I Have A Confession - Golf Balls & Putting

JB

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Every time a new ball comes out I read about how people struggle with the different feel/performance off the putter or are looking for a certain something off the putter. As many know I am a big believer in ball fitting and/or finding the right ball for the individual and I think feel and performance should be a factor.

But clearly in the online world I am in a huge minority because I am not sure I have ever noticed a difference with balls and putting. I believe I have tested every single ball that has come to market over the last few years+ and hundreds of putters at hundreds of courses and have never noticed a single difference in putting with golf balls.

There it is...My confession.
 
I never noticed feel or sound different but I have noticed a ball coming off the face a bit dead if that makes any sense. Also let me add, when I say I notice a difference its with a normal or premium ball compared to a junk ball or a range ball or something.
 
Completely agree with you, JB. As long as the ball rolls when I hit it with my putter, it passes the putter test.
 
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I never noticed feel or sound different but I have noticed a ball coming off the face a bit dead if that makes any sense.

Nope...Makes no sense at all. :D
But again, its my confession and clearly I am missing something, because so many seem to see a performance difference in golf balls and putting.
 
Some balls are more clickly like a pinnacle ball and some are more muted like a Pro V1

Edit: I putt the same with both
 
Nope...Makes no sense at all. :D
But again, its my confession and clearly I am missing something, because so many seem to see a performance difference in golf balls and putting.

I edited my post for clarification.
 
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Some balls are more clickly like a pinnacle ball and some are more muted like a Pro V1

Scientifically? Or that is what you have found.
Reason I ask is I have never noticed a difference in how they perform and unless I am in a sound tunnel, dont think I have heard a difference either. Like I said, its clear I am missing something, hence the reason for the confession.
 
Nope...Makes no sense at all. :D
But again, its my confession and clearly I am missing something, because so many seem to see a performance difference in golf balls and putting.

This is interesting to me. I remember when I did that Chromax Ball testing the golf ball felt almost like a rock coming off the ball. It was certainly an extreme example, but It was a much different feel/sound to me than say a B330-RX or something.
 
That's funny, because the only thing I think I've ever noticed is sound, which then I think I incorrectly translate to feel.
 
Every time a new ball comes out I read about how people struggle with the different feel/performance off the putter or are looking for a certain something off the putter. As many know I am a big believer in ball fitting and/or finding the right ball for the individual and I think feel and performance should be a factor.

But clearly in the online world I am in a huge minority because I am not sure I have ever noticed a difference with balls and putting. I believe I have tested every single ball that has come to market over the last few years+ and hundreds of putters at hundreds of courses and have never noticed a single difference in putting with golf balls.

There it is...My confession.
I can certainly tell a difference when it comes to cheap balls, I can't stand the high pitch click of a cheap ball off the Putter. And by cheap ball I mean Pinnacle, not a non urethane ball.

But beyond that it doesn't bother me in the least.
 
I can't tell you that one ball rolls different but I will hear different sounds from different balls. It does not affect the putt what so ever, just a different sound.
 
I do notice a difference, both in feel and sound, especially when it's a change from soft to hard. I might struggle a bit in terms of distance the first couple of putts, but 5 minutes on the putting green and I'm completely accustomed to it.
 
Scientifically? Or that is what you have found.
Reason I ask is I have never noticed a difference in how they perform and unless I am in a sound tunnel, dont think I have heard a difference either. Like I said, its clear I am missing something, hence the reason for the confession.

I mean I dont have a golf ball sound/feel machine if thats what you mean by Scientific haha... Just my own personal feel when I hit the two side by side. Given a blindfold I dont think I tell the difference but I could tell it was two different balls.
 
Maybe the sound might be different but wouldn't that change depending on the environment you're in? I don't know.
I don't notice anything different either. I'm usually so focused on the speed and the line of the putt rather than how the ball is going to perform.
Honestly, I think I could putt just as good AND bad with cheap balls.
 
prov1/prov1x/sr2/sr3 probably would not notice the difference putting

Pinnacle/NXT/Hex Warbird/x2hot I would def notice a difference vs. the above mentioned balls
 
Maybe the sound might be different but wouldn't that change depending on the environment you're in? I don't know.
I don't notice anything different either. I'm usually so focused on the speed and the line of the putt rather than how the ball is going to perform.
Honestly, I think I could putt just as good AND bad with cheap balls.

So I am not alone. :D

This reminds me a lot of the shaft testing we did on the road blind.
For some reason most said they preferred the feel of heavier steel. So we took 7 shafts, label free and gave them to over 20 golfers to test on the range at THP Events. All but 3 picked the lightest shaft in the group based on feel.
 
The only performance I can ever see that determines any difference with any of the balls I have tried is MY PERFORMANCE. :)
 
I've only encountered it with balls at the opposite ends of the spectrum, and I freely admit that it might simply be foreknowledge of their properties beforehand...I'm expecting a soft ball to feel/sound softer than a "tour" ball.
 
I am a huge "audible" guy

I remember when I switched form the Srixon Zstar XV to the Bridgestone B330 in the middle of last year. The first thing I noticed was the different sound off of the putter

The Bridgestone was a more muted, lower tone, while the ZStar XV was higher pitched with a bit more "click" to it

 
I don't really notice a difference in sound between balls, but I did hear a little louder noise with the monsta ball compared to the Bridgestone e6 when putting. I haven't noticed any performance difference with putting though
 
I used to agree, but when I was reading the comments in the monsta balls forum testing, I saw that some found it "clicky" so I had to test that.

I had to try 6 kinds of balls, on 6 different putters to find one putter where the insert made a different sound between some balls. they all rolled the same as far as I could tell, but I understood the sound difference that some people were refering to.

now having said that, do I care? No. Does it make a difference to me? No.
 
I have never noticed much of a difference in performance. I find it silly when people say they have.
 
I have noticed a difference in sound, but I don't think that doesn't anything to effect how I putt or how the ball rolls. I generally don't notice a difference and I am more worried about the stroke.
 
Heck I remember being on the putting green at The Hideaway with Sabella and him talking about the SR Series vs the HEX Black. He said one of the biggest pieces of feedback they got from their tour players was that they didn't like the sound of the HEX Black off of the putter - they wanted something that sounded more muted and deeper. We then rolled a HEX Black and SR3 side by side and I could hear the difference right away.
 
I am a huge "audible" guy

I remember when I switched form the Srixon Zstar XV to the Bridgestone B330 in the middle of last year. The first thing I noticed was the different sound off of the putter

The Bridgestone was a more muted, lower tone, while the ZStar XV was higher pitched with a bit more "click" to it



I hate to be that guy. Controlled enviroment bouncing the ball in a living room near hard floors and walls is 1 million percent different than a single stroke outdoors where factors are uncontrollable. No way I can tell a difference and I test them daily.
 
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