Birdie Ball Or Almost Golf Ball????

[SAGolfLuvr]

My Back yard is 40 yards long at the most. Which one of these should I choose to practice with when I don't have time or money to go to the driving range? Why should I choose "that one"? Thanks in advance.

[andycook]

Birdieball is cool though you need every bit of that 40 yards even when hitting a wedge.

[Wallstreet]

definitely chipping....all types.  I like to put a 5 gallon paint bucket out there and hit varying lengths of chips and try and slam dunk in the bucket to gain chipping accuracy.

[tristanhilton85]

Originally Posted by Wallstreet

definitely chipping....all types.  I like to put a 5 gallon paint bucket out there and hit varying lengths of chips and try and slam dunk in the bucket to gain chipping accuracy.

How exactly does this answer the question of whether or not the OP should get the Birdie Ball or Almost Golf Balls?

Anyways... I've only had experience with the Birdie Ball and it is pretty cool... however, I'm not positive that 40 yards is quite enough room, it might be close though.

[Wallstreet]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

How exactly does this answer the question of whether or not the OP should get the Birdie Ball or Almost Golf Balls?

Anyways... I've only had experience with the Birdie Ball and it is pretty cool... however, I'm not positive that 40 yards is quite enough room, it might be close though.

miss understood the post

[Grumpter]

In my experience I get about 50% of the distance of a normal ball when using the Almost Golf ball. Having about 60 yards on the side of our house doesn't let me hit anything more than a gap wedge. At 40 yards I would be down to a lob wedge only.

[SAGolfLuvr]

Thank You all for your responses. I think I will go with the Birdie Ball with the striker plate combo. This way I won't tear up any real estate. My back yard is not big enough for either "ball" so I will use open spaces I find on the way to and from work that will allow me to hit from the "ground" into a parking lot or large dirt area for ease of finding and retrieving. I am basing my decision on the folks that say the weight of impact feels like a real golf ball. I looked at other threads and comments as well as this one. This will also allow me to hit full shots before a round when it is too early for the driving range to be open or when the golf course doesn't have one. Everyone, Thanks Again!

[glock35ipsc]

I like both.  I keep some Birdieballs in the car and smack them around at the park when the kids are playing.  The AlmostGolf balls I chip with in the house.

[mdl]

Birdie balls are awesome.  Good feedback on direction and shot shape both.  Depending on your distance you might be able to hit at least your scoring irons with them with 40 yards of space.  If it's windy in your area often and you can shift around to be hitting directly into the wind, then you could probably hit mid-irons too.  Otherwise, do what I do and just take them and the strike pad to the nearest park.  I've been saving SO much money and getting to practice even more by taking 30 birdie balls to the park to hit whenever I want instead of paying $5 per bucket at the range.

[Grumpter]

I'm going to give the Birdie Balls a try. I'm intrigued with the prospect of being able to hit more than a gap wedge for back yard practice.

[14ledo81]

Bumping an old thread.

I am thinking about trying some of the almost golf balls.  I think I have enough room in my yard (back and front) that I could lay out a small course.  Seeing as they do not cause damage, I would be able to try to hit them past the side of the house from the front yard to the back.  I could lay out par 3's, 4's, and a Par 5 (par 5 tee shot would come from the ditch down the driveway).

Anybody else use these?  What kind of distances did you get compared to a real ball?

[iacas]

Bumping an old thread.

I am thinking about trying some of the almost golf balls.  I think I have enough room in my yard (back and front) that I could lay out a small course.  Seeing as they do not cause damage, I would be able to try to hit them past the side of the house from the front yard to the back.  I could lay out par 3's, 4's, and a Par 5 (par 5 tee shot would come from the ditch down the driveway).

Anybody else use these?  What kind of distances did you get compared to a real ball?

They can easily fly 70+ yards. I hit a 7I from 40 feet into my yard, across the sidewalk, tree lawn, street, across the tree lawn, sidewalk, front yard, and most of the way up the roof of the neighbor about 30° across the street from me.

BirdieBalls don't fly as far.

[mdl]

Well I answered above, but I'm a huge birdie ball advocate, so I'll vote for those.  Though I vote for them largely because they give great feedback while going way shorter than almost golf balls, so if you've got 4 acres and don't mind pretending your par 4s and 5s are dog legs that you can't cut, you could do the almost golf balls.

But anyway, I hit my 24˚ 4i ~200+.  In dead wind I'll hit birdie balls maybe 35 yards with a PW, 3w maybe 50?  I'm not 100% sure on those, but that's the ballpark.  Obviously since they're plastic napkin rings and half the weight of a golf ball, they're highly affected by wind.  Into a heavy wind I've hit PW and had it balloon up and back and come almost all the way back to me.  With a heavy wind behind a shot with a 3w might blast out to 70 yards.  Side wind is also an issue of course.  But could lead to some fun games in the back yard, like trying to play a shot with a hard left to right wind where you can't/don't want to start it way left.  You'd have to hit a hard low hook to start it at the target and not miss much right if the wind's heavy enough.

[dennyjones]

I have Almost golf balls and use them with my Medicus 5 iron.   I can hit it over 70 yards.    I like them but they are certainly different chipping than a real ball.

[14ledo81]

So the 1/3 distance claims are a bit short for the almost golf ball? They actually fly a bit farther?

[iacas]

So the 1/3 distance claims are a bit short for the almost golf ball? They actually fly a bit farther?

I think the claim is accurate if… it's specific clubs. A pitching wedge might only go 40 yards. A driver probably won't go 90 yards. Mid-irons seem to launch the ball much farther than 1/3 though.

[MS256]

I think the claim is accurate if… it's specific clubs. A pitching wedge might only go 40 yards. A driver probably won't go 90 yards. Mid-irons seem to launch the ball much farther than 1/3 though.

I bought some of those quite a while back and I think I only used them once (actually I sort of forgot about them).

Ya'll got me curious so I just went out and hit four of them with my driver. The first ball I hit pretty well (considering no warm up swings and it's raining) and didn't hit the other 3 very well.

Stepping off the distance back to the tee on the first ball was 93 yards and the other 3 were shorter than that.

Since I doubt if I could run out there and whack a regular golf ball 279 yards under the same circumstances I would guess maybe the 1/3 is just a little short, but in the ball park.

[14ledo81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

So the 1/3 distance claims are a bit short for the almost golf ball? They actually fly a bit farther?

I think the claim is accurate if… it's specific clubs. A pitching wedge might only go 40 yards. A driver probably won't go 90 yards. Mid-irons seem to launch the ball much farther than 1/3 though.

Interesting.  Thanks for the input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

I think the claim is accurate if… it's specific clubs. A pitching wedge might only go 40 yards. A driver probably won't go 90 yards. Mid-irons seem to launch the ball much farther than 1/3 though.

I bought some of those quite a while back and I think I only used them once (actually I sort of forgot about them).

Ya'll got me curious so I just went out and hit four of them with my driver. The first ball I hit pretty well (considering no warm up swings and it's raining) and didn't hit the other 3 very well.

Stepping off the distance back to the tee on the first ball was 93 yards and the other 3 were shorter than that.

Since I doubt if I could run out there and whack a regular golf ball 279 yards under the same circumstances I would guess maybe the 1/3 is just a little short, but in the ball park.

Did you hit any other clubs during your experiment?