Can I switch clubs instead of balls?

I've been testing various golf balls lately, and I'm having problems with the results. I'm a 12 index and not a big hitter by any means. Swingspeed is around 95, most drives in the 240 range. I can crank it up to over 100 if I like, but I'm not really comfortable doing so. I have a pretty good short game and putt very well for my handicap. Generally a lack of distance puts a bunch of pressure on my game at the club I belong to, however, as I have to hit 3 or 4 hybrid into a couple of par 4's.

Here's the problem: off the tee the Bridgestone E6+ is by far the best ball I've tried. It is 10-15 yards longer on good hits and 15-20 yards longer on bad than any other ball I've compared it too. It's pretty good off the irons also. Half a club longer on mid-irons, and I can spin full wedges enough that it's not a problem. But I am hating it around the greens. It is so much harder to hit chips and half wedges than the tour balls I'm used to (usually play Cally Tour ix or Pro V1x). I keep hitting pitch shots that I think are going to check right at the hole that release 15-20 feet by. Even little bump and runs seem much harder to control.

I don't need the slice and hook correction the ball is advertised for. I hit tour balls just as straight as the E6+, and I can work the E6+ off the irons as well as I can any other ball. I tried Golfballselector.com, and it says I should be using the Hot Bite. It's nowhere near as good for me off the tee as the Bridgestone. I've never seen such a night and day difference in a ball, and I really don't want to give up this distance.

Is there any chance I can alter my driver specs to get the launch conditions I'm getting with E6+ with a ball that's better around the green? I currently use an Ft-5 (I-Mix) with a Stiff Blueboard. (I know my swing-speed might be ok with a regular flex, but I tried both and the results were better with the Stiff). I'm not sure if this is a spin issue or if maybe the E6 is a softer compression or something else that better suits my modest swingspeed. Any help is much appreciated.

What is the problem w/ the premium balls like the ProV1or the Cally iX? You said you have used them. Are they not as long as the e6? I don't quite understand the problem. I think you are wanting the distance of the e6 w/ more spin around the greens. One of the premium balls should do the trick. All of them (Cally iX, Titleist ProV1/X, TM TP, etc) are made specifically to be as long as possible and spin as much around the greens as possible. I think you just need to try some other balls and leave your clubs alone. Unless I totally misunderstood.

I appreciate the efforts to relocate threads to proper forums, but my thread is about possibly changing my driver specs to mimic results from golf ball testing. It's not a golf ball question, which is why I posted it in general equipment originally.

What is the problem w/ the premium balls like the ProV1or the Cally iX? You said you have used them. Are they not as long as the e6? I don't quite understand the problem. I think you are wanting the distance of the e6 w/ more spin around the greens. One of the premium balls should do the trick. All of them (Cally iX, Titleist ProV1/X, TM TP, etc) are made specifically to be as long as possible and spin as much around the greens as possible. I think you just need to try some other balls and leave your clubs alone. Unless I totally misunderstood.

You hit the nail on the head when you said I want E6+ distance with more spin around the greens. The problem, though, is that the E6+ is 15+ yards longer than the ProV1x or the Tour ix (or any other ball I've tried!) with my less than tour swing speed.

15 yards longer??? wow...

Have you tried the Burner TP? i think you should try a sleeve. Hot and soft off the face like the e6+ but spins much more around the greens.

I'm not sure what changing the specs of your driver would do... as the e6+ is a mid launch low spin ball like most three piece balls out there....

The title of your post is spoken like a true club ho..... :man_in_love:

Honestly, I'd try a few more balls first. A much cheaper alternative. Have you tried the E5 line? They supposedly have more spin around the green. Myself, I'd rather have a ball I'm happy with from 8 iron in and sacrifice a little distance off the tee.

I am looking at the same thing. You can have the wrong shaft/loft combination in a driver and three wood, and may never get the right ball for your total game because of it. If anything, I imagine the pros might even look at what they want the ball to do and feel like on and around the greens, and then get their manufacturer to fit them on the driver and three wood to that ball using a launch monitor.

It's easier, and more fun for us amateurs to buy a bunch of different balls and try them out, but I have found that the driver that was given to me as a gift, (TM Quad) has a shaft tip that is too soft for me. I have added spin to my drives using it, I think.

I had my old Ping Tisi, 10 degree, but with a shaft that I know works for my swing, and I hit the heck out of it, with a certain trajectory that is unique to that driver.

In retrospect, that driver made almost any ball seem long to me off the tee. Whereas, this TM driver has reduced my overall driving distance, and I finally was able to observe that spinny, start-out-lower and rocket upwards ball flight with this driver and a Pro V1x, last night. I never hit the ball like that with that Ping, or my Bridgestone J33 driver. I have a j33 3 wood, with a pretty stiff shaft, and that club makes any ball look good off the tee and even in the fairway. Same thing with my Bridgestone 2H. The driver is so important that I think we tend to put more weight in how the "ball" performs off the tee.

You may notice that a lot of the balls you try probably perform similarly off the irons (might feel and sound different though). That has been my experience though. A bad driver shaft and loft combo has been skewing my ball search, and I am going to get fitted for a driver.

I did the ball fitting at Golf Galaxy and they recommended the IX as my ball followed by balls that I would not normally have used, like the One Black. With my Ping and B330s, or Pro V1, I have never had problems with distance at all. That is until I switched drivers. Using a harder ball, or a distance ball seems like a band aid for a better player off the tee, who probably has the technique to benefit from a tour quality ball around the greens. So I hope this helps in some way. YMMV

Noelsy