ProV1 ball

[MSH134]

I typically play the bridgestone 330 RX ball and it a really great ball. Over the weekend I decided to try the ProV again as I have never really had much luck with them I seem to be a club shorter with it and it balloons on me. Am I alone or does the happen to people other than me.

 

[spaceace414]

It is a long ball for me. I refuse to pay the hefty price for them, so I typically by the "practice ball" which is only $29.99. The ProV1 just has a different feel for me that I love. It goes far and feels soft. I like the 330s and Z-Stars as well, but would always pick the ProV1 first.

 

[greggdrews]

I too play the b330rx and if I do use a Titleist ball its the prov1x. The regular prov1 I find spins too much for me.

 

[McLovin]

I typically play the bridgestone 330 RX ball and it a really great ball. Over the weekend I decided to try the ProV again as I have never really had much luck with them I seem to be a club shorter with it and it balloons on me. Am I alone or does the happen to people other than me.

i'm not sure about ballooning, but i completely agree that prov1 is a short ball for me. i've never gotten on with it.

 

[Mach2]

You have to have club head speed to take full advantage of the Pro V1. I don't care what Titleist's high dollar commercial says, this ball is NOT for everyone. Someone with a 105 mph or more club head speed will have a different result and feel with this ball than someone with a 90 mph club head speed. I have a 90 mph club head speed and my gamer ball is Srixon Soft Feel. This ball is 10 to 15 yards longer than a Pro V1 ball. I did a test a week ago comparing the two balls. Ball compression is what it's about, as well as feel. The lower club head speed you have dictates using a lower compression ball to get max distance and feel, as far as I'm concerned.

Don't think all the various Tour Players, Men/Women/Seniors, use Titleist balls off the rack like you and I buy. Their Titleist balls are provided to them from Titleist and the compression of their balls are very carefully measured to be as close to each other, compression wise, as can be. Just imaging a Tour Player Starting the round with a Pro V1 and after 6 holes changes to a new ball, and this ball is maybe 8-10 points higher or lower compression than the first ball they just played. Ball goes 10-20 yards longer or shorter than the previous ball. In a tournament, that's no good.

 

[Sox_Fan]

I too play the b330rx and if I do use a Titleist ball its the prov1x. The regular prov1 I find spins too much for me.

I am in the exact same boat. And I also experience a little distance loss with the Prov1 in comparison to the B330-RX or Prov1x.

 

[fupresti]

You have to have club head speed to take full advantage of the Pro V1. I don't care what Titleist's high dollar commercial says, this ball is NOT for everyone. Someone with a 105 mph or more club head speed will have a different result and feel with this ball than someone with a 90 mph club head speed. I have a 90 mph club head speed and my gamer ball is Srixon Soft Feel. This ball is 10 to 15 yards longer than a Pro V1 ball. I did a test a week ago comparing the two balls. Ball compression is what it's about, as well as feel. The lower club head speed you have dictates using a lower compression ball to get max distance and feel, as far as I'm concerned.

Don't think all the various Tour Players, Men/Women/Seniors, use Titleist balls off the rack like you and I buy. Their Titleist balls are provided to them from Titleist and the compression of their balls are very carefully measured to be as close to each other, compression wise, as can be. Just imaging a Tour Player Starting the round with a Pro V1 and after 6 holes changes to a new ball, and this ball is maybe 8-10 points higher or lower compression than the first ball they just played. Ball goes 10-20 yards longer or shorter than the previous ball. In a tournament, that's no good.

Your differences in distance are more likely a result of spin, or lack thereof with your Srixon ball.

 

[Mach2]

Your differences in distance are more likely a result of spin, or lack thereof with your Srixon ball.

Ok, I'll give you that, kinds/sorta. Do you agree with my opinion that it takes 100 mph plus club head speed to get the full advantage of the Pro V1?

 

[fupresti]

Ok, I'll give you that, kinds/sorta. Do you agree with my opinion that it takes 100 mph plus club head speed to get the full advantage of the Pro V1?

With the ProV1? No.

Do I think it's the wrong ball for someone with a 90mph and slower swing speed, yes. I think at that swing speed your probably focusing on distance and should focus on a lower spinning, lower compression ball.

 

[JB]

Ok, I'll give you that, kinds/sorta. Do you agree with my opinion that it takes 100 mph plus club head speed to get the full advantage of the Pro V1?

To get the most out of your golf ball, off the tee you have to be able to compress it. By doing so, you are eliminating unwanted spin. Not properly compressing a golf ball, brings in spin. I do not think personally that it takes 100 mph on the nose, but for some that might be their threshold. What I will say is that there are balls that offer similar spin around the greens with lower compression. Titleist has also reduced the compression on their premium lines, despite saying in marketing that compression did not matter.

 

[Mach2]

With the ProV1? No.

Do I think it's the wrong ball for someone with a 90mph and slower swing speed, yes. I think at that swing speed your probably focusing on distance and should focus on a lower spinning, lower compression ball.

What else would most players be thinking about with a driver in their hands and getting ready to hit the tee shot? I want to put a good, 80% swing on it and hit it in the center of the face. I don't think about a lower spinning ball, just hitting it in the center of the face. I look at the face of the driver after each hit and see where the ball mark is, although I generally know by the feel of the hit. Most of my drives are center or slightly heel side of center. I wipe the face of the driver after each tee shot.

I didn't look for lower spin on the Srixon Soft Feel, just lower compression, and the feel of the ball on everything from driver to putter. Is the Srixon Soft Feel a high spin ball?

This is a quote from Golfsmith about the Srixon Soft Feel ball;
"The Srixon Soft Feel Golf Ball is designed to launch high with low spin, thus optimizing launch conditions and control."

 

[fupresti]

What else would most players be thinking about with a driver in their hands and getting ready to hit the tee shoe? I want to put a good, 89% swing on it and hit it in the center of the face. I don't think about a lower spinning ball, just hitting it in the center of the face. I look at the face of the driver after each hit and see where the ball mark is, although I generally know by the feel of the hit. Most of my drives are center or slightly heel side of center. I wipe the face of the driver after each tee shot.

I didn't look for lower spin on the Srixon Soft Feel, just lower compression, and the feel of the ball on everything from driver to putter. Is the Srixon Soft Feel a high spin ball?

It's a lower spinning ball which is likely the reason you hit it farther. As JB said, compression matters as it relates to spin and if you are playing with a ball that spins too much you will lose distance.

 

[JB]

I didn't look for lower spin on the Srixon Soft Feel, just lower compression, and the feel of the ball on everything from driver to putter. Is the Srixon Soft Feel a high spin ball?

Maybe I can help here. One of the things that gets confusing with golf balls is why they are spinning and how can a ball be low spin off the tee and high spin in other areas. It is true that a urethane cover spins more than a surlyn cover in the short game. Friction between layers of the balls along with a soft cover will result in that spin. However with the driver or metal wood in your hand and the sheer impact that goes into a golf ball, compression eliminates spin on the tee box. So a lower compression golf ball for many golfers can remove some spin and help you hit it further (assuming you need to eliminate spin).

Now there is a point of diminishing return here, whereas a a very fast swing player with clean impact on the face (metal wood) will not see any more loss of spin since they are already compressing a higher compression golf ball. In this instance, they might be better off using something firmer as the spin reduction is not an issue.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mach2]

Ok JB and fupresti, thanks for the "splain". I see now that the lower spinning SSF ball is helping with the increased tee distance as well as the soft compression helping with the increased feel. It's my gamer and I'm stickin to it. :bananadance:

 

[-CRW-]

Can you compress a ball too much? And if so how would that affect impact results?

 

[JB]

Ok JB and fupresti, thanks for the "splain". I see now that the lower spinning SSF ball is helping with the increased tee distance as well as the soft compression helping with the increased feel. It's my gamer and I'm stickin to it. :bananadance:

Can you compress a ball too much? And if so how would that affect impact results?

For years it was thought so, but my last trip to a ball facility (many have different views) said no. There are diminishing returns however and something too soft could in fact produce less distance because spin is merely one small segment of the distance possible.

 

[mesaman777]

I am not a long hitter at all, 240ish, and I don't see a ton of difference in distance between the PV1's I play and other similar balls. Where I see the difference is on approach shots. I know the ball will generally stop within a few yards of my ball mark with longer clubs and half of that with scoring clubs. It's a predictable ball for me, that's why I play it. I have played the B330rx ball, even though is feels different to me, the results are similar into and around the greens, I just like the feel of the PV better.

 

[-CRW-]

For years it was thought so, but my last trip to a ball facility (many have different views) said no. There are diminishing returns however and something too soft could in fact produce less distance because spin is merely one small segment of the distance possible.

It seems like softer balls launch a little higher and spin more for me with all clubs, but I have no data to back that up.

 

[JB]

It seems like softer balls launch a little higher and spin more for me with all clubs, but I have no data to back that up.

It could be any number of things. Certain face areas of the club head dramatically increase spin. Most of the time they do not go along with increased launch however.

As mentioned, I think there is a lot more to it personally than just compression, and I also think we as golfers over analyze spin right now like crazy because its the newest buzz worthy part of the game since launch monitors came at the consumer level (meaning availability to test) and its an easy number to understand.

 

[Paladin]

You have to have club head speed to take full advantage of the Pro V1. I don't care what Titleist's high dollar commercial says, this ball is NOT for everyone. Someone with a 105 mph or more club head speed will have a different result and feel with this ball than someone with a 90 mph club head speed. I have a 90 mph club head speed and my gamer ball is Srixon Soft Feel. This ball is 10 to 15 yards longer than a Pro V1 ball. I did a test a week ago comparing the two balls. Ball compression is what it's about, as well as feel. The lower club head speed you have dictates using a lower compression ball to get max distance and feel, as far as I'm concerned.

Don't think all the various Tour Players, Men/Women/Seniors, use Titleist balls off the rack like you and I buy. Their Titleist balls are provided to them from Titleist and the compression of their balls are very carefully measured to be as close to each other, compression wise, as can be. Just imaging a Tour Player Starting the round with a Pro V1 and after 6 holes changes to a new ball, and this ball is maybe 8-10 points higher or lower compression than the first ball they just played. Ball goes 10-20 yards longer or shorter than the previous ball. In a tournament, that's no good.

Titleist furnishes about a half-dozen Pro-V1 and a comparable number of Pro-V1x sub-models, according to the USGA conforming ball list.

http://www.usga.org/conforminggolfball/gball_list.pdf

Some of this is to cover last year or the previous model-cycle's ball, but you're correct, some of this also allows for golfers to get different variants that suit their game. There's about 12 Chrome Soft variants, as well as a Callaway Speed Regime 2.5...Hmm. That's interesting....And I'm back.

Point being, you're correct in how different ball-fitting functions for a pro compared to an amateur, but the degree to which we find identical impact conditions over time compared to a pro also plays a role.

As to the matter at hand, As far as softer-compression balls go, when you talk about the diminishing returns of a softer ball, is that by reducing spin too much off the tee? Most of us are chasing lower spin -- assuming all other conditions remain similar -- so how does a softer ball equal less spin equal more distance, right up until it doesn't?

 

[MSH134]

For years it was thought so, but my last trip to a ball facility (many have different views) said no. There are diminishing returns however and something too soft could in fact produce less distance because spin is merely one small segment of the distance possible.

Now this makes sense to me when the Wilson 50 I believe it's called ball first came out I played it for a couple of holes and it felt like I was crushing it and it would go nowhere.

 

[Golf Ghost]

To get the most out of your golf ball, off the tee you have to be able to compress it. By doing so, you are eliminating unwanted spin. Not properly compressing a golf ball, brings in spin. I do not think personally that it takes 100 mph on the nose, but for some that might be their threshold. What I will say is that there are balls that offer similar spin around the greens with lower compression. Titleist has also reduced the compression on their premium lines, despite saying in marketing that compression did not matter.

Taylormade said the same. "Compression doesn't matter, but we've made it lower".


Must be some sort of reason there.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Iceman!]

Great thread! I know in the past when I used Prov's, it was like trying to put out a fire with gasoline! I put so much spin on the ball that it would just banana to the next Fairway. With a lower spinning driver now, maybe its time to give them a try again and burn up some inventory.

 

[widespot]

I play the 330rx now and last year played the 330s. I usually buy what is on sale. I've shot close to par with $20/dozen balls and 90 with $48/dozen and vice versa. Personally, I don't notice much difference, in full shots, considering how much variation strike can have for me. I swing around 100 mph tho and don't create much backspin, or sidespin for that matter. The RX has been really good for me off the tee, I'd give up five-ten yards for better control on my approach.

Almost every guy in my league plays ProV1, which always surprises me considering the prices you can get other good balls for.

I really don't have a point, I tend to pick a ball based on what it will do around the green. I struggle creating spin on pitch shots with things like the qstar and e6.


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[Double]

In my recent search for a better fitting ball I have been thinking about much of what has been brought up here. Also my own game traits... The maniac in my head 'insists' on trying to hit the cover of the ball with a driver and then unashamedly exits leaving the budding golfer in me to clean up the mess left on the adjoining fairway. The budding golfer has had enough lol. He refuses to play with the maniac any longer!

So in my case the search for a better fitting ball highlighted that I might be going about things the wrong way.

I have decided to calm my swing with the driver and play a lower compression ball and not worry too much about distance. About to put the WS Duo (2014) into play which is rated at 40 compression but tests out at mid 50's (av) on 'whole' ball tests. My best golf has been playing a Srixon soft feel previously so I look forward to hitting the Duo. I tried the ProV1 balls recently and they are too much ball for me without a doubt and my misses were all fades to slices. Whether this was a result of not compressing the ProV1 enough or simple deficiencies in my swing who knows but I didn't enjoy hitting them. I hit several second balls off the tee that round (Srixon SF) and most were relatively straight when compared to the result of the ProV1.

...Now there is a point of diminishing return here, whereas a a very fast swing player with clean impact on the face (metal wood) will not see any more loss of spin since they are already compressing a higher compression golf ball. In this instance, they might be better off using something firmer as the spin reduction is not an issue.

Thank you. This is the conclusion I came too as well prior to the overthinking paralysis that this has caused me. I found it very difficult weeding through the advertising spin that almost suggests your swing is fine and not an issue, but it is the ball you're playing that is causing your <insert miss here>. Surely moving to a 'better ball' for distance, or spin or for any other reason should be determined by first being able to adequately compress that golf ball, no?