Tour B RX is one that I am looking forward to trying after using VFIT. 
2020 Bridgestone Tour B Golf Balls
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Gota follow all of our roll outs haha. We unveiled the most feature rich golf forum out there. Try the mobile browser and see all the glory ?
No lie, these have me pretty excited to see what they’re all about. I’ve gamed Bridgestone balls off an on for a large part of my golfing life. So these will definitely be getting some rounds in on the course this year.
Yes, I have been following pete for longer than i have been here at THP, great guy, and a good writer. I love to read how posts on his blog. Find him and he is giving away a few in a current contest
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Really interesting story on Steele. First week he puts the new ball in play and he is winning the tournament. He has been virtually non existent on tour for a little while.
he was doing great things yesterday, hopefully he can keep it up today
Interesting and looking forward to giving the new line a try.
Me looking forward to hitting the new TourB X like:
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The beard in here dropping knowledge bombs!
Some GREAT conversations going on! I LOVE it when you guys talk Ball Fitting.
IT. IS. IMPORTANT!
As the Ball Fitting lead at Bridgestone I can say this after reading through this thread...
Our Ball Fitting method is built off of millions of swings analyzed over 12+ years of fitting. We are developing balls constantly to fit golfers the best way we can, humanly and computer simulation-wise. There will ALWAYS be outliers. Just like there will always be a 20 handicap with blades.... you guys don’t know anyone like that, huh?
The RX and RXS are designed for golfers that swing under 105mph. We’ve found that to be a great line in the R&D sand for swing speed. We totally understand there might be a 112 swinger that might benefit from it’s low spin properties off the tee, and that’s ok.
The RXS was built off of the RX to provide more spin around and into the green. That was the demand.
The X and XS are designed for speed over 105mph. Again, like the RX series occasionally someone might optimally fit into these ball with a swing speed under 105mph. It is a minority rather than the majority, but it does happens.
You THPers are the A+ students of golf technology and fitting. You guys get it and it’s refreshing to read these conversations.
At Bridgestone we aren’t cramming anything down your throats anymore. No more 12 yards longer, 2 degrees higher... just the facts. We are a RUBBER company and we have implemented a material change to these new TOUR B golf balls! Not just a manipulation of materials... new materials.
We encourage all of you to just try them. Have an open mind this time around in this industry of salacious claims. Materials matter.
TOUR. BALL. REINVENTED.
Thanks my good man.
Okay I am back from some early testing and I have to be careful a bit about what I say here, so I will just talk about what I saw, rather than why I think I saw it. When a product is being teased as reinventing the tour ball, my ears perk up because I think about "ingredients". Again, while I can't go into that, I have said for close to 6 months now, this is a year to pay attention to golf balls and the status quo of how you choose should be analyzed as well.
I did three short tests today.
25 yard chip shots
Full PW swings
Driver
To explain, I should give you some background on those that have never been unfortunate enough to be stuck playing with me. I am a steep swinger that generates a lot of spin both on full swings and partial shots. Depending on the area I am playing, around the green I choose either a simple bump or run, or the preferred shot of throwing it closer to the pin and wanting it to stop. I have always been fit into either RX or spin reduction, thus creating more distance or the X, for spin reduction with a little more speed.
Around the green, we paced off a little bit and were hitting 25 yards to the pin give or take. Much of that was green. For full disclosure, I was told the greens have been super receptive and should show more spin to the eye than I am used to. This is an area that I expect the ball to do well and it delivered. One hop and stop routinely and had no trouble generating the shot repeatably, no matter which of the four balls I was testing. I focused in more on the RX and X, which I have always found offered a tiny bit less spin, but not enough to really notice and still had no issues. In fact the TOUR B X routinely just sat on a dime, which was pretty darn cool.
An area that is often talked about, and in some ways used as validation for performance is feel. These balls feel different to me. In a good way, genuinely, but different. They almost feel soft and firm at the same time, which was rather unique.
Moving back to the full PW swings and this is where the ball came alive for me. I focused on the RX and X due to my being fit and both reacted similarly. On average seeing 3-4 more yards off of the full swings with the X, and a few hundred RPMs of spin, but the feel was tremendous. Again, soft and firm. WTF? I am typing it, lived it and it still is odd hearing it out, but it's the best way to describe it. Maybe better would be soft and dense? X has always been a firm ball to me, but it doesn't feel hard or even firm with this. Hitting the ball well, I routinely saw more spin than I am used to, although the receptive greens might have had something to do with that. A number of shots with the X spun back a good 8-10 feet and the RX in the area of about a foot in front of pitch mark. And hey, I only missed one green so there is that
Driver is where I grabbed some assistance because I wanted multiple takes. Recent ******** online talking about slow vs fast and other nonsense when in reality distance is a combination of THREE things. Speed. Spin. Launch. What might be a 1-2 mph slower, could also be a reduction in 500 rpms of spin with higher launch and definitely go further than the faster golf ball. Then compound that with unlike most on the internet, I miss the sweet spot from time to time and that changes every dynamic of golf ball testing, because spin, speed and launch all change and in many ways, a forgiving golf ball would benefit a lot of golfers there, to keep spin in check (unless miss is high on the face). Okay enough rambling because at the end of the day, tech is there, but are the results? Sort of, yes, but also some pretty fascinating info.
To expand on that, the pro hitting alongside of me is a staffer for another company, he plays the TP5 golf ball. Hits it very well. Says it feels firm. Before getting to him, I will give you my thoughts. I did not see a spin reduction off the tee with the RX. In fact it was nearly dead on for speed and spin to what my regular numbers are with distance right there with it. The X was different. I got 350 rpms less spin than I normally get, bringing it down to near RX levels, with the same launch and almost 2.5 mph more ball speed. Accounting for nearly 7 yards of more distance. WTF? What did it feel like? Soft and Dense.
The professional testing with me went right for X and XS. He preferred the X, but liked both. He actually hit the longest drive with the XS, but was infatuated with the penetrating flight of the X ball. Comparing to his normal gamer, he actually gained speed and had a spin reduction, while getting 1.5 more degrees of launch. Giving him nearly 11 yards more distance off the tee. FWIW, watching him test was nauseating, because of the precision and effortless motion. Numbers on best drive with the X. Up 1.3 mph ball speed. Down 347 rpms of spin. Up 1.5 degrees of launch.
So what did I learn? Absolutely nothing, other than the pro working with me today makes me want to take up competitive eating. No in all seriousness, I think Bridgestone has something on their hands here. Are you going to pick it up and all of the sudden hit Tiger stingers and tip like Kuchar? Maybe. Will this ball make you a better player? I dont know the answer to that, but am 100% confident that getting fit for a golf ball will and this Tour B lineup is absolutely rock solid. There will be more coming from me in the coming weeks on all 4 balls as I get to spend a bit more time with them, have others try them and dive a little deeper into the technology that is pretty ******* cool.
Okay if you made it this far, kudos. If you didn't, I am sure there is some youtube video or site that will exist soon only paying attention to center contact. If you get nothing else from THP, understand that the golf ball reacts wildly different based on where impact takes place, the speed of the collision and it could be the biggest change in equipment you can ever make.
It's been a busy week and I missed this earlier, but what a post @JB. Thanks!
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You are welcome and happy to help.
rehbirdie said:
Some GREAT conversations going on! I LOVE it when you guys talk Ball Fitting.
IT. IS. IMPORTANT!
As the Ball Fitting lead at Bridgestone I can say this after reading through this thread...
Our Ball Fitting method is built off of millions of swings analyzed over 12+ years of fitting. We are developing balls constantly to fit golfers the best way we can, humanly and computer simulation-wise. There will ALWAYS be outliers. Just like there will always be a 20 handicap with blades.... you guys don’t know anyone like that, huh?
The RX and RXS are designed for golfers that swing under 105mph. We’ve found that to be a great line in the R&D sand for swing speed. We totally understand there might be a 112 swinger that might benefit from it’s low spin properties off the tee, and that’s ok.
The RXS was built off of the RX to provide more spin around and into the green. That was the demand.
The X and XS are designed for speed over 105mph. Again, like the RX series occasionally someone might optimally fit into these ball with a swing speed under 105mph. It is a minority rather than the majority, but it does happens.
You THPers are the A+ students of golf technology and fitting. You guys get it and it’s refreshing to read these conversations.
At Bridgestone we aren’t cramming anything down your throats anymore. No more 12 yards longer, 2 degrees higher... just the facts. We are a RUBBER company and we have implemented a material change to these new TOUR B golf balls! Not just a manipulation of materials... new materials.
We encourage all of you to just try them. Have an open mind this time around in this industry of salacious claims. Materials matter.
TOUR. BALL. REINVENTED.
OMG, you just never know who will be in the THP forum dropping pearls of wisdom
Some GREAT conversations going on! I LOVE it when you guys talk Ball Fitting.
IT. IS. IMPORTANT!
As the Ball Fitting lead at Bridgestone I can say this after reading through this thread...
Our Ball Fitting method is built off of millions of swings analyzed over 12+ years of fitting. We are developing balls constantly to fit golfers the best way we can, humanly and computer simulation-wise. There will ALWAYS be outliers. Just like there will always be a 20 handicap with blades.... you guys don’t know anyone like that, huh?
The RX and RXS are designed for golfers that swing under 105mph. We’ve found that to be a great line in the R&D sand for swing speed. We totally understand there might be a 112 swinger that might benefit from it’s low spin properties off the tee, and that’s ok.
The RXS was built off of the RX to provide more spin around and into the green. That was the demand.
The X and XS are designed for speed over 105mph. Again, like the RX series occasionally someone might optimally fit into these ball with a swing speed under 105mph. It is a minority rather than the majority, but it does happens.
You THPers are the A+ students of golf technology and fitting. You guys get it and it’s refreshing to read these conversations.
At Bridgestone we aren’t cramming anything down your throats anymore. No more 12 yards longer, 2 degrees higher... just the facts. We are a RUBBER company and we have implemented a material change to these new TOUR B golf balls! Not just a manipulation of materials... new materials.
We encourage all of you to just try them. Have an open mind this time around in this industry of salacious claims. Materials matter.
TOUR. BALL. REINVENTED.
OMG, you just never know who will be in the THP forum dropping pearls of wisdom
This may be the most exciting equipment news so far, really like the present TBx and RX so to see improvement on both it will be cool to see which one gives the best performance. I know they are two different profiles, but depending on the day one or the other just seems to work better.
Today it was the X on a real tight course with swamp or water on sometimes both sides, started with the RX and promptly lose one on the 1st hole so I switched to the X and played out with that ball. Certainly under 105 SS but it works...
Today it was the X on a real tight course with swamp or water on sometimes both sides, started with the RX and promptly lose one on the 1st hole so I switched to the X and played out with that ball. Certainly under 105 SS but it works...
Pretty much my go to ball for the last 6 months. I need to pick one and stay with it, so what's the chances for a sponsorship deal? Okay, well then i guess i will head out to the PGASS like everyone else eh?
Okay, well then i guess i will head out to the PGASS like everyone else eh?
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I experience the same thing. Higher compression balls just seem to work better.
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I have no idea if I need more spin or less spin or if just depends on the which knucklehead shows up to swing the club any given day. It seems less spin off the driver is better which if I understand it should be the RX, but the X seems to go stay straighter and longer.
So testing will be a big thing this year for ball fittings. I’m definitely going to try V-Fit but is there a launch monitor that works better for ball information? Does photo-based or radar launch monitors work better?
bought a 3 pack of B-XS while at the course today...didn't get to play any of them because I was playing the e6 softs fairly well. I prefer the e6 soft to the Srixon soft feels...hopefully, I can try out these B-XS tomorrow
