Softer golf ball for senior - 85 mph swing speed?

[dalehead]

> @bluedot said:

> I agree that at a driver swing speed of 85 mph, the differences in distance and dispersion are going to be far less than at 110 mph, even if it's only a matter of the same percentage of a smaller number being a smaller number. Whether or not 4 or 5 yards is "worth it" with a golf ball is the same question as whether or not the yardage gain from a new driver is "worth it"; that's a matter for the individual golfer to decide. It is to me, but I completely understand others saying that it isn't.

>

> I disagree at least a bit, though, with what happens to the difference between the guy swinging his driver at 85 mph and the guy swinging his driver at 110 mph around the green, because the ability to generate and control spin on partial shots isn't so much about swing speed as it is the quality of the strike. I think that pretty much all of us are limiting swing speed by one method or another when we hit a 45 yd pitch, or when we play out of a greenside bunker, or chip from the fringe, regardless of our swing speed off the tee. To use an extreme example, I think the Champions Tour guys are still able to play partial shots with close to the same amount of precision, spin and control that they always did; the difference for them is what happened from the tee to where they are playing the partial shot from. Bernhard Langer and Justin Thomas, for example, are probably hitting 30 yard pitch shots with pretty much exactly the same technique and swing speed. So at some point, for ALL of us, it becomes a matter of how much spin you want and are willing to pay for as you get closer to the green and swing speed becomes less of a divider.

>

> I'm 67, and despite working out regularly and doing LOTS of flexibility work, and even doing the Super Speed training, I average 93 mph with the driver now, and just can't get beyond that anymore. But I can still hit partial shots pretty cleanly, and I still want them to roll out and stop predictably. So in that regard, I think the ball DOES matter to the 85 mph guy, at least when he gets to 150 and in. I don't necessarily want to pay for the ball that spins the most (probably the ProV1x, according to testing), but I also don't want a ball that spins 1000 rpms less, even if it's really cheap; MY preference is somewhere in the middle, both in terms of spin and price.

>

> And again, the key is that you play the same ball ALL THE TIME, even in practice, so that you KNOW how it will react. Two of my buddies won a Carolinas Golf Association super senior four ball yesterday; one of them plays a ProV1, the other a Pinnacle. But they NEVER play another ball, and they both pitch and chip and putt beautifully. I think that's the lesson in ball selection, regardless of driver swing speed.

 

Good advice. Unfortunately most folks will see the ads for a manufacturers new ball promising more distance, better control, improved feel and think “Hmm”.

 

[jjfcpa]

From a strictly performance point of view, all balls may perform within a few percentage points of each other at 85mph, but I can assure you that they don't all feel the same. My criteria for picking a ball is probably 70% - 30% where the 70% is based on performance and 30% is based on feel. The feel includes not just how it feels off the driver, but every club in the bag, and in particular the putter where you can easily take 40% of your shots with. And while the performance difference between different balls is generally small, even though I base 70% of my decision on the ball I play, there are other characteristics of the ball besides just distance... spin, and how it plays in the wind, for starters.

 

I think finding the right ball is a quest and not just a pick one and play it. I subscribe to the concept of playing the same ball all time including at the chipping green. I never use range balls. But after trying a dozen or more balls, there are at least a half dozen that I could play but there is one that stood out for me. I will continue to play it until I either get tired of it or another one comes along that feels and plays better.

[Sean2]

My home course is littered with hazards, so I find a lot of golf balls. I am 64 years old, so my swing speed is rather low, however, I haven't found any major difference in performance regardless of the ball I have hit, except around the greens. Off the tee they all pretty much perform the same. Some may feel a bit softer than others, but that's about it.

[tsecor]

someone should do a robot test with off center hits...toe and heel, high and low on the club face.......since that is where most amateurs hit the club, i think that may show you what could work for most golfers.

[dalehead]

I think the last two posts from Sean2 and tsecor sum up things nicely.

[Red4282]

Well well... heres a crazy test... the opposite of what you think happens. The colder ball is faster than a hotter ball...

[j.a.]

> @dalehead said:

> Good advice. Unfortunately most folks will see the ads for a manufacturers new ball promising more distance, better control, improved feel and think “Hmm”.

>

Yeah, based on that I bought a sleeve of AVX that didn’t work at all. Happily I could trade the two remaining balls in the sleeve for another of Tour Soft.

 

[jjfcpa]

I think you get the best performance from a ball that you play regularly. As with clubs, it's important to know how the ball is going to react when hit a certain way with a specific club. I noticed more with my putter than I did with almost any other club in my bag. Consequently, I judge a ball firstly based on how it performs and feels when hit with my putter - Stroke Lab One.

 

Yes, I could play a lot of balls and they probably wouldn't affect my score significantly, perhaps at all, but when it comes to enjoying the game, the feel and performance of the ball is almost as important as the driver I play or the putter I play.