you're saying is legal according to the rules of golf, and as well, lots of people do it. You should feel free to continue with this method, if you feel it helps your game.

[James_Black]

What you're saying is legal according to the rules of golf, and as well, lots of people do it. You should feel free to continue with this method, if you feel it helps your game.

He's not asking if it's legal to do it.

He's wondering if it's a good idea switching golf balls.

[zeg]

For me personally, I think it'd be a bad idea. I don't need to be changing anything I don't have to during the round. Just thinking about it being a different ball would probably get me wanting to make an extra-special effort to get the most out of the ball instead of just swinging, and that's a sure recipe to blow it.

However, I'm also not someone who's likely to see much benefit from the difference as I don't get much spin or control with any ball...

[sean_miller]

Seems a bit silly to me. Do you hit the NXT off the tee on the other 14 holes and then drop a v1 for your approach shot?

Seems silly to me too. The only time to switch balls is when you have a forced carry that's a 50:50 proposition. Then I'd sneak a ball out of a playing partner's bag and give it a go.

[Woters]

I like this thread because I have exactly done the same thing with the same balls & maybe I'm being daft but I have seen a definate checking with the ProV1 on the Par3's. On a very quiet day at my club I play 2 different balls at each Par3 to see how well/close I hit them. I hit the NXT Tour well but as another poster said the feel of the Prov1 is noticable even to a 12 handicapper like me. Unfortunately I cant afford to play ProV1's all the time so for every dozen of those I buy, I buy maybe 2 dozen NXT Tour's.

Bet the OP is glad to know he aint the only wierd one testing balls for Par 3's!!!

[shades9323]

Seems silly to me too. The only time to switch balls is when you have a forced carry that's a 50:50 proposition. Then I'd sneak a ball out of a playing partner's bag and give it a go.

Might as well lose thier expensive golf balls and save your inexpensive ones!

[sean_miller]

Might as well lose thier expensive golf balls and save your inexpensive ones!

With the new Wilson Eco Core I can afford to spray 4 times as many balls OB than I could with the ProV1s. wink