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Range balls - high variability in distance

deuce

deuce

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Article here.

Image from article:
eqar02-gd-tested-range-balls.jpg


A 215 yard 7 iron shot with a range ball with a 93 MPH swing speed. LOL. I need to know what brand that was.
 
Not shocking at all.

And exactly why I use the range for contact drills and not dialing in distances.
 
48 yard driver variance is crazy

the place I go has some real junkers too, I dont even bother trying to figure out distances
 
The driving range isn't where I dial in distance. No surprise.
 
That's interesting, and a little surprising. For the driver, on the high side, the range balls and the pro-v were very close. Almost the opposite on the seven iron. I wonder if they threw out the high and low. Doesn't appear so with a 215 7 iron in there.
 
Not that big of a surprise with the range balls, but I do find it a little interesting that the robot had a 12 yard difference with the pro v1. If the robot is getting that big of a difference it makes me wonder about the distances the rest of us see when we test balls out on the course. I wonder how big a factor the slightly used is.
 
Wherever that 213 yard ball is, I need to find it.
 
GolfFest said:
Not that big of a surprise with the range balls, but I do find it a little interesting that the robot had a 12 yard difference with the pro v1. If the robot is getting that big of a difference it makes me wonder about the distances the rest of us see when we test balls out on the course. I wonder how big a factor the slightly used is.
Click to expand...
That 12 yard difference could be a lot of things, and range's (not range balls, but showing the low and high of a sample set) can be misleading. Would be nice to see an average and then a standard deviation. For all we know, that one ball could have been 8 yards ahead of every other shot. Same holds true really for the range balls.

With that said, I imagine that for people like me (high handicap), I'd have an even wider gap between shots with the same iron. It's not exactly common for me to hit a shot pure.
 
The range I use, has some balls that I swear are almost smooth from use ... the good news is it open in the evening and you hit off grass ... and in the Phx the cool of the evening is a bonus (I know "cool" in Phx, Az is relative term)

I use the range, as mentioned above, as contact and to some degree ball flight ... as I hit some balls that I know have nicks etc ... I try to separate the "better" balls for the drive and longer clubs if I can ...

But i also figure if I can hit a club x yards on the range, I should be able to hit at least that on the course with a good ball.
 
#Cookie said:
Not shocking at all.

And exactly why I use the range for contact drills and not dialing in distances.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I've seen knuckleball flights from range balls with nearly zero wind due to gashes in the balls, worn dimples, etc. Mix in the fact that some ranges don't use the same brand all the time, and the different balls may all have different distance specs.
 
Any thoughts on why there would be higher deviation from the PV1 with the iron over the driver?
 
At my range I've seen some draws turn into fades at the moment and fades turn into draws. And I've come across plenty that were cracked, flat on a section, warped, etc.

I wonder how often the big box stores change out balls in their hitting bays. I was hitting the SLDR 6 iron and was consistently seeing around 160, then popped one that read 182. It could have just been me, but how am I to know if that particular ball helped too.
 
Not surprised at all. That's a crazy amount of difference in those. Though, am surprised to see some that long.
 
Dose not surprise me I figure I loose at least 10%
The longer balls seem weird but range balls do some weird stuff



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've seen some pretty strange ballflight on some shots at the range. Like #Cookie said, I'm really focused on what the ball looks/feels like coming off the club than the entirety of the flight. There is a range near me that, while expensive, changes out their balls at least once a year, so they are in pretty good shape, especially at the start of the summer.
 
Not surprising, but the article didn't mention the condition of the balls.
Most of the ranges I go to have ratty range balls, with a few newer ones mixed in. The one exception is Riverside, where they apparently buy a lot of new range balls every year. Most of the balls I get there are in good condition, and oftentimes they look and feel brand new. I don't see much difference between the new range balls vs my gamers.
 
tequila4kapp said:
Any thoughts on why there would be higher deviation from the PV1 with the iron over the driver?
Click to expand...
Anyone?

It seems weird that bad balls wouldn't be poor performers across the board.
 
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a9upenej.jpg


Riverside range balls


Tappin pars
 
Saw this the other day--interesting stuff that probably isn't too surprising to most but 35-40 yards? That's quite a lot. Although at most of the ranges near me, it's very clear that what they say is 150 yards is not 150 yards.
 
This is why I drive an extra 15 minutes to go to the range with good practice balls.
 
rlewis1323 said:
Saw this the other day--interesting stuff that probably isn't too surprising to most but 35-40 yards? That's quite a lot. Although at most of the ranges near me, it's very clear that what they say is 150 yards is not 150 yards.
Click to expand...

I'd have to imagine those are the shots where the ball just falls out of the air because it's no longer aerodynamic. I'll always have maybe one of those during my session, even at the nicer range I go to.
 
The range is for getting loose and working on practice drills. I pay more attention to be divot and how the shot felt than the ball flight on the range, as a general rule. This is part of why.
 
My local range uses Wilson Staff balls and they actually have nice flight and check up on the greens well.

"Some people say it's ok to lose if your opponent has a hot round. Phooey on that. I hate to lose -- period. If a guy is going to shoot a 10 under par, I am going to shoot an 11 under par." -Jack Nicklaus

Chicago Style Golf
 
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