Golf Ball

Trampas

What golf balls do people use and why do you use them.

I have tried most golfs balls over time from bad to Pro V1.

I use to you the Maxfli Rev but that was no longer made which annoyed me as I was playing great golf with it.

I prefer the Pro V1* than Pro V1 and i felt i could control the ball better but lately I have settled down to the Callaway Red Hex and i feel it is the best ball for my game.

Just wondering what other people use.

Hedge

I use whatever is in my bag. Usually found. I haven't really moved with the times technology wie, but I started playing more regularly this year (first time in years) and I'm hitting good scores with crap balls.

Question... Does a 12 handicapper notice a difference when using good balls cos if it can take strokes off a round, I may have to invest????????

Incidentally, centra are selling some type of top flite ball for 10 euros for 12 at present. Soft balls. Anyone know if it's a bargain. certainly sounds like one.

Trampas

The golf ball has a big effect in golf.

If you want distance and not worried about control of the ball then a hard ball is for you.

Softer balls don't go as far but give you better control and stop of the ball and helps you greatly around greens when chipping and putting where the ball doesn't shoot of the club face.

The NXT ball isn't a bad ball at all. Around €30 for a dozen.

Nike have decent balls for around €20 a dozen. (Nike Power i think they are called, they come in a range of softness)

RuggieBear

i like top flight high trajectory.

BrianD3

The majority of golfers should be using a low spin two piece ball. These balls are usually quite cheap too. I'm not well up on modern golf balls but something like a Top Flite XL, a Pinnacle or a Titleist PTS 2 piece is what I'm talking about. The only golfers who will benefit from using higher spin balls are low handicappers (off 5 or less) who hit the ball long and straight, can work the ball from side to side in a controlled manner and can generate backspin when pitching/chipping.

Higher handcappers are invariably shorter, wilder and less controlled with their shots. Higher spin balls will accentuate all of these characteristics. Also, higher handicappers are generally not able to get usable backspin on greens even if they use the highest spin ball on the market. So IMO it is completely pointless to use a high spin ball.

RuggieBear

don't pros use balatas (sp?) as they can control the ball but the average club golfer would find them very very unforgiving as they accentuate the spin of the ball.

Trampas

I don't know if balatas are still been used. I feel they don't as technology has changed where they can use the softness in the balata but place it in a harder covered ball. Giving you the best of both worlds.

The life on balatas was very short. If you thinned one you more than likely cut the ball and the ball was no longer usuable.

RuggieBear

Trampas wrote:

I don't know if balatas are still been used. I feel they don't as technology has changed where they can use the softness in the balata but place it in a harder covered ball. Giving you the best of both worlds.

The life on balatas was very short. If you thinned one you more than likely cut the ball and the ball was no longer usuable.

Showing how out of touch i've got. Played once or twice with the bloody things....used to slice them right no matter what.

mag

balatas were a nightmare, youd wanna be minted...

TheDoc

In regard to brian D comment i would have to say your totally inacurate there.

I play off 12 and use regurly a pro v 1 or a callaway blue or red soft ball. Balls make a huge difference.

You hit two shots onto a green no matter what handicapp, a Dunlop DDH and a pro v ill make a bet with my house on which one ends up closer.

Every single golf shot you hit with an iron creates backspin. Do you know what makes the ball go into the air? A common mistake by golfers is that getting "under" the ball gives height. When you strike the ball the grooves generate backspin on the ball. Wether you are off 28 or 4 every shot you hit has backspin except drivers and putters. The soft ball takes advantage of this. It rotates much more than a hardball therefore getting more stop. A hardball also feels hefty and clumpsy on contact, a soft ball feels crisp. A soft ball is easier to shapre, and me off 12 can hit draws,fades when i want with relitve acuracy. And the soft ball is noticably getter in the short game.

So my adivce is simple .
Soft Golf Ball. Use it in summer, you will notice a big difference.
Hard Ball. Use in winter on the wet ground. Or during a very windy day.

Also try to use the smae ball all the time, it will give you consistent results.

BrianD3

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

In regard to brian D comment i would have to say your totally inacurate there.

Disagree. Stopping the ball on the green and shaping it from side to side are all very well but that's not the sort of stuff that most amateurs can do, need to do or should even be aiming for. If you are off 12 and are sticking the ball to the pin with backspin and can accurately shape the ball on long shots then you've got the wrong handicap. I have never come across a 12 handicapper who could shape his shots consistently and mean it. For most golfers the ability to put more sidespin on the ball and move it from side to side is a hinderance resulting in unintentional slices and hooks which are more severe than they would be had they been using a lower spin ball.

As for chipping and backspin - one major mistake that higher handicappers make is trying to stick the ball to the pin with wedges on short shots like they see the pros doing. They try to emulate the pros and get disappointed when they make a mess of it and then blame the ball for not spinning enough. Every golf instruction I've ever read has stated that higher handicappers should forget about wedges and backspin and should aim to chip and run to 2 put distance with a 9, 8 or even a 7 iron. It is far easier to be consistent this way. And consietency is the key to scoring well and getting your handicap down.

mag

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

A soft ball is easier to shapre, and me off 12 can hit draws,fades when i want with relitve acuracy.

So why are you off 12 then? The yips??

Nothing personal but ive just been wondering about some of the 15 handicappers & the like posting on here - "yeah, im dead straight with my irons", "i can carry the ball 290 no problem", blah, blah..

Ive been a Cat1 golfer for 15+ years and i wouldnt make some of these claims with any honesty. Maybe bull**** or teenage bravado?

swingking

there is a massive snobbery that occurs in golf between low handicap golfers and high or mid handicap golfers. Most low handicap golfers look down their nose at other golfers and it is a very bad attitude.

1. If a high or mid handicap golfer uses a proV1, then let him. Besides, if he can make some attempt at getting the ball to go well then he will certainly get a generous amount of spin.

2. I find that the only reason why the handicaps change, is that the low handicap player is better at putting and the short game. Most golfers who are below 15, hit the ball straight and they make good contact with their irons.

BTW I am a 7 handicap golfer and I don't care what club or ball a mid handicap player uses.

BrianD3

I have to say that I am not a low handicapper myself - off 13. Have only taken up the game again recently after a gap of about 5 years. The type of balls I like are two piece distance balls. However I don't find them hard at all, I find that they "zip" and "spring" off the clubface unlike the balata type balls and to a less extent wound surlyn balls which feel "slow" and "dead".

I don't think anyone here is being a snob or trying to ram opinions down anyone else's throat. I am anti the high spin balls because they are invariably more expensive and there's a lot of marketing hype associated with them. I don't like to see people wasting their money on expensive balls that IMO they don't need and could possibly hinder their game.

RuggieBear

mag wrote:

So why are you off 12 then? The yips??

Nothing personal but ive just been wondering about some of the 15 handicappers & the like posting on here - "yeah, im dead straight with my irons", "i can carry the ball 290 no problem", blah, blah..

Ive been a Cat1 golfer for 15+ years and i wouldnt make some of these claims with any honesty. Maybe bull**** or teenage bravado?

I drove a 350 par 4 green the other day....and 2 putted for a birdie. i play off 18 .

Probably the first and last time i manage that . I used a 25 euro donnay Slammer driver with a steel shaft and a topflight xl high trajectory ball....

I then hooked my next drive out of bounds and hit a house 100 yards to my left.... :eek:

Oh and i agree with BrianD about the soft balls...

TheDoc

I know it sounds cocky etc but it is the truth. The thing is last year I was put into many many many team events both junior and club. There was few singles games so I only got as low as 15.

This year i have come racing out of the stocks. I really only started back at the start of this month after my leaving and in 4 weeks have lost 3 shots, shooting 75,77 and some low 80's. I'm aiming to play off single figures by the end of august.

I believe in something that a pro told me. There is the good,the bad and the ugly golfer. You can have a guy off 15 who is amazing and you know will be off single figures when he gets older or better. You have the bad golfer who will just stay around 15 for his golfing days. Then the ugly is a totally unorthadox golfer who will come down slightly, but wont improve cause he wont change his game.

I always talk fondly of my irons because its what im told. My iron play i love and wouldnt change for anything and i can shapre the ball at a rate of say 7/10 attempts. My problem as i stated before is my chipping and my driving.

I sound bigheaded maybe but i just state facts and what people tell me. And this year alone I have beaten, in matchplay and absolute rake of single figure golfers, im not rushing to get down taking my time, ask me in a month what i play off.

I'm only 17, i had a target 7 years ago of playing of 9 or less by the time im 18. I stil have another 50+ years in golf =D

TheDoc

also i dont think there is snobbery onthis board, I love this place and its a great forum to talk about golf and problems and equipment etc.

Its the kinda era though now aswell though, we are pumped with info that "if your not hitting a titleist, its not a good ball" Like today playing with a guy who threw away 5 golf balls into the trees cause of bad shots, picked up 4 balls and tossed em away cause they are not pro v.

Game is a great game of preference. Like we all hit different irons we all hit different balls. Its about getting a ball you feel most comfortable with. I personally use the pro v or another soft ball during summer and switch to something like a pts solo in winter when i need a bit more run on the ball.

The reason why i kinda got into the whole spin thing is because from what i can tell most people here are in the 18 and below handicap bracket. And it was just something I was told last Friday that shocked me,during lessons thr coach showed us what makes a ball fly. It was amazing learning about ball fleight etc. But every shot you hit minus woods and driver have backspin on it....its all about harnising it and feeling it.

And believe me Brian if i was able to spin a ball where i like i wouldnt be off 12 My problem is it spins when i dont want and wont spin when i want =D

BrianD3

just out of interest how much does the Pro V1 sell for in somewhere like McGurks. Is the Pro V1 the most expensive Titleist.

I remember when the Titleist Professional first came out. At the time they cost 3 pounds each. There was a lot of talk and hype about them. IIRC the advantage of them was that they had as much spin as the Tour Balata (not a cheap ball either) but with a more durable cover.

Some golfers with more money than sense got caught up in the hype. Fellas I knew who could barely hit the ball out of their way started using Professionals and would lose 5 or 6 of them every round :eek:

mag

Ive no snobbery against high handicap golfers whatsoever, in my experience from playing with them week in week out the biggest problem is a completley unrealistic view of their game & their capabilities. Its one thing to say, to pick a common example, that you can hit a 7 iron 180 yards or whatever but that generally belies any understanding of tempo & distance control & how much more important they are than being able to hit your irons as far as possible. Its just ****ing cop on at the end of the day...like the fact that 70% of the game is played from 100 yds in but the range is full of people pounding woods...

The best deals on v1's are on Ebay for Pearls at 25e a dozen.

TheDoc

Yeah ive been checking ebay and have a guy earmarked, he ships the cheapest at 9 euro from england, but the pro v generally goes for 30 euro brining it up to roughly 40 euro for 24-36 balls.

My game collapses from 50-60 yards in, just dies, chipping is ****e.

I personally have no clue what distance i hit anything, i use markers as a help.

200 yards = 5 wood/4 iron
150 yards = 7 iron
100 yards = p wedge or gap wedge

Then obviously **** changes for wind etc etc

mag

doc, if you do spend time practicing then make 75% on your shortgame, youll see serious results. also, its very important to know your distances with your clubs, particularly when you play other courses.

its important that the balls arent refurbished or painted, most are.
do you have a link for the uk ebay seller?

TheDoc

http://stores.ebay.ie/PREMIER-LAKE-BALLS-LTD_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

Halo

just lookin at your link there.

i was talkn to a few guys in my club last week and they were sayin that gettin pro v1's out of lakes is bad news. the water effects the core of the ball after a number of days. it will effect ball flight, spin etc..

Bamby21

Rather than say i use only Pro v1's cause of spin the truth is i made a decision to pick a ball and play with it every time. I chose them because i had been given a present of 2 dozen and so had a nice stash to begin with. Every ball reacts differently so i figured if i stuck with the same ball then id have some chance of getting the ball to do what i want or close to it. I wish by now i could say i can but i am getting closer. It even makes a difference on the green when the feel of a ball is constant rather then soft ball then hard ball then soft ball...etc etc. I reckon playing with the same ball is vital and may even lower a score once the golfer is used to it.

Franky Boy

A 10's.
Don't ask me why but the ball is just so sweet to hit!

Squiggle

Play off six and used to use Titleist balatas 90's (unrivalled feel and spin ) then switched to Maxfli revoultion which were more durable and had great feel. Now use Prov1's 'cause they don't make the others anymore! Think they're the best ball around for me and fairly durable too. Important to stick with the same ball imo.

fred funk }{

Im a twelve HC and i have used the pro v1's for a good few years but have recently changed to the pro v1 x ball and it has shaved a couple of shots of my rounds for sure, they dont spin as much as the pro v1's but still have a nice feel to them.

Have any of you guys used them and what do you think of them?

okden

prov1s are optimised for realy big hitters, and theyre exspensive cause of the extra production costs.
theyre kinda like a hard ball wrapped in a softer ball wrapped again in a super soft ball.
the pros with 110+ mph clubheadspeed can get compression to the hard ball in the middle and hit it far.
if your not a realy big big hitter youre never getting to the hard middle ball and losing the prov1s built in distance, you might be better off saving a few E and getting super-soft balls in the 2nd highest level price bracket, youll get the same feel around the greens and hit it longer off the tee. if the pros used these theyed lose distance off the tee. theyed still get the ball in the hole tho, big john d won a major with a 2 piece rock.

dimples also have a huge effect on balls, a pro will drive a smooth ball with no dimples under 200 yards.

so the upshot is experiment with different balls to find what works and then try and use the same type for the whole round

if youre a weekend golfer who use a mixed bag of lake balls or buy them from the guys lurking around public courses try to at least divide the balls into 3 groups soft, medium, hard and try to stick to one of the groups for the day.

this might help you divide them:

soft
90 soft butter feel control

medium
100 (usualy a combinaton of the positive-marketing-speel from both groups, like feel-speed)

hard
110 titanium distace speed power straight

if you have a real bad slice stick to hard balls and learn to use them on the greens like big john did. (dont learn to break your putter like him )