Ball Recommendation for a 90mph swing

[DallasDan]

There is so much conflicting information out there regarding ball fitting. I have been using ProV1's but I am thinking that those balls are meant for triple digit swing speeds in order to get the most out of them. I've used Tour Soft and NXTs in the past with pretty good success. I am most concerned with distance off of the tee since I'm the shortest hitter in my foursome. 

 

Any comments on optimal ball compression for a 90mph swing? Right now the Tour Speed has caught my eye along with the e6. I'm thinking a firmer ball will give me a little less spin and more roll out. 

 

Your thoughts are appreciated!

[JoeFrigo]

those options you mentioned are fine but id look at the Bridgestone Tour B RX for less spin

 

Titleist AVX could be an option also but those have lower flight

Edited February 25, 2021 by JoeFrigo

[phil75070]

I had a lot of success with the Callaway ERC Soft. Great distance and decent spin. The new version is supposed to be even better. It is also a step below the premium balls in pricing.

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, DallasDan said:

There is so much conflicting information out there regarding ball fitting. I have been using ProV1's but I am thinking that those balls are meant for triple digit swing speeds in order to get the most out of them. I've used Tour Soft and NXTs in the past with pretty good success. I am most concerned with distance off of the tee since I'm the shortest hitter in my foursome. 

 

Any comments on optimal ball compression for a 90mph swing? Right now the Tour Speed has caught my eye along with the e6. I'm thinking a firmer ball will give me a little less spin and more roll out. 

 

Your thoughts are appreciated!

Don’t believe the swing speed vs compression myth. I’m in the same boat as you for swing speed and I play the Bridgestone Tour B X. It simply outperforms all other balls for me. My advice, buy 4 sleeves of balls you prefer the feel of. Start with testing around the greens, then longer pitches, full wedges, short irons, mid irons, then longer clubs. Balls will be pretty similar off the driver, but generally a firmer ball with give you more ball speed. 

[Tanner25]

Since you are already a Titleist guy.  Try a free ball fitting. https://www.titleist.com/fitting/golf-ball-fitting

[Shushwap]

Have a look at the srixon q star tour.. I have a friend that is in the mid 90 swing speed and he likes that ball

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

I'm right around that 90mph threshold and I've had fantastic luck with the 3-piece Bridgestone balls...I think the current model is the e12 Contact.  Otherwise, Titleist 2 piece - TruFeel or equivalent.  I bought a 15 pack of the newest Dunlop DDH, trying to rekindle my love for my favorite ball from my junior years, and enjoyed those, but those are more of a "grip it and rip it, don't care about the ball" ball.

 

I generally haven't gotten along very well with Pro V1X, and have gotten slightly better performance out of the Pro V1.

[bluedot]

Forget about your swing speed; I think it's fair to say that independent testing data has shown all of that to be just marketing.

 

I would urge you or anyone else to take a hard look at the Today's Golfer and the MGS tests from last year; those are about as exhaustive as one could hope for.  There are differences in distance off the tee, but they are minimal, really, and probably not the best reason to pick (or reject) a particular ball.  That said, I think Today's Golfer had the TP5-x as the longest ball off the tee, while MGS had the Snell MTB-x as the longest.

 

We're all looking for the unicorn golf ball, but the reality is that there are just a ton of really good balls available.  It's always been true that the most important thing is that you play the same ball ALL THE TIME, but given the small margins in driver distance, plus the mountain of data that Trackman provides, the decision-making process can be pretty precise.

 

Decide how much you want to spend, then look for a ball in that price range that gives you the best combination of distance, dispersion, and spin rates around the green.  There probably isn't a ball that will transform you away from being the shortest off the tee in your group anymore; that just isn't the way golf balls work in 2021.  That can probably only be changed by equipment changes, changes in technique, or a pretty specific workout program.

 

I'll add this: IMO, the ProV1's are THE best ball for shorter hitters with low swing speeds, though I know many will disagree with me on that.  The reason I say that is that the testing shows that those balls are the most consistent on the market in terms of accuracy off wedges, and they carry relatively high spin rates as well.  You aren't going to significantly longer because of a golf ball change, but playing a ball that gives you the best odds when you're inside 100 yds might go at least some of the way toward compensating.

[DallasDan]

1 hour ago, bluedot said:

Forget about your swing speed; I think it's fair to say that independent testing data has shown all of that to be just marketing.

 

I would urge you or anyone else to take a hard look at the Today's Golfer and the MGS tests from last year; those are about as exhaustive as one could hope for.  There are differences in distance off the tee, but they are minimal, really, and probably not the best reason to pick (or reject) a particular ball.  That said, I think Today's Golfer had the TP5-x as the longest ball off the tee, while MGS had the Snell MTB-x as the longest.

 

We're all looking for the unicorn golf ball, but the reality is that there are just a ton of really good balls available.  It's always been true that the most important thing is that you play the same ball ALL THE TIME, but given the small margins in driver distance, plus the mountain of data that Trackman provides, the decision-making process can be pretty precise.

 

Decide how much you want to spend, then look for a ball in that price range that gives you the best combination of distance, dispersion, and spin rates around the green.  There probably isn't a ball that will transform you away from being the shortest off the tee in your group anymore; that just isn't the way golf balls work in 2021.  That can probably only be changed by equipment changes, changes in technique, or a pretty specific workout program.

 

I'll add this: IMO, the ProV1's are THE best ball for shorter hitters with low swing speeds, though I know many will disagree with me on that.  The reason I say that is that the testing shows that those balls are the most consistent on the market in terms of accuracy off wedges, and they carry relatively high spin rates as well.  You aren't going to significantly longer because of a golf ball change, but playing a ball that gives you the best odds when you're inside 100 yds might go at least some of the way toward compensating.

I am currently playing the yellow ProV1 for the exact reasons that you stated in your reply, bluedot. It's not that I'm unhappy with the ProV1 but I'm looking for 1 less club into greens. My short game is mostly predicated on bump and run so I feel like greenside control it not a top priority. Who knows, maybe I will see a big difference when I start playing a harder ball such as the Tour Speed or e6. The guys I play with shoot around 85 and none of us really know how to hop and stop the ball. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. lol. In any case, I'm tired of sitting 20-30-40 yards behind my opponents in the fairway.....maybe it ain't the ball and I just need to sync my swing up better and hit it on the center of the face. 

[TheBear95]

24 minutes ago, DallasDan said:

I am currently playing the yellow ProV1 for the exact reasons that you stated in your reply, bluedot. It's not that I'm unhappy with the ProV1 but I'm looking for 1 less club into greens. My short game is mostly predicated on bump and run so I feel like greenside control it not a top priority. Who knows, maybe I will see a big difference when I start playing a harder ball such as the Tour Speed or e6. The guys I play with shoot around 85 and none of us really know how to hop and stop the ball. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. lol. In any case, I'm tired of sitting 20-30-40 yards behind my opponents in the fairway.....maybe it ain't the ball and I just need to sync my swing up better and hit it on the center of the face. 

I swing in the mid-90s with the driver. Truthfully, all golf balls go roughly the same distance for me off the tee. You're not going to find 20 yards with a ball change. 

 

I typically play the ZStar or the ProV1. The one distance difference I get from a ball change is when I move to a softer, lower compression ball (AVX, QStar Tour, DUO Professional), I can gain roughly half a club with my irons because of the lower spin rate. But, that's it.

 

[bluedot]

20 minutes ago, TheBear95 said:

I swing in the mid-90s with the driver. Truthfully, all golf balls go roughly the same distance for me off the tee. You're not going to find 20 yards with a ball change. 

 

I typically play the ZStar or the ProV1. The one distance difference I get from a ball change is when I move to a softer, lower compression ball (AVX, QStar Tour, DUO Professional), I can gain roughly half a club with my irons because of the lower spin rate. But, that's it.

 

 

This is a pretty good summary. 

 

Every ball manufacturer is looking for distance, right?  So there is a combination of launch angle, spin rate, and dimple configuration that will give the longest carry and best overall distance, and the laws of both physics and the USGA provide the exact same limitations for all of them.  There just isn't any way to get 20+ yards from a ball change, much less 30 or 40. 

 

To the OP, I'd be MUCH more curious about two things other than the ball you are using.  One is your swing speed and distance, and the other is the driver you are using.  My  curiosity comes from wondering how close to "maxed out" for your swing speed you already are; if there is a gap, then get fitted for a driver.  If there isn't a gap, then consider either working with a teaching pro, and/or doing some golf-specific fitness work.  If there are gains off the tee to be had, they are going to be bigger there than in golf ball changes.

 

Think of it this way: the ProV1 you are using is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room for the golf ball market.  Literally, every other manufacturer has spent the last 20 years playing catch up in sales, and they still haven't.  Would that be true if there was a ball out there that would consistently give you even 20 more yards than the ProV1?

[Lobby]

I'm about 90 mph on driver swing speed and I just don't believe the ball makes that much difference for folks who swing slowly like me.

There are two factors I care about when choosing a golf ball: 
- how it feels coming off my clubface, and
- how quickly I can stop it on the greens.

I just don't feel it's a good use of my time / $ to test every golf ball out there to find the "perfect" ball.  Heck, a great drive might go 230 yards!  Whoop-de-doo

I play Srixon zStars and Titleist ProV1

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, TheBear95 said:

I swing in the mid-90s with the driver. Truthfully, all golf balls go roughly the same distance for me off the tee. You're not going to find 20 yards with a ball change. 

 

I typically play the ZStar or the ProV1. The one distance difference I get from a ball change is when I move to a softer, lower compression ball (AVX, QStar Tour, DUO Professional), I can gain roughly half a club with my irons because of the lower spin rate. But, that's it.

 

That's the crazy part about this game. i swing it about the same as you. However, I am the exact opposite with my irons when I play a softer ball I lose about 1/2 club to a full club off the irons.  

[TwistedSister]

17 hours ago, Shushwap said:

Have a look at the Srixon q star tour.. I have a friend that is in the mid 90 swing speed and he likes that ball

Good suggestion here.  I played them for 3 years... Last year I switched to the Regular Z Star and with my 92-95 MPH SS they work great.  My best golf pal has a few more MPH than I (97-99).  He uses them also.  He had been a Titleist player until we met 4 years ago... Great line of balls without the price gouge!

[bluedot]

44 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

That's the crazy part about this game. i swing it about the same as you. However, I am the exact opposite with my irons when I play a softer ball I lose about 1/2 club to a full club off the irons.  

 

Which was one of MGS's main, though general, conclusions; a harder ball goes farther, and a softer ball is a shorter ball.

[phil75070]

44 minutes ago, bluedot said:

 

Which was one of MGS's main, though general, conclusions; a harder ball goes farther, and a softer ball is a shorter ball.

Although that may be generally true, in the Today's Golfer ball test the softest ball tested, the Callaway ERC Soft, its average distance was only .2 yards shorter than the Snell MTBX.

 

[munichop]

Over the years as my driver ss dwindled from 110 to 95 I too have chased ball offerings that better suit my limitations. Since 2015 I have stuck with surlyn balls for two reasons, they launch higher and typically fly a little longer due to reduced spin in the irons.  Any bonus I have found in driver distance is rollout. For me if you like a firmer feeling budget ball the top flite gamer is very good and the hammer control is good if you want a softer ball. I recently tried the new e6 and it launches very high and straight. Two other lower compression gems are the srixon soft feel and the titleist tru feel.  The soft feel is a little longer off the driver but the tru feel a little longer on the irons. Of the balls I mentioned the top flites and soft feel are more workable, the e6 the most point and shoot and the tru feel in the middle of that group. None of them are as easy to curve as a pro v. 
I am auditioning the e12 contact tomorrow and will post on it soon.

[North Butte]

44 minutes ago, munichop said:

Over the years as my driver ss dwindled from 110 to 95 I too have chased ball offerings that better suit my limitations. Since 2015 I have stuck with surlyn balls for two reasons, they launch higher and typically fly a little longer due to reduced spin in the irons.  Any bonus I have found in driver distance is rollout. For me if you like a firmer feeling budget ball the top flite gamer is very good and the hammer control is good if you want a softer ball. I recently tried the new e6 and it launches very high and straight. Two other lower compression gems are the srixon soft feel and the titleist tru feel.  The soft feel is a little longer off the driver but the tru feel a little longer on the irons. Of the balls I mentioned the top flites and soft feel are more workable, the e6 the most point and shoot and the tru feel in the middle of that group. None of them are as easy to curve as a pro v. 
I am auditioning the e12 contact tomorrow and will post on it soon.

I think you explained the key thing required for "longer" if we're comparing top-quality current model balls. None of them is longer per se in terms of ultimate distance (i.e. driver) but if you get one that cuts a lot of spin off your iron shots it will be longer off the irons because of the lower spin.

 

I swing around 90mph (on a really good day) and I'll be darned if I can find a ball that's consistently longer or shorter off the tee for me than any other ball. But there's definitely a full club of distance difference with irons depending on if I'm hitting a really low spin ball vs. a really high spin one. 

 

It's really about finding the trajectory you like (some definitely fly higher and some lower) and how much iron and wedge spin you're willing to trade off for longer iron and wedge difference. Once you decide on that, just pick the one that feels and sounds the way you like.

[Tanner25]

Have been a Soft Feel guy and recently did a fitting with a Titleist rep, which was really cool and I will be getting ProV samples to check out. It will be interesting as a slow swinger to see how these feel and perform. 

[bluedot]

17 hours ago, phil75070 said:

Although that may be generally true, in the Today's Golfer ball test the softest ball tested, the Callaway ERC Soft, its average distance was only .2 yards shorter than the Snell MTBX.

 

 

Yes; the key words are "in general". 

 

Today's Golfer LOVED the ERC as a golf ball for amateurs ("everyday club golfers", in their words) who didn't want to spend top dollar for golf balls, with distance off the tee being one of the big reasons. 

 

I think the trade-off with the ERC is that the spin rate off a wedge was one of the lowest TG tested, approaching 900 rpms lower that the ProV1x, with dispersion that is average at best.  I don't like the trade myself, which TG characterizes as adding 2 yds. off the driver and giving up the wedge spin, but I do understand the price difference and why that would matter to a lot of golfers.

[rondre3000]

On 2/26/2021 at 6:34 AM, DallasDan said:

In any case, I'm tired of sitting 20-30-40 yards behind my opponents in the fairway.....maybe it ain't the ball and I just need to sync my swing up better and hit it on the center of the face. 

 It ain't the ball. No ball is gonna give you 20yds.

 

[DArnie]

On 2/26/2021 at 9:34 AM, DallasDan said:

I am currently playing the yellow ProV1 for the exact reasons that you stated in your reply, bluedot. It's not that I'm unhappy with the ProV1 but I'm looking for 1 less club into greens. My short game is mostly predicated on bump and run so I feel like greenside control it not a top priority. Who knows, maybe I will see a big difference when I start playing a harder ball such as the Tour Speed or e6. The guys I play with shoot around 85 and none of us really know how to hop and stop the ball. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. lol. In any case, I'm tired of sitting 20-30-40 yards behind my opponents in the fairway.....maybe it ain't the ball and I just need to sync my swing up better and hit it on the center of the face. 

If you are tired of being the shortest in your group then you need to work to get longer. The ball will not make that much difference. Swing this 25-50 times a day and you will gain distance. 

https://www.amazon.com/Greatlizard-Training-Trainer-Strength-Flexibility/dp/B07G151RN8/ref=sr_1_21?crid=2ZZR789PO9GKZ&dchild=1&keywords=swing+speed+trainer&qid=1614442873&sprefix=swing+speed%2Caps%2C207&sr=8-21

[Lobby]

23 hours ago, phil75070 said:

Although that may be generally true, in the Today's Golfer ball test the softest ball tested, the Callaway ERC Soft, its average distance was only .2 yards shorter than the Snell MTBX.

 

Not attacking you.  Just questioning how well they can measure those ball distances.  

To me, that chart above tells me those golf balls go the same distance.

[phil75070]

1 hour ago, Lobby said:

Not attacking you.  Just questioning how well they can measure those ball distances.  

To me, that chart above tells me those golf balls go the same distance.

If you go to the test, Today's Golfer goes into a lot of detail about their test methodology. One can choose to accept its validity or not. I think their controls are/were far better than another test that is often referred to done by MGS.

[wcdixon]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:31 AM, DallasDan said:

There is so much conflicting information out there regarding ball fitting. I have been using ProV1's but I am thinking that those balls are meant for triple digit swing speeds in order to get the most out of them. I've used Tour Soft and NXTs in the past with pretty good success. I am most concerned with distance off of the tee since I'm the shortest hitter in my foursome. 

 

Any comments on optimal ball compression for a 90mph swing? Right now the Tour Speed has caught my eye along with the e6. I'm thinking a firmer ball will give me a little less spin and more roll out. 

 

Your thoughts are appreciated!

 

20-30 yards gained would be unrealistic but have similar driver SS (95mph) and primarily used the softer lower compression Bridgestone RXS and Srixon Q Star Tour last year with success (good distance/decent spin) but end of season tried the Titlest AVX and found i gained about 10 yds off the tee and a half a club with irons. That ball gave me biggest distance increase of all balls i've tried out. HOWEVER l do still like the distance/flight/feel/spin of the Bridgestone offerings so am going to try the RX to start off this year (along with the AVX) and choose one.

 

Any of these four balls would be worth your time to test out.

[bluedot]

2 hours ago, Lobby said:

Not attacking you.  Just questioning how well they can measure those ball distances.  

To me, that chart above tells me those golf balls go the same distance.

 

I think that's the point; off the driver, the differences in distance among golf balls are marginal.  The performance differences show up other places.

[North Butte]

22 hours ago, bluedot said:

 

Yes; the key words are "in general". 

 

Today's Golfer LOVED the ERC as a golf ball for amateurs ("everyday club golfers", in their words) who didn't want to spend top dollar for golf balls, with distance off the tee being one of the big reasons. 

 

I think the trade-off with the ERC is that the spin rate off a wedge was one of the lowest TG tested, approaching 900 rpms lower that the ProV1x, with dispersion that is average at best.  I don't like the trade myself, which TG characterizes as adding 2 yds. off the driver and giving up the wedge spin, but I do understand the price difference and why that would matter to a lot of golfers.

Not only are they trying to imply a meaningful advantage from a couple yards difference in distance, they talk about what a good value the $35/dozen ERC Soft offers to "club golfers". And that's if we take as read the idea their tests can distinguish such tiny differences in distance to start with.

 

I know they are in UK and price structures are (slightly) different but if someone is price sensitive or if they lose a lot of balls, they are going to be shopping for a ball that's actually cheap. Not an ERC Soft. 

 

Heck Titleist used that dodge for years. They had the NXT Tour (far lower performance ball than Pro V1) which was $36 when Pro V1's were $48. Sold millions of them to people who wanted "a good ball but less expensive than Pro V1) even though the value for money for terrible. 

[nitram]

Why not keep using what you've been using or better yet, pay half price (or less) for some AAAAA used balls in bulk? The latter option is a great way for you to test different orbs to find the one that fits you best.

[BogeyParBogey]

My recommendation is not to sweat being shorter.  Play your game and enjoy what you're able to do.  I think this will lead to the most happiness.

 

Ideas to increase distance:

 

1. Confirm how optimal your equipment is

2. Lessons to improve technique

3. Exercise to improve fitness

 

Dave

[Lobby]

On 2/27/2021 at 2:03 PM, bluedot said:

 

I think that's the point; off the driver, the differences in distance among golf balls are marginal.  The performance differences show up other places.

Agree.

I just think that 0.7 yards difference out of 244 yards feels like just statistical error.   I fear folks are looking at that chart and saying Golf Ball X is better;  until they give me standard deviations, I don't buy it.