Ball Fitting

Always remember it's just a ball. If you struggle to control a ball with the driver, it's not really the fault of the ball - it's you. Likewise, if you don't really hit a ball very far, it's not the balls fault - it's you. If you struggle to impart spin with a premium ball, you are likely to struggle with spin on any ball.
If you like the way a ball feels when you putt - it's certainly a good start. Work backwards from that point and see if the rest of your game fits around it. If it spins into the green the way you want, you can probably ignore the rest. How a ball comes off the driver is probably the least important factor - which unfortunately may not be Bridgestones viewpoint.

Unless you ask for something else, they will likely fit you for a ball using your driver. You hit into a net using a launch monitor. You ball, then theirs. Then almost any ball you can think of (they have a lot of brands available). Then theirs and theirs until they get numbers that maximize your drive. Odds are, they have a ball that will work better for your swing. You will walk away with a two-ball sample pack.

I wish I'd have asked them to then test me on a full short iron. The ball that fits by driver -- crazy long -- does not spin much and releases every time I hit it into the green.

Make sure you let them help you by telling them what you are looking for in a ball.

From what I have heard, most good players fit a ball to their short game first, pitches, chips and putts. This is simply because the ball makes a bigger difference with the scoring clubs than with your distance game. Once they find the best short game fit, they might tweak their driver to accommodate their ball choice.

If Bridgestone fits you by having you hit full shots, I feel like they are doing it backwards.

One great thing about Bridgestone though is that they do have a ball for just about everyone.

If you have an adjustable driver, I'd suggest that you find which Bridgestone balls that you like best for your short game and then see if you can use your ball fitting time to tweak your driver to get the best launch conditions on that particular ball.

Just an idea.

IMO, the "proper" way to fit a ball is from the hole backwards. You start with a properly fit putter, then go for feel. After that, short game shots. Then, on to full iron shots. Once you get to your longest iron (3, 4, 5, 6, whatever), you pick your ball. From there, you fit the DRIVER to the BALL. With the technology these days available in heads, loft options, face angles, shaft options, etc. you can easily maximize the driver if you fit it to the ball. After that, you go to gap fitting with hybrids, fairway woods, etc.

That's my opinion only.

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I've done two of the Bridgestone ball fittings. My take on it is that they cherry pick the best hit of the swings with their ball. Even if you swing slower on that swing, if you have the best smash factor, the distance number will be pretty good. Then they say, see, with our ball, even on a swing that wasn't your best (swing speed), you still got a lot of ball speed. Imagine what you can do when you hit it with a swing like you put on that Brand X ball.

I'm not kidding.

Also, they tend to test like for like. If you say you play a premium ball, they will test you with their premium balls. Usually only one of them, though, depending on your numbers with Brand X. If you say you play a mid-tier ball, they are going to test you to their e- series. Obviously you can alter that by your answers to their questions about what you are looking for.

I'm not saying they are dishonest, not really. I'm saying it is a quick bang-bang affair, not a drawn out fitting. And they will pick a swing that makes theirs look good. That is what happened on mine a few years ago, and also last week. Now, if you make every swing/impact the same, my comments probably won't apply.

[quote name='JayMack1527' timestamp='1337775477' post='4963454']
I don't know if I could really trust the fitting for a ball, because the more you hit the more energy you lose, and after 3-5 hits each, you really aren't going to get the best results readings. I tend to hit my best shots with my driver after about 15+ minutes of hitting balls, or about after 25-30 shots. So for me I don't know how well this would actually work out, because I would have to be so tired after hitting that many shots to find the correct ball.

I went to an indoor driving range at a place called Nevil Island in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania a few years ago, and you can hit all you want for 3-4 hours, in a bubble domed range of 100 yards in length. In 4 hours, I hit over 400+ golf balls (over 8 buckets of balls) and nearly collapsed when I went outside the place. Never want to hit that many golf balls again, lol...

JayMack1527
[/quote]

In this case, you can warm up till you are ready. The actual BS fitting will only involve about half a dozen or so swings.

[quote name='Snowman9000' timestamp='1337776024' post='4963482']
I've done two of the Bridgestone ball fittings. My take on it is that they cherry pick the best hit of the swings with their ball. Even if you swing slower on that swing, if you have the best smash factor, the distance number will be pretty good. Then they say, see, with our ball, even on a swing that wasn't your best (swing speed), you still got a lot of ball speed. Imagine what you can do when you hit it with a swing like you put on that Brand X ball.

I'm not kidding.

Also, they tend to test like for like. If you say you play a premium ball, they will test you with their premium balls. Usually only one of them, though, depending on your numbers with Brand X. If you say you play a mid-tier ball, they are going to test you to their e- series. Obviously you can alter that by your answers to their questions about what you are looking for.

I'm not saying they are dishonest, not really. I'm saying it is a quick bang-bang affair, not a drawn out fitting. And they will pick a swing that makes theirs look good. That is what happened on mine a few years ago, and also last week. Now, if you make every swing/impact the same, my comments probably won't apply.
[/quote]

My experience was quite different. I happened to be at a shop on the day Bridgestone was there doing a fitting, so I went over to check it out. They weren't super busy so I ended up talking to the guys for a while before and after the fitting. They asked me if I was playing in a tournament what ball I would play and I said ProV1X. We compared the 1X to the B330 Tour. To the credit of the guys doing the fitting and Bridgestone for having quality guys representing their company, they showed me the numbers (I wish I could remember the spin, etc) and explained to me that I got better numbers with the 1X. They said to me that with my swing speed and spin that I would probably get better off with a higher compression ball. Anyway, that was my experience and although I didn't exactly get fit for a ball, I did come away with a good impression of Bridgestone and feel like their fittings/results/recommendations are legitimate. Also, it is unreasonable to expect them to do a drawn-out fitting; the logistics just don't work. If you want a full-on fitting, it would be better to go see your local PGA Pro.

I've never gone thru a full ball fitting, but I will add to the posters who have said to make the short game performance your focus. I played the 20XI-X for 2 years & loved the distance...however the short game performance was subpar at best. I didn't make a switch until yesterday out of fear of losing distance. Yesterday I switched to a ProV1 for the 1st time & the short game improvement was drastic...as was the immediate improvement in scoring. Shot my 2nd lowest round ever. The nice part is that I didn't lose any distance, which was my fear going in. So after seeing the difference it immediately had on my game, I would 100% recommend that u focus on the best short game fit & then go from there! Good luck!

Thanks for the help guys.

I figured short game was the place to start, and that's what I'm going to go into the fitting looking for. I hit the ball 240-250 off the tee, so I'm not too concerned about the distance.

Fitting is on the 9th, will update all of you on my experience and ultimate choice after.

Thanks again

IMO "ball fitting" isn't really worth it...

Most people want to go through a "ball fitting" to maximize their distance, when they should get a ball that they can control around the greens...

We are about to see "custom fitting" golf balls shortly I would imagine...

everytime i have went though a good ball fitting at the local demo day they fit me with the prov1x. To be honest i rarly have my best rounds with this ball. I think use your personal feel and trust your own instinks on the course. personaly i play my best rounds with taylormade and bridstone balls i think fitters are always quick to throw me in the prov1x due to my high driver club speed.

I did the ball fitting. You take three shots with your ball and then three shots with a few of their balls. They were honest with me as well. At the time I was playing the Penta, and it did produce the best numbers. They did show me that the E5 was close and recommended it if I was looking to save a couple bucks, but that was when TMAG was offering the buy two get one free deal on Pentas, so they were about the same price. I too appreciated the honesty of the guys doing the fitting and I got a free two ball sample pack. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.

The bridgestone ball fitting is simply showing you what ball gives you the most distance as they believe if you hit a ball 10 yards longer then you are now hitting a 6 iron instead of a 5 and that helps you score.
Titleist fitting involves best ball around the green and moving back to tee.

I personally try to find whats best of both worlds. Bridgestone ball fitting gives me the ball i hit best off the tee and i can see how much better. I then take that ball and hit irons, wedges, and putts with the ball and decide which ball i like better around the greens. Then i quantify if the added distance is work the feel/spin around the greens.

For me personally i picked bridgestone because of the controled spin around the green. Im a high spin player and i like the way the bridgestone hit and stopped for me vs Prov1x spinning back 5-25"

So neither Titleist or Bridgestone is wrong but i wouldnt discount either when selecting the best ball for your game.

Sounds like it's all just a bit of fun.

It may not be the same as going to a club fitter and paying for a full ball fitting. But, it is free. The guys were nice as heck both times I've done it. There is no pressure. You get reading of your ball's performance. And they give you two free balls.

I think it is great marketing and builds brand and goodwill.

I buy balls in bulk. When I run out of by current balls (Bridgstone), I'll look to get another fitting with their latest stuff and likely buy Bridgestones again.

[quote name='spaceboy' timestamp='1337807477' post='4966440']
Sounds like it's all just a bit of fun.
[/quote]

Yes, I think so. I got my launch data out of it, and that's always a good thing. And two free RX balls. It's worth doing, I just don't trust their recommendations. Last time they recommended e5+, and when I bought a dozen they were considerably shorter off the tee for me. I saw the same pattern this time with how they selected my data for comparison. It's harmless and fun. Who knows, maybe I'll love the RX.

I did their ball fitting yesterday. It was driver only, and I hit 4 shots with my current ball after getting warmed up ( Srixon ZStarX). Then based on the results he told me I wasn't swinging fast enough to get that ball to perform properly (avg 103 mph, need to be 110-115). The backspin was pretty high, averaging about 4200 rpm. Side spin was on the high side too, 600-700 rpm

Then he put me into a B330RX, and the backspin dropped to about 1800 rpm. Side spin was cut by even more, to 100 rpm. Having demoed the B330S on the course the previous day (and shooting a career low of even par for 9 holes at this course), I was pretty excited about that ball. That said, he said that I didn't swing fast enough for it....needed to be over 107-108 mph, and that I should use the RX. But, the S is better around the greens, which is what I noticed on the course (more spin and control). So I asked to get the driver numbers on the B330S too. We found that the spin came up to about 2300 and side spin was just a touch higher, but not much. Distance was similar to the RX. He was kind of surprised, and said I could probably play either one depending on my green side preference. Ended up walking out with a free sleeve of B330RX's which I'll give a go. Not bad for a free evaluation, in my opinion. According to their numbers, I picked up 10 yards with the driver versus the Srixons. I have validated this on course as well.

Lastly, I will mention that the guy right before me was told to stick with ProV1's. He left with a free sleeve of something, but I was impressed that they admitted the ProV1 was better for him.

One other thing the fitter mentioned (consider the source) is that the TP5 spins inconsistently depending on the alignment of the seam. And he did show me that it has quite a large seam owing to the way it is manufactured. I didn't see any actual data, but I could buy that the dimple pattern irregularity there could cause some issues.

Another cool thing about the fitting is that they will send you an email with your Trackman numbers (you have to sign up for the Boom Club, which is free). I got the email about a week or two after doing a fitting.