Realistic way to find the right ball for one's game

[North Butte]

1 hour ago, nsxguy said:

 

As you get better you will find that the ball's consistency, especially around the green, makes a noticeable difference. It may not even show itself as to lowering your 'cap but possibly just shooting your best scores more frequently.

 

Personally I like a short iron, when I hit a well struck shot, to sit right there. I don't want it to release 8-10 feet and I don't want it to suck back 8-10 feet. Sit right there. It takes time ON the course to evaluate that.

 

As well, I practice putting a LOT, especially lag putting. Because of the pandemic the store I practice at has been restricting the balls on the green to none. You have to ask at the desk and they'll give you ONE (maybe 2 if you're lucky).

 

So I bring in my own from the car. I've been experimenting with different premium balls for the last 6 weeks or so. So I bring in 3 Chrome Soft, 1 Prov1x, 1 Tour B and 1 TM TP5x.

 

The Chrome Softs are consistently longer. I reach or pass the hole from about 35 feet most often with the CS. The other 3 are consistently shorter. Since I'm something of a timid putter in the first place (though trying to get a bit more bold), the CS helps a little bit. (And yes, I get that one will, or at least should, be able to adjust to the ball over time)

 

This slight difference is also shown when I go to practice chipping at my local muni. It is very clear, on all sorts of chips, that the "other 3" balls "bite" a bit more than the CS.

 

As well, this same consistency shows itself on relatively short putts, especially if there's some break to them. Any breaking putt is a combination of line AND speed, no ?

 

If different balls come off the putter face differently, how do you get the speed right ?

 

Even the pros are not SO good that they can totally control a SW from 120 - but they can and often do produce "magic" on and around the greens.

 

This is why most pros & teachers recommend selecting a ball from the green back to the tee. And sticking to one ball.

 

 

 

I like to try different balls just for the fun of it but I never switch during a round (real round where I'm keeping score) for the reasons you mention.

 

As an exception, I'll recount one experience from a few months ago. I'd had half a dozen rounds where I was putting about as well as I've ever putted in my life. It was fun, every round I'd make a couple of 10-20 footers and I wasn't missing anything inside of 4-5 feet. All those rounds I was playing my usual Pro V1x, like I've played most of the past few years. 

 

For no particular reason, I picked up a ball I found in the rough on the first hole and put it into play for the rest of the round. It was a Srixon Z-Star XV. Tee to green it played about like a Pro V1x, as many balls do. Seemed like it might have lacked a bit of height on irons shot but hard to say in just one round.

 

I putted awful. Didn't miss any really short putts but I could not getting a 20+ foot putt within four feet of the hole to save my life. Probably putted five strokes worse than I had been doing. I just chalked it up to putting being a streaky thing. 

The next day I was back to using my regular Pro V1x and I putted well. Who knows if it was the Z-Star XV or maybe it really was just a bad putting day. But I tossed the Srixon into my shag basket and haven't played a ball other than Pro V1x a single hole since. Why give myself any doubt in mind by switching balls, putting is so much about confidence and feel anyway it's just asking for trouble.

[rwbloom93]

6 hours ago, nsxguy said:

So I bring in my own from the car. I've been experimenting with different premium balls for the last 6 weeks or so. So I bring in 3 Chrome Soft, 1 Prov1x, 1 Tour B and 1 TM TP5x.

 

The Chrome Softs are consistently longer. I reach or pass the hole from about 35 feet most often with the CS. The other 3 are consistently shorter. Since I'm something of a timid putter in the first place (though trying to get a bit more bold), the CS helps a little bit. (And yes, I get that one will, or at least should, be able to adjust to the ball over time)

 

This slight difference is also shown when I go to practice chipping at my local muni. It is very clear, on all sorts of chips, that the "other 3" balls "bite" a bit more than the CS.

 

 

I find this also (but with different construction balls) and I mentioned it in the thread about whether "2pc balls are a step back?".

 

Anecdotally, the most common miss I see with recreational golfers that play the firmer urethane tour balls is they are short on approach irons and short with chips/putts (that's not necessarily a bad thing I guess). I tell them if they play a ball better suited for their game (aka a 2pc ionomer for 20-30 hcp) they might close the gap a bit.

 

Also, a lot of people laugh at the idea of a ball drop test but this is accurate way to determine how hot a ball may be off the putter face (and short chips). Of course you can just test on the green.  Almost all soft/medium compression balls rebound higher (from a ball drop test) than the premium tour balls which are pretty dead comparatively speaking (and that's not necessarily a bad thing either).

 

Regards

[jomatty]

8 hours ago, nsxguy said:

 

No, not at all. Sorry if I gave that impression.

 

I was just giving a general idea of what I want a ball to do (hit and stay there) under "normal" conditions and a "perfect" strike.

 

I only brought the specific balls into the conversation for putting and chipping.

 

 

As I read it again that was clear.  Sorry for misunderstanding...

[hanfrac]

18 hours ago, North Butte said:

To clarify, I'm saying there may be differences that show up on the launch monitor in spin or launch angle or "estimated" or "simulated" carry and total distances. But the real-world differences that effect your game are complicated and subtle and don't equate to estimated distance parameters from indoor launch monitor sessions. 

 

Now if you're willing to prioritize driver distance as where you think your potential advantage may be found, you could probably get useful insight about that from an outdoor Trackman session where the actual flight of the ball is measured. There's still a lot of unmeasured variation in conditions during real-world golf that won't show up in a test session but you'll find out how the ball actually flies and rolls rather than simply having a computer extrapolate from launch conditions.

I didn't know that indoors vs. outdoors, Trackman measures distance differently - actual vs. calculated.  That's good to know.  This is getting more difficult - if I find an outdoor Trackman, it's likely at a range.  Am I willing to hit a bunch of new golf balls onto a range and never get them back?  Or can I assume that the calculations a Trackman would do into a net are directionally accurate enough?

 

In any event, starting with my next round, I'm clearing out the balls in my bag and putting 2 new sleeves of Z Star XVs in there and will play only those for a few months.  Hopefully I feel like I'm playing better or more consistently over time.