How to intentionally degrade a balls performance but keep it cosmetically intact?

[Matadorb32]

I know this is a weird topic, but I thought it would be a funny prank to play on one of my regular playing partners. I will absolutely tell him after the fact but I thought it would be hilarious to hand him a Pro V1 and see him rip a drive for it to fall out of the sky after ~100 yds, or take a wild curve left/right. Does anyone know what would be the best way to purposely degrade a golf ball?

 

My initial plan is to freeze/thaw a ball a number of times. Maybe soak it in water for a few weeks so it gets waterlogged?

 

Any other ideas?

[doublepar93]

I’m not sure what you could do, but something that kept the exterior intact but halfway melted the core would draw some wierd results

[augustgolf]

Styx had a song for this exact situation:

 

Too Much Time On My Hands

[Abelvis]

It's pretty simple; you don't! ;-)

[pallmall]

It may be difficult to do, but it is possible: break or make some cracks to a ProV's inner part, while the soft cover does not break. It may be time consuming, because a lot of times, when a core breaks, cover also cracks. You may need a air cannon to do so.

[Valtiel]

No idea how safe this would be, but you could pierce the cover with a fine syringe and inject something caustic/corrosive into the core to create either a void or something funky anyway.

[Llortamaisey]

Have my pappy hit it. You will get all of the desired ball flight results.

[spartan6910]

Long-exposure water bath, perhaps?

 

edit: missed that comment in your OP. My bad. That's the best I can think of.

[Mudguard]

Put it in a vice a few times? Might get away with the cover not cracking.

[elwhippy]

You really need to get out more.

[bigmoneyp]

Buy some of those repainted ProV's.... who knows whats underneath the paintjob?

[Dustin_J]

You might try:

- Freeze overnight

- Drop it in hot tap water for a minute or so until the cover softens (core will still be frozen)

- Crank it in a vise with soft/padded/flat jaws

 

I bet you could get the core to crack that way. If you have a few shag-bag quality ProVs, you could do some testing and report back.

 

FWIW, I was bored and didn't want to work so I just tried drilling a hole in a ball that was cut in half and soaking it with Acetone (dissolves plastic) - not much happening. It was a Vice Pro Soft, not a ProV1, if that makes a difference.

[Justsomeguy]

I'd like to follow this bc I'll bet the results are that it's difficult to do without a time intensive undertaking.

[Fade]

Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute before use.

[indianalawnguy]

Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute before use.

 

 

Bahhahaha!!!

[jslane57]

Drill it out. Use a small drill bit and then just mash around inside the ball. Fill it with caulk or something that will also cover up the hole.

[bsawhney]

Drill it out. Use a small drill bit and then just mash around inside the ball. Fill it with caulk or something that will also cover up the hole.

 

I heard this one works. Drill a small hole, fill it with lead and then paint it back, will cause some curve balls that will be hard to understand.

[Matadorb32]

Ok, so I actually did try the drilling method. I clamped a Pro-V1x into a vice and drilled about half way down into the ball and mashed around a bit. I took a few of these balls to the range and surprisingly, it didn't have much of an effect. I was really expecting the ball to wildly slice or hook but if anything it was maybe only 15 yards offline.

 

Currently, I have a batch of balls that I have frozen/thawed about 10 times and they are now sitting in a water bath. I'll keep them soaking for another week or so and then I'll dry them out and repeat.

[Justsomeguy]

I love winter golf boredom. Totally staying tuned to see the results.

[sevenfourate]

A little disappointed coming here: and wasting time already this year that i'll never get back....

[Bad9]

Ok, so I actually did try the drilling method. I clamped a Pro-V1x into a vice and drilled about half way down into the ball and mashed around a bit. I took a few of these balls to the range and surprisingly, it didn't have much of an effect. I was really expecting the ball to wildly slice or hook but if anything it was maybe only 15 yards offline.

 

Currently, I have a batch of balls that I have frozen/thawed about 10 times and they are now sitting in a water bath. I'll keep them soaking for another week or so and then I'll dry them out and repeat.

 

I imagine the drilling method worked with the old liquid centre balata balls but not so much with solid core balls. You might be better off drilling into the ball and inserting some lead weights to change the balance of the ball. I would imagine even 2-4 lead pellets would have a pretty drastic effect.

[Matadorb32]

I'd be concerned about adding lead weights into the ball. If they became dislodged it could become a safety hazard to players on other holes and I'd also be worried about damaging the club itself.

[jslane57]

I'd be concerned about adding lead weights into the ball. If they became dislodged it could become a safety hazard to players on other holes and I'd also be worried about damaging the club itself.

I agree. It’s one thing to goof off and have fun, it becomes something else if equipment gets damaged...

[hwturner17]

Drill a hole in the side, patch the hole with putty or spackling and paint over it with whiteout or something similar to disguise the hole

[ChronicSlicer]

Microwave for 3-4 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute before use.

 

Sprinkle with some Franks Red Hot and enjoy!

[Jagpilotohio]

Soaking in water is pointless. Haven’t you ever bought reclaimed lake balls from places like Golfballs direct?

 

Modern Balls can sit under water for months and still be just fine.

[2bGood]

hmmm. The inside of a Pro V1 is made up of polybutadine. From my understanding there is no solvent that will break it down, so drilling and injecting something is out of the picture. Too bad as that would be the most interesting thing to do. Literally turn the inside of the ball to mush.

 

What I would do is cut one in half (ratcheting pipe cutters work great for this) and then play around with techniques to remove material. This might not directly help, but it will be good to see what is on the inside and understand what effort it takes to remove it.

 

I would want to work towards being able to drill about 10 times though the same hole in the ball one dimple wide, then create some sort of scraper bit with 90* on the end and start removing material from the inside. Then refill with something that will effect ball flight etc.

 

You also need to work on how you can disguise the hole.

 

Seem like a fun way to waste a winter night or two.