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What Has More Impact To Numbers?

SuperStroke
JB said:
Hit a Duo or SuperSoft on a launch monitor and then hit a high compression urethane ball. See the numbers after 6 swings each with multiple clubs.
Click to expand...

Yep. I see this all the time with my review work on our range, I really have to pay attention to what balls I am hitting that day as it pertains to the numbers I see recorded.

WILD variances from a Rock Flite to a B330-RX and so on and so forth.
 
JB said:
Hit a Duo or SuperSoft on a launch monitor and then hit a high compression urethane ball. See the numbers after 6 swings each with multiple clubs.
Click to expand...

I'd really be interested seeing those results. Could be a real eye opener.


Jman said:
Yep. I see this all the time with my review work on our range, I really have to pay attention to what balls I am hitting that day as it pertains to the numbers I see recorded.

WILD variances from a Rock Flite to a B330-RX and so on and so forth.
Click to expand...


Genuine question, you just hit good balls out on the range? Or you hitting into a net for numbers?
 
Jman said:
Yep. I see this all the time with my review work on our range, I really have to pay attention to what balls I am hitting that day as it pertains to the numbers I see recorded.

WILD variances from a Rock Flite to a B330-RX and so on and so forth.
Click to expand...

An easy way to view the differences between balls and what they could make, hit a limited flight ball and a regular ball. While extreme, it appears to be that is what people are using as examples, so you can see how much difference a ball can actually make.
 
JB said:
An easy way to view the differences between balls and what they could make, hit a limited flight ball and a regular ball. While extreme, it appears to be that is what people are using as examples, so you can see how much difference a ball can actually make.
Click to expand...

throw a Polara in the mix too.
 
JB said:
Boy I definitely see (through FlightScope testing of golfers) a difference in launch and peak with different balls. Between compression differences and spin differences between balls, due to cover, layers, dimple pattern, compression, etc to think that they will not change a flight up and down or make only a bigger difference in side spin (ball can only spin on one axis) is quite interesting. I think I will explore this more as I dont see how one can impact spin one way larger and not the other since the ball can only spin one way at a time.

I think its the most overlooked item for amateur golfers personally, and testing clubs or fitting with a ball that they dont play usually gives very different numbers.
Click to expand...

color me intrigued. peak i can understand, but initial launch? very interesting! sounds like i should do more ball testing on an lm. "hey fitter, can i use your $25k trackman setup to determine whether i should buy a dozen chromesoft from you for $38, or a dozen pro v1 from you for $48?"
 
I think the shaft matters more, at least for me.
First of all, I don't always play the same balls - I get them at corporate events, gifts, as well as I try out different balls throughout the year.
There is definitely a preference and performance difference between the balls, but not as dramatic a difference a well fitting shaft has on my game.
A better fitting shaft makes me swing easier, and helps me find the sweet spot more.
No matter how good the ball, if I don't hit it well enough they all seem to end up in the same place - precisely where I don't want it to go.
 
jdtox said:
I'd really be interested seeing those results. Could be a real eye opener.

Genuine question, you just hit good balls out on the range? Or you hitting into a net for numbers?
Click to expand...

I only hit outdoors for my reviews. Whatever I hit that day, I make sure they are consistent, not a ton of different types/brands. I mostly use my monitor on the course on empty days.

JB said:
An easy way to view the differences between balls and what they could make, hit a limited flight ball and a regular ball. While extreme, it appears to be that is what people are using as examples, so you can see how much difference a ball can actually make.
Click to expand...

Precisely. Wild variances.

The ball is vastly underthought, and the shaft is vastly overthought IMO. Not to say its not important for fitting, as we know, but too many get far too hung up on the shaft minutia IMO.
 
JB said:
Hit a Duo or SuperSoft on a launch monitor and then hit a high compression urethane ball. See the numbers after 6 swings each with multiple clubs.
Click to expand...
So after #ClubClash, will we see #BallClash?
 
I'm going to go with the ball making the most impact.
1) It's actually making direct contact with the face.
2) It's impossible to ignore the differences between any of these 4: Top Flite XL, a W/S Duo, an e5, and say a Callaway SR3.
3) Yes, shafts make a difference like L vs TX and bend profiles and launch and all that...but i think the effect is diminished a bit as you progress thru the set. Ball is constantly effecting everything, all the time!

But I could be way wrong...
 
caeleric said:
i think you and i are coming at this question from the same perspective, and i agree with you. i'm assuming someone hits the ball relatively straight and consistently. but if that person doesn't swing fast enough to get the ball up, i think a shaft will make a much bigger difference for them than a ball. a soft-stepped, low kick point shaft with a responsive tip section will (i think) result in a bigger difference in ball flight than simply switching out a ball. but if that person is generating too much spin on a horizontal axis and losing distance that way, then i think a ball change would help that more than a shaft change.
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Yep.... I do think we're coming from the same thought...you just spent more time explaining your point of view... but of coarse we're right.. :{)
 
For good players, it's the ball.

For lesser skilled players, it's the shaft.

Good players can adjust to shaft differences. They may not be optimal but they will get around the course. The same argument can be made for adjusting to a ball, but there are going to be shots that just cannot be pulled off with certain balls.

Lesser skilled players won't be able to adjust as easily to shaft differences, and inconsistent ball striking tends to narrow the differences seen with different balls.
 
#Cookie said:
I'm going shaft just because I've hit the extremes in shafts and seen more of a ball flight difference with that rather than an extreme in ball profile.
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This is my thought as well. Just what I was going to say.
 
This is really a difficult question to answer. Because if we are referring to any golf ball with or with out dimples it is definitely the ball. If we are talking about all the current balls out there two, three, four, and five piece balls than I would say the shaft can make a huge difference.

If I was going to speak of my game personally I would say golf ball. Spin inside a hundred yards is very important for stopping the ball close to the hole. If I was to put a 2 piece distance ball in the bag it would be harder for me to play the way I do now than play a set of senior shafts or the stiffest shafts.
 
Shaft, hands down.
 
I think for me it real depends on which of the bag we are talking about. The ball definitely has a more measurable impact on spin with the irons and wedges. I hit some drivers, irons, and wedges on the monitor using a Supersoft, Chrome Soft, and a low spin Srixon ball they use for fittings. With a 3/4 gap wedge the backspin rates for each were about 8,500-8,900 with the Chrome soft, 5,000-5,500 with the Supersoft, and 3,500-3,800 with the Srixon. With a 7 iron the spin was about 5,500 with the Chrome soft and about 4,000 with the Srixon, and in between with the Supersoft. The dispersion in spin with the driver was pretty close across the board. Tried a couple of different iron shafts, one metal one graphite, and not much difference. Launch and yardages were similar also.

For me I think the shaft affects how I perceive where the head is during the swing. Which probably why I like a driver shaft a little on the heavier side. Seems with lighter shafts I tend to hit a high fluffy push fade more often. Having said that, I do start to lose ball speed with a driver shaft that is too stiff. Since my spin rates did not really change a lot with the balls, I would say the shaft has more impact with a driver.
 
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I think ball has as much to do with flight as the shaft.the feel though is hands down shaft. Unless you count in sound but I thibk that is more so head then ball since the same ball sounds very different off my forged clubs and cast clubs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
 
I have no idea.

I was going to say shaft, as I have experience in improving my numbers on TrackMan with different shafts (see Driver Fittings), but I have never really tested different balls on a monitor, other than B330 and B330S alongside the ProV1x balls that my instructor uses. I am sure that Duo and TopFlight balls will be much different on a monitor, as will Srixon Z-Star (which I think may be the "spinniest" ball that I have played w irons) and Pinnacle.

So, I don't know.
 
I'm going shaft. Changing to different balls on a launch monitor while hitting various drivers and shaft combos, the greatest changes in spin, flight, and distance were affected by the different shafts. The balls had almost no change.
 
I say ball. While shaft is important and does play a noticeable role in numbers, I think the ball does more. A shaft won't knock off 1500rpm (unless you were really fit poorly before). A ball change can certainly do that.
 
Having to pick one, I'd go with ball. Material differences alone bring in different flight characteristics, Cover, inner mantles, and core. Dimple patterns effect flight as well.

Also so if you've ever been at a range that has tired balls. Watch to see the ball flight knuckle through the air. Granted it's an extreme condition of a worn out ball but it shows how much the ball can be affected.

but really I have no idea and this is a guess based on limited knowledge.
 
It's shaft for me because I hit irons with the GS95 TT shafts with a nice and high trajectory and they feel very similar to graphite shafts. I have played heavier/stiffer shafts and the ball flight was a good bit lower with the same head/irons.
 
I honestly don't know. My first inclination was to go with shaft, but after reading through this thread, there are good arguments for ball and shaft. In my experience, I haven't seen a lot of difference in performance of comparable quality golf balls. But, I have seen some dramatic difference in properly fitted shaft/head combinations on drivers, affecting both dispersion and distance (dispersion probably a little more).
 
Shaft. This can dynamically change the launch angle of your shots +-2*.
 
I'm going to say ball, especially if we're talking irons and wedges. There can be a big variance in spin. Off the driver, less so, but there's a reason balls like the e6 and e7 exist.

For me, the biggest effect of shaft is on my swing - a shaft that "fits" is something I can just swing naturally without thinking. To be honest, on well struck balls, I don't see crazy differences on well struck balls with different shafts. It's more that I strike the ball better with one shaft vs. another.
 
The ball can really vary a lot of things but the shaft makes all the difference in ball flight. That's why there are so many different shafts around, the difference in flex, kick point, weight, materials, far outnumbers the number of balls.
How you contact the ball makes the biggest difference to flight of anything and most of that comes down to club and shaft and the golfer.
 
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