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Golf ball advice based on swing speed

SuperStroke
AUWU11

AUWU11

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Until recently, I've always believed my swing speed to be 85-90 mph. In the past week, however, when testing some drivers, I've been clocked consistently at 95 mph, even reaching 100-105 mph here and there (although I believe 95 mph is probably a better average of what I'd swing on the course versus in a simulator). I've played 3-piece lower compression balls for the last year or so - Q-Star Tour, Tour B RXS, Duo-U/Duo-P, etc. Now knowing my driver speed is a little faster than I thought, should I give another ball a try? Something still in the "soft" category, like the AVX or Tour B XS? Or is this swing speed fast enough for something like a ProV1 or Z-Star? Or is it not a big enough difference to warrant a change from what I've been playing? TIA for any and all advice.
 
I would think you are ok with what you have been using but could possibly play one of the others ok as well. I would say if you are happy with your ball you can keep your ball.
 
Stryker said:
I would think you are ok with what you have been using but could possibly play one of the others ok as well. I would say if you are happy with your ball you can keep your ball.
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I like the Q Star Tour and will continue to play it for now. The Tour B RXS and Duo balls, however, are starting to feel more and more like I'm hitting a sponge off the tee. That's what started my wondering about if a different ball would be helpful, like the AVX , ProV1, Z-Star, or a different one of the Tour B Series. Not really sure, as I've always associated them with faster swing speeds.
 
IMO I would stick with the Q-Star Tour if it performs well for you. We are pretty close swing speed and I also play ProV1X and Chrome Soft Truvis. The CS Truvis might be a good one for you to at least try out. Great off the driver and lots of spin around the greens.
 
I'm improving my swing speed as well. I have the advantage of having a sim, so I am now in the process of trying different balls and comparing results. I'm really liking me some TP5 at this point, and we are very close in swing speed, you being faster.

That being said, I know GG does ball fittings for not much money, so maybe that or something like it would be worth the time and money.
 
Q Star Tour is hard to beat........I love it.
 
AUWU11 said:
I like the Q Star Tour and will continue to play it for now. The Tour B RXS and Duo balls, however, are starting to feel more and more like I'm hitting a sponge off the tee. That's what started my wondering about if a different ball would be helpful, like the AVX , ProV1, Z-Star, or a different one of the Tour B Series. Not really sure, as I've always associated them with faster swing speeds.
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My swing speeds in the spring and summer are close to yours and I have played and really enjoy the Z-Star. It is probably my favorite ball to be honest but I also like the Q-Star Tour.
 
Stryker said:
My swing speeds in the spring and summer are close to yours and I have played and really enjoy the Z-Star. It is probably my favorite ball to be honest but I also like the Q-Star Tour.
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I've been really curious about the Z-Star. My biggest concern has always been feel, as that's my top preference in a ball. How's the feel off the club face?

I'm playing tomorrow and have a few spare prior generation Z-Star lying around, so I might just have to give it a try.
 
I think the compression on the Z-Star is around 88. It is a little firmer but I like it just fine and not a whole lot of feel difference then the Q-Star Tour to me. Srixon actually recommends the Q-Star Tour for swing speeds up to 95MPH if I remember correctly and 100MPH and over Z-Star. In all honesty, I usually play yellow balls because I can see them better in the air and sometimes lose sight of white balls in the air. That was the biggest reason I played the Z-Star vs Q-Star Tour. Now that Q-Star Tour is available in yellow, I am down for either one. I did just get a dozen of the new Z-Stars from the THP twitter contest but have not tried them yet. I would say just try the ones you have or grab a sleeve of the new ones and try those and see how you like them. Personally, I am not a huge ProV1 fan but I am not a good enough player to see any advantages that some claim and I feel like they are a little firmer then I prefer. Never tried the TP5 series as quite simply I am just too cheap to buy them. Same with the AVX. I would say the Z-Star might be slightly firmer then the Chrome Soft ball, which is another I love but am too cheap to buy. I don't think you will find it feels like a rock or a marshmellow off the club face by any means.

I usually wait till they have sales and sometimes you can catch the Z-Star pretty cheap.
 
AUWU11 said:
Until recently, I've always believed my swing speed to be 85-90 mph. In the past week, however, when testing some drivers, I've been clocked consistently at 95 mph, even reaching 100-105 mph here and there (although I believe 95 mph is probably a better average of what I'd swing on the course versus in a simulator). I've played 3-piece lower compression balls for the last year or so - Q-Star Tour, Tour B RXS, Duo-U/Duo-P, etc. Now knowing my driver speed is a little faster than I thought, should I give another ball a try? Something still in the "soft" category, like the AVX or Tour B XS? Or is this swing speed fast enough for something like a ProV1 or Z-Star? Or is it not a big enough difference to warrant a change from what I've been playing? TIA for any and all advice.
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Similar swing speed and I’d try the ZStar. I much prefer the feel over the Qstar Tour and it is just incredibly consistent.


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JourdanInMich said:
Similar swing speed and I’d try the ZStar. I much prefer the feel over the Qstar Tour and it is just incredibly consistent.


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I have a couple used Z-Star (2017 version). I'll give them a try tomorrow for sure.
 
AUWU11 said:
I have a couple used Z-Star (2017 version). I'll give them a try tomorrow for sure.
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I don’t know what it is about the ball, but it was the straightest off the tee for me and super consistent into and around greens. Let us know what you think!


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JourdanInMich said:
I don’t know what it is about the ball, but it was the straightest off the tee for me and super consistent into and around greens. Let us know what you think!


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For sure!
 
AUWU11 said:
I have a couple used Z-Star (2017 version). I'll give them a try tomorrow for sure.
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I think you will find they have a firmer feel than the balls you have been gaming. I can play Z-Stars but like the slightly softer feel of Bridgestone RX, Titleist AVX and Snell MTB Black better. You can certainly play the ProV1 with that swing speed. I play them occasionally with my mid-90s SS. Just like the lower spinning nature of the 3 balls I listed on the narrow course I play.
 
Sox_Fan said:
I think you will find they have a firmer feel than the balls you have been gaming. I can play Z-Stars but like the slightly softer feel of Bridgestone RX, Titleist AVX and Snell MTB Black better. You can certainly play the ProV1 with that swing speed. I play them occasionally with my mid-90s SS. Just like the lower spinning nature of the 3 balls I listed on the narrow course I play.
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Thanks for the insight. I put some AVX, Tour B RX, Q-Star Tour, and Z-Star in the bag for my round tomorrow. Going to give them all a try at one point or another (unless I'm playing really well with one ball). Will let y'all know how it goes.
 
AUWU11 said:
I've been really curious about the Z-Star. My biggest concern has always been feel, as that's my top preference in a ball. How's the feel off the club face?

I'm playing tomorrow and have a few spare prior generation Z-Star lying around, so I might just have to give it a try.
Click to expand...

Another vote up ZStar here, given that you like Srixon its a great urethane ball. I'm in the same 95-100ish bracket and feel along with consistency are two of the things I like best about ZStar (not so much XV, which I find clickier). I like the ever so slightly firmer feedback than i.e. Chromesoft or TourBXS on full shots, and especially around the greens it gives me everything I am looking for.
 
My SS is low 90s and I was fit into a ProV1. Having said that it really takes more than just SS to nail a ball fitting.

One poster said he was fit into a ProV1x. So why would he be fit with a ProV1x and I a ProV1? It's those other factors.

My AoA is 1-2 degrees up and my smash factor averages about 1.47, which is quite high. Let's say the other poster's AoA is 2-3 degrees down (not uncommon). Everything else equal his driver swing is going to produce more spin, and the ProV1x tends to produce less driver backspin than the ProV1.

Other possibilities like this exist.
 
leftshot said:
My SS is low 90s and I was fit into a ProV1. Having said that it really takes more than just SS to nail a ball fitting.

One poster said he was fit into a ProV1x. So why would he be fit with a ProV1x and I a ProV1? It's those other factors.

My AoA is 1-2 degrees up and my smash factor averages about 1.47, which is quite high. Let's say the other poster's AoA is 2-3 degrees down (not uncommon). Everything else equal his driver swing is going to produce more spin, and the ProV1x tends to produce less driver backspin than the ProV1.

Other possibilities like this exist.
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Yeah, I'm a fairly steep swinger, so I've been thinking about trying some other balls with lower spin rates, like the AVX and Tour B RX. Q Star Tour seems to have pretty low spin off the driver and long irons, so no complaint there. Will see how the others do today.
 
I’d try out the Project(a) ball as well. If you are looking for iron and short game spin, it’s the highest spin ball I’ve ever played. It wasn’t for me as I spin the heck out of anything, but it’s a great choose for my middle son who is a somewhat low spin player. It and the Duo(U) are his two favorite balls. He’s currently around 105 CHS with driver max but probably plays most of his actual driver swings in the 100 range.
 
AUWU11 said:
Yeah, I'm a fairly steep swinger, so I've been thinking about trying some other balls with lower spin rates, like the AVX and Tour B RX. Q Star Tour seems to have pretty low spin off the driver and long irons, so no complaint there. Will see how the others do today.
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Just read this so forget my prior post. AVX might be the ball for you. I fight spin with everything and it’s the ball I use if the round is important. Very low spin and I hit some ungodly long drives with it last year. I hit everything to the moon height wise so spin is a killer for me, particularly into the wind. But, key point here for me, it has enough short game control that it’s playable.

From what I read I also want to try the ERC Callaway ball this year. I’m not sure about the lines nor the blended/hybrid cover but if it spins low and has enough short game check, it could be the one for me. That’s what always brings me back to Urethane covered balls. On full shots, don’t need nor particularly even want it. For short game, it’s a must have. Nothing worse than clipping it perfectly from 20 yards off the green and having it roll 20ft by the hole. I want those shots to hop and stop. Haven’t found anything other than Urethane to do that.
 
A perfect bridge ball from what you've been playing to what you're considering may be the W/S FG Tour.

It's a lower compression ball relative to most, higher than the Duo-U, lower than the typical tour ball. It feels soft without seeming mushy at all, straight off the tee, ample spin on approaches. It's really a sensational golf ball.

I swing a bit faster at 105-110 mph and the Duo-U worked just fine for me on all things except mid-iron approaches. There, I experienced a lack of spin and a bit more run-out for my tastes. Same with the AVX, just to lesser effect. But in fairness to the AVX it was only through a few rehab rounds in December where I wasn't nearly at 100%. Got hurt again so wasn't able to continue testing them.

But during that time, while swing a bit slower, just as when I was whole, I loved the reaction on the greens I saw from the FG Tour. Its straightness off the tee with driver is my favorite characteristic.
 
Played today in what ended up being a dog fight of a round. 20-25mph winds (forecast was 10-15mph) and course was still very muddy. Kind of round where you just feel worn out after.

Nonetheless, had a chance to try out some of the balls mentioned in this thread.

Q Star Tour - my old reliable. Still love it and it'll still be my go-to ball.

AVX - first time playing this for more than a shot or two. Loved it off of the driver, felt soft but not too soft. Good feel with irons too. Didnt feel heavy like I was somewhat expecting. Felt pretty in control with it. Had decent spin around the greens - not great, but good. Actually played the entire back nine with this ball, including finishing +1 on the final 3 holes, which is a hard finishing stretch at the course I played.

Tour B RX - had some pretty suprising pop off the driver. Really bit on greenside shots - had one where it bit so hard it actually left me a lengthy putt. Not as soft as AVX or Q Star Tour, but not hard or bad feel by any means. Only used it for a couple holes before trying the AVX, but will probably try it again at some point.

Didn't have a chance to try the Z-Star since I was enjoying the AVX, but will try it at some point soon I'm sure.

Thanks to everyone for all of the helpful advice!
 
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