Balancing Golf balls

[Herbert1804]

Does anyone bother?

Played today with a guy who claimed he checked all his golf balls for "balance" and marked a line to get the best roll. Anyone else heard of this? I kinda understood that you dunk the ball in a ball of salt water and roll it over to see if theres a heavy spot. But now I'm home I just can't figure out how and where you mark the line so I'm baffled.

In any case, is this worth doing, or is it just more pychobabble?? I use AD333 balls. He was using Pro V's.

[sleepy_augusto]

Tried this after reading about it in a Wishon book (I think). Noticed that the HX Tours I spun in the water were well weighted and did not need this, but the cheaper balls (DT Solo, GranZ) did have a heavy side. The idea is to line up the light and heavy side so they roll forward, kind of end over end instead of on the side where the heavy side pulls it off line.

 

Easy to do, my odd way:

-lots of epsom salt in a container large enough to spin a ball around and not have it touch the sides or bottom

-warm water, dissolve salt

-spin ball

-mark very top spot with marker

-spin again, see if same spot comes up or nearby at least, mark it again

-spin and mark again, maybe one more time

-you have identified the light side of the ball

-put your line in between the dots if you use a line

-put the the dots or line on top or bottom on the tee and/or when putting

 

I use a line on the ball when I can (tee and putting), so it was no adjustment for me.

 

 

one note:

-wear rubber gloves or sacrifice all moisture in your hands

 

This has to fall along the line of spining shafts, etc. Having played with the heavy/light sides when putting, I at least imagined a difference. However, I'm not a machine and could be influencing the results w/o knowing it.

At under $4 to try on your existing balls, best to try and see.

 

Have fun

[Furrankee]

Played today with a guy who claimed he checked all his golf balls for "balance" and marked a line to get the best roll. Anyone else heard of this? I kinda understood that you dunk the ball in a ball of salt water and roll it over to see if theres a heavy spot. But now I'm home I just can't figure out how and where you mark the line so I'm baffled.

 

In any case, is this worth doing, or is it just more pychobabble?? I use AD333 balls. He was using Pro V's.

 

This was talked about in Pelz's "Putting Bible" I believe. If you're that good with your game where you know you're losing strokes from a wobbly putted ball, and not your read or your stroke, then...

 

go for it.

 

Otherwise, I'd rather watch a whole season of Weeds than finding balanced balls.

[newjedi]

I use to spin mine all the time. I had then heard that it was less of an issue because of manufacturing advances. The other day I took a lot of golf balls and sliced them using a pipe cutter. All I can say was that I immediately got all of my golf balls and started balancing them again. I big majority of the balls i checked had heavy and light sides that I could easily see by looking at the cross section of the covers. Granted the higher $ balls it was not as severe but there was still some variances. It definately opened my eyes back up to the possibility it could make a difference. What will it hurt to do it besides drying your hands out if you dont wear gloves as mentioned earlier.

[T.J.K.]

Otherwise, I'd rather watch a whole season of Weeds than finding balanced balls.

 

 

Great show :rolleyes:

[Herbert1804]

Think I might have to give it a go. I enjoy geeky things like this :rolleyes: At any rate I have a selection of balls here in my closet - AD333, ProV, NXT Tour, and Srixon Distance - It might be fun to see what the results are. I'll give your technique a try sleepy. Thanks for the deets.

[newjedi]

I dont think it is a matter of being so good you have to worry about an unbalanced ball. It is a matter of controlling as many variables as possible when putting that will give you a better chance of making a putt.

[bignose]

big majority of the balls i checked had heavy and light sides that I could easily see by looking at the cross section of the covers.

 

Could you elaborate on this some? How can you be sure that is was manufacturing and not a by-product of your cutting? How big of a difference are we talking here? Can you put an actual number on it?

[newjedi]

Does not appear to be a byproduct of cutting as far as quantifying it it would be hard without getting my calipers to measure the thickness. Problem is getting the cover off without stretching the cover to cause the numbers to be affected. Also I am sure that there are product variations which would affect maybe 1 in who knows how many and it could be that the couple I saw with variances were that 1 which means I could cut open another and there would be no issue seen. The best value ball I found was the Gamer which surprised me very much have not yet tested it as last few rounds were spent with the ZIP. As far as my thoughts of how much the cover thickness appeared to be off on the ones I saw well it would not be very much but enough that I would start balancing golf balls again. Plus I seemed to putt better during the years I was doing it too.

[DGMVW]

The ball wobble might make mine go in, so I'll stick to marking my line over the alignment line the manufacturers provide. :rolleyes:

[newjedi]

That is very true that small wobble or lean could make the ball go in that is for sure.

[newjedi]

FYI I became determined and got my calipers out and took some measurements with cover still on the ball. The ball used was an HX Bite. Ball measured 1.68 no surprise there. Core measured 1.51 again spot on specs. These to specs indicate that I got a pretty good cut at the equator of the ball. Next was the cover measurements. Light (thin cover) side was about 0.029 and on the Heavy (thick cover) side it was .054 and on the sides it was right at the stated cover thickness of .043. Not sure what you would think but that is out of balance to me. I think I will spin balance a ball (check-go) and float a ball and then cut them to see if they correctly identify the light and heavy sides of a ball.

[Crayaco]

Here is a video.

 

Balancing a Golf Ball

[Bite Bite]

Don't waste your time or your money!!!

 

Once you hit the ball that has been marked for "balance" it goes back to being off balance according to your little marker line. It only works once. Then when you hit the ball with your Driver or Irons you knock it's balance around so that it is different from what you have marked.

 

Don't waste your time or your money!!!

[Herbert1804]

Once you hit the ball that has been marked for "balance" it goes back to being off balance according to your little marker line. It only works once. Then when you hit the ball with your Driver or Irons you knock it's balance around so that it is different from what you have marked.

 

Really? You think a ball can go out of balance that quickly? I can't argue, but I would have expected it take a lot more punishment than that. But if you're right then thats the best reason yet not to bother.

 

 

 

N.B Nice video find Crayaco. Not seen that site before.

[cmhgreg]

I generally balance my golf balls, but I use a Check Go. They can be found for less than $35. Using one is quick and easy, and in the case of some golf balls very enlightening. I've seen some Pro V's that were so out of balance they wouldn't stay seated in the device.

 

Maybe balancing your golf balls makes a perceptible difference and maybe it doesn't. But if it improves your confidence and has you believing that your putts will roll straighter and truer, then it's worth as much as any training device (and those usually sell for much more $$).

[TKing]

Quote"Once you hit the ball that has been marked for "balance" it goes back to being off balance according to your little marker line. It only works once. Then when you hit the ball with your Driver or Irons you knock it's balance around so that it is different from what you have marked."

 

After reading this I went out and checked the ones in my golf bag and did not find it to be true with any ball. I was given one of the ball spinners for Christmas. I don't find any difference in ball flight hitting them one way or the other but I'm not good enough to anyway. I kind of doubt it really matters much but do find the line helpful in lining up putts. You can find which balls have a little wobble in them and which ones spin smoothly. I found that Bridgestone makes well balanced balls as the B330 line and the Nike Plat and Black spin smoother than anything else. Titleist balls are pretty good too but generally not as consistantly smooth as the ones made by Bridgestone. Some of the balls in the cheap bags from Walmart won't even sit on the spindle but bounce around so that there is no finding any kind of balance.

 

For what it's worth, I don't know.

[TempusFugit]

I'm playing the Wilson Staff Tx4, these balls are perfectly balanced.

[Midwest Golfer]

I have the Technasonic Check-Go and I have noted improved putting roll since I started using it. On drives it does help but if you don't hit right it will not fly without slicing or hooking but I notice that that is reduced. I think you have to be careful when using this device because as you spin it the centrifugal force forces the heaviest to the outside of the spin. So when you mark the ball when it is spinning gently touch it with the marker so as not to disturb its spin. You can then mark a clearer line using the bottom as a guide as instructed. This line is up and facing the direction you want to hit it. I think it is worth it.

[Hidalgo]

Uhhhh ... if you say so.

[golfingnut300]

For putting, with all the imperfections on the green surface I doubt this would help at all. Think about all the shoe marks that are made and depressions that are made by walking on a green. I have a hard time believing that a ball is that out of balance to see a difference!

[Hot Rod 71]

If balance were indeed an issue with golf balls then why don't the pros balance their golf balls?

[clubbreaker472]

I've had a spin gadget for years, and cannot report anything that effects playability. Could be an effect on drives just cannot say. HOWEVER, balls definitely do have a specific center of balance. This is obvious because a spin marked ball will return to spinning on the same axis when retested.

[NYCgolfer17]

Welcome to GolfWRX: We check the balance point of our golfballs...

[tngolf22]

[quote name='Bite Bite' timestamp='1206248301' post='981826']
Don't waste your time or your money!!!

Once you hit the ball that has been marked for "balance" it goes back to being off balance according to your little marker line. It only works once. Then when you hit the ball with your Driver or Irons you knock it's balance around so that it is different from what you have marked.

Don't waste your time or your money!!!
[/quote]

I have evidence otherwise. I've been using the Check-Go for years and I spin balance all my balls to remove as much "randomness" out of my putting as possible. I've noticed even after many hits if I happen to hit a cart path the scuff mark is always right on the center line I've marked, which tells me the ball is still balancing itself in the air along that original line.