Recently, we’ve spent a great deal of time discussing Volvik’s expansive line of golf balls. While the company is probably best known in North America for its bright colors and unique designs, it’s important to know that they also offer a full line of Tour inspired golf balls. From firm to soft, three-piece to four-piece, Volvik manages to cover just about every base when it comes to this segment.
The XT Soft is the company’s offering in the very popular and competitive “soft” urethane ball segment. This type of ball seems to get a ton of play in amateur bags, especially with those players who have moderate swing speeds that want great greenside performance but prefer a softer feel on full swings. At $39.99 per dozen, the XT Soft seems to offer an incredible value and we were excited to give it a try.
Key Technologies
The XT Soft is a three-piece urethane ball that Volvik classifies as having a 70-compression rating. It’s by far the softest Tour ball in their lineup and is intended for golfers with a driver swing speed in the 75-95mph range.
The core, which Volvik says is, “designed to maximize energy transfer rebound and added distance for moderate swing speeds,” contains a NdBR rubber blend. While we admit to not possessing any notable level of expertise in chemistry, we learned that this stands for Neodymium-based Butadiene Rubber, which the company describes as “high-resilience”. What does that mean to us? At its most basic level, it means the golf ball is going to efficiently transfer the energy coming from the golf club into speed, especially with slower swings.
The V-Hybrid S1 mantle layer, positioned between the core and cover, is made of an ionomer compound, and is “engineered to boost speed while optimizing spin performance through all clubs,” according to Volvik. This should translate into lower full-swing spin, especially with the driver, ranging into high spin with wedge shots.
The thin VU-X2 urethane cover is designed to be durable while providing high levels of greenside spin. It utilizes what Volivk calls a “336 Perfect Symmetric” dimple pattern designed to produce a mid-high trajectory, stability in all conditions, and consistent performance shot to shot.
Finally, the Volvik XT Soft features the same three-line V-Focus alignment system that we saw on the Vivid and Vivid Combi balls. It’s unique in that it can be utilized in a couple distinct ways. When the lines are placed parallel to the club face, they can give a visual reference for setting the face square to the target. When placed perpendicular, they operate like a standard alignment line we see many people use for putting. In addition, the center “bullseye” area provides a great point of focus at address.
Looks, Feel, and Performance
Unsurprisingly, the XT Soft feels soft and pliable in hand, giving plenty of confidence that the ball will spin around the green. The cover is among one of the brighter shades of white we’ve seen recently. It’s hard to describe the feeling, but when you look at and hold the XT Soft it feels like you’re playing something different. Some of that may be due to the logo standing out, especially with the contrasting black and blue lettering. Also, the alignment system is just novel enough to catch your attention. There is definitely something intangible that makes you excited to set the ball down in front of the club.
It should not be shocking to hear that the XT Soft provides an incredibly plush feeling at impact. People love soft golf balls for a reason, often because it makes almost any impact position on the face enjoyable to some degree. That was certainly the case here, with center strikes feeling like almost nothing at all, and shots elsewhere being at least palatable. Direct comparison with a well-known “firm” Tour ball revealed just how pleasant the XT Soft could feel. For the sake of those unfamiliar with the brand, this Volvik ball reminds us of options like the Chrome Soft and Q Star Tour. While not exactly the same, you should find instant comfort with the XT Soft if you like the feel of either of those balls.
In general, we found that, on full swings, the XT soft produced medium ball speeds, high launch, and slightly less spin than some of the other current “Tour” golf balls on the market. These conditions resulted in close-to-average distances, thanks in large part to the combination of launch and spin. The XT Soft seemed to produce trajectory ranging from mid high to high, resulting in descent angles that indicated the ball would stop quickly on well struck shots into the green.
For example, an average 9 iron saw slightly lower-than-normal ball speed at around 98mph, launching at a very high 27 degrees with 5,696 rpms of backspin. Even with these slightly lower speeds, carry distances still ended up around 130 yards at over 90 feet peak height, which is a typical distance this time of year.
The soft urethane cover and mantle layer seemed to shine with shorter swings. We took a variety of shots in the in 50 to 80-yard range with a 54-degree wedge and found plenty to like with what we saw.
| Ball Speed | Launch Angle | Backspin | Carry | Total | Height |
| 54 mph | 30 degrees | 6,905 rpm | 52 yards | 52 yards | 30 feet |
| 63 mph | 30.5 degrees | 7,678 rpm | 70 yards | 70 yards | 44 feet |
| 71 mph | 29.5 degrees | 7,638 rpm | 82 yards | 83 yards | 51 feet |
Again, in general we saw slightly higher launch and slightly lower spin than some Tour level balls produce for us with these shots, but the end results were very much in line with what we’d expect in terms of carry and stopping power. As a total package, the XT Soft is an extremely playable, great feeling ball that should give very solid short game performance, high trajectory, and reasonable distance, especially for players with lower swing speeds.
Details
- The Volvik XT Soft is available at volvik.com
- $39.99 per dozen
- Available in White or Yellow
