balls ... whatever .....

[Gerald]

I see a lot let's say high and midhigh cappers playing Pro V1 or similar in their signature, but I see also a lot of really low cappers saying in their sig that they play what ever they can find.

I personally like (the about $3) midspin balls best, but some times I find a nice ball like a Penta, Pro V1, Z Star and sometimes I find a really soft ball like a lady this or that, made for up to 80 mph swings.

IRL I see lots of midcappers strugling with high end ball taking too much side spin, but I see also low single handicappers spinning back wedge shots, ask which ball they prefer, not seldom answering like "I don't know, doesn't matter much, it is just hitting it perfect".

Most of my wedges don't hop and stop, and I don't mind much, just playing them short, knowing that they will move another 5% forward after landing, last week while playing a 9 iron on an about 70 yds approach.... it went a bit lower than expected, hit the green about 5 yds behind the flag and spun back to about 2 ft. from the hole ...... how I did that ??? with the Top Flight "rock" I was playing (must have been the new "butter" Mizuno's )

More and more I kind of become in the camp of that the ball has lesser influence on our scores, than we are willing to believe. 5-10 yds longer or shorter doesn't matter much either.

Your opinion ?

[JWL1957]

I score the same with a Top Flite XL or a ProV1. I prefer the ProV1 in cooler weather because a mishit with the Top Flite can really sting the fingers. :)

[GaijinGolfer]

The ball does make a difference, but you still need to put a proper swing on it in order to get good results. Ive noticed lately that Titleist says in a lot of their ads that the Pro V1 is the right ball for everyone, which pretty much goes against what 99% of the rest of the industry is saying.

[ghalfaire]

I'm one of those guys that plays with whatever I can find and never spend more than $20/dozen whenever I do buy, which isn't often. But there are differences other than just hardness and I have preferences. But agree that the ball probably has the least influence on score of any of the equipment you use to play golf.

[Paradox]

the thing with the "spin" on a Pro V1 is that if you have a horrible swing, it doesn't matter what ball you're playing because the ball is still gonna end up somewhere awful, no matter the ball. There isn't any ball thats miraculously not gonna have side spin because its cheap.

I've hit Laddie X's, So/Lo's, D2 Straights, D2 Feels, NXT extremes, Pro V's, Pentas, on and on and on..and there wasn't a difference in flight at all. A good swing is a good swing and a bad swing with any of them produce pretty much the same results. On approaches, they all did the same on good swings.

My preference comes from putting. I like the way Pro V's feel when putting. Any ball that feels similiar to them in that area, and I'd gladly use them.

[Lemay427]

For me it comes down to chipping. I am used to playing a premium ball around the greens. I know how its going to react to the club and how much spin I should get. That being said, I have hit a Top Flite D2 from the fairway and it hits and stops. I see your point and I somewhat agree just not when comparing for the short game.

[Zeph]

I prefer softer balls, mostly for the short game preferences. I do play mid-range balls too when I hit a lot of them into the woods. My main concern is playing the same model all the time, at least through a round. Hitting a Pro V1x on one hole and Dunlop something on the next will not help me towards consistency.

[ks8829]

I played a Noodle Tour LTD for $11 for a dozen at Sport Authority on sale, usually $19 - $21 a dozen.

[sean_miller]

I played a Noodle Tour LTD on sale for $11 for a dozen at Sport Authority on sale, usually $19 - $21 a dozen.

That's a great ball!

[Fourputt]

For me it comes down to chipping. I am used to playing a premium ball around the greens. I know how its going to react to the club and how much spin I should get. That being said, I have hit a Top Flite D2 from the fairway and it hits and stops. I see your point and I somewhat agree just not when comparing for the short game.

Here is where the ball makes the biggest difference. A Pro V1 may be a bit shorter off the driver for an "average" swing, but it's not that much difference. For short and mid iron approaches, any decently struck ball is going to check up fairly quickly, regardless of construction. Where it really becomes noticeable is on chips and pitches. If you are used to having the ball hop and stop, then switching to a ball with a surlyn (or Ionomer as some manufacturers call it) cover will get you all messed up, because it simply will not work that way. The harder, more durable cover will cause the ball to take much less backspin on a short chip, and as a result, it will roll out much farther.

I have decided that I prefer the added roll I get with the Ionomer cover on the Bridgestone E6 because it is more predictable from all lies and ball positions and clubs. I don't depend on being able to figure out how much spin I'm going to get for this or that lie on a pitch or chip... I know that the ball will roll out, so I play for it. I'm chipping better and more consistently than I had for several years when I insisted on playing a premium "tour" ball.

[Gordon McTavish]

More and more I kind of become in the camp of that the ball has lesser influence on our scores, than we are willing to believe. 5-10 yds longer or shorter doesn't matter much either.

5 - 10 yards additional length makes little difference compared to 5 - 10 yards closer to the hole.

But in my opinion, the ball is no different to the clubs in that just about every manufacturer and Golf publication will recommend anything with "Game Improvement" features to anyone who is above single-digits. Does this really make a difference? Surely a ball that is designed to "reduce spin to help correct wayward shots" is also going to result in less backspin on full shots... meaning lower trajectory, reduced carry distance, more precision required to judge the amount of roll-out on the green?

[ks8829]

The Noodle Tour LTD performed well on approach shots to the green, the only difference is when you hit a low punch shot onto the green you get less spin than the prov1 but you can learn to adjust for the added roll. $1 a ball compared to over $3 is good value.

[Fourputt]

This isn't necessarily so. Yes it will reduce backspin, but that doesn't necessarily relate to shorter carries. Too much backspin from the driver is not a good thing. Optimally you want somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000-3000 rpm. When I did the Bridgestone ball fitting a few years ago at my home course, I was at the time trying out the Nike PD soft, and when I hit that in the test I was getting more than 5000 rpm's of back spin. A simple switch to the Bridgestone E6 dropped that to 2900, and improved both my carry and my overall distance. And that was in real world testing, as well as the numbers on the launch monitor. We could see the difference by where the test balls were landing out on the range and by the trajectory (I actually provided a sleeve of each for my test, as I'd always been a bit skeptical of launch monitors, especially when someone is trying to sell me something).

That was about 3 years ago, and after a lot of on course trials with a lot of balls, I'm now back to the E6 where they told me I should be. Go figure...

[mcgriff]

Bought 96 Mojos for $64 off the bay. That'll cover me for quite awhile. More than anything I believe it is important to hit the SAME ball type to become familiar with how they behave. The Mojos may not be the best ball out there, but they seem durable, economic, and pretty consistent. I will take that over oscillating between 3 different ball types and giving shots away because one ball tends to check up quicker than another....or drop 5 yards shorter or longer than another.

I have enough on my mind on the course without worrying about losing $2-3 balls every other hole

[Arsenal8807]

Since I came back to playing golf.. I found that using the same ball is important because of what it does and how consistent it is. Its all in what you want a ball to do and what you prefer. I prefer the Pro V1 ever since playing it. I tried low/mid/high end balls and ended up with the Pro V1 because it has characteristics that I like and I can play shots knowing that it will do what I need a ball to do and that is stop on a dime on the greens.

Driver - it feels great
Irons - adds to the buttery feel
Wedges - AMAZING
Putter - feels just right

[Slammin' Sam]

I just tried a sleeve of Top Flite Gamer V2s this last weekend and now I understand why they've been getting all those rave reviews. Their feel off the wedge and the putter is unlike anything I've ever tried before. I'm ready to give up Pro V1s for good now.

[WUTiger]

I have played midspin balls for several years. I switch brands every couple of years - usually because my favorite is going out of production: Like right now, I'm down to six sleeves of the RDS Tours, and will switch to Gamer v.2

I play one type of ball mainly so I have a sense of what it does around the green. If I get some two-ball demo sleeves, I'll try them out playing par 3 golf.

[soloredd]

Since I came back to playing golf.. I found that using the same ball is important because of what it does and how consistent it is. Its all in what you want a ball to do and what you prefer. I prefer the Pro V1 ever since playing it. I tried low/mid/high end balls and ended up with the Pro V1 because it has characteristics that I like and I can play shots knowing that it will do what I need a ball to do and that is stop on a dime on the greens.

I have the same opinion of the Bridgestone B330-RX. I just love the ball. It probably is more a confidence thing for me, though. I've shot my lowest scores with the ball (been using it since the beginning of August). I played with a e6+ (the ball I moved from) on a practice round a week ago and it felt different to me.