Jump to content
IGNORED

Always Play the Same Ball vs. Play Many Brands


Note: This thread is 1818 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Same Ball vs Many Types/Brands  

79 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you consistently play the same brand and version of golf ball or play whatever is available?

    • Always play the same brand and version
    • Always play the same brand but will use different versions (e.g. Titleist Pro VI and Pro VIx)
    • Tend to play one brand/version when playing for a score or tournament only
    • Play the same type of ball (e.g. Urethane cover with multi layers) but brands change
    • Play anything except cheap 2 piece balls
    • Play anything that is round
  2. 2. Do you think playing the same brand and version consistently helps or would help your play?



Recommended Posts

18 hours ago, dennyjones said:

I recently started playing the Titleist TruSoft.   I have also played the Taylormade Project A, Bridgestone E6, Callaway Supersoft,  Callaway Chromesoft and Srixon Q-Star Tour. 

I play the Titleist TruSoft and the year before last played with a sleeve of Callaway probably Chromesoft, but could have been Supersoft. It definitely seemed like about a half a club shorter on 125 to 135 yard approach shots. This was on an executive course I practice a lot on, so I believe I have a decent sense of what to expect. Decided never to change balls during important rounds. I may look at playing with the Toursoft or Pro V1, but only after I experiment and get comfortable with it. Then once I make a switch, stick with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I'm either playing the Cut four piece ball or the Chromesoft. If I"m out playing a "who cares" round of golf just to work on some things, then it's the Cut but if I'm playing for a reason...it's the Chromesoft. 

My bag:

Taylor Made R7 (x-stiff).
Taylor Made Burner 2 irons (stiff)
Cleveland Wedges (gap and 60)
Odyssey two ball putter (white) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • iacas changed the title to Always Play the Same Ball vs. Play Many Brands
  • 5 weeks later...

I fill my bag with the same ball and I mark all of them with a black dot over the name so I know it is my ball. What I hate is that I play with some guys who will play any ball, even ones they find on the course, (I call them ball hounds), and they don't mark them. After we hit a drive I ask them what they are playing and they have no clue, pisses me off when you're trying to help someone find their ball. At least remember what ball you hit, (sorry just venting).

Link to comment
Share on other sites


So I lost my last Titleist AVX on Sunday so instead of switching between two balls I'm going to solely play Bridgestones going forward.  Not sure my scores are better with one versus the other but I feel like I know what the Bridgestones are going to do around the green a little better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


On 12/8/2018 at 6:24 AM, bkuehn1952 said:

Some golf buddies were discussing whether they play the same ball all the time.  Some swear that their game is better with a consistent ball usage.  Others feel the ball is over rated and any urethane covered multi layer ball works fine.  Mind you, these are not low single digit golfers but cover a span of maybe 7 to 15 handicap.

Personally, I see the benefit of playing a single brand and version of a quality ball.  With my swing speed and ability, the benefit may be hard to quantify.  Still, we all strive for consistency and ball consistency likely helps even someone like me.

I think of playing golf as an experience, and the ball can add or detract from the experience.

Pro V1/x both kinds feel nice off the face of my clubs. I doubt using even a range ball would make that much difference. But in cold weather, a mishit with a range ball hurts like hell and a Pro V1 feels okay.

 

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

3 hours ago, gbogey said:

So I lost my last Titleist AVX on Sunday

I think I found two of yours here in Missouri. I’ll give them a try when when I get a chance.

Craig
What's in the :ogio: Silencer bag (on the :clicgear: cart)
Driver: :callaway: Razr Fit 10.5°  
5 Wood: :tmade: Burner  
Hybrid: :cobra: Baffler DWS 20°
Irons: :ping: G400 
Wedge: :ping: Glide 2.0 54° ES grind 
Putter: :heavyputter:  midweight CX2
:aimpoint:,  :bushnell: Tour V4

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

30 minutes ago, Missouri Swede said:

I think I found two of yours here in Missouri. I’ll give them a try when when I get a chance.

Its long way to the TN/MO border from my house, but if it's yellow, it could be fine - I hit a couple of really bad shots on Sunday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I've been playing "lakeballs" for years ( Titleist mostly), but i've been playing better since I started playing the same type of (new) balls. At first I didn't want to, because it's just to expensive to lose €5,= balls. Ever since I found affordable golf balls with equal quality, I'm sold.
Just knowing the ball reacts/ feels the same from the irons and putter is worth a lot to me and it gives me more confidence standing behind the ball.

I would recommend every player that wants to improve to play the same ball (brand & model)every time.

In my bag:

Driver: Taylormade RBZ TP  10.5*, 3-Wood: Taylormade RBZ Stage 2 TP 15*, Hybrid: Taylormade RBZ 22*, Irons: Titleist 718 AP1 5- 53*, Wedges: Cleveland RTX 56* & 60*, Putter: Odyssey Versa #7, Ball: Pearl Golf Pure Pro

Bags: Pearl Golf Liberty Stand Bag & Titleist StaDry Cartbag

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • 2 months later...
On 1/8/2019 at 6:47 PM, Lihu said:

I think of playing golf as an experience, and the ball can add or detract from the experience.

Pro V1/x both kinds feel nice off the face of my clubs. I doubt using even a range ball would make that much difference. But in cold weather, a mishit with a range ball hurts like hell and a Pro V1 feels okay.

 

 

On 1/8/2019 at 11:57 PM, shanksalot said:

When new balls come out I sometimes buy a 3 pack of a ball I want to try. This past year I have played Callaway Super Soft in the winter months and Callaway Chrome Soft Truvis red in the summer months.

In the past few years since I retired I have played about 45 rounds per year. I play early in the morning on week days only so those golfers who are still working can have the weekend tee times! If we are in the first group off in the morning I usually find a half dozen or more balls right near the fairways or just into the rough. I suppose the twilight hours makes them hard to find the previous evening. The balls are generally in very good shape and range from top of the line multi-layer balls to regular two layer surlyn balls. I end up with so many golf balls that even the local courses won't take them for their junior players. What I do now is keep the softer two piece balls for early spring/fall/early winter golf and hand off the more premium balls to a couple of guys who like certain brands or models. I keep the premiums that they don't want! Long story short, I play at least eight different brands between the surlyn 2pc, surlyn 3pc and Multilayer Urethane top of the line balls. There are certainly different feels among the different models but poor swings and poor contact are bigger problems for me! There are minor differences of feel with the putter but I am consistent on the greens so I haven't had any problems with different brands. Just got word this evening that the course will be open at 9:30 tomorrow morning. The temps will be upper 20's tonight, probably above freezing by noon so I'll have a first chance to play since late October! Last April it snowed early and often and we didn't play until early May!!!!!!!!

  • Like 1
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Generally play whatever takes my fancy. PLaying the Bridgestone E6 this year so looking forward to that.

I'm sure when the kids are older and i can get more rounds in per year sticking to one type of ball, if not brand, may help but at the moment i'm note so sure so voted no for Q# 2.

Russ, from "sunny" Yorkshire = :-( 

In the bag: Driver: Ping G5 , Woods:Dunlop NZ9, 4 Hybrid: Tayormade Burner, 4-SW: Hippo Beast Bi-Metal , Wedges: Wilson 1200, Putter: Cleveland Smartsquare Blade, Ball: AD333

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Anything that's round.  I'll usually start a round with one or two nice, unused balls and as soon as I lose them, change to whatever old balls I have in my bag. 

"No man goes round boasting of his vices,” he said, “except golfers." 

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Always the same when it counts. 

No, on second question. All of the premium balls are within a fraction of each other. 

Perhaps interesting to some, for the weekly $ games, I use the ProV1 that I get for $29.95 a dozen. They are overrun logo balls that are brand new, no blemish....just funky logos. They come in a clear bag.

But a tournament....love opening that sleeve and the smell when you uncap the Sharpie. Same excitement as walking toward the mound decades ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I'll play golf balls that are statistically negligible in their launch parameters.

Anything that plays similar to a ProV1x. My go to ball 99% of the time is the Snell MTB

For the most part, all premium golf balls perform nearly the same. They all produce high end wedge spin and are with in 400 rpm of driver spin rates.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

  • Moderator

I always play the same brand unless I'm hitting poorly and lost a bunch of my gamers that day, then I'll just hit whatever happens to be in my bag.

The biggest difference that I notice is spin on greenside shots. I'm used to the way my ball behaves when it hits the green and changing balls can affect that. I've tried balls that don't spin enough and run longer than I want and balls that spin too much and check up faster than I want. It's annoying to have to adjust your shot selection constantly to adjust to different balls.

There was one season I played with a lower compression golf ball and didn't think anything of it until halfway through the season when I realized my best drives were coming up shorter than expected. The ball launched too high with too much spin for my swing. My irons shots were pretty good with that ball, though.

Bill

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

My Swing Thread

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I very rarely buy new golf balls, hence am at the mercy of whatever used balls the caddie is selling.  Usually wind up with a reasonable collection of decent brand-name balls.  I try to play the better balls whenever possible and avoid the hard 2 piece balls unless forced into it.  I prefer the mid-range balls like a Titleist NXT.  Am not a big fan of tour balls as they spin too much for me and risk turning my fade into a full on OB slice.

I would definitely play the same ball/type of ball for a tournament or scoring round as getting the same reaction everytime really matters.  It helps around the greens more than anything.  You know how much run out to allow for

What's in the bag

  • Taylor Made r5 dual Draw 9.5* (stiff)
  • Cobra Baffler 4H (stiff)
  • Taylor Made RAC OS 6-9,P,S (regular)
  • Golden Bear LD5.0 60* (regular)
  • Aidia Z-009 Putter
  • Inesis Soft 500 golf ball
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

On 12/8/2018 at 10:08 AM, HJJ003 said:

I play with whatever brand I have in the bag at the time. Most of the balls in my bag come from gifts as that’s the only thing some family members know to get me since I’m the golfer of the family lol. This year I have played anything from ProV1 to “I think this is a golf ball”. No I do not think having a specific brand would help me at this time because I’m just not good enough. Heck, I had a span of 40 strokes between my best and worst rounds this year. I need to fix my flaws before I start worrying about getting anything out of a golf ball. 

I was going to post, but this pretty much says it, for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

The hypothetical analogy I like to use is:  Would you use a different driver every round?  After all, a titanium head is a titanium head, right?  They're all pretty close, just like all multi-layer urethane covered balls are pretty close.  So if I can be just as consistent regardless of which ball I play, it won't matter which driver I use either. 

                                                                                                                                                                                             I think most everyone would agree that it would be difficult to be consistent or develop any confidence if you kept using a different driver each time you played.  How would it affect your game if you normally play a 10.5* head, but happened to grab an 8.5* head today?  Or instead of using a firm tip shaft to keep the spin lower, you picked a soft tip shaft?  You get my point.  You can't be consistent if you're switching around.

Bridgestone j40 445 w/ Graphite Design AD DJ-7
Callaway Steelhead Plus 3 wood w/ RCH Pro Series 3.2
Adams Idea Pro hybrids (3 & 4) w/ Aldila VS Proto 
Bridgestone j33 CB (5-PW) w/ original Rifle 5.5
Bridgestone West Coast 52*, j40 satin 56* & 60* w/ DG S-300
Odyssey White Hot XG #9
Bridgestone B330-RX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

Note: This thread is 1818 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Want to join this community?

    We'd love to have you!

    Sign Up
  • TST Partners

    TourStriker PlaneMate
    Golfer's Journal
    ShotScope
    The Stack System
    FlightScope Mevo
    Direct: Mevo, Mevo+, and Pro Package.

    Coupon Codes (save 10-15%): "IACAS" for Mevo/Stack, "IACASPLUS" for Mevo+/Pro Package, and "THESANDTRAP" for ShotScope.
  • Posts

    • I did not realize that, I was thinking a more traditional golf club.  
    • Thanks for the feedback. @StuM, we are a "club without real estate" so no facilities or pro. We have a membership of around 185 players and we only play together as a group at our tournaments, which are held at public access courses. A group of us setup the tournaments, collect the money and dole out the prizes.
    • In general, granting free relief anywhere on the course isn't recommended.  Similarly, when marking GUR, the VSGA and MAPGA generally don't mark areas that are well away from the intended playing lines, no matter how poor the conditions.  If you hit it far enough offline, you don't necessarily deserve free relief.  And you don't have to damage clubs, take unplayable relief, take the stroke, and drop the ball in a better spot.
    • If it's not broken don't fix it. If you want to add grooves to it just because of looks that's your choice of course. Grooves are cut into putter faces to reduce skid, the roll faced putter is designed to do the same thing. I'm no expert but it seems counter productive to add grooves to the roll face. Maybe you can have it sand-blasted or something to clean up the face. Take a look at Tigers putter, its beat to hell but he still uses it.     
    • I get trying to limit relief to the fairway, but how many roots do you typically find in the fairway? Our local rule allows for relief from roots & rocks anywhere on the course (that is in play). My home course has quite a few 100 year old oaks that separate the fairways. Lift and move the ball no closer to the hole. None of us want to damage clubs.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to TST! Signing up is free, and you'll see fewer ads and can talk with fellow golf enthusiasts! By using TST, you agree to our Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and our Guidelines.

The popup will be closed in 10 seconds...