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Golf Ball Fitting Madness

SuperStroke
fuffle master

fuffle master

5150 Lunatic Fringe 22’ GRANDADDY
Albatross 2024 Club
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I have been contemplating for a while now about doing a full ball fitting to see what ball I should truly be using. After hearing from so many here on THP and in the business about how important playing the correct ball is to help you improve and enjoy the game more, I finally said I am going to spend this month finding out which ball is the best for me. However, I wanted it to be fun and not just hit every ball and see what plays out. So, being a huge March Madness guy, I decided why not have a version of March Madness in choosing the fitting of my ball for 2021.

The idea is I picked the 16 balls I thought would be possibly the best for my swing and game. I used the different online algorithms from Callaway, Titleist, Bridgestone to get their suggested balls and also went with others that I wanted to see how they compared. To try and make it fair, I put the balls above $40 in one region/bracket (Mizuno RB Tour is the exception) and those under $40 in the other region/bracket.

Here is the Golf Ball Fitting Tournament

Golf Ball Bracket.jpg

What I am asking here on THP is for your help. I am a big data guy and love to look at all the numbers that will be generated by my ball fitting. However, to find the absolute best ball I am hoping I can get some experts here to read the numbers and thoughts to pick the winners of each match. I tried to match up the balls according to where they would be a decent fit against each other.

The first matches:

East Region
The 8th seeded 2020 Bridgestone Tour B RXS vs The 9th seeded 2021 Srixon Z-Star 7


West Region
The 7th seeded 2020 TaylorMade Tour Response vs 2020 Mizuno RB 566v

What are your thoughts on these two matchups? and Who do you think comes out on top overall?
 
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Some information about my game currently.

I have a driver swing speed between 88-93 mph, driver distance is generally in the 225-230 range total, 7-iron in the 145-150 range, PW in the 115-120 range. I prefer a softer feeling ball for both irons and putting. I mostly play a fade with mid-height trajectory from my driver and irons, except my hybrids which I generally draw. My handicap is around 17/18 currently.

The most important aspects to me will be distance and dispersion. I am always looking for more distance with feel and need to find a consistent ball so that I can hit more greens in regulation. Optimal spin for carrying and stopping power will also be important.
 
Going with Z-Star and Tour Response. I've never hit the RXS but have played the RX. If the RXS spins on short shots as well as the Z, it may be a close. Z-Star is one of my go to balls so kind of biased on this one.
The other two I have no experience with so totally a guess on that matchup.
 
Love this idea and will follow along with interest. Don't have any experience of the balls in the first match up but I have been impressed with the RX
 
That's great...I love the brackets!

I did my own ball test a couple of years ago. Starting with putting and working my way up to driver. I spent a few days at it. I thought it was a worthwhile exercise. I look forward to seeing your results.
 
Sean said:
That's great...I love the brackets!

I did my own ball test a couple of years ago. Starting with putting and working my way up to driver. I spent a few days at it. I thought it was a worthwhile exercise. I look forward to seeing your results.
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Interesting as you mention this.

So, I am conducting the first round with woods in mind. Second round will be irons. Final four and championship are wedges, putter, and full rounds head to head.
 
The first match in the East Region is a barnburner! Those are two of the best balls around! (IMHO)
 
cool idea, that 8/9 matchup is brutal, maybe my favorite two balls up there. will be interesting to see your numbers.
 
I get it, brackets are fun - but what's the thought process behind using head-to-head matchups for deciding your ball? What if the ball that performs best around the green gets booted by a ball that it marginally under-performs off driver or something?

If I were designing a bracket, I'd put similar balls together, then go against the "best" in that category. So, looking at the Bridgestone RX series vs. the other lower compression urethane balls. The Q-Start and MTB are VERY different balls, for instance.
 
Mizuno RB Tour and Tour X are great performing golf balls....if they got the cover situation figured out I would still be playing them
 
Great idea making a 'March Madness' bracket for selecting a golf ball; quite ingenious really - kudos to you. :cool:
 
It’s the least booked fitting for me and one of the biggest/easiest changes to the game.

I only do fittings for premium balls though. The lower tier golf balls were inconsistent from one to the next in the same sleeve, so I couldn’t trust the results or quality control.

During your testing, be sure to use the putter and wedges as well!
 
the east is loaded with powerhouses. I see 1 & 5 as the semi (real) finals in this bracket! Have fun
 
I think this will be a fun follow but I also think there will likely be 3-5 balls that there isn’t a substantial difference in performance. I will be interested to see if my hypothesis plays out.
 
mpeterson said:
I get it, brackets are fun - but what's the thought process behind using head-to-head matchups for deciding your ball? What if the ball that performs best around the green gets booted by a ball that it marginally under-performs off driver or something?

If I were designing a bracket, I'd put similar balls together, then go against the "best" in that category. So, looking at the Bridgestone RX series vs. the other lower compression urethane balls. The Q-Start and MTB are VERY different balls, for instance.
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I hear you and thought similar. I wanted a challenge element according to price. I am guessing, but confident, if I were to place the balls against each other simply by style that in the end I would have four of the premium balls in the final group of four. I wanted to break it for to two groups.

One side the premium list. The ball I would use normally when playing tournaments and looking to truly score my best.

Another side of relatively the next step down. The ball I want to use when just out hitting a round or play a course with friends. Maybe not looking at if I hit it in a hazard to look very long. Something in my head says I can’t stand to love a 45 dollar/dozen ball vs a 35 dollar/dozen or lower. I know it’s only 10-20 dollars a dozen, but I feel so different if I lose a Prov vs an ERC.
 
I LOVE this.
 
How exactly are you going to perform the comparison? I’ve seen online comparisons similar to what you are going to do using an Iron Byron to eliminate the inconsistencies of a human golfer. With lower swing speeds like yours, the numbers didn’t show much of a difference in length or dispersion as it did with faster swing speeds. Good luck with your experiment. I’m as curious as anyone to see your results.
 
Scott F said:
How exactly are you going to perform the comparison? I’ve seen online comparisons similar to what you are going to do using an Iron Byron to eliminate the inconsistencies of a human golfer. With lower swing speeds like yours, the numbers didn’t show much of a difference in length or dispersion as it did with faster swing speeds. Good luck with your experiment. I’m as curious as anyone to see your results.
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😂. Damn I wish I had access to a robot swinger. But, alas it’s just me and I am no @Canadan. Driver isn’t reaching 300. :cool:
 
Summit said:
It’s the least booked fitting for me and one of the biggest/easiest changes to the game.

I only do fittings for premium balls though. The lower tier golf balls were inconsistent from one to the next in the same sleeve, so I couldn’t trust the results or quality control.

During your testing, be sure to use the putter and wedges as well!
Click to expand...

curious how these ball fittings are structured? After finding an ideal ball, is there a minimum order and such?
 
Crapgame said:
curious how these ball fittings are structured? After finding an ideal ball, is there a minimum order and such?
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Not with me. There is no requirement for any purchases. I don't know how other companies do it, but I can't imagine any of them have a requirement for purchase after the fitting.
 
How I decided to work the ball fitting is to start with the driver and work my way down the clubs. So, 1st round is going to be driver and woods, the second round will be irons, final four will be full wedges, putter, and playing, with finals, continued head to head, and the full look at all aspects I have to date.

First, looking at the driver and woods I am going to use the expected numbers for optimal launch via the chart below.

Optimal Numbers.JPG

Based on what I have researched, and I am asking here as well my optimal numbers for driver look to be:

I have an 88-92 mph swing speed with an upward attack angle in the 0 to 4 range.

Ball Speed - 130 mph
Launch Angle - 14 to 16.8
Spin - 2300 to 2600
 
Due to the current state of my game, I'm very curious about how much a ball truly helps. I'll be intently watching!
 
The first matchup I did today was the 2020 Bridgestone Tour B RXS vs the 2021 Srixon Z-Star

IMG_2996.jpg VS IMG_2994.jpg

Bridgestone Tour RXS
The 2020 Bridgestone Tour B RXS is designed for those that have swing speeds of less than 105 mph. The RXS has the Reactiv cover that was created to give golfers the benefit of both distance off the driver and woods, as well as, more spin in the irons and wedges for better control and feel around the greens.

IMG_2999.jpg IMG_3001.jpg

The Bridgestone ball felt very nice on all swings. Soft, but not too soft. The dimple pattern is something that seems to be a growing trend maybe of having different formations inside the dimples. From my naked eye, which is not the best for sure, the dimples look more like a normal pattern. However, when I really blow up the picture, it seems to me that there are these little circles inside of each dimple. My thought is this cover and pattern is the design to allow the maximum amount of flight on full shots while allowing an increase in spin speed around the greens with your wedges.

Srixon Z Star
The 2021 Srixon Z Star is in the 7th generation for Srixon. The new Z Star has a reengineered cover to increase spin and has a new 338 dimple pattern to also create more distance and ball speed.

IMG_3005.jpg IMG_3006.jpg

The Srixon Z Star is a more firm ball. The dimple pattern is the normal symmetrical you expect to see in many golf balls.
 
I think you could do driver, 7 iron and a wedge to get a fair comparison. I don't think you need to do every club.
 
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