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Range balls vs. Game Balls

SuperStroke
C-Tech

C-Tech

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I am beginning to wonder if hitting balls on the range is worth the effort.

Seems like they fly anywhere from 10-25% less distance than normal balls so I end up swinging harder because suddenly, my 7 iron can't get past 145, etc.

Does anyone else notice this and does it bother you? I feel like I cannot groove the speed of my swing because I am left with the feeling that I must be swinging below my norm.
 
Don't be concerned about distance.Just warm up to loosen up your body.You already know your distance,don't you?

I'm never concerned about yardage at the range.I'm there to just get the body warmed up and feel the swing.
 
Are they different from regular/normal golf balls? :confused2: I never knew that!!
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
Don't be concerned about distance.Just warm up to loosen up your body.You already know your distance,don't you?

I'm never concerned about yardage at the range.I'm there to just get the body warmed up and feel the swing.
Click to expand...

What if you don't know your ranges...? How are you supposed to find out besides the range?

Golf Chick said:
Are they different from regular/normal golf balls? :confused2: I never knew that!!
Click to expand...

Range balls are overglorified rocks. Built purely for durability. Unless you practice at a very nice range.
 
C-Tech said:
I am beginning to wonder if hitting balls on the range is worth the effort.

Seems like they fly anywhere from 10-25% less distance than normal balls so I end up swinging harder because suddenly, my 7 iron can't get past 145, etc.

Does anyone else notice this and does it bother you? I feel like I cannot groove the speed of my swing because I am left with the feeling that I must be swinging below my norm.
Click to expand...

Does your range use limited flight balls?

Mine switched over a while back, but I adjusted. They don't have the same feel or distance, but the flight properties are about the same.
 
BigLeftyinAZ said:
Don't be concerned about distance.Just warm up to loosen up your body.You already know your distance,don't you?

I'm never concerned about yardage at the range.I'm there to just get the body warmed up and feel the swing.
Click to expand...

That might be good advice. I try not to worry about distance, but I find myself hitting it harder and harder trying to get the ball out to my normal distance. I will try that next time, just warm up without thinking about distance.
 
Harry Longshanks said:
Does your range use limited flight balls?

Mine switched over a while back, but I adjusted. They don't have the same feel or distance, but the flight properties are about the same.
Click to expand...

We have a couple of ranges that use limited flight balls, but they are identified as such. I notice this even on regular ranges with normal balls.
 
I hate when I show to a new range and they have old old balls, hard as a rock.
Right now in the winter months , those things go no where. When I get those balls I mainly work on hitting a target not worrying about the right club for the right distance and loosen the muscles.
 
C-Tech said:
We have a couple of ranges that use limited flight balls, but they are identified as such. I notice this even on regular ranges with normal balls.
Click to expand...

Do they look like this?:

SnipImage-5.jpg


'Cause those are the ones my range switched to and they don't say limited flight on them. I've found these to be very common and you definitely lose about 10% in distance. I noticed the first time my range put them into rotation. After about 30 minutes of being baffled, I walked into the pro shop and flat out asked if they had started using limited flight balls. Yup.

Sneaky.
 
I love playing at resorts that have the Callaway balls at the range. I dont pay attention to distance but its appealing to the eye. Even some of the nicer country clubs around here use crappy balls.
 
C-Tech said:
I am beginning to wonder if hitting balls on the range is worth the effort.

Seems like they fly anywhere from 10-25% less distance than normal balls so I end up swinging harder because suddenly, my 7 iron can't get past 145, etc.

Does anyone else notice this and does it bother you? I feel like I cannot groove the speed of my swing because I am left with the feeling that I must be swinging below my norm.
Click to expand...

dtak84 said:
What if you don't know your ranges...? How are you supposed to find out besides the range?
Click to expand...


C-Tech, I have thought this exact thing for quite a long time and it drives me nuts. Like dtak84 asks, I wonder how one is supposed to guess their distance with each club if you have to gauge the distances when you are playing the course. I would love to"once and for all" get myself tested in some way so that I know for sure how far I hit each club so that would take one more thing off my mind when I play. Too many times on the course, especially standing let's say 110 yards to the hole I grab a club I say is the right club only to catch it right and sail it 10yds passed the green, thus building up my mental issue from shorter distances even more. :angry::banghead:

Great question C-tech, but now ya got me all angry!!! :angry:
 
25% sounds about right. I have given up using any number markers while on the driving range. I just work on direction and ball flight. My drive with the roll goes only about 200 yards on the range, but on the course I can carry 200 yards consistantly. I thought it was just cheap range balls, but it makes sence that they would get ones that specifically reduce distance to fit on in the range.

I am temped to take the balls I have found in the rough over the last year and use them on the range just to see- but it seems like a waste of balls.
 
What started my questioning on this was watching the Pros at the Accenture Match Play. Each pro had bags of balls, his specific ball, brand new, that he plays. I watched their caddies picking their balls out of everyone else's on the chipping green so they could hit them again.

I've been to a couple of upscale courses that had ProV1's as their range balls. No "practice" on them, just regular balls. Now that was nice.
 
C-Tech said:
I am beginning to wonder if hitting balls on the range is worth the effort.

Seems like they fly anywhere from 10-25% less distance than normal balls so I end up swinging harder because suddenly, my 7 iron can't get past 145, etc.

Does anyone else notice this and does it bother you? I feel like I cannot groove the speed of my swing because I am left with the feeling that I must be swinging below my norm.
Click to expand...

It's something you have to adjust to but even so, sometimes it bothers me.

The "nearby" range is a roadside range located on a busy highway in a congested area and it sits on maybe ten acres of land (could be a little more). They use limited distance balls (Srixon) which are pretty normal up to about 150 yards or so. After that, they drop off dramatically as far as distance goes.
The "250" sign at that range is pretty much legit (I checked it out on Google Earth) and it sits only maybe 20 feet in front of the netting at the rear and I have to jump out of my shoes just to get the ball to land at the sign, much less the netting.

There's another range I use that is a fair distance away which is part of a golf course and stretches out for over 300 yards to a sort of plateau so there's no need to restrict ball flight and that's quite obvious right off the bat. For the 150 and under distances the feeling is about the same but it's the longer distances which make it quite obvious that this place uses "normal" golf balls (Top Flites). When I hit a driver at this range, the difference is quite noticeable and a distinct "that's more like it" feeling washes over me every time I go there instead of the nearby range.

I like the nearby range for its convenience and I usually don't practice with much more than maybe a 6-iron, so the limited distance balls don't really bother me. Besides, I already know what my distances are and have for years so it's usually more about swing mechanics and accuracy rather than distance.

But it IS nice to really crank one out there once in a while and the limited distance balls just don't allow that.


-JP
 
They should inform the consumer. We have a little range near us that must use these balls. Like JP said, near the end of their flight they seem to just drop out of the air. Took my daughter there and she was freaking out because she couldn't hit it 150 yards. We talked to a young man from our club, and he confirmed the balls were 30-40 yards shorter. She doesn't want to hit there anymore.

Kevin
 
I only use the range for working on my swing tempo/technique etc....never for distance....the range balls at my course are hard as a rock as well so they feel solid everytime i hit one even if it slices or hooks.......I think when we were golfing this past weekend someone said they lived by a "floating range".....what are those and I wonder how effective those balls are for distance if they float?!?
 
NikeGolf said:
===== QUOTE Golf Chick ====

Are they different from regular/normal golf balls? :confused2: I never knew that!!

===== /QUOTE ====



:bulgy-eyes:
Click to expand...

Seriously! I didn't know that and because I'm still new and learning the sport, a lot of things I question because I do not know! There's nothing wrong with that!!

Posted from my BlackBerry using BerryBlab
 
When I lived in NW Arkansas, we had a local 9 hole course with a "range" that was actually a lake. They had target barges anchored that could be moved around for different distances as targets. The balls floated and they just waited on the wind to blow them all to one side and retreived them with a net. If it was a totally calm day (seldom), they had a small boat with an outboard that they could wrangle the balls if needed.

The balls were about 10-20% shorter than standard balls. It didn't matter as much because your perception of distance is skewed over water due to the lack of landmarks.

The 8th tee was beside the range and from the back tees required a 200+ yard carry to reach the fairway. It was a neat course.
 
Thats right GC, the only bad question is the one that didn't get asked. Some places range balls started out fine, but after being hit thousands of times are not the best for regular play, but work for a range where most people are working on direction and limbering up more than distance. I have played places with great new balls, but thats very expensive for a course to replace very often.
 
At the local city ranges, they have regular range balls and they supplement them with balls found on the course. It is like a treasure hunt to find a new top of the line ball in the bucket. I hoard them for the end of the range session and use them for my last few driver swings. At least they are regular balls that aren't hard as a rock and fly real distances.
 
I always assume that any range that is <=250yds is using limited flight balls. It doesn't really bother me as I have my club distances pretty well dialed in so I'm just at the range to work on my swing and try to get accuracy nailed down. I do mind a few of the courses that have range balls that actually sting you on pretty well struck shots. I think they're using the Srixon range balls, but unless you absolutely pure it, they'll give you a ton of nasty feedback. I no longer go back to those places.
 
Re: Range Balls

Re: Range Balls

C-Tech said:
When I lived in NW Arkansas, we had a local 9 hole course with a "range" that was actually a lake. They had target barges anchored that could be moved around for different distances as targets. The balls floated and they just waited on the wind to blow them all to one side and retreived them with a net. If it was a totally calm day (seldom), they had a small boat with an outboard that they could wrangle the balls if needed.

The balls were about 10-20% shorter than standard balls. It didn't matter as much because your perception of distance is skewed over water due to the lack of landmarks.

The 8th tee was beside the range and from the back tees required a 200+ yard carry to reach the fairway. It was a neat course.
Click to expand...

That's right I think you were the one that mentioned that.
 
clg82 said:
I only use the range for working on my swing tempo/technique etc....never for distance....the range balls at my course are hard as a rock as well so they feel solid everytime i hit one even if it slices or hooks.......I think when we were golfing this past weekend someone said they lived by a "floating range".....what are those and I wonder how effective those balls are for distance if they float?!?
Click to expand...


I hit "floaters" once at a range on the Buena Vista course at Disney in Orlando. They're even worse than the "limited distance" balls I've hit here. They're so short that I was using a 9-iron to reach a the 100 yard target, which was surrounded by water (thus the need for "floaters").

They're called floaters because when they go into water, they usually don't bury themselves in the mud below and are easier to harvest, but they don't actually float, they're just a little more buoyant than a regular golf ball.


-JP
 
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