Golf ball fittings

[hadi05]

@Scooby45 mentioned he was going to go in for a golf ball fitting. I had one last year and it really does make a difference.

With that said you really don't have to have a golf ball fitting if you understand your numbers and what happens to your flight. Im also sure THPers will give insight if you need help. That'll help narrow it down before you take balls to the course.

Spoiler not all golf balls are complimentary of your game, some can actually be a part of the reason why your scores are what they. Nope it's not compression either.

I thought I'd share this information from @JohnnyCallaway that he did in a video and then talk basically about my experience. This video is worth the 10 minutes.



My fitting
Numerous balls to test, I paid extra to do it just because I was quite curious about golf balls and all the lore about how they work.

1. Indoor putting green
2. Indoor launch monitor for chip & pitch
3. Indoor launch monitor 50 yd & full wedge
4. indoor launch monitor 7i
5. Indoor launch monitor driver

In all instances we hit several of each and then went on to the next ball. Compared flights and numbers to narrow it down.

After we narrowed it down to I took a sleeve of each to the course. I put them through paces as follows:

1. Practice green 3 putts with each ball then on to the next (listen to sound & feel)
2. Chip & pitch shots from the chipping green area. Looking at spin, height and roll out 3 shots with each and then on to the next ball
3. Sand shots from the same pitching green. Same rules 3 balls, then on to the next

Narrowed it down to 2 and played them on the course side by side for the round and then picked my ball. Gave it a few rounds and confirmed my decision.

You don't have to have a fitting, but the biggest eye opener for me is you MUST hit them side by side to really compare their flights to see what you like. You'll see JDubs does the same thing. We may not all have the practice facility he does, but you can very easily do what I did.

I landed on the '21 CS X LS so I can't wait for the '22 CS family. Keep hacking! Hope this helps.

 

[BigMac]

Great post, @hadi05! Out of curiosity, what is your swing speed with driver?

 

[hadi05]

About 110. Here's the thing. I took some off of it (shortened backswing) and the balls didn't perform much differently in terms of relative ball speed to swing speed.

Edit went down to mid 90s.

 

[robrandalgz]

Good stuff @hadi05

 

[ryang13]

Great post. What was your second choice and was it a close race? What separated the XLS from the rest for you?

 

[hadi05]

Good stuff @hadi05

Thanks! Thought I'd just share. It might not be the only way to do it (probably not) but hitting the balls side by side for various shots made a huge difference. It's very true there are defintely golf balls out there that do NOT compliment your golf game.

 

[jmix18]

Great post! Love the vid of @JohnnyCallaway - he lays it out so well.

Just based on this the CSX LS is a front runner for my bag this year. Going to move away from PV1X fully for the year and see how things end up.

 

[hadi05]

Great post. What was your second choice and was it a close race? What separated the XLS from the rest for you?

So, out of all the balls I liked the feel and sound the best with the Chrome Soft family on the indoor putting green followed by a Titleist ball. Out of those the '21 CSX felt the best and the '21 X LS felt the worst although it did help me get to the target better.

I know I can play the CS because I was using it and enjoying it when I moved on from Srixon. It went up a little higher than the other two in the CS family and was the shortest of the 3. I should also note it was the most forgiving for me too.

I elected to use the CS X and CS X LS on the course. The CS X is an amazing ball, but it just had too much spin for me. The '21 CS X LS preformed better for me but it had some sound and feel downsides in the short game area.

So for '22 I know that the CS X hasn't changed really other than faster, so that one is out

I'm really excited about the new CS X LS because its improved in areas where I had concerns (not that my opinion really matters). So I'll definitely put it in play. I get a sleeve of the CS to do a comparison of the CS to the CS X LS to see which is best for me this year.

Great post! Love the vid of @JohnnyCallaway - he lays it out so well.

Just based on this the CSX LS is a front runner for my bag this year. Going to move away from PV1X fully for the year and see how things end up.

JDubs did an amazing job with that video. My biggest takeaways from his video are the need to play them from various shots, but most importantly do them side by side and go from green to tee. You can really narrow it down to two or so by using a launch monitor, indoor putting green and the practice area at a course.

I hope the '22 version of the X LS works well for you!

 

[J4U]

How many different OEM's did you compare against?

 

[hadi05]

How many different OEM's did you compare against?

Great question @J4U

9 balls total and 5 OEMs inside on the launch monitor. The fitter defintely didn't want to do that many, so I paid him extra for the launch monitor time and for the balls. It was expensive but worth it.

His approach was going to be this..
Have me hit 3 chips, 3 50yd wedges, 3 full wedges, 3 7i, 3 drivers and then he'd go pick 3 balls for me to try.

 

[ryang13]

I'm really excited about the new CS X LS because its improved in areas where I had concerns (not that my opinion really matters).

I had that thought initially when gathering my thoughts about the Bridgestones I was sent to test, like how can what I have to say make an impact on this feedback on this ball, especially as I'm not really a numbers guy, I can't necessarily spill out a bunch of data about one ball vs. another, etc, it's far more about feel and comfortability for me. That being said, I'm sure the manufacturer does take the opinion of the masses into some consideration - if it wins on sunday.........
Glad to hear you found something that works for you!

 

[J4U]

Great question @J4U

9 balls total and 5 OEMs inside on the launch monitor. The fitter defintely didn't want to do that many, so I paid him extra for the launch monitor time and for the balls. It was expensive but worth it.

His approach was going to be this..
Have me hit 3 chips, 3 50yd wedges, 3 full wedges, 3 7i, 3 drivers and then he'd go pick 3 balls for me to try.

Great approach and well done!

Did you have an idea before going in what numbers worked best for you?

If so, did those numbers match up with the winner or was the outcome totally different than what you had in mind.

 

[hadi05]

Great approach and well done!

Did you have an idea before going in what numbers worked best for you?

If so, did those numbers match up with the winner or was the outcome totally different than what you had in mind.

Yes and No on the numbers. I think I understand the numbers in a general sense, but to the degree of some of the #lunaticfringe and a solid fitter. What I do understand very well is ball fights. I've seen enough of what I don't want and a few of what is like to see based on how I play.

From a numbers perspective it was close to what I had thought it should be, but really the ball flights were key. The biggest improvements were in short game. It was really finding a good balance of everything to get the best ball for me.

 

[GraniteRoost]

I love that there are more ball fitting threads going on the last few weeks than I can remember. Not just new ball talk, but people actually talking about how they go about sorting through compression, spin, fitting approach, what they like it short game. Its awesome. All of you guys talking golf balls are awesome. Thanks for the good discussions.

I watched that video when it came out as well, and @JohnnyCallaway really laid out those explanations well. If you ever wanted a guide on how to fit a golf ball, I'd start right there!

 

[hadi05]

I love that there are more ball fitting threads going on the last few weeks than I can remember. Not just new ball talk, but people actually talking about how they go about sorting through compression, spin, fitting approach, what they like it short game. Its awesome. All of you guys talking golf balls are awesome. Thanks for the good discussions.

I watched that video when it came out as well, and @JohnnyCallaway really laid out those explanations well. If you ever wanted a guide on how to fit a golf ball, I'd start right there!

I couldn't agree more on the JDubs video. Yes he only reviews Callaway balls, but his thought process is something we can all benefit from.

 

[Slowmo]

Where did you go to get such a thorough ball fitting?

 

[J4U]

Yes and No on the numbers. I think I understand the numbers in a general sense, but to the degree of some of the #lunaticfringe and a solid fitter. What I do understand very well is ball fights. I've seen enough of what I don't want and a few of what is like to see based on how I play.

From a numbers perspective it was close to what I had thought it should be, but really the ball flights were key. The biggest improvements were in short game. It was really finding a good balance of everything to get the best ball for me.

Outstanding!

Balance is key and compromising in the right areas for one's game. So many times I find a ball that I love off the tee and irons, but hate just off the green or on the putter.

Would be awesome to try this with a facility instead of just doing it myself inside. I prefer the outdoor, real feel visual aspect. Tough to do unless you have the facilities to handle it.

A little jelly you were able to pull it off!

 

[hadi05]

Where did you go to get such a thorough ball fitting?

A club fitting studio for all indoor stuff.
Outdoor stuff was all on me.

 

[hadi05]

Outstanding!

Balance is key and compromising in the right areas for one's game. So many times I find a ball that I love off the tee and irons, but hate just off the green or on the putter.

Would be awesome to try this with a facility instead of just doing it myself inside. I prefer the outdoor, real feel visual aspect. Tough to do unless you have the facilities to handle it.

A little jelly you were able to pull it off!

The indoor stuff was done with a fitter in a studio the outdoor stuff was on my own. It just confirmed what we saw in the studio.

 

[Snickerdog]

Good stuff and sounds like it worked pretty well for you. Should be a good year of golf for you.

 

[hadi05]

Good stuff and sounds like it worked pretty well for you. Should be a good year of golf for you.

We shall see!

 

[hadi05]

Anybody else had a golf ball fitting?!