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Titleist Golf Ball Fitting Claims

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Frank Bullitt

Frank Bullitt

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Gentlemen - I know this issue has probably been beat to death, but I'm very interested in the opinion of guys in this forum that play quite a bit (like 100 times a year), about the claims that Titleist makes at this page on their site:

http://www.titleist.com/golf-ball-fitting/

They say that low compression, low swing speed matching is "a myth" - I think this is pretty strong language considering an entire new genre of balls have become popular that cater to low swing speed guys like me (90 MPH driver SS, drive the ball 230 to 250). It also answers the question why they haven't developed a high end ball with a urethane cover specifically for low SS players.

The reason I bring this up again, is because I made a commitment to the new Callaway Hex Chrome and I really like the ball. But I don't think it's great around the greens with short shots (I've played it for a month now). So, I went to the Titleist site and did their online fitting and I tried to answer honestly which was: (1) what makes my game better (short game), (2) my shots from 100 yards (hit the green), (3) long shots into green (miss green), (4) tee shots (typically hit fairway)....these were my answers in brackets and it tells me I should be playing the ProV1 - which I would LOVE because it spins so much around the green - but can I compress this, will I cut this more off the tee? Will I lose distance - Titleist says all this concern is hype and a myth.

So, any input would be great, I might print out their testing card and go through the process on the course and see how it works...Hex Chrome versus ProV1....

FB
 
Flame away

Flame away

I'm gonna get flamed for this, but I agree to a certain extent. Golf ball fitting is over rated...:bomb:

If you slice a Titleist you're gonna slice a Bridgestone. As far as compression goes, all indications point to a ball under 90 compression should be optimal for me but a Pro V1x flies as far if not farther than anything I've ever hit...Play the ball you are comfortable with and you've won more than half the battle (the mental side)

i've gone through a couple ball fittings and I found the recommended balls just didn't "do it" for me but to each his own.
 
I wont get into the brand side of things, but I will absolutely dispute the idea that ball fitting does not work. I have watched on both our own launch monitor and monitors out on tour both the best players in the world all the way down to average golfers try different balls and watch the numbers. The numbers change across the board in many cases with a ball change (whether that be with in brand or to a different brand).

I have seen launch change by multiple degrees, spin change by almost 1000 rpms and distance change by nearly 30 yards by a single ball change and this is by some of the best in the world all the way down to the average golfer. In many ways a ball change can mean more than a driver change with current releases and shaft options being what they are.
 
I know going to a lower compression ball when I am struggling off the tee really helps me keep it in the middle. This was revealed to me at a BStone fitting and it has really helped me when my driver gets out of sorts.
 
SethO said:
I know going to a lower compression ball when I am struggling off the tee really helps me keep it in the middle. This was revealed to me at a BStone fitting and it has really helped me when my driver gets out of sorts.
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One thing I don't like about the Bridgestone fitting versus what Titleist is saying is that BS fits to their strength, they test with a driver, where you may only use that club 10 or 11 times a round (unless you hit it every time), versus the Titleist, which fits to their strength, which is short game control, where you score and have 4 times the shots.

The other thing, and I'm splitting hairs (I conduct research at a University so excuse my methidological rigor), is that the BS fitting is a little biased because you hit the compititors ball first, and then you hit the BS ball. So most people testing the balls are probably more warmed up for the 2nd set of swings, plus, you know what ball you're hitting, so you're influenced by this (to be accurate, you would need to switch back and forth, some hit BS first, others hit BS second AND, you should not know what balls you're hitting). If you're there to test balls, then you must have some question about the current ball you're hitting, so naturally, you'll want the new ball to work better, so you'll put a better move on the new ball.

I'm waiting for the perfect ball, won't cut off the tee, is long and straight off the tee, and dances around the green - I don't think this ball is built yet...

FB
 
You are assuming that one is better off the tee and one is better around the greens. THey are not mutually exclusive though and a ball can be had and fit to satisfy all needs.
 
I have been through 2 Bstone fittings and I was able to warm up before each one.

as far as the short game goes, I can't really comment on that as I am generally more concerned with getting off the tee. I don't usually have trouble spinning any tour level ball with my wedges or short irons and I tend to adjust to whatever ball I am playing. I am a big fan of B330 and Penta TP balls.
 
I can tell you that a gentleman that I play with at my course who is a 3 index had played the Pro V1 for years because of the short game control, but he only hits the ball about 215 off the tee. When we did the Bridgestone ball testing here I gave him one B330-RX ball to play with, and his driving distance went up to 225 just on the ball alone! His Index is all about his short game and he doesn't feel that he has lost any spin around the greens and those extra 10 yards off the tee, are HUGE for his game.
All I'm saying is just because a ball is lower compression, does not mean that it lacks spin around the greens. I would argue, that when talking about chipping and pitching, it is 99% technique when talking about greenside spin, if the ball has a urethane cover.
 
JB said:
You are assuming that one is better off the tee and one is better around the greens. THey are not mutually exclusive though and a ball can be had and fit to satisfy all needs.
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I am making that assumption. I think most in this forum would agree that a Titleist ProV1 is better around the greens than a BS 330 RX....

Do you work for BS?
 
Frank Bullitt said:
I am making that assumption. I think most in this forum would agree that a Titleist ProV1 is better around the greens than a BS 330 RX....

Do you work for BS?
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I don't think most of the forum would agree with that at all.
 
Frank Bullitt said:
I am making that assumption. I think most in this forum would agree that a Titleist ProV1 is better around the greens than a BS 330 RX....

Do you work for BS?
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Most on the forum would agree to that? Im not sure I agree with that statement alone. I dont work for anybody but myself, however I can tell you that it is not hard to conduct spin tests or find results of them online. Almost all of the tour level and premium balls feature similar spin in their category.

And for the record, I have purposely not discussed brands in this thread. I dont think the RX spins as much as the Pro V1, but I do think the RXS spins as much and shares similar compression (to the RX) without a loss in distance.
 
coolbreeze said:
I can tell you that a gentleman that I play with at my course who is a 3 index had played the Pro V1 for years because of the short game control, but he only hits the ball about 215 off the tee. When we did the Bridgestone ball testing here I gave him one B330-RX ball to play with, and his driving distance went up to 225 just on the ball alone! His Index is all about his short game and he doesn't feel that he has lost any spin around the greens and those extra 10 yards off the tee, are HUGE for his game.
All I'm saying is just because a ball is lower compression, does not mean that it lacks spin around the greens. I would argue, that when talking about chipping and pitching, it is 99% technique when talking about greenside spin, if the ball has a urethane cover.
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This seems very logical, I think I agree with this for the most part...
 
haha. JB works for GolferGal and GolferGal answers to nobody.

I do think that the ProV spins more than the RX, but I get similar spin out of the Penta, B330S, ProV, ZStar etc. They all go forward and they all zip back. I am not really good enough to notice anything more than that.
 
JB said:
Most on the forum would agree to that? Im not sure I agree with that statement alone. I dont work for anybody but myself, however I can tell you that it is not hard to conduct spin tests or find results of them online. Almost all of the tour level and premium balls feature similar spin in their category.

And for the record, I have purposely not discussed brands in this thread. I dont think the RX spins as much as the Pro V1, but I do think the RXS spins as much and shares similar compression without a loss in distance.
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I agree with this as well. My brother is a 10, he thinks this whole thing is much to do about nothing, and loves to play with whatever is free and teases me when he spins something junkie....someone gave him a dozen Q-Star's and he spun them all over the place and talked trash for 2 weeks...LOL...

I meant no disrepect about the BS question....
 
coolbreeze said:
I don't think most of the forum would agree with that at all.
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better was the wrong word, I should have said "spins more" around the green

On your other point about your friend with the RX...I tend to agree, I found another 8 to 10 yards off the tee with the Hex Chrome over the Tour IS - it would VERY hard to give that up....
 
If your seeing a lack of spin out of the Callaway Chrome golf ball, I would venture to say its about your technique and you might want to look more into that. I have to say in all of our testings we have done, it is certainly not lacking any spin.
 
Frank Bullitt said:
better was the wrong word, I should have said "spins more" around the green

On your other point about your friend with the RX...I tend to agree, I found another 8 to 10 yards off the tee with the Hex Chrome over the Tour IS - it would VERY hard to give that up....
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Exactly, those 10 yards change the club you are hitting into the green. I'd rather hit an 8 than a 7 and so on...
 
What a SHOT by Couples!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
coolbreeze said:
Exactly, those 10 yards change the club you are hitting into the green. I'd rather hit an 8 than a 7 and so on...
Click to expand...

I went from 220 to 235 with the Tour IS, to 235 to 250 with the Chrome....average has been 237 with the Chrome versus 228 average with the Tour IS (I keep pretty good stats)...
 
Little late on this, been a busy weekend. The thing with online ball fitting is that it can only give you an idea of what ball might work better for you based on the answers you give. The only sure way of knowing if a ball is right for you is to actually play it and find out. But at least it gives you a starting point and an idea of which features you might want when trying new brands.
 
JB said:
If your seeing a lack of spin out of the Callaway Chrome golf ball, I would venture to say its about your technique and you might want to look more into that. I have to say in all of our testings we have done, it is certainly not lacking any spin.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, Im not much of a spin guy in general, but I have seen more greenside spin with these balls than some of the other balls I have played of late.
 
Here are my thoughts on the subject, I have been invited twice to blind test balls for Bridgestone. The day involves testing 4 differently marked balls that have no indication as to what you are hitting, although you are hitting a couple of Bridgestones, the ball you are currently playing (in my case back then it was the Pro V1) and another manufactures ball that they did not reveal to me. The numbers might be UG3487 on one ball and 2548JP on the next so you truly have no idea what you are hitting. You begin warming up with their wedges and your own irons and woods, then each of the 3 or 4 testers are taken to the side of the range one at a time to hit wedge, 6 Iron and wedge to get monitor numbers. You see the numbers and it is certainly easy to see the results of each ball you are hitting, but you still do not know which one you are hitting. After that Bridgestone gave us some great swag bags, fed us a nice lunch an then took us to a nearby course for some blind on course testing. Again you are hitting the uniquely numbered balls and recording your thoughts on all on course shots, drives, approaches chips, pitches, sand shots and putts.

They asked me at the end of the testing which ball I perfered, knowing only the unique number of the ball I chose the B330-RX for best all around performance, the same ball online fittings and the live fitting at a nearby golf course had recommended also. They also sent me my number comparison via email comparing the ball I chose vs the ball I had been playing previously to back up their (and my) findings during the tests. After experiencing this twice within a year I firmly believe believe that the claims of a low speed swing speed (mine with driver is 92-95 mph) does indeed need a lower compression ball, and having had those experiences it would be very hard to convince me otherwise.
 
Titleist says that there is one ball that is best for everybody, because their biggest competitor in the ball market says the opposite.

Spinning a golf ball around the green has a lot to do with other things that are not the ball. Technique, turf, sharpness of grooves, is there grass between the ball and the club face at contact. A lot of things that help create greenside spin that are not the golf ball.
 
Until I joined this site last year I just played whatever ball I found on the course - I thought they were all the same, especially for someone like me. However I did some experimenting and learned for myself that the type of ball used can make a huge difference in the result of a shot. I no longer even bother to pick up balls I find on the course.
 
I don't always understand the science that goes in to a golf ball. But having done multiple ball fittings I have seen some big differences across the board from one ball to another.
 
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