Hopkins Ball Testing 1-16-2014- The Hitting Lab Bellingham WA 45*F
Review #1: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...Forum-Review&p=2712323&viewfull=1#post2712323
I spent my lunch hour today at the range near work. I putted with my Seemore M1, chipped with my Scor 54*, and was comparing the Bridgestone B330-RXS, Srixon Qstar, Titleist NXT Tour and these Hopkins balls.
Putting:
I set up putting about 15 feet across the green towards the fringe to warm up and to feel how the greens were rolling for speed. Greens were a bit moist, and the grass thin. The greens did roll fairly decently albeit somewhat slow. I noticed again the Hopkins ball feeling a little harder, with a bit higher of a pitched sound off the clubface. This matched fairly closely to the NXT Tour. The B330-RXS had the lowest pitch and softest feel to me, with the Qstar feeling and sounding somewhat in between. I will quantify I don't have the best hearing, but the difference was noticeable to me.
I set up to roll putts from about 15 feet, taking turns rolling each one after the other from the same spot, then repeating from the same spot. Each time, results were consistent among all 4 balls. I did not really notice any one rolling further or less than the others. The difference in feel and sound was noticed, but did not seem to make a difference on how the ball came off the face or where it ended up.
I then set up an uphill putt from about 20 feet away, trying to get something I would have to go after a bit more. Again, results were pretty consistent among all four balls. The sound and feel difference was more pronounced from this distance, but if I put a consistent stroke each time, I got comparable results regardless of the ball.
I then set up to about 5 feet for some softer shots on a flat area. Sound difference was minimal here, but I still could feel the B330-RXS being softer, but I couldn't feel a difference betwen the Qstar, NXT Tour, and Hopkins.
Overall, performance was as good as I could expect from any ball when putting. I didn't feel I had to adjust my swing at all ball to ball to get comparable results. I was pretty happy with what I saw.
Chipping:
I then set up about 4 feet off the green and worked on chipping the balls at a pin 30-35 feet away with my Scor 54* wedge. With this setup I tried to get the ball to land about 10 or so feet from the fringe and roll up towards the hole.
Feel off the wedge was quite a bit different than the putter. The hardness of the ball seemed to be more noticeable, but still not really enough to bother me too much. The sound added to that and it felt similar to hitting the range balls I'd been hitting prior. Again the NXT Tour was fairly comparable, though did feel a little better to me. Qstar again inbetween with the B330-RXS feeling softer and a less obnoxious sound off the face. Spin was noticeably different as I could see the B330-RXS check up then roll quite a bit more than the others. The Hopkins ball seemed to roll out the furthest by two or three feet, with the QStar and NXT Tour within about a foot of eachother. All 4 would consistently be within about a 4-6 foot range, with the B330-RXS typically short, and the others a bit past the pin.
Last thing I did was set up about 3 feet off the green in a bit of fluff so I could try to flop some up to a closer pin. The pin was about 10 feet away and I was trying to land it about 8 feet out. I wasn't able to stop any of them, but the B330-RXS did check up most naturally. The others rolled out fairly similar distances, with the Hopkins again being just a foot or so more.
At this point I ran out of time and had to get back to work. Thinking back on this, any of the shots with any of the balls I would have been happy with. I am admittedly bias to liking the B330-RXS as I do like the softer feel and have been playing it for a while now. That said, with the results I saw today, I would not be hesitant to put the Hopkins balls in play in the situations I was in.
I am planning to play at least 9 this weekend so will get some in play thoughts on some full shots and off the driver then. So far, I am pretty impressed with them. I'm still kind of torn on the sound and feel, but the performance is not bad.
Review #1: http://www.thehackersparadise.com/f...Forum-Review&p=2712323&viewfull=1#post2712323
I spent my lunch hour today at the range near work. I putted with my Seemore M1, chipped with my Scor 54*, and was comparing the Bridgestone B330-RXS, Srixon Qstar, Titleist NXT Tour and these Hopkins balls.
Putting:
I set up putting about 15 feet across the green towards the fringe to warm up and to feel how the greens were rolling for speed. Greens were a bit moist, and the grass thin. The greens did roll fairly decently albeit somewhat slow. I noticed again the Hopkins ball feeling a little harder, with a bit higher of a pitched sound off the clubface. This matched fairly closely to the NXT Tour. The B330-RXS had the lowest pitch and softest feel to me, with the Qstar feeling and sounding somewhat in between. I will quantify I don't have the best hearing, but the difference was noticeable to me.
I set up to roll putts from about 15 feet, taking turns rolling each one after the other from the same spot, then repeating from the same spot. Each time, results were consistent among all 4 balls. I did not really notice any one rolling further or less than the others. The difference in feel and sound was noticed, but did not seem to make a difference on how the ball came off the face or where it ended up.
I then set up an uphill putt from about 20 feet away, trying to get something I would have to go after a bit more. Again, results were pretty consistent among all four balls. The sound and feel difference was more pronounced from this distance, but if I put a consistent stroke each time, I got comparable results regardless of the ball.
I then set up to about 5 feet for some softer shots on a flat area. Sound difference was minimal here, but I still could feel the B330-RXS being softer, but I couldn't feel a difference betwen the Qstar, NXT Tour, and Hopkins.
Overall, performance was as good as I could expect from any ball when putting. I didn't feel I had to adjust my swing at all ball to ball to get comparable results. I was pretty happy with what I saw.
Chipping:
I then set up about 4 feet off the green and worked on chipping the balls at a pin 30-35 feet away with my Scor 54* wedge. With this setup I tried to get the ball to land about 10 or so feet from the fringe and roll up towards the hole.
Feel off the wedge was quite a bit different than the putter. The hardness of the ball seemed to be more noticeable, but still not really enough to bother me too much. The sound added to that and it felt similar to hitting the range balls I'd been hitting prior. Again the NXT Tour was fairly comparable, though did feel a little better to me. Qstar again inbetween with the B330-RXS feeling softer and a less obnoxious sound off the face. Spin was noticeably different as I could see the B330-RXS check up then roll quite a bit more than the others. The Hopkins ball seemed to roll out the furthest by two or three feet, with the QStar and NXT Tour within about a foot of eachother. All 4 would consistently be within about a 4-6 foot range, with the B330-RXS typically short, and the others a bit past the pin.
Last thing I did was set up about 3 feet off the green in a bit of fluff so I could try to flop some up to a closer pin. The pin was about 10 feet away and I was trying to land it about 8 feet out. I wasn't able to stop any of them, but the B330-RXS did check up most naturally. The others rolled out fairly similar distances, with the Hopkins again being just a foot or so more.
At this point I ran out of time and had to get back to work. Thinking back on this, any of the shots with any of the balls I would have been happy with. I am admittedly bias to liking the B330-RXS as I do like the softer feel and have been playing it for a while now. That said, with the results I saw today, I would not be hesitant to put the Hopkins balls in play in the situations I was in.
I am planning to play at least 9 this weekend so will get some in play thoughts on some full shots and off the driver then. So far, I am pretty impressed with them. I'm still kind of torn on the sound and feel, but the performance is not bad.