Every golfer has heard the old saying “you drive for show, but putt for dough”. While that may be true, we also know that Nike had one of the funniest sports commercials ever with the slogan “Chicks Dig The Long Ball”. That ad spot may have pertained to the great sport of baseball, but it still holds true to an extent in golf (substitute “chicks” for “any golfer”). Nike has come up with a way for golfers around the world to enjoy the long drive in their new golf ball the Crush. According to the box it is longer and straighter….We wanted to find out if that was true.
From The Company
Nike Golf has designed a new golf ball that provides explosive distance and powerful precision, and it has a name that is symbolic of its performance. The new Nike CRUSH ball is designed for golfers who are motivated by out driving everyone in their foursome and then owning their bragging rights. Aiding golfers to “crush” the ball, the Nike CRUSH combines a softer compression core, optimized cover design and new DMC Coating® to reduce unwanted side-spin and maximize ball velocity for straighter, longer distance. The larger and softer, high energy core provides high velocity and delivers unrivaled feel. The Directional Micro-Composite Coating or DMC Coating® is the first of its kind; a smart coating that is designed to lower spin for driver shots that would normally slice or hook.
“I believe we’ve done a great job designing a longer and straighter golf ball for a wide range of swing speeds at a mid-tier price, “said Rock Ishii, Director of Product Development for Nike Golf balls. “CRUSH is a natural fit for those who love the game and want to continue to evolve as better golfers.”
Optimized for driver head speeds of 80-95 mph, the newly designed thin, two-piece ionomer blend cover enhances greenside feel and playability while increasing ball speed and maximizing distance off the tee. The Nike CRUSH features a 312-dimple design that produces lift for longer carry and consistent ball flight.
First Impression
Nike was kind enough to send over a few boxes of the new Nike Crush golf ball and our initial thoughts were that the packaging was really good. For the most part the box is blue and white/silver, but it has a metallic shine to it that draws you in. They also went with the smaller box similar to the rest of their line that I still prefer. The ball itself has the swoosh as a logo of course and then “CRUSH” with two small arrows as a putting alignment. The alignment aid is done in a dark blue. The dimples are clearly a mixture of some very large mixed in with some more normal sized and the cover had a nice shine that was begging to be hit.
Initial Testing
We grabbed 6 golfers and went out to the 17th hole on the THP home course and teed it up in the fairway, which is a straight away drive, and we put a line of tape right down the middle. We told each golfer that they would hit 16 drives, 8 with their current ball of choice and 8 with the Nike Crush. The instructions were to alternate shots from one golf ball to the other. Each one of these players had an average swing speed of sub 95 mph normally and we wanted to see if the Crush added anything distance and accuracy wise to their game as promised by Nike.
Golfer 1 – Averaged 3.2 yards further with the Crush and 4.7 yards closer to the center line.
Golfer 2 – Averaged .6 yards less with the Crush and 3.9 yards closer to the center line.
Golfer 3 – Averaged 5.9 yards further with the Crush and 1.2 yards closer to the center line.
Golfer 4 – Averaged 8.2 yards further with the Crush and 4.3 yards closer to the center line.
Golfer 5 – Averaged 4.8 yards further with the Crush and .3 yards closer to the center line.
Golfer 6 – Averaged 1.0 yards further with the Crush and 2.9 yards closer to the center line.
As you can see by the results, all but one player averaged more yardage with the Crush than with their current ball. To top that, all of the 6 golfers were more accurate with the Crush than with their current ball.
Course Testing
The following day we took them out on the course to work on the entire game and see how the ball stood up. We had an entire foursome use them and see what their thoughts were. I got to try them for the first time as well, but more on that later. Not a single person had anything negative to say about them off the tee. Each one of us saw great distance and a solid ball flight. It was more of a penetrating ball flight than a high flight and it climbed up and stayed up before coming down. One thing to note is the consistency of the flight. Not a single person saw a ballooning ball all day and that was just fine by us. Approach shots were extremely straight and still climbed high enough to land softly. Not a huge amount of spin on the greens, but that is to be expected out of a 2-piece ball geared for distance. Around the greens and putting we saw some nice feel…Again, not going to be the same as a tour level ball in the amount of spin, but putting especially felt good and gave off a good audible sound. Many distance balls sound and feel clicky, but that is just not the case here. All four golfers played well with them and when it comes to amateurs, finding the fairways is king, and these seem to fly straighter for the entire testing panel.
My Thoughts/Rant
I have said before that I believe that more than half the golfers that play this game would score better if they played the appropriate golf ball for their game rather than the ball they “think works best because the pros use it”. But this is not the place and I am not the person to make that speech. However I will say that I believe these same golfers would score better and enjoy the game more with a ball like the Nike Crush. I am not paid by Nike or anybody else for that matter, and there are no ads on our site. But a golf ball designed to go straight is what every golfer needs, and our testing showed that golfers gained both distance and accuracy. I will gladly sacrifice a small amount of spin to hit most fairways and while playing this ball I did just that. I hit more fairways with this ball than I have in a long time (14 of 14 during 1 round) and while that is not going to help anybody else, it has me converted to finding the right ball for me. I wish and hope more people will do the same.
Overall
So what did we learn about the Nike Crush? Most in our testing saw an increase in distance, and all saw an increase in accuracy. The Nike Crush is designed for players with the swing speed between 80-95 (Crush Zone) and our findings completely back it up. It features a 312 dimple pattern and a compression of 63. To the average golfer that means very little, but the results do not lie. With a street price of around $22 it is quite a bargain as well. We started this review with a great Nike slogan of the past. “Chicks Dig The Long Ball!” What we will finish with is that apparently women and golfers have a lot in common, because we dig the long ball too. For more information on the Nike Crush or any other Nike Golf products, check out their website at www.nikegolf.com.
Till Next TIme
Josh B.
