Average Swing Speed Thread: What ball are you playing?

[LeoLeo99]

I'm around 90 to 95 mph and play Maxfli Tour or Kirklands.   I find the differences between urethane balls to be very subtle.  There is a lot more variability in my strikes than the subtle differences between golf balls.  

[Pepperturbo]

I'm sure my SS isn't anything special but not sure what it is, distance is 240-250+ with some brilliant days when I smash it longer, and I am 70+yrs young.  Iron SS is probably +/- 85mph.  The majority of time play DASH -ProV1x followed by ProV1x, sometimes Chrome Soft X during warmer weather, and switch to AVX or ProV1 in not so good conditions, wind and chilly weather.

 

When playing a difficult course with lots of demand carry off tees and -AoA Driver, typically I tee up DASH. 

Edited January 11 by Pepperturbo

[Tooeasy]

55yrs old swing speed around 95

 

I just started hitting the AVX and I’m hitting it as far as ever

 

seems to outperform BRX( my previous ball) for me

[North Butte]

On 7/16/2023 at 4:59 PM, North Butte said:

I decided to keep playing that same Left Dash Pro V1x until I lost it or it got damaged. Nine more holes Saturday the eighteen today. Again, I put a regular Pro V1x in play for two random holes Saturday and three today. And again, darned if I can tell any difference. 

 

But today, wouldn't you know it, I equaled my personal best score ever. Another round like that and I'll end up buying a whole box of the darned things!

I now have possibly the world's cruftiest Left Dash Pro V1x. If my memory is correct I have played that same ball for all or part of 7 rounds. I've swapped in a regular Pro V1x for a few holes from time to time, one round was only 9 holes, etc. Probably a total of around 100 holes of golf on it now.

 

Now that I'm thoroughly used to that old Left Dash, today I played a normal Pro V1x (current version). I do think I saw some slight difference with the Pro V1x I played today versus those simultaneous rounds with the Left Dash. It's hard to describe (and maybe my imagination?) but the regular Pro V1x has just a little more "hang time" in the air, maybe it's what Titleist's ads have always called "Drop And Stop".

 

I think for me the two balls have similar peak height but the the regular Pro V1x drops down a little steeper after it peaks. Or maybe not, maybe I just hit a few shots today that happen to fly and spin a bit different because of how I hit them. I shouldn't try so hard to distinguish a signal in what's mostly random swing noise. 

 

The real takeaway is how durable that darned Left Dash is. It's got some of the writing scratched off a bit of a dirty tinge I can't get to wash off but no one bit of actual damage. No nick, dings, bruises, or scuff marks. If I look closely enough maybe a few dimple edges are a tiny bit worn down. Remarkable durabiilty. 

 

Then again today's regular Pro V1x looks totally pristine after 18 holes. And it went a few places that were not, strictly speaking, grass!

[NRJyzr]

Over the MN winter, simulators and launch monitors tell me I've dropped to around 98-100 mph.  I guess I qualify for the thread.  Recent results on the course have me wondering if I've even dropped another tick off those numbers during this season...  🙂

 

I'm 59 years old.  I'm playing the Kirkland 3pc version 3.  Like it rather well.  After the v2, I was worried about distance.  Tested it against Chrome Soft and even Chrome Soft LS, as well as the Wilson Triad.  For my game, it holds up well in distance terms, no appreciable distance difference off tee or irons. 

 

The v3 is softer than the v2, which was one of my two dislikes of the v2 (excessive spin was the other).  And, the spin around the greens is outstanding.

 

I wouldn't mind if it were as good in the wind as the Duo Professional I used to play, but it's not like I have any *real* compliant with the v3; it's been more than merely adequate, no ballooning or excessive lateral drift in side winds.  It's just that the Duo Pro was ridiculously good in the wind.  It was almost comically good.

 

Sorry @jordan2240, no excess funds coming from me to you, my golf ball costs less than yours.  🙂

 

[jordan2240]

22 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

Sorry @jordan2240, no excess funds coming from me to you, my golf ball costs less than yours. 

But is it orange???

[NRJyzr]

49 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

But is it orange???

 

A fair point  🤔

 

FWIW, I like the 50 Elite myself.  😁

 

[Jmccas]

I’ve been playing the Vice Pro recently and it seems to be my favorite ball so far.

 

Compared to the B XS it gives me a higher ball flight and pretty good spin around the greens. 

 

I still need to test the Q Star Tour and Cut Grey out on the course but for now the Vice Pro is performing well. 

[phizzy30]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:13 AM, NRJyzr said:

Over the MN winter, simulators and launch monitors tell me I've dropped to around 98-100 mph.  I guess I qualify for the thread.  Recent results on the course have me wondering if I've even dropped another tick off those numbers during this season...  🙂

 

I'm 59 years old.  I'm playing the Kirkland 3pc version 3.  Like it rather well.  After the v2, I was worried about distance.  Tested it against Chrome Soft and even Chrome Soft LS, as well as the Wilson Triad.  For my game, it holds up well in distance terms, no appreciable distance difference off tee or irons. 

 

The v3 is softer than the v2, which was one of my two dislikes of the v2 (excessive spin was the other).  And, the spin around the greens is outstanding.

 

I wouldn't mind if it were as good in the wind as the Duo Professional I used to play, but it's not like I have any *real* compliant with the v3; it's been more than merely adequate, no ballooning or excessive lateral drift in side winds.  It's just that the Duo Pro was ridiculously good in the wind.  It was almost comically good.

 

Sorry @jordan2240, no excess funds coming from me to you, my golf ball costs less than yours.  🙂

 

Does the Kirkland V3 spin signficantly less than the previous gens?  My cousin gamed V1 and V2 and really liked the green side spin but was 1 club shorter with irons and 15 yards with driver.  He's been contemplating on whether to pick up a box of V3. 

[phizzy30]

On 7/28/2023 at 7:42 AM, Jmccas said:

I’ve been playing the Vice Pro recently and it seems to be my favorite ball so far.

 

Compared to the B XS it gives me a higher ball flight and pretty good spin around the greens. 

 

I still need to test the Q Star Tour and Cut Grey out on the course but for now the Vice Pro is performing well. 

One of my cousins used to exclusively game the B XS.  He eventually moved onto the Vice Pro because of budget concerns.  He's 135 ball speed with driver.  He absolutely loves the Pro from tee the green.  He's tried the Cut Grey, MTB Black, and Q Star Tour and disliked them. 

[NRJyzr]

5 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

Does the Kirkland V3 spin signficantly less than the previous gens?  My cousin gamed V1 and V2 and really liked the green side spin but was 1 club shorter with irons and 15 yards with driver.  He's been contemplating on whether to pick up a box of V3. 

 

It seems to have fixed the distance issue of the v2.  Yet, it still has a healthy amount of spin around the greens.  Feel is softer, which I'm in favor of.

 

Pasting a recent comment from Brother @gioreeko in the Kirkland thread.  Tagged him in case he'd like to chime in.

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by NRJyzr

[wantacigar]

On 7/29/2023 at 1:55 PM, phizzy30 said:

One of my cousins used to exclusively game the B XS.  He eventually moved onto the Vice Pro because of budget concerns.  He's 135 ball speed with driver.  He absolutely loves the Pro from tee the green.  He's tried the Cut Grey, MTB Black, and Q Star Tour and disliked them. 

I use the Vice Pro and Maxfli Tour interchangeably and are my gamers for any competitive or serious round .  Played an outing at an exclusive country club here on Long Island (Engineers) that is notorious for it's "Evil Greens" (which turns out to be all true).  Played the Maxfli Tour because that was the next ball to be played in the rotation.  I played Vice Pro the day before 🤷‍♂️.  I pretty much can't tell the difference between the two.  Really like them both the best.  I play the Kirkland V3 in casual and practice rounds.  Although there is a different feel (not better or worse, just different) I get the same driver and iron distances and maybe a touch more spin into greens.  I hit my driver 220 to 240 depending upon strike with ball speeds of 130-140, again, depending upon strike.  I get those distances no matter which ball I'm using.  My SS is approximately 92-96 depending upon how my knees feel on any given day.

[Jmccas]

4 hours ago, wantacigar said:

I use the Vice Pro and Maxfli Tour interchangeably and are my gamers for any competitive or serious round .  Played an outing at an exclusive country club here on Long Island (Engineers) that is notorious for it's "Evil Greens" (which turns out to be all true).  Played the Maxfli Tour because that was the next ball to be played in the rotation.  I played Vice Pro the day before 🤷‍♂️.  I pretty much can't tell the difference between the two.  Really like them both the best.  I play the Kirkland V3 in casual and practice rounds.  Although there is a different feel (not better or worse, just different) I get the same driver and iron distances and maybe a touch more spin into greens.  I hit my driver 220 to 240 depending upon strike with ball speeds of 130-140, again, depending upon strike.  I get those distances no matter which ball I'm using.  My SS is approximately 92-96 depending upon how my knees feel on any given day.

Interesting perspective on the Kirkland ball. I hope they are testing the v3 in the M G S test. I’d like to see how the updated version performs. 

[fred faldo]

66 years old with SS toping out at 90, love the Pro V1X for the feel and trajectory but have never felt I have been able to capitalize on the spin. Have just started experimenting with the Tour Response and so far distance has been about the same, traj may be a smidge lower but the amount of green side spin has been unbelievable and I don't find it to be overly soft feeling. I honestly think a ball change is here.......ps I have read some comments about the durability but it has been fine for me. 

[khalespace]

My swing speed is around 95 mph. My driving distance is around 240 yards with the Maxfli Tour X. I switched to the Maxfli Tour S and it appears that I gained close to 10 yards. One time I hit 260 with no wind with the Tour S ball. 

 

My ball flight is very high with all clubs because I have some flipping issue. I play the 8 degree Stealth Plus and my trajectory is higher than people playing with 9 and 10.5 degree drivers. I think the low spin Tour S ball is great for me and I also see a smaller fade with my drives.

[wantacigar]

13 hours ago, khalespace said:

My swing speed is around 95 mph. My driving distance is around 240 yards with the Maxfli Tour X. I switched to the Maxfli Tour S and it appears that I gained close to 10 yards. One time I hit 260 with no wind with the Tour S ball. 

 

My ball flight is very high with all clubs because I have some flipping issue. I play the 8 degree Stealth Plus and my trajectory is higher than people playing with 9 and 10.5 degree drivers. I think the low spin Tour S ball is great for me and I also see a smaller fade with my drives.

How much lower spin is it?  I, too, have some flipping although with my driver I tend to get steep sometimes and my ball looks like a line drive to left center.  Are they that much better than a quality 2 piece around the green?

[North Butte]

Lately I'm struggling with cutting across the ball with my driver at times, resulting in decent looking shots that are actually short and very spinny. I've tried everything from adjusting the loft of the driver down a degree, to trying first the Left Dash and then even a couple of 2pc piece balls to see if it will help.

 

Nope. For me at least, the only way not to overspin driver shots is to make a better driver swing. A loft of 9.5 with a Supersoft will hit that short spinner almost exactly the same as 10.5 loft with a Pro V1x. Go figure, it's all about the swing. 

[wantacigar]

37 minutes ago, North Butte said:

Lately I'm struggling with cutting across the ball with my driver at times, resulting in decent looking shots that are actually short and very spinny. I've tried everything from adjusting the loft of the driver down a degree, to trying first the Left Dash and then even a couple of 2pc piece balls to see if it will help.

 

Nope. For me at least, the only way not to overspin driver shots is to make a better driver swing. A loft of 9.5 with a Supersoft will hit that short spinner almost exactly the same as 10.5 loft with a Pro V1x. Go figure, it's all about the swing. 

I was doing the same thing resulting in 195-210 yard slices into the right rough or trees.  A few minor changes to set up and I've cured it by 85%.  It was alignment along with ball location in my stance to inside the left heel.  I was also having an open stance.  My shoulders and hips weren't aligned.  I squared up my stance, flared my feet 20*-30* to promote better turn, and stopped trying to make a "Rory" turn and shortened my backswing up which kept the clubface from opening up.  I've gone from hitting 3 of 13 fairways to hitting 8 or 9 with some just rolling through the fairway on the dogleg and getting about 15-25 yds more without swinging faster or harder.   Just better contact.  I'm about the same HCP as you and NOT a pro.  Just what helped me from cutting across the ball and push slicing.

[North Butte]

5 minutes ago, wantacigar said:

I was doing the same thing resulting in 195-210 yard slices into the right rough or trees.  A few minor changes to set up and I've cured it by 85%.  It was alignment along with ball location in my stance to inside the left heel.  I was also having an open stance.  My shoulders and hips weren't aligned.  I squared up my stance, flared my feet 20*-30* to promote better turn, and stopped trying to make a "Rory" turn and shortened my backswing up which kept the clubface from opening up.  I've gone from hitting 3 of 13 fairways to hitting 8 or 9 with some just rolling through the fairway on the dogleg and getting about 15-25 yds more without swinging faster or harder.   Just better contact.  I'm about the same HCP as you and NOT a pro.  Just what helped me from cutting across the ball and push slicing.

My nemesis move for many years has been dragging the club behind me from the very start of my takeaway. I tend to do it with all clubs but it's worst with the driver because of the flatter swing plane. 

 

A couple years ago my swing coach got me on the path to dealing with it and on my good days I'm really getting the driver up and set early where I can make a solid, down-the-line swing rather than alternating between big block-fades and over-the-top pulls.

 

But he warned me that if I think too much about trying NOT to let the club get behind me I'll overcompensate and go back to the steep "splitting logs with an axe" swing I had a beginner. That's the swing that produces those cutty, spinny, short, frustrating 175-yarders. 

 

Isn't that the way golf is. Do this and you'll hit it great. Do too much of this and you'll hit it like a total hack. Damned if I do, damned if I don't!

[wantacigar]

30 minutes ago, North Butte said:

My nemesis move for many years has been dragging the club behind me from the very start of my takeaway. I tend to do it with all clubs but it's worst with the driver because of the flatter swing plane. 

 

A couple years ago my swing coach got me on the path to dealing with it and on my good days I'm really getting the driver up and set early where I can make a solid, down-the-line swing rather than alternating between big block-fades and over-the-top pulls.

 

But he warned me that if I think too much about trying NOT to let the club get behind me I'll overcompensate and go back to the steep "splitting logs with an axe" swing I had a beginner. That's the swing that produces those cutty, spinny, short, frustrating 175-yarders. 

 

Isn't that the way golf is. Do this and you'll hit it great. Do too much of this and you'll hit it like a total hack. Damned if I do, damned if I don't!

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!  LOL

[me05501]

90MPH driver speed here. I was playing Vice Pro for a time but have recently started playing the Titleist AVX. I seem to get a little more off the tee ball and I like the greenside feel. 

[lambo428]

Vice Pro+:  long for me but most importantly it stops on the green from a variety of distances

[fred faldo]

On 8/1/2023 at 3:18 PM, fred faldo said:

66 years old with SS toping out at 90, love the Pro V1X for the feel and trajectory but have never felt I have been able to capitalize on the spin. Have just started experimenting with the Tour Response and so far distance has been about the same, traj may be a smidge lower but the amount of green side spin has been unbelievable and I don't find it to be overly soft feeling. I honestly think a ball change is here.......ps I have read some comments about the durability but it has been fine for me. 

played another round with the Response today and wanted to update. Pro V1 x is longer off the driver, the TR is longer off the irons, nothing massive but that was the outcome. The TR actually stops a bit quicker for me off the irons and also behaves very well around the greens with chiping. I have to believe this stems from my ability to compress the TR somewhat easier. However I do admit I much prefer the firmer feel of the Pro V1 X. More then likely wil finish the season with both balls

[Superscroll]

So are we seeing results here that suggest softer ball for irons, harder for driver at any given swing speed?

[67VIP]

Driver 94-98mph, 7 iron 74-78mph. I’m 60 and have some issues with my left hand from two breaks in a wrist bone and slightly dislocated thumb…I currently play the Wilson Staff Triad, feels soft at impact but gives me great distance for my speed across the bag and superior green side performance. 

[The Pearl]

On 8/2/2023 at 7:54 PM, Superscroll said:

So are we seeing results here that suggest softer ball for irons, harder for driver at any given swing speed?

Generally speaking, I believe this is what the data tends to show.  Of course everybody is different in the n=1 case.  I do find this to be accurate for me. It is also particularly specific to each ball. A big outlier for me is the Oncore VeroX2. Just as long as the AVX or the Vice Pro Plus, but noticeably shorter with every other club. 

 

The ProV1 is shorter for me in both categories.

 

Go figure.

 

[phil75070]

I wouldn't describe my swing speed as "average", but at age 76 I'd have to say "slow". I've been doing a test of the Gen 2 Sugar Pure golf ball and find it every bit as good as the balls I typically play, Snell MTB Black and Callaway ERC Soft, even outperforming them in certain areas. You can't beat the price as it is as good or better than other DTC companies without having to break the bank by ordering 5 dozen at a time as they come in a "cube" of 27. I have found it to be an extremely durable ball.

[storm319]

On 8/1/2023 at 10:33 AM, Jmccas said:

Interesting perspective on the Kirkland ball. I hope they are testing the v3 in the M G S test. I’d like to see how the updated version performs. 

Yes v3 was included in the test they just completed. During the rapid fire segment near the end of their podcast a couple of weeks ago, TC simply said “spinny” when asked about about the Kirkland and I assume it was based on what they were seeing during the test.

[North Butte]

I know a couple people who play the K-Sig and will be disappointed if it's not "spinny". That, along with the low price, is what they like about the ball. 

 

For older guys lacking clubhead speed, who have no need to worry about a ball upshooting in the breeze or any such thing, they live having every last 100rpm of spin they can get on their low-trajectory iron shots or knuckleball wedges around the green and out of bunkers. 

[phil75070]

I just finished a month-long test of the Gen 2 Sugar Pure ball. I was pleased with its performance. Like all urethane or supposedly premium balls, they compare themselves to the Titleist ProV1, but I don't play those. It did compare very favorably to the Snell MTB Black and Callaway ERC Soft that I do play. I really liked it off the irons with great spin characteristics, most iron shots stopping within a stride and I even backed up, though not a lot, a few short iron shots, something I rarely if ever do. Durability is exceptional! They come in a "cube" containing 27 balls, and you get a great price comparable to other DTC balls without having to break the bank and buy 5 dozen at a time. I rated them 89/100.