What's the lifespan of a ball?

[pgheaja]

It's simulator season here in the midwest and of course you never lose or scuff your ball indoors.  How long can you play a single ball before it loses it's original characteristics?  I never wondered about this playing outdoors for obvious reasons.   

[Jayshaft]

I’ve come to believe that every bad shot I hit, is the end of usable life for that ball

 

theres no other explanation 

[grochol17]

28 minutes ago, pgheaja said:

It's simulator season here in the midwest and of course you never lose or scuff your ball indoors.  How long can you play a single ball before it loses it's original characteristics?  I never wondered about this playing outdoors for obvious reasons.   

I don't know in terms of number of strikes, but just before a ball cracks you'll see a drop off in ball speed.  I've had this happen to me 4 times when demoing drivers... I'll catch one on the screws, look up and see that the smash factor is something like 1.2 and that's when you know the ball is done.

[cgasucks]

For me who practices at budget driving ranges for a long time, a ball is unplayable is when the dimples are so worn, that it doesn't impart enough spin to give it lift and drops out of the sky like a dead duck.

[cristphoto]

According to Titleist YouTube videos a ProV1 will last about five rounds before deterioration sets in. This assumes no cart path or other damage. 

[BombinJim]

Depends how many wedges you hit and what kind of ball. Anecdotally wedges wreck the cover more than lower lofted clubs. Some ball covers don’t last as long as others, like Tour B-XS.

[SmashGolfBall]

Hard to tell from a statistical point, since no ball lasts more than 18 holes for me...

[Pepperturbo]

I am not familiar with any ball manufacture advertising the lifespan of their balls.  IMO, lifespan depends greatly on the user's ability to squarely strike the ball, even with wedges.  Most of the time I hit the ball square, even with Vokey wedges, and hard, while most people slice/fade.  The latter impact style causes the cover to quickly blemish and scratch, etc.  Using wedges with big, sharp grooves combined with a less than efficient impact, covers don't last long.

 

Never considered the science, but a draw doesn't cause as much damage to the ball cover as a slice.  Course, it depends on the quality of the ball too.  A cheap "rock" should last longer than a better quality balls, only it might not be pretty. Lol

 

I mostly hit DASH -ProV1x or AVX straight or a baby draw.  They last me many rounds, but never counted.  Guessing, they last 4-6 rds before showing use, and taken out of play.  One man's experience.

[Abh159]

There are so many outside factors it's close to impossible to get a true, statistical answer. Lifespan can be affected by type of ball, type of club, number of total swings, number of swings with each club, swing speed, swing path, angle, type of surface you're hitting into and off of, and so on....

 

All that being said, I agree with the last few posters that anything over 4-5 rounds is pushing it. 

[pgheaja]

Based on the comments, I think I'll use a ball 4-5 rounds max and then switch to a new one.  Thank you to those who responded. 

[cristphoto]

4 hours ago, BombinJim said:

Depends how many wedges you hit and what kind of ball. Anecdotally wedges wreck the cover more than lower lofted clubs. Some ball covers don’t last as long as others, like Tour B-XS.

 

I recall playing with Ping wedges when they had the actual square grooves (legal at the time).  One solid hit with them and I'd get the small "gill" marks on a ProV1.  It would be interesting to see how recent ProV1's would hold up against these clubs since durability has greatly improved.  

[B.Easy]

I've been paying attention to this in our simulators for the past couple of years.  For me, it's about 3 hours worth of strikes before the first signs of deterioration start happening.  I notice it first on ball speed with the driver.  Then launch and spin starts dropping.  I can stretch it another couple of hours, but it gets a lot less fun when you're playing a course and not putting the ball where you think it should go.  People talk about seams cracking and stuff, but I've never seen that in 8 years worth of winters in our sims.  

 

My general rule is 3-5 hours worth of Sim time.  

[QuigleyDU]

I lose them before they are torn up usually.. 

[sevenfourate]

Acceleration and obviously deceleration (Into a net) are incredibly high; much more so than a ball that eventually rolls out on a fairway on the course. It’s no wonder they often fairly quickly crack / deform / underperform.

 

Hence: I’d expect the lifespan of a ball used in a net to be far less than one used traditionally on the course…..

[starrman77]

I find my ball will last until I lose it.

[pgheaja]

I've been using a Vice Pro ball for about 4 rounds on the simulator before I swap it out for new.   I've now had two split before they make it that long.  For reference my driver swing speed is 100 so I'm not smashing these things.  I'll never have this issue on grass because a ball rarely lasts a full round, but it makes me question the quality of the vice ball.  I haven't seen a Titleist, Bridgestone, Srixon or Callaway ball split like this.  

[lefty1978]

I just passed 96 holes with an AVX. Once cleaned up, the cover looks pretty good. I'm going to keep this going until its lost or badly damaged. Ball still flys as expected past 5 rounds. 

[ShortGolfer]

I play the old Titleist DT Trusofts which have extremely durable covers.  Lasts until it is lost.  It may help that folks who use soft balls have lower swing speeds that are less likely to break a ball.

Unless you factor in all the trees we hit!

Edited February 25, 2023 by ShortGolfer

[orangeology]

depending on how sober i am gonna be on the course.  

[ZacR88]

I play them till I loose them. 

 

7 rounds was the longest I went last summer. 

 

Unless it damaged somehow to the point it cant be played I will switch it out. 

[Yosh807]

i've been testing this theory this year. I've used the same prov1 for about 50 indoor rounds this year and the performance has not dropped off but the cover of the ball feels off. It feels gritty like sand paper. 

[Dan Drake]

Not sure how to search it effectively, which is somewhat rare for me TBH, but wasn't there a guy on here that played a Srixon ball for something outrageous like 800 holes in a row a few years back?  

 

I'd say that no one really wears out a ball on the course.  On a sim is definitely possible though.  

[Port and Starboard]

If I'm lucky enough to hold on to the same ProV1 ball for 18 holes?   It's a pretty rare thing for me, but when I do, I almost get the same feeling as breaking 80. 😉

 

They usually look pretty worked over.......... but still playable.

 

 

 

 

[Hat Trick]

I play a ball until it usually loses its sheen/shine and starts picking up dirt/mud.  Usually about 3 rounds.

[wfrogge1]

This ball was brand new a month ago.  Only hit off a mat into a net pretty much every day for 10-20 minutes a day with a 8 to 6 iron. Hard to see in the pic but there are spots where the dimples are almost gone.  Oddly enough it feels really soft now lol. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by wfrogge1

[philly2kuk]

I’m currently on 6 rounds with a pro v1 over this winter. Only need it to last two more before spring arrives and winter rules vanish!

[URStillAway]

I am curious about the age of the ball rather than the physical condition of the cover.

 

I have some Prov1's that are from 2009,2011 , 2015 that I have found on the course (not in the water) and the covers are in great shape.    

 

Do people think the ball's performance suffers just from being old?

Some of these have been sitting in my "found golf balls" pail for years. 

[double_d]

On 1/27/2023 at 8:36 AM, pgheaja said:

It's simulator season here in the midwest and of course you never lose or scuff your ball indoors.  How long can you play a single ball before it loses it's original characteristics?  I never wondered about this playing outdoors for obvious reasons.   

 What do you mean you never scuff your ball indoors? After a certain number of full wedge shots any tour level ball will start to show cover wear. At least that has been my experience.

[MtlJeff]

Every ball will behave differently. But if you beat a ball enough into a net or screen it will eventually crack

 

I used the same Chrome Soft for a lot of testing this winter. Probably hit 500-600 shots with it into a net. I didn't see any real dropoff in performance, just a lot of wear on the cover

 

it cracked a couple of weeks ago. Probably 500-600 shots as mentioned

 

Outside they'd last longer i'd bet. Hitting into a net/monitor probably puts a lot more stress

[starrman77]

I only pay $24.95 a Doz. for the balls I use so I use a new ball every round. If I have a tough shot over water, I'll pull one of those out. They usually go into the shag bag but I'll keep a couple in the bag for water balls.