Facts about Golf Ball Performance and Golf Ball Fitting

[iacas]

Titleist did a little Webcast and here are the segments:

PART 1 (Product development process; Elements of golf ball design; Tour player testing and fitting):

PART 2 (Benefits of golf ball fitting; Playing the same golf ball model; Science of swing speeds):

PART 3 (Player ability vs. golf ball selection; Performance attributes of all Titleist golf ball models; Effects of temperature, time on golf ball performance):

[sean_miller]

Just watched part 1 (had it playing in the background) and it was kind of dull, then it got very interesting. I'll check out parts 2 and 3 after lunch.

Edit: Couldn't wait - number 3 would have brought my lunch back up anyway, so win win.

[boogielicious]

Funny coincidence about this web cast.  I graduated High School with Mary Lou in 1978.  She was our class valedictorian.  First time I saw the web cast I did a double take!!  She was on the Golf Team.  Very nice woman.

[Shindig]

Noticed in the first one:  Titleist family not more than a few yards difference off the tee for most golfers?

[bnz506]

Either this guy plays a lot of golf (as a lefty) or he plays with something else too much  (as a lefty) lol.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by bnz506

Either this guy plays a lot of golf (as a lefty) or he plays with something else too much  (as a lefty) lol.

Not sure what's going on with his left hand, but I don't think there were too many lolz.

[q7w]

wtf @ his left hand, lol

[iacas]

Originally Posted by bnz506

Either this guy plays a lot of golf (as a lefty) or he plays with something else too much  (as a lefty) lol.

Maybe he drives with his hand on the rolled down window. It gets sunburnt. I don't know...

[Gordon McTavish]

If swing-speed is largely irrelevant, then why do Bridgestone / Srixon make initial recommendations based on that factor?

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Gordon McTavish

If swing-speed is largely irrelevant, then why do Bridgestone / Srixon make initial recommendations based on that factor?

Higher speeds can generate more lift based on ball speed alone. Lower swing speeds need more backspin to keep the ball in the air longer.

[j_moo]

I think even Mary Lou is bored.

[LankyLefty]

Who else giggled a little inside at the name Marry Lou Bohn? It looked several times like she almost bust out laughing at this dudes techno babble.

[Gerald]

OK I watched all 3 parts, pffff maybe I could better have been practicing ...... it's more like this senior vice president of R&D; is the senior president of Marketing..... Any golfer should play the Pro V1 or Pro V1x to be rewarded when they shoot their best shots ....... it is also about the outcome every hacker gets when they do their online fitting....... of course he is right to a certain degree.

Same with the talk of swingspeed .... so at any swingspeed the premium balls are best, but is a Pro V1 best for a average hacker, hitting too much side spin with a 5 iron trying to hit a ball close at a par 3 ..... yep only when they play their best shot ,,,,,, however if not .....it is probably the next $5 slicing into the lake ..... no problem...... you can have many in your ball pocket, they don't cost much (he said).

Who the F#CK is interested in the shellife of a golfball ...... OK nice to now there is no problem with 3 - 5 years old new boxes, but it was very interesting to know how the life of a golfball would be shortened lying somewhere in a waterhazard for half a year, sure they researched that, but no comments !

When the question on shell life came (so there must be a LOT of questions at the forum about shell life (SURE) ), I was hoping the answer would involve durability, but they avoid the 10.000 plus questions on durability that for certain must be at the Titleist-team Forum, or are that the questions that are not improved and never show up at the Titleist-team Forum ?

I have been playing the DT Solo quite a lot, and it certaintly is their best performing low cost ball, that actually spins more than most midpriced balls and it is maybe only 5 yds shorter than a Pro V1x at best.

So conclusion might be, that if you can expect to shoot many of your best shots to play the Pro V1 or Pro V1x, but if you are not at that level ...... why not go for the DT Solo ?

[boogielicious]

I've been playing the new ProV1X after playing the NXT Tour all last year.  In terms of durability, I think they are the same.  I am not scuffing the ProV1x any more than I did the NXT Tour.  I was expect my Vokey wedges to "tear it up" as some complained about the last models of the ProV1 and 1X, but I am not seeing that at all.  I am playing a hole round with one or two balls max.

One thing I do notice the most is the short game.  The 1X checks up more on chips and short pitch shots.  This is what I was looking for.  As for distance, they are about the same.

[B-Con]

Interesting to hear him acknowledge that all of their balls are withing about 5 or 6 yards of distance of each other. The recent Golf Digest golf ball hot list for the year showed that this was true on average across all balls. He didn't talk about the "forgiveness" of the golf ball a lot, just the "reward" it offered. People paying $4/ball want perfect performance, but those of us losing them don't just want our good shots rewarded, we want our bad shots mitigated a little. He skipped right past that. I doubt their testing/research has shown that mid to high HDCP golfers don't care about how a ball performs on a bad shot. Regarding his left hand: I think he had some weird uneven sunburn. His right hand was actually a little lighter than his face, which looked abnormally red. Maybe he applied suntan location to his face and right arm mid-way through a round? :-P

[Gioguy21]

Originally Posted by B-Con

He didn't talk about the "forgiveness" of the golf ball a lot, just the "reward" it offered. People paying $4/ball want perfect performance, but those of us losing them don't just want our good shots rewarded, we want our bad shots mitigated a little. He skipped right past that. I doubt their testing/research has shown that mid to high HDCP golfers don't care about how a ball performs on a bad shot.

honestly...high handicap golfers don't need a ball that mitigates risk, they need a golf stroke that mitigates it.

if you can afford a premium ball or like the play of it, buy all means...if not, buy all means. (yes i know i said buy not by.)

[The Recreational Golfer]

His left hand has a skin disorder that stains it that color. There are a number of such disorders -- hard to know which one this is.