We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Need to pick a Ball!

SuperStroke
You need Foo-King-Long's :)
 
anotherday said:
." They told me I needed lessons instead of a different ball and gave me a 2 pack of E6's. Great experience and I definitely did need lessons..
Click to expand...
boy I have heard that before too:D
 
FYI - I was just a bridgestone ball fitting, I came upon it by accident, I had no idea they were gonna be there but I pulled up, saw it, and was like - No Way!!! It was cool but at the same time I didn't have my clubs and didn't have time to go get them. I wish I would have taken others advice and looked at the schedule but anyway wierd coincidence.

So Latley, I have been thinking about playing the new Q-stars, so I decided to buy some and test them. After hitting the 5 shots with the Q-star they recommended I try the E6. I hit 5 shots with that and that was it; there were other people waiting.

RESULTS:
So the E6 reduced backspin by 500rpms, side-spin 150rpms, and E6 was almost 20yds longer. Now, I have to be honest, I don't know how much faith I have in it because...
A) I wasn't warmed up - at all. I only took 5 practice swings and I am not a very loose person, it generally takes me a few holes to get loose and rythmic
B) I was using their equipment. I don't even know what driver it was but the face looked pretty closed. After my quick practice swings, they began recording the Q-star was first.
C) My SS and ball speed was faster by 3-4mph with the E6 because I think I was getting looser.

So not really sure what to make of it if anything. I really don't place any value in the distance because I wasn't warmed up and it does take me a while. Whether or not Sidespin was a factor, I have no idea. As for the Side and back spin reduction, I assume they are valid as the other variables are constant.

I guess if anything this confirms my frustration and confusion when trying to pick a golf ball. It appears that there is no compromise for me when it comes to balls. It's either Spinny or Not and I have to accept the pros and cons of each trait. You just cant get long, straight, and spinny, regardless of what they say.

Spinny Balls = Shorter Distance, Exaggerated curvature, More Bite and hold on the greems
Not Spinny Balls = Longer Distance, Less Curvacture, Less Bite and hold on the Greens

If this is truly the case, and the more research i do it appears it is, How do you choose when you need both Distance and Spin?

And I do NEED both. My driver distance is like 220 so getting 10-20 more yds is the difference of me hitting mid irons vs long irons/hybrids. And I need spin to make more GIRs which I think is they key to scoring.
 
Not sure if anyone has suggested the Vision Balls yet but if they haven't I strongly urge you to give them a try. You may be very surprised with the outcome
 
MikeF said:
Not sure if anyone has suggested the Vision Balls yet but if they haven't I strongly urge you to give them a try. You may be very surprised with the outcome
Click to expand...

+1 amazing golf balls!
 
It can be a compromise.
 
I went to play 9 this morning. Only got 2 holes in before getting rained out. I hit the E6 and Q-star. With only 4 drives to compare, the E6 did in fact prove to be about 20yds longer off the tee. I missed both greens and noticed a tad more bite with the Q-star.

I think what I am going to have to do is accept the fact that I need to play distance balls as I cannot afford to lose any distance off the tee. I am sick of hitting hyrbid and wood approaches. Then, around the greens, I will have to use higher trajectory and use more LWs to land more softly and hold more greens. Either that or become very good at hitting bump and runs. That's the best strategy I can think of. It really sucks becuase I like spinny and softer balls but I just cant afford to lose distance.

Also, now that I know I need less spinny balls, I assume that less spin means more distance so does anyone know if there any longer balls than the E6?
 
Ok, I do have some advice for you.

First off, what is your swing speed?

If you have a hard time with side spin, you are going to struggle with a spinny ball off the tee. I had a lot of issues with side spin last year and in the end, I had to accept that a spinny ball wasn't going to help me much. I went with the e6 after a ball fitting because it dramatically increased my driver distance for a few reasons 1) It's extremely soft and easy to compress 2) It got my launch angle up 3) It reduced side spin.

The e6 is not going to spin like hell on the greens, especially with irons. However, trajectory is your friend. If you can hit a high ball you can stop it fairly quickly. It's going to more difficult on firm greens, but you should be able to hold a green with a good trajectory. If you can't do that, then you need to account for the roll out. If you have a target of 150 yards in mind, then don't pick the club you carry 150.

Now that my driver issues aren't really side-spin related so much I can play a spinnier ball. However, I play the B330-RX because it's designed with my slower (97mph) swing speed in mind.

Let me know if you have questions. I'm glad to help.
 
As for a longer ball than the e6, there is really no way for anybody to tell you that. Your swing is not our swing and the only way you'll find out the longest ball for you is to 1) get fit 2) demo them all.
 
Thanks Hawk, my Driver SS is low 90s. 92-93ish. Now I am thinking that if I need low spin, should I explore the least spinning balls out there? I Saw Golf Magazine test had the D25 as very low spin
 
Are your spin issues related to slicing or hooking the ball?
 
Not really I used to hit a fade but I have been using S&T principles and it has since straightened me out. I also bought a Ping K15 and that has helped as well. Here are my numbers below. I also did the bridgestone fitting and they had me at a higher ball spin around 3,000rpms but that wasnt my driver. I have always had a high launch angle.

jwalker497

http://s1038.photobucket.com/albums/a468/jwalker497/?action=view&current=Drivers.jpg
 
Sorry, I can't see PB pics on this pc.

3,000 rpm doesn't sound too bad. Are you sure you aren't just seeing more distance from the e6 b/c it's easier to compress with your swing speed? Have you tried the B330-RX?
 
I am not sure. The Bridgestone ball fitting reccomended the E6, havent tried the B330RX.
 
Pick up a sleeve. It has a urethane cover (will spin around the green), but is soft enough that a slower swing speed can compress it.

Other balls you might try:
TM Burner Tour
Srixon Soft Feel
Nike PD Soft

They won't spin as much as the RX.
 
StLCardsFan said:
This is the overall best option. Pick up a sleeve of assorted brands you want to try. If you have some friends who play a ball you might want to try, trade for a couple or see if you can buy one or two off them. You seem to know what you want the ball to do, you will just have to play with different ones until you find what works best.
Click to expand...

+100!

I also think this is the best way to do it.
Play a couple of rounds and change balls every 6 holes or so and then decide which one works best for you.
It isn't all about numbers and even if it was, there's no ball out there that will be 100% perfect for you in all categories.
There will always be a compromise on some level and ultimately it boils down to a ball that feels comfortable and does what you want it to do most of the time.
 
I am a bit confused. You indicate you shoot in the 80's, but show you handicap as 36. You say you want less spin off the driver but your spin rate on the velocity indicates you have a low spin rate on the driver. You do have a high launch though that can be changed by a few lessons and or the right driver and shaft. Your SS and ball speed indicate you make good contact and yet you say you are hitting fairway woods into par 4's. It sounds to me you are playing the wrong tees. Hitting the ball 230 off the tee indicates you should be playing tees around 6000-6200. If you are playing something around 6500 or more you should try moving up one set of tees. Golf should be fun and it sounds like you are not enjoying it as much as you should.

Finding a ball to fit you will only happen if you get fitted. If you do not have a place that does this then you need to eliminate those on your list. Buy a sleeve of each and as another posted indicated play one ball against the other until you find one that is most compatible with your game. Getting info on the internet is fine but you have to be the judge of what works or does not work by process of elimination. Give it a try and also try moving up one set of tees if they are available.
 
I bought 3 boxes of the penta's just cause of the deal. Love love love em. I took a chance as I had never hit one before, but I have been playing pro v1 and pro v1x's for the last few years.

Penta is as good or better and the price was right at 2 for 1. I got the last 3 boxes left at dicks. :)

Now...would I rather pay $25 a dozen for a ball that performed similarly...absofrikkinlutely. I just haven't found it yet.
 
Gus R said:
I am a bit confused. You indicate you shoot in the 80's, but show you handicap as 36. You say you want less spin off the driver but your spin rate on the velocity indicates you have a low spin rate on the driver. You do have a high launch though that can be changed by a few lessons and or the right driver and shaft. Your SS and ball speed indicate you make good contact and yet you say you are hitting fairway woods into par 4's. It sounds to me you are playing the wrong tees. Hitting the ball 230 off the tee indicates you should be playing tees around 6000-6200. If you are playing something around 6500 or more you should try moving up one set of tees. Golf should be fun and it sounds like you are not enjoying it as much as you should.

Finding a ball to fit you will only happen if you get fitted. If you do not have a place that does this then you need to eliminate those on your list. Buy a sleeve of each and as another posted indicated play one ball against the other until you find one that is most compatible with your game. Getting info on the internet is fine but you have to be the judge of what works or does not work by process of elimination. Give it a try and also try moving up one set of tees if they are available.
Click to expand...

I never filled out my profile on this site when I joined, perhaps I should update it. As far as spin, I did the bridgestone fitting and he said I had a high spin rate 3500 with the Qstar and 3,000 with the E6. I did a golf galaxy fitting, see link above and those spin rates were in the mid approx 2500. With those numbers my drives average 210-230, most often I am at 215. I play from the white tees and on par 4s of 380 and longer, I am left with hybrids and woods. Today I played 2 holes (then got rained out) 1st was 402y, hit a drive 230, in left fairway had 172 left thats a 4 hybrid for me. 2nd hole was 380 hit driver 215ish landed right fairway, had 168 left. I again hit the 4hybrid. The course today is 6,157 from the whites. I definatley enjoy the game, but have a desire to improve and I like to remove variables if I can find the ball that fits me best, I can move fwd. Its jut that with all the hype and marketing, I can't really make sense of it all. My goals this yr are to hit more fairways which has been. I also dont get out that much and don't really have time to test a bunch of diff balls.

I was thinking of doing a ball fitting at golf galaxy.
 
At your swingspeed, 230 is a pretty good drive.
 
It is but my avg is like 215
 
jwalker497 said:
It is but my avg is like 215
Click to expand...

I get that and understand your dilemma completely. Your numbers aren't far from mine. A low compression golf ball should help you get the most out of your driver. Like I said, if you want lower compression and tour level spin, your best bet will probably be the 330RX.
 
Thanks Hawk, I will try them. FYI I just called my local golf galaxy and I asked them if the do a ball fitting. They said yes and I asked about the process. They said they have you hit a few stock balls (maxfli) they capture the data of just that one golfball. Then a program spist out a reccomendation base don your numbers. I asked if you actually hit the other balls and they said no, it's all a program.

Does this sound like it's worth it? It costs $20. I was shocked they dont actually have you hit the other balls.
 
I really have no experience with it to say one way or the other. It's only $20, so maybe it will be worth a shot.
 
So I did the Golf Galaxy Ball fitting. I hit about 20 drives using a stock Maxfli ball into a net, the simulator captured my data and then reccommended a ball based on my weightings of Distance/Accuray vs Short Game Control. At first I thought, oh here with go with these sliding scales of importance that I hate becuase I'm soo analytical that I'll never be able to get any concrete info out of this (paralysis of analysis) but I was like alright and I weighted accuracy distance 100% and Short game control 50%. The Winner was....drumrool....Callaway Tour Iz. I was surprised. So I quickly said ok, lets go back, keep the distance up and slide the shortgame control to 100% as well. This time - same thing the Tour Iz was the winner.

No matter what the weightings, the Iz provided the lowest backspin and highest launch angle. It also gave me an accuracy dispersion number of 1.86. I am not sure what the accuracy dispersion means (if anyone does please advise) but the Iz was the highest number @ 1.86 and the zstar was the lowest @ .62

Compared to the E6, the Iz provided about 18yds more distance, lower backspin, better launch angle, and higher ball speed.

I bought a box - we'll see.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top