20 Handicapper...ProV1 Hurting My Scores?

[mttrout]

I have been purchasing recycled ProV balls for $16 or so a dozen. Ego plays no part in my playing this ball, it is just strictly "...might as well buy a top notch ball for the same price as a cheap one, they are used after I hit them once anyway..."

 

Countless posters on here have mentioned that someone like myself is wasting their money on this ball, but with the availability of the recycled balls have been playing them for a few years. Features of the ball I like are the soft feel and the ability to stop it on a dime on the greens. Unfortunately I cannot work the ball to the sides but have learned to hit high and low trajectory shots with my wedges.

 

Obviously I am not that consistent of a ball striker, but do play a lot and am improving. One thing I have thought about lately is that perhaps the ProV1 does exactly what my swing tells it to do and I might be better served to switch to a ball that is not quite as responsive. An ideal ball would feel soft, stop on the greens, and minimize the impact of unplanned draws and fades that my swing produces...and the ProV delivers.

 

What do you guys think, should I switch to a different ball? Would a 2 piece ball be better suited to my abilities or is it best to just keep buying the ProV? Thanks in advance for the advice.

[mantan]

My take....

 

I think a lot of the thought around 'not taking advantage of the ProV1' is based on two things.

 

1) Does a player have the technique to utilize spin in the short game.

 

2) If a player has sidespin (big slicing) issues, would they be better off with a lower spinning two piece ball.

 

But for $16 a dozen, who cares what anyone thinks? A lot of the 'wasteful' ProV1 thoughts relate to golfers who are spending $40 a dozen for them.

[Golfer4Life]

I say stick with what is working for you. I am not long of the tee, but my short game is pretty good and very reliable. I also use the ProV1 and I really like the feel and responsiveness around the greens and with my short irons.

 

I think a two piece ball would be a little harder than the ProV1, but if you want to try one, I would try the NXT Extreme. I have used that one and it is pretty good IMO.

 

You could also try the Bridgestone E6+. It is a three piece, kind of like the ProV1 and way cheaper.

 

Good luck!

 

PS. Unless they are Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, or your Golf Instructor, I would not pay too much attention about comments of wasting your money on a ball like the ProV1. If it works for you go for it.

[mhj202]

As a 10 handicap that doesn't get to practice much I've come to feel that Pro V1's seem to exaggerate my left and right misses (too much sidespin?) with my irons so I use lower spinning balls that seem to help me hit it straighter.

 

Obviously if I were making better contact with less sidespin it wouldn't be an issue but that's just not where the state of my game is right now.

 

I had moved to pure distance balls ("rocks") but found them a bit too unresponsive around the greens so recently settled on a mix (Titleist NXT Tour).

 

Every once in a while I go back to Pro V1s which are great when I'm hitting the ball well but always end up going back to a lower spinning distance ball.

 

Interestingly, I actually don't get longer distance off the driver with the distance balls- Pro V1s are pretty much the longest balls for me off the tee. However, I do find that I hit my irons longer and straighter (and more predictably) with the distance balls.

[SteveL1]

I'm a 6 hdcp with a low spin 2/3 piece and probably an 8 or 9 with a ProV1. Defintly makes a difference off the tee in hitting fairways and it actually spins way too much off my short clubs, which makes me try to hit past the pin and back it up which is risky at best most of the time. Give me a decent low/mid spin ball and I can hit 12 or 13 out 14 fairways and from there I'll hit a bunch of greens.

 

I have no ego when it comes to the balls I use. Just about anything free will work. Current favorite is the Nike Power Distance which the league I play in gives away for flight prizes. I think I have 3 or 4 doz in inventory at the moment. Not sure why, but I recently spent $12 for a sleeve of new TP Red's thinking I would get some more distance. Used it for three holes and put it back in the box. Should have spent the $12 on lunch or some gas!

[tsdiller]

bridgestone E6 is the best ball ever and good price and will help with hook or slices and will still spin around the greens and the feel is amazing.

[ubergoober]

I have two home courses. One has mushy bent grass greens, the other has bermuda and the putting surfaces are so hard it's difficult to find a pitch mark. Urethane balls like the PV1 are much better on the hard bermuda greens. On the soft bent, I play a Nike Power Soft with no problems. Evaluate your own course conditions and decide which type of ball works best. If you want a ball less spin sensitive off your driver consider balls like the TP Black, One Black, ix and Z-UR. They all have urethane covers and will deliver decent short game performance, but won't spin as much off your driver.

[cheeser]

I think that as long as you know what your ball is going to do in all situations, then play what you like. For example, I usually play the Pro-V1 or V1X and I know that the Pro-V1 spins like crazy for me on full shots but I know that greenside, it will check hard. The V1X will drop and stop on full shots, but will check and release 5 feet around the green. As a comparison, the Top-Flite D2 spun just like the V1X on full shots but I could only muster a slight check and 5-10 feet of release around the green.

 

I'm a 10ish handicap and I know that my "amateurism" is going to come into play quite a bit but the rest of the time, I feel confident knowing that the Pro-V1 and V1X will go straight off the tee and perform around the greens as expected.

[JeffreySpicoli]

The issues of money & "rocks" should be put aside. Those issues are pretty much irrelevant as you can buy any type of ball used and you don't have to play "rocks" to reduce driver sidespin.

 

Focus on finding a ball you like that has lower spin off the driver but still has acceptable short game spin. You can find a ball like this regardless of the cost and you surely don't have to go to "rocks."

[bloodredsun]

I'm quite a fan of the Srixon Trispeed. It is definitely straighter off the driver, in fact it's pretty noticeably so. While you have to compress it to get it to stop hard to back up, it's not impossible. The only area I notice that it's not a urethane ball is putting but it's still top notch.

 

Ultimately the only way you will find out is to play a couple of rounds with something like the Trispeed or the E6 and see if the strokes you save being on the fairway outweigh the strokes you may lose from your short game.

[BluesDrive]

I'm only against ProV1s because they're so expensive. I play Srixon Z-URS and AD333(2-piece). The Z-URS I prefer for putting, wedge shots, and iron shots, but I prefer the AD333 for driver/hybrid shots and bunker shots. Not that I switch balls or anything, that'd be annoying.

 

I use the AD333 more because it's cheaper and performs great.

[JeffreySpicoli]

I'm only against ProV1s because they're so expensive.

 

Did you notice that the OP buys used ProV1s at $16/dozen???

[blade_man]

I'm only against ProV1s because they're so expensive.

 

Did you notice that the OP buys used ProV1s at $16/dozen???

 

 

PLEASE TELL US WHERE YOU GET PROV 1'S FOR $16 PER DZ!?

Thanks, FC

[topeagle]

I am a 12 handicapper (recently dropped down from a 20). Two things caused that. A slight change in my take-away (HUGE improvement!) and switching away from Pro V1's to a "Callaway HX Hot" ball.

 

In my humble opinion, any discussion of ball's used fall into two categories; (1) which do you THINK you hit better, and (2) what is the science of your impact. I do not discount #1 because I truly believe if you THINK you do better, then you probably do!

 

As to #2, that gets more complicated. All shots depend on many things but the major points are (1) angle of attack, (2) face angle at impact, (3) inside-out or outside-in, (4) toe-heel height, (5) launch angle, (6) club-head speed, (7) ball speed, (9) sweet-spot and (10) backspin. You can tinker with swing, clubs or balls to change characteristics of any of the above. For instance I switched balls because I consistently have really good numbers on everything EXCEPT off my driver. I tend to have way too much back-spin (3,800 - 4,500 rpm). By going to a 3-piece ball with a soft cover, solid inner mantle and soft compression core, when I hit everything but Driver I am not compressing enough to get to the soft core and get good results (since my numbers are good), but when I hit driver, I reach the core and because it's softer compression it reduces backspin. The results have been amazing. I hit drives further (290+ yards) and yet maintain everything else. I find that when I hit a Pro V1 solid I actually go further, but usually I suffer in overall play (a little here, a little there).

 

The bottom line is that no ball can just be "longer" by saying it is longer. It depends on the "science" behind how you strike it.

 

However, if you "think" you hit one better than another, science goes out the window and because you feel more comfortable, you probably do hit it better.

[forbird4]

I think the last post is correct. If you can get the science of it down then a ball change or purcahse may be in order. Even then our swings change so the results from a great day on a trackman could be different from when your hitting it average.

 

I play PROv1 because i have alot of them given to me. It may not be the best ball for me but then I am not buying them. I also think they putt great. Some of the more distance type balls also fly off the putter face.

 

My index is 5. I can't spin back anything but then I don't miss much from 5 feet either.

[mttrout]

Wow, this question opened up a can of worms...but I honestly just wanted to see what everyone thinks. Shopko has recycled for ProV1 and ProV1x balls for $16/dozen. Most of the time they are in great shape. I have yet to find one with any physical damage or even a paint job. To me they look pretty good, especially for the price.

 

I might just tinker around with some other balls in the $20/dz. range just to see what happens. It seems there are a lot of really, really good balls out there and it is just a matter of preference.

[raymo]

bridgestone E6 is the best ball ever and good price and will help with hook or slices and will still spin around the greens and the feel is amazing.

 

I must second this opinion on the E6. I fight a hook with my mid-long irons and sometimes driver. I played the E6 yesterday and switched back and forth between that and the Cally iX (free sleeve), as well as the NXT Tour.

 

EVERY single iron shot was dead straight with the E6 and quite a bit longer than normal. It does seem to run out a bit more on the greens but I really don't care when I'm flagging shots all day :rolleyes:

[darnoldil]

I agree about the science and confidence factors for golf, as a result (as with physics in general) it is all about the trade offs as there is no free lunch in physics, if you gain something in one place you lose it in another. What we are really trying to do if find the range and balance that fits our average days but doesn't get goofy on us in our very good or bad days.

 

An example of this could be when we are feeling strong for that day and swinging more towards are top speed with everything and all of a sudden we are noticing way more side spin off of the driver or we are actually loosing distance from over compressing the core. Or maybe we are feeling tired and we start noticing that we are 2 clubs shorter with everything and the ball feels like a rock!

These are examples of a ball not fitting our particular range, and as Topeagle pointed out it will involve multiple factors and not just swing speed. For instance maybe when we are more tired we don't get the club face as square so that we aren't compressing the ball as well, but in this case we would also have a more open club face so we would impart more side spin also. In these instances the best ball for that day may not be the one we are playing but if we are playing with a ball whose performance range incorporates our bad, average and good days then we will not be penalized as much.

 

For me I am finding that my performance needs are somewhat weird as I typically over compress balls off of the driver thereby getting waaaayyyy too much spin but I LOVE a soft feeling ball. The over compression hurts carry, roll and direction (there is nothing like seeing a ball go 240 yards and then slice or hook another 30+ but when it goes straight it's 260-285!!!).

 

However it is not just the compromise between soft feel and driver over compression/spin, it is also a situation where I hit a nice rather high trajectory wedge but have almost never been able to suck it back. The result is that I need the ball to spin well for great stopping power with the short to mid irons but I still need good iron carry with them also, and the ball most Definitely has to feel soft with the irons, that's like rule number one for me (it can feel a little harder off of the driver, but not much, lol).

 

I recently switched to the Pro V1 (I play a mix of recycled and new 07's) because the putting in back to back tests was noticeably better for distance and line control (I make more putts) and the chipping/short pitch control is also noticeably better (instead of 40ft away I get aout 20ft average). Yes my short game needs work but you can see how much the ball can affect all of these parameters.

 

So in conclusion, the real issue is to assess your needs and find a ball that fits within your typical performance range, but of course THAT'S the problem to begin with. LOL! As for me I am planning to try a sleeve of the Wilson Zip and Callaway ix/i balls to see if I can get better distance off of the driver (the TP Red was farther but I didn't like the feel) while still keeping the short game that the Pro V 1 gives.

[raidernut1234]

I was a 7 hdcp. My course has very small greens. after playing it consistently for 7 years, I have found I score better with a "tour" ball that produces less sidespin. by staying away from the ProV1's, my scores have lowered considerably and am now a 4 hdcp.

my i recommend the following for you to try, which will give you greenside spin, but less side spin on your misses

bridgestone e5 or e6

callaway hx tour (the best that you can find refurbished).

and 08 taylormade red or black ldp (my new tournament ball, red if its windy and soft, black if conditions are firm).

good luck