What happened when you switched to a tour ball? And how good were you when you made the change?

[brettfan]

I've gotten my handicap down from mid 12's to just below 7 playing the Bridgestone E6.  I just made the change to the Bridgestone B330 and played my first round with them yesterday.  I've always been a believer that the ball doesn't make too much difference... I have to say that the difference between the balls was surprisingly striking.  No major change in distance but I consistently spun every shot from inside 100 back a foot to a yard or so.  It's pretty wet here in KC so the greens are super soft but, even still, I was used to getting roll-out on every shot I hit with the E6.

I changed because I wanted more consistency with the distances on my approach shots and chips/pitches/bunker shots.

Only one round so who knows what the real effect will be long-term.

Cheers!

[pumaAttack]

I am not good enough to see a huge difference between balls but I like the way the Nike RZN black feels and performs.  Do I think it helps me score better, not really.

[stealthhwk]

  brettfan said:

I've gotten my handicap down from mid 12's to just below 7 playing the Bridgestone E6.  I just made the change to the Bridgestone B330 and played my first round with them yesterday.  I've always been a believer that the ball doesn't make too much difference... I have to say that the difference between the balls was surprisingly striking.  No major change in distance but I consistently spun every shot from inside 100 back a foot to a yard or so.  It's pretty wet here in KC so the greens are super soft but, even still, I was used to getting roll-out on every shot I hit with the E6. I changed because I wanted more consistency with the distances on my approach shots and chips/pitches/bunker shots.  Only one round so who knows what the real effect will be long-term. Cheers!

Very interesting. Keep me up to date as u get more rounds under your belt with the tour ball. Cus that sounds a lot like what im tryin to accomplish.

[brettfan]

The reason I played the E6 initially was because the main place I was losing strokes was not around the green but by hitting the ball into the freaking woods off the tee... hitting 3 off the tee is no way to score.  The E6 is supposed to reduce sidespin... I don't know if it really does or not, its always hard to tell if its the carpenter or the hammer.  I'll be interested to see if the improvement I see around the green (which, lets be honest, is going to be MAYBE 2 strokes a round) is worth the potential loss of control off the tee.  If I hit one more ball OB off the tee with the B330 I will have to really see a big improvement in the short game to even break even.  I'll keep you posted... good luck!.

[dsal89]

I was like you (around 13.5 handicap though) and I have been playing the prov1 for most of the year. I liked that it grabbed better on greens and shorter shots but I felt like it was hurting me off the tee box as sometimes I'm not the straightest hitter off the tee admittedly, so I switched to a q star for the last couple rounds. I read a few positives about it but a lot of negatives but still bought a dozen to see to see how I liked them. Since then my driving has gotten a lot straighter, obviously a bad shot will still be a bad shot off the tee but, for me, seems to make my misses a bit more workable. Yes these release out more on pitches and chips but it will still grab and check up decently and I've learned to play for the roll out. Approach shots, for me anyway, with a 6-full pw hits and stops within 5-10 ft of the ball mark. Actually spun a couple of 6 iron shots back about 2 feet which was nice. I'd say give the ball a try, great off the tee, straight, enough bite around the greens but not too much. Personally, I think it is a great ball for really any handicap.

[Dave2512]

Didn't start regularly using tour balls until I got into single digit handicap and stayed there. IMO play what you want if you can afford it but my experience there are two cautions for higher handicap players using tour balls. You will lose them and you can't take advantage of what they offer, could in fact be a detriment.

[pumaAttack]

  Dave2512 said:

Didn't start regularly using tour balls until I got into single digit handicap and stayed there. IMO play what you want if you can afford it but my experience there are two cautions for higher handicap players using tour balls. You will lose them and you can't take advantage of what they offer, could in fact be a detriment.

Is there a reason you can find so many ProV1s in the woods?

High Handicappers trying to hit them or do they actually have more side spin off the driver?

[Lihu]

  pumaAttack said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Didn't start regularly using tour balls until I got into single digit handicap and stayed there. IMO play what you want if you can afford it but my experience there are two cautions for higher handicap players using tour balls. You will lose them and you can't take advantage of what they offer, could in fact be a detriment.

Is there a reason you can find so many ProV1s in the woods?

High Handicappers trying to hit them or do they actually have more side spin off the driver?

Lower spin with longer clubs and higher spin with shorter ones. At least that's what Titleist claims and what I've observed. Range balls OTOH have more spin with longer clubs and less with shorter ones, kind of why ProV1x (and other premium balls) are so good.

Many golfers are losing them in general along with any other kind of ball.

[pumaAttack]

  Lihu said:

Lower spin with longer clubs and higher spin with shorter ones. At least that's what Titleist claims and what I've observed. Range balls OTOH have more spin with longer clubs and less with shorter ones, kind of why ProV1x (and other premium balls) are so good.

Many golfers are losing them in general along with any other kind of ball.

So lower spin with the driver causes them to fade or draw more?

It's pretty ridiculous the percentage of ProV1s compared to other balls I can find in the woods...

[Lihu]

  pumaAttack said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Lower spin with longer clubs and higher spin with shorter ones. At least that's what Titleist claims and what I've observed. Range balls OTOH have more spin with longer clubs and less with shorter ones, kind of why ProV1x (and other premium balls) are so good.

Many golfers are losing them in general along with any other kind of ball.

So lower spin with the driver causes them to fade or draw more?

It's pretty ridiculous the percentage of ProV1s compared to other balls I can find in the woods...

One other possibility is that rich people play the "best" ball on the market and don't bother looking for them?

I suppose if there is too little backspin then side spin could affect it more? OTOH, I would think that the side spin would also be less?

[pumaAttack]

  Lihu said:

One other possibility is that rich people play the "best" ball on the market and don't bother looking for them?

I suppose if there is too little backspin then side spin could affect it more? OTOH, I would think that the side spin would also be less?

Yeah that is why I am confused.  They tend to go pretty straight for me so the side-spin doesn't make sense.

It is probably just people playing a ball above their skill level.  I have a friend who gives me all the ProV1s he finds and says "I am not good enough for these, here you go."

[saevel25]

  pumaAttack said:

So lower spin with the driver causes them to fade or draw more?

It's pretty ridiculous the percentage of ProV1s compared to other balls I can find in the woods...

Pro V1's do tend to spin more off the driver, but not significant enough to cause that much extra curve.

Lets use Flightscope to show this.

Lets say you hit the ball at 140 mph (95-100 ball speed with poor contact)

Lets say you start the ball 2 degrees left and slice it

Lets say you have a 3700 rpm spin rate

Lets say you switch to a Pro-V1 and it adds 700 rpm to your spin rate.

The yellow line is the Pro-V1 with extra spin. You can see you are only hitting it offline a tad more. Not really jacking it off the side of the planet there.

[Dave2512]

Higher handicap golfers lose balls because they have no idea where they are going. Heck I have trouble controlling where it's going. My driving stats from last night playing 9 I missed left and right equally at 33% each and hit 43% FIR. Best to worst with distance was 239 to 260. That's pretty much a typical day. None were in trouble but I experienced the entire course that's for sure.

[pumaAttack]

  saevel25 said:

Pro V1's do tend to spin more off the driver, but not significant enough to cause that much extra curve.

Lets use Flightscope to show this.

Lets say you hit the ball at 140 mph (95-100 ball speed with poor contact)

Lets say you start the ball 2 degrees left and slice it

Lets say you have a 3700 rpm spin rate

Lets say you switch to a Pro-V1 and it adds 700 rpm to your spin rate.

The yellow line is the Pro-V1 with extra spin. You can see you are only hitting it offline a tad more. Not really jacking it off the side of the planet there.

Interesting and thanks for the thorough write up.

It must just be less skilled golfers playing a ball they have no business using.

[stealthhwk]

Thanks for all the great stuff yall. Today I played the gamer tour with urethane cover on the front 9. Hit it remarkably straight on good shots but just didnt have high enough trajectory. Played my trusty callaway supersoft on the back nine and had my greatest 9 holes ever. Shot a 3 over par 39. High trajectory made for much better distance on well struck shots and it was drop and stop performance on most shots so the ones bouncing off must be 100% user error. My three best rounds ever have been with the supersoft so Im sticking with those til I die or callaway stops making them....which should be any moment now. Lol

[trey3d]

I was going to suggest the Supersoft as good mid ball for your handicap. I play in money games with guys that shoot low-mid 80s with  Supersofts.(I like the blue ones)

I think the ball exploding off the face of the putter is not a ball problem but a stroke or accelerating through the stroke problem. http://thesandtrap.com/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball here is a great post that will not only save you money from buying a tour ball but will lower your scores. Now onto me, i am a 16 hcp hit 250 maybe 275(2-3 a round)drives, 150 8i 31 putts after that thread golfer. (Really, that thread shaved 6 strokes for me the next round) I have been playing Srixon q-stars 2015 version and find it way straighter on drives than Prov1's. What has been said about unpredictability around greens with a high spin ball is true for me. I gamed Prov1's yesterday and had sand shots spinning sideways, short chips stopping on the mark when I thought it was going to roll out, also had the "this is going to stop dead attack the pin" shot and it would roll out 15ft. With a mid ball like a Supersoft and Q-star they almost always react within feet from the landing. The tour ball is great if your drives and wood shots are straight, but any hint of a slice or hook and you are penalized alot more.

[stealthhwk]

  trey3d said:

I was going to suggest the Supersoft as good mid ball for your handicap. I play in money games with guys that shoot low-mid 80s with  Supersofts.(I like the blue ones) I think the ball exploding off the face of the putter is not a ball problem but a stroke or accelerating through the stroke problem. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball]http://thesandtrap.com/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball[/URL]  here is a great post that will not only save you money from buying a tour ball but will lower your scores. Now onto me, i am a 16 hcp hit 250 maybe 275(2-3 a round)drives, 150 8i 31 putts after that thread golfer. (Really, that thread shaved 6 strokes for me the next round) I have been playing Srixon q-stars 2015 version and find it way straighter on drives than Prov1's. What has been said about unpredictability around greens with a high spin ball is true for me. I gamed Prov1's yesterday and had sand shots spinning sideways, short chips stopping on the mark when I thought it was going to roll out, also had the "this is going to stop dead attack the pin" shot and it would roll out 15ft. With a mid ball like a Supersoft and Q-star they almost always react within feet from the landing. The tour ball is great if your drives and wood shots are straight, but any hint of a slice or hook and you are penalized alot more.

Thanks! Great article. Im still working on it. And yeah, the supersoft reacted so predictably today that i just knew exactly what to expect. :)

[vangator]

I played Surlyn balls for many years after getting to single digits. I just learned how to play the release. There are of course times when that doesn't work such as a tight pin over a bunker or a front pin. I played with a ball rep that told me that I'd never really be able to score unless I played a ball that could stop where it was hit (or pretty close). Since then, I've only played balata and now urethane balls. With a 24 HCP, I think a urethane ball may do more harm than good. The advantage you gain on stopping approach shots will probably be more than offset by more erratic tees shots. The ball will only spin in one direction unless it has a defect such as out of round or a nasty scuff. So, if you impart more side spin, the ball will be more offline. In general, I believe the harder balls will not spin as much off the driver, so they go straighter. I know ball technology addresses lower driver spin, but I still think harder balls spin less off the driver (or iron). When you finally think you are controlling the ball off the tee, then you can switch to a urethane ball. Until then, go cheap. That's what I would recommend.