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Is it sometimes the "Ball" the reason why we score what we do?

SuperStroke
Iceman!

Iceman!

THPer formerly known as "markm778"
Albatross 2024 Club
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I have noticed on my Tuesday night league that my Handicap last year was 3 strokes lower (for 9 holes) than it is this year.
The interesting thing is that I went up a class in our league from D to C and I'm still winning points on strokes and holes.
So I'm close to the other in my "Class"

Last year I played the Chrome Soft as often as I could as part of my Grandaddy Prep.

This year I went "down" to a 3pc Surlyn Cover ball, willing to give up the Short Game Spin for more "Straightness and Distance" off the Tee.
But now I look at it and I'm thinking maybe that short game spin I gave up is hurting me in the scoring area, meaning in the short game.

I'm thinking to going back to the Urethane cover balls to try to gain some of the short game spin back.

Now I have been hurt and my swing could be off because of this and I know it.


So can the "Ball" be the reason why we score what we do? Can it have that much of an effect on your scoring?
 
I’ve averaged an 82 the past two seasons playing the Supersoft 2 years ago and the Soft Feel last year (both 2pc surlyns). This year I’m giving Urethane balls a try and still averaging an 82. I’d argue the ball and perhaps grip choice tie as having the least impact on my scores.

I would take proper choice of clubs (play what works the best), proper fitment of clubs (length, loft, lie, flex, etc.), proper tee height, playing the proper set of tees for how far you hit it, usage of a gps or laser as all having a much higher impact on my scores.
 
What ball to you "go down" to Mark?
 
i played two 9 hole matches against jb last saturday. the only thing that changed for him from the front 9 to the back 9 was the ball. it's tough to say whether he was just striking the ball better on the back than the front, or whether the back suited his eye better than the front, but he played poorly on the front and very well on the back. what was most interesting was how much better he putted on the back than the front. maybe he "figured out" the greens by then? again, impossible to say. but he felt the change in ball was a big reason he played better.
 
c.a.eleric said:
i played two 9 hole matches against jb last saturday. the only thing that changed for him from the front 9 to the back 9 was the ball. it's tough to say whether he was just striking the ball better on the back than the front, or whether the back suited his eye better than the front, but he played poorly on the front and very well on the back. what was most interesting was how much better he putted on the back than the front. maybe he "figured out" the greens by then? again, impossible to say. but he felt the change in ball was a big reason he played better.
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Finally decided to dump the Nitros on the back. Good call.
 
I definitely notice a difference when I (mistakenly) drop a couple of different models of balls around the putting / chipping area when warming up before a round.

Are you sure your surlyn ball is really that much straighter off the tee?

I'm totally not the demographic for a distance ball, but I'd still probably lean towards using something you're confident with around the greens before optimizing for anything else. I'd pretty much advise everyone to do that assuming that they're not losing a gazillion golf balls to where the added cost becomes an issue.
 
I've noticed that I've lost a number of strokes due to excessive spin the last couple of rounds. I may have to reverse my thinking and go to a less spinny ball.
 
blakehall said:
I definitely notice a difference when I (mistakenly) drop a couple of different models of balls around the putting / chipping area when warming up before a round.

Are you sure your surlyn ball is really that much straighter off the tee?

I'm totally not the demographic for a distance ball, but I'd still probably lean towards using something you're confident with around the greens before optimizing for anything else. I'd pretty much advise everyone to do that assuming that they're not losing a gazillion golf balls to where the added cost becomes an issue.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't quantify if the Surlyn is straighter off the tee, I do know how they are marketed.
I have see some GC quad tests where the low compression Surlyn balls have less spin off the tee, so there is maybe where It landed in my head.

Maybe this is a discussion on how you fit your golf ball, from the Green back or from the Tee forward.
 
I know the ball definitely has an impact in some way, shape or form, but I'm a 16(ish) handicapper, and it's still hard for me to figure out whether it's the ball, or my numerous combination of swings in a given round. I've played the AVX, Bridgestone RXS and Chrome Soft, and while my eyes tell me that the AVX performs much better for me than the other two, I have no actual data to back it up. I guess this is part of the downside of being someone who constantly tinkers, but I can never tell whether I'm just swinging better that day, or it really is the ball.
 
jcurtis2010 said:
I know the ball definitely has an impact in some way, shape or form, but I'm a 16(ish) handicapper, and it's still hard for me to figure out whether it's the ball, or my numerous combination of swings in a given round. I've played the AVX, Bridgestone RXS and Chrome Soft, and while my eyes tell me that the AVX performs much better for me than the other two, I have no actual data to back it up. I guess this is part of the downside of being someone who constantly tinkers, but I can never tell whether I'm just swinging better that day, or it really is the ball.
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I can name this tune with one note!
 
My best scores the past 2 years are with an older model Srixon lady’s ball. I’m trying to lose them because I got them for mrs scrap and she won’t play but they just stay in play.
 
markm778 said:
Well, I can't quantify if the Surlyn is straighter off the tee, I do know how they are marketed.
I have see some GC quad tests where the low compression Surlyn balls have less spin off the tee, so there is maybe where It landed in my head.

Maybe this is a discussion on how you fit your golf ball, from the Green back or from the Tee forward.
Click to expand...

I am very likely wrong about what I'm about to say, so do more research and take this with a grain of salt...

In general I think the cover material makes a larger difference around the greens and with partial shots.

On full speed swings off the tee, I think spin rate is largely due to the core of the ball and it's compression. And generally speaking lower compression balls spin less than their higher compression counterparts.

Chromesoft is fairly low compression for a urethane ball, but isn't as low as something like the wilson duo.

I played the e6 and the duo for quite a while (including in club championships) until the past couple of years. I felt like they performed the best off the tee and in the long game, and that I could just deal with their short game shortcomings. That said, I've played a urethane ball exclusively lately and at least for me most of the long game stuff is the same. Bad swings have bad results. But I'm really enjoying being able to count on more spin coming into the green with wedges, and on those low spinners.

Your mileage may vary, but I think doing ball fitting from the green backwards is the right way to go for most folks.
 
My lowest scores where with Bridgestone RX and I just don't play them anymore. I play more attention to wind to decide which ball I play as I feel some just cut thru it better than others. If you want straight off the tee and still have some spin on approach shots, try a couple rounds with the Srixon Q-Star Tour. It is straight and long off the tee, and great around the green.
 
Really like a soft ball like the W-S Duo or the Srixon Soft Feel. Unlike others, the ball seems to make a lot of difference in my putting. Will occasionally use a water ball, one I don't mind losing, and it makes a real difference on the green for me. Being an old slow swinger of the club the soft balls also seem to be longer.
 
I haved gamed the TM TPx exclusive since it came out. I am now running out of my large stash of them and switching to the tp5x

One evening back in March or this year I picked up a sleeve of prov1 x at the pro shop. Shot my pb by 3 shots. Nothing felt different with the ball. Tee shots were a bit shorter but I was getting up and down. I would contribute that due to the short game spin it has on the Tm.

So my question to myself is why I continue with the Tm. I thinks it’s due to the length of the ball tbh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I played a new course two Sundays ago, and after losing gamers left and right (swing changes making me all sorts of miserable that day), I switched to backyard balls. I suddenly started nailing my chips and pitches.

Switched back to my gamers, and suddenly I can't pitch to save my life and I'm back to the one side of the green to the other thing.

I'm starting to wonder if it was the mostly urethane backyard balls vs. the surlyn or whatever the matte balls are covered with. I have a buncha Snell MTBs so will test that theory the next time I head out, since I'm back to not losing a ball a hole, FINALLY.

Edit to add: of course it might be swing change, but we haven't covered wedges yet much, so might not be.
 
blakehall said:
I am very likely wrong about what I'm about to say, so do more research and take this with a grain of salt...

In general I think the cover material makes a larger difference around the greens and with partial shots.

On full speed swings off the tee, I think spin rate is largely due to the core of the ball and it's compression. And generally speaking lower compression balls spin less than their higher compression counterparts.

Chromesoft is fairly low compression for a urethane ball, but isn't as low as something like the wilson duo.

I played the e6 and the duo for quite a while (including in club championships) until the past couple of years. I felt like they performed the best off the tee and in the long game, and that I could just deal with their short game shortcomings. That said, I've played a urethane ball exclusively lately and at least for me most of the long game stuff is the same. Bad swings have bad results. But I'm really enjoying being able to count on more spin coming into the green with wedges, and on those low spinners.

Your mileage may vary, but I think doing ball fitting from the green backwards is the right way to go for most folks.
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Funny how I can't add that I have a completely different bag of clubs from last year and the clubs I had last year I had for two years.
Can't be that at all - has to be the ball :)
 
Not knowing anything about balls when I first started playing last year I just picked up what was on sale. I got some "ladies" (low compression) and some "men's" (higher compression) and used them interchangeably. Now I use strictly low compression balls, but occasionally I will pull a higher compression ball out of my remaining stock. I can tell the difference on my drives and second long shots, but have never noticed the difference on pitches or putts. I will add that I do notice the difference in putting between Wilson Duo Soft and the Callaway Supersoft. The Wilson seems to hold the green better on fast greens, while the Callaway performs better for me on slow greens.
 
I have been playing ProV1’s all year and they are shorter off the tee than the Super Softs that i played last year, but they are much more predictable from 100 in. That said I found a Bridgestone B330RX the other day and it went further off the tee and I felt like I didn’t lose anything around the green. I also gained some height on approach which helped with stopping on the green.
 
IMO you can probably get pretty good with any decent ball, it's all about getting used to it and how it performs, especially for the short game. Along with that, I think your game can suffer a bit when you make a change and have to get used to the new ball (or type of ball, i.e. going from surlyn to urethane). My $0.02.
 
The best advice is probably to keep using the same ball... I tend to change them too often.
 
markm778 said:
I've played Callaway Superhot Bold, TM Project (S) & Cut Matte
Click to expand...

Cut makes a matte finish ball ? I’m not seeing it on their site.
 
Yea, I think the ball absolutley can make a difference. I know for higher handicap players it doesn’t make as much of a difference but there is definitely a difference. If you’re considering changing I would take the time to test both balls head-to-head and see what performs the best. Good luck.
 
Yes, when picking a ball as a gamer, you should go from the green out.
 
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