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Can A Low Compression Ball Give More Distance: New Bridgestone Ball Fitting

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JB

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Last week our staff writer Dan Edwards was in Covington, GA for a visit to Bridgestone Golf. For those that missed the behind the scenes video of that visit here.

https://www.thehackersparadise.com/...1-Behind-the-Scenes-Bridgestone-and-Mizuno-HQ.

Dan is better golfer on the plus side of the handicap index and his driver swing speed is north of 115 mph.

With so much talk recently around the internet about golf balls and what is the best for golfers, we wanted to to find out if firm equals fast, would it then equal distance. Left out of the story many times is while that is true, firm does equal fast, impact location, spin and a number of other things will play just as much a role in your distance as just pure speed. Below Dan and Adam Rehberg from Bridgestone Golf breakdown not only the fitting, but how golfers can get the most out of golf ball selection and what to expect when impact location and swing flaws are in place.

As you can see from the video, Dan, a strong swinger well north of the 105mph that Bridgestone normally uses as a cut off between two styles of golf balls, got more distance out of a softer compression ball. Not just with the driver, but also the irons as well.

 
Great video, I've been fit for woods/irons but have never had a putter or ball fitting. Listening to them talk about the ball fitting process really makes me want to go have it done.
 
Awesome video and review. Didn't expect that result but makes sense after hearing why. Looks like I'll try a dozen of the TOUR BRX in Yellow!
 
Great job Dan, very informative!!
 
Great information, Thanks for the breakdown. I have never had a ball fitting, but would seriously consider getting one now.
 
Tons of info. Can't wait to go through this process with "Alex" myself in a few weeks!
 
Great video with lots of interesting information, especially the comments about moving between Tour B RX and e12 Soft.
 
Great video! So much more to performance than speed. Any chance that Bridgestone is going to increase fitting efforts? I would love to see them at a demo days, or even start partnering with club champion.


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Very informative thanks! I need to do a real ball fitting someday. Definitely one area of my game I haven't paid much attention to other than trying all sorts of balls
 
I played the Tour B RXS a couple of days ago and loved it. I don't have anywhere near the skill to take advantage of all the tech, but the feel was awesome.
 
Solid information in this video. I like how he broke down the differences. I just shot the best round I have ever had wit the E12 soft I will be sticking with it for awhile.
 
Very informative. Unfortunately most amatuer golfers get sold on the more distance balls (also because they're cheaper) and some I'm sure just buy the most expensive because they must be best.. as I drive further into this sport a ball fitting will hopefully be a part of it as well

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Very interesting - ball fitting as an ongoing process rather than a destination :good:

Also:

JB said:
Dan is better golfer
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If you don't enforce this as a User Title, I'll be extremely upset.
 
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Great video! It isn't just black and white, people should definitely go get fit!
 
One wouldn't think to get a ball fitting.....but it just makes sense. Someday hopefully I will be able to although im happy with my gamer
 
@Canadan Think you would change to the ball Adam recommended at the end of Video?
 
markm778 said:
@Canadan Think you would change to the ball Adam recommended at the end of Video?
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100% and it validated something I've been leaning towards for a long time. Softer compression negates some of the spin flaws in my swing and that's going to lead to bigger drives despite the potential loss in ball speed. There are a lot of things that work well in my game for a softer ball. I hit the irons high and land them soft, which eliminates worry for spin on approach. I don't mind playing a pitch rather than a biting spinner around the green.

All that said, my driver in the bag is pretty spin optimized right now, so like Adam (Alex lol) and I talked about, I could go either way pretty comfortably... and that's probably why I've had so much success with B330 in the past.
 
Canadan said:
100% and it validated something I've been leaning towards for a long time. Softer compression negates some of the spin flaws in my swing and that's going to lead to bigger drives despite the potential loss in ball speed. There are a lot of things that work well in my game for a softer ball. I hit the irons high and land them soft, which eliminates worry for spin on approach. I don't mind playing a pitch rather than a biting spinner around the green.

All that said, my driver in the bag is pretty spin optimized right now, so like Adam (Alex lol) and I talked about, I could go either way pretty comfortably... and that's probably why I've had so much success with B330 in the past.
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I'm very pleased with Adam's recommendation when he did my fitting. It's interesting to see that your swing speed (115) and mine at (102) get fit into the same ball. Just goes to show that each persons game is individual and you really need to have it analyzed to get a ball match for your own game.
 
Canadan said:
100% and it validated something I've been leaning towards for a long time. Softer compression negates some of the spin flaws in my swing and that's going to lead to bigger drives despite the potential loss in ball speed. There are a lot of things that work well in my game for a softer ball. I hit the irons high and land them soft, which eliminates worry for spin on approach. I don't mind playing a pitch rather than a biting spinner around the green.

All that said, my driver in the bag is pretty spin optimized right now, so like Adam (Alex lol) and I talked about, I could go either way pretty comfortably... and that's probably why I've had so much success with B330 in the past.
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Do you think you would have tried the ball recommended by Adam or come to the same conclusion if you did not do the Ball Fitting?
I guess I'm trying to get to how valuable a ball fitting is besides the obvious knowledge gained.
 
Nice video and review. Interesting stuff.


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markm778 said:
Do you think you would have tried the ball recommended by Adam or come to the same conclusion if you did not do the Ball Fitting?
I guess I'm trying to get to how valuable a ball fitting is besides the obvious knowledge gained.
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Me personally? Of course. But it’s a big part of what I do, right? For the more common golfer, I think this kind of education is absolutely important.
 
Great video Dantonio.

Plenty of good information from Adam/Alex breaking down his reason for getting you into either the BRX or BX.

115 mph swing speed? I can hear the balls screaming from your swings haha
 
This is truly informative. It also debunks some of the misinformation that seems to be running rampant on the internet.
 
Tenputt said:
This is truly informative. It also debunks some of the misinformation that seems to be running rampant on the internet.
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That's what I hoped we would hear!

There is no basic model for a ball, especially when someone has a variable like spin in play.
 
It’s important to see that a golf ball can be forgiving and that where low compression can shine is through spin reduction and performance when the center is missed.

This goes for any brand and any ball. Distance and consistency are a combination of things and the golf ball category should not be viewed as fast vs not fast.
 
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