Driving range balls seem to carry less than on course

bpark1210 · July 23, 2009

Limited flight range balls results in skewed launch monitor readings?

So I recently found out that the 2 local driving ranges I go to have limited flight range balls to prevent balls going over the fences. Apparently they have had balls go over the fence into a car salvage lot and the other has had a ball go over into the local college soccer field and hit someone.

This was good news to me cause I always thought I was losing power when my hits would carry about one club less at the range compared to real on course conditions with premium balls (Pro V's & Gran Z's). Just wondering how common the limited flight balls are? Does anyone else have these at their local range and about what percentage are we loosing off of carry distance? I know I have hit drives around 270, avg about 260 carry on course and at the range it seems like it only carries about 235. One of the ranges uses these balls on a pro vector launch monitor. Would the range balls affect the launch monitor numbers as well?

djames · July 23, 2009

never pay attention to how far range balls travel...EVER. They don't compress or fly like premium balls in any way.

just pay attention to the line of your shot and the feel of your shot on the club face when going to the range. Watching your 6 iron go 160yds when you are used to it going 180yds can get in your head and make you swing harder and less mechanically sound

serveitup911 · July 23, 2009

Oh yes, the LM numbers will definitely be off. Spin and ball speed go down for me, but launch angle increases. I kind of laugh to myself when I see people getting "fit" for clubs at the range using a launch monitor, when using range balls. The results will certainly be different on the course.

So, don't worry about the decreased distance and don't try to kill the ball to make up for the perceived lost distance. Don't even worry about the yardages, just practice to targets and use whatever club you need.

Edit: The poster above must have been typing at the same time as me. I didn't mean to copy you haha, great minds think alike!

bpark1210 · July 23, 2009

Thanks for the quick replies. So both of you seem to ignore the carry distance at the range. How do you get your distances dialed in for each iron/wood then? I play 2-3 times a week but now that I've heard the rumors are true it's definitely making me second guess my yardages on course. I want to club down and swing hard but I hit short the other day on a 110 yd approach with a wedge and plunk into the water.

serveitup911 · July 23, 2009

I try to go on the course when it is empty and use my own balls to dial in distances. I am lucky because I live directly on a golf course that my family has membership at. Maybe try to play twilight or go as the last person off and drop some extra balls. Or find a big open, empty field and use a rangefinder.

djames · July 23, 2009

[quote name='serveitup911' post='1839943' date='Jul 23 2009, 10:16 PM']Oh yes, the LM numbers will definitely be off. Spin and ball speed go down for me, but launch angle increases. I kind of laugh to myself when I see people getting "fit" for clubs at the range using a launch monitor, when using range balls. The results will certainly be different on the course.

So, don't worry about the decreased distance and don't try to kill the ball to make up for the perceived lost distance. Don't even worry about the yardages, just practice to targets and use whatever club you need.

Edit: The poster above must have been typing at the same time as me. I didn't mean to copy you haha, great minds think alike![/quote]

no worries, its all about helping the OP!!

As far as dialing in your distances thats a very good question when going to the range. One thing you can do is grab some refurbished premium balls that you can get at your local golf shop and sprinkle one in every few shots on the range...you really would only need to do this a couple of times to dial in your distances.

summit3907 · July 23, 2009

i just got back from a fitting with a trackman today, and for the above mentioned reasons, made sure to bring along my shag bag of pro v1x. the range had two types of balls, a srixon and a top flight. i could tell from the ball flight that the srixon was very high spin, and the top flight was ok. the owner has done quite a few trackman fittings and said that the top flights lost about 3-4 mph in ball speed and spin was in line with pro v1. i was swinging just ok, but had enough data points to come up with some good comparisons between the balls.

when averaged, the effect of the range ball was consistent across three drivers. the top flight range ball lost just over 5 mph ball speed (160.6 vs 166) and spun 340 rpms more (3360 vs 3020) than the pro v1x. the launch angle was pretty much the same, but the combination cost exactly 20 yards (268 vs 288). on the good ones, the pro v1x got 25 yards more. considering the pro v1x spins less than the pro v1, the owner was close in his estimation.

if you are going to spend money on a fitting, make sure the guy knows how his range balls compare to name brands. better yet, keep a shag bag for worn balls or just order some AA quality balls from somewhere like lostgolfballs.com. they have AA pro v's (which look like they have been played a few rounds, but still very useful) for $6/doz. considering what a fitting session and driver costs, its certainly worth 25 bucks to bring some real balls.

serveitup911 · July 23, 2009

Excellent post, Summit! Thank you for the info - it's nice to have some real numbers. Certainly different range balls will have different characteristics as far as spin and launch, but I think it's safe to say that most will have lower ball speed than premium balls.

summit3907 · July 23, 2009

one other thing not related to fitting, but more to range balls in general. many ranges have different types of balls mixed in. the one i practice at has three different types - one very spinny, one normal but old, and one newer. i always separate the balls at the beginning and hit the spinny ones with wedges, the old with irons, and the news with woods and irons. that way, even though the different ball types might all react differently, at least i won't hit two drivers in a row where one ball spins 1000 rpms more than the next and start thinking it was a bad swing.

Brando5105 · July 24, 2009

The ones at Puetz are 75-80% limited flight. As for the LM numbers they launch a little higher and spins more compared to the old range balls. 3 mph slower for ball speed too compared to the older top flight range balls..

btw: theses are the numbers i got when they switched over