Talking balls! Ten things you should know
'As a general rule, the harder the ball, the more vibration off the clubface and the less you pay for its services. It will go far, but go hard and it’s a nightmare to chip and putt.'
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Donnay Pro One golf balls
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Golf balls can become a minefield of information. While manufacturers bombard us with hyped up specifications about core, velocity and aerodynamics, our playing partners tell us their favourite brand is the best thing since ‘a power fade’ became the new ‘sliced!’
I’ve tried to brush away the jargon and get to the nub of the subject. Hopefully Golfmagic visitors will now be able to speak with more authority when talking balls.
What you pay
Golf balls can cost you a small fortune - upto around £12 for a sleeve of three as used by the pros - or can cost you nothing, if you can find them in the long grass, under a boundary hedge or retrieve them from a water hazard.
Most of us will shell out £1 to £2 for a ball or even less if we’re not too fussy and pick and mix from the Lake balls basket in the pro shop or buy them in packs of 15 or 18.
What you pay is what you can afford to lose. If you’re guaranteed to keep it on the fairway and pretty straight, you can afford pay a little extra for a good quality ball that will keep spin to a minimum off the driver and therefore fly further, yet fizz to a stop with a lob wedge from 50 yards out.
It’s also nice if it feels soft off the putter face and drops in the hole with regularity from longer distances.
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Cut-away of a ball
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As a general rule, the harder the ball, the more vibration off the clubface and the less you pay for its services. It will go far, but go hard and it’s a nightmare to chip and putt.
Pro balls
It used to be the case that professional golfers always used to use the soft cover balls that spin and suck on the greens. Pros were also able to work their magic with straight-faced clubs round trees with a fade or draw at will.
Not any more. Speaking to former US Masters champion and 2006 Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam recently he’s still getting used to the modern ball.
Without going into too much detail about the core and cover of a ball, it’s suffice to say that pro balls have the harder consistency of a cheaper club golfer ball to enable top players to blast them further. However they are also easier to spin and control around the green, chiefly because of the thinner yet still resilient covers stretched over them reacting with modern cores.
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Lee Westwood examines the Wilson True ball
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Unfortunately for some players like Woosnam, whose key skill was being able to a) hit the ball a long way with persimmon-headed clubs and b) create upto four yards of draw through the air, the modern ball goes further and straighter. It can make even the average driver look good and the good drivers, out of this world.
Flight characteristics
This is mostly down to the dimple pattern and aerodynamics. Thousands of man (and woman) hours are spent in front of a computer working out just how many dimples you can put on a spherical golf ball without losing performance.
I’ve seen balls fired mechanically from a robot striking machine that dive less than 100 yards straight left like a duck hook, because they lacked sufficient dimples.
Others will soar skywards because they had too many or weren’t configured correctly.
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This Top Flite ball claims to be both long and soft
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The tendency in modern balls is to make them to create a high launch angle from a straight-faced driver in ideal conditions, yet have a certain degree of penetration in the wind. Modern balls also deviate less in flight, so are harder to use for a player who likes to shape shots.
Durability
The pro doesn’t need a ball to last – though there is a story, as yet unsubstantiated, that Sandy Lyle, once used for a whole tournament, one of balls Bernhard Langer cast aside after a couple holes!
He or she hits it pretty straight but also pretty hard and fast and when using the deep grooves in their wedges from tight lies in the fairway or from bunkers, a ball can quickly get a little worse for wear.
Shards of plastic will shave off the surface and reduce the ball’s effectiveness, not to mention the chances of it getting out of shape under powerful, explosive impact with a clubhead.
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Aerodynamics are vital
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What’s the point of making it last when a manufacturer on the range is even prepared to pay you to use and endorse their product with an unlimited supply.
It’s only the likes of you and I that demand durability. Sure we’ll lose a handful every month but we expect a ball to last at least two or more rounds, especially if its one of those Top Flites, Molitors or Pinnacles where the protection is painted on a little thicker.
Where to get the best deals
Our best advice is to shop around the stores and websites. There are so many balls out there, we’re spoiled for choice and as Golfmagic members have often told us, some of the original packs and brand models from two to three years back, still stand the test of time.
Why so many balls?
You have to realise that leading brands have to answer to share-holders who demand constant investment in research and development as well as worldwide marketing activity to keep products in the public eye.
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Callaway’s big Bertha Blue ball
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That’s why there’s always a fast-turnover in products – not just balls – but clubs, shoes, bags and clothing – so the brand can be seen to be keeping up with and ahead of its rivals.
The Dow Jones, Nikkei and FTSE 100 index should be investing in grass roots golf as well as encouraging golf club innovation.
Sell by dates
Golf balls don’t really have a sell by date – not enough for the average golfer to detect anyway – such is their high quality craftsmanship and packaging.
Most of our commercial partners have excellent deals where you can often buy a year’s supply of good quality balls for under £50.
Which ball suits you?
As I’ve explained it’s mostly down to personal preference and brand snobbishness.
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A sleeve of balls can cost upto £12
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You’ll pay more for a top of the range Titleist, Maxfli, Nike, Callaway or Srixon but even for single figure golfers, a Pinnacle Exception or Top-Flite XL are perfectly acceptable to maintain your skill standards.
How courses can dictate the right ball
Much depends on the course you play most regularly in finding a ball most suitable for you.
Common sense dictates that if the greens are small and well protected you need more control from your approaches, so a performance ball that imparts more spin is more appropriate.
If you play on one of the wide-open, treeless course we find on the edge of the Fens, a distance ball would probably be the one to choose, especially if the greens are large, too.
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Maxfli’s A10 – still one of the best two years after launch
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There’s a compromise, of course – a ball that flies far and spins when you want it, might fit a lush parkland course with well-protected greens or a seaside links.
Compare two balls in one round
As we’ve said before, if you’re unsure, ask your pro to select a hard and a soft ball from his stock and test one against the other’s performance for nine holes. You’ll either be convinced by one or totally confused!
With balls…as with most things in life – you pay’s your money and takes your choice.
*Tell us about the balls in your bag - as well as the clubs, shoes, waterproofs – by submitting a
user review
And if you’ve got equipment to buy or sell second hand you can do that too, in our unique
classified section.
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Discuss this story
i compared these at the practice ground the other day.
prov1
prov1x
nxt
nxt tour
precept u-tri tour.
i used five of each. there was quite a stronge left to right cross wind. i hit wedges, six irons and then drives.
i have a swing speed of about 87 with a six iron - i think that equates to 108 with a driver, although i'm not sure about this. i hit my irons with a slight draw, bad shot a pull hook. my drives are erratic with, again, a bad shot being a hook but the occasional high pushes to the right.
it was difficult to tell spin rate and the like with a wedge as i was hitting off a matt onto an upslope and it had been raining earlier in the day so the ground was wet. but the v1 and the v1x seemed to go further than the others.
with a six iron the v1x dealt with the wind much better, in fact the wind didnt seem to have much of an effect on he flight. it went further than the others. the prov1 seemed to get caught itn eh wind and any tendency to go left to right int he swing was exagerated. the nxt went straight but had a baloony trajectory and the nxt tour seemed to have the worst of both worlds. te u-tri went a little high but didnt seem ot get too badly blown around and had an average-ish distance.
with the driver the u-tri was the best. i have always tended to blast pro v1s all over the place and this was the case, they hooked or sliced and also as they had a high trajectory caught the wind. the 1vx had a lower and straighter tajectory but not the ditance of the u-tru or 01v. the nxt was a bit harsh, but went pretty straight and far. the nxt tour agin seemed to fall btween two stools - not far and not straight. the u-tri went noticeably further than any of the other balls, the trajectory was high but still straight in the wind and it felt really good of the driver.
for me i would say the u-tri was the best all-round ball. it went pretty straight, really far had a good trajectory and felt good of the club. it didnt go very far from the irons but then the driver distance makes up for that. the 01vx was really good in the wind, especailly from the irons and it had a great flight, but it lost a little from the driver - maybe i dont swin the club fast enough and did notice of you dont catch it flush with the irons it isnt forgiving. the 01v spins too much sideways for me from the driver. it does go far and it feels a lot softerand i am sur its great around the greens but its too wayward off my driver for me. the nxt does what is says on the tin - hard straight and far, but little feel. the nxt tour seemed to have the worst of all worlds for me, average at everything, good at nothing. typical, seeing as i just bought a couple of dozen of them
all this was done the other day and it wasnt so cold, but i know that balls behave differently in the cold, so i'll probably play the u-tri until it gets nippier and then go to an nxt or something cheaper when i run out of them.
and if you're wondering why i'm wasting so much time on something as pointless as this i am afraid i have no answer for you.
Posted: 29/09/2005 22:48
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