Equipment
Why you should always use the same ball
When it comes to testing equipment and playing golf, there is one piece of absolutely essential gear—the golf ball.
You use it on every shot, and it has the ability to change how the rest of your equipment performs and feels. As far as testing is concerned, the ball is one of the easiest things to experiment with, but it also leaves many golfers often switching back and forth between brands and models, which is never a good thing for consistency. This is why regardless of the brand or the style of ball you choose to play, you should use the same one every time for the best opportunity to shoot your lowest scores.
Eliminating variables
Even though most manufacturers have lines of golf balls that closely mirror performance characteristics, there are going to be one or two options within the spectrum that will perform their best for you. Kind of in the way shoe manufacturers all reference the same sizes but how they fit depending you your feet can be vary greatly.
Beyond just the performance, because of the nature of golf ball design and materials used, there will also be a substantial acoustic difference, which depending on the golfer, will have a big impact especially in the short game, which is where more than 75 percent or your shots are taken.
The factors a ball will affect the most
- Short game feel
- Spin in all facets of your game
- Carry distance
- The amount of check and releasing on chips and pitches
- Directional misses right and left caused by increasing or reducing spin on full swing shots
How to decide
There are a lot of factors when it comes to choosing the right ball for you, and most golfers would see the biggest improvement in their game if they started by comparing short game performance and then slowly evaluating shots further away from the green.
Most golf balls are going to show similar numbers with the driver unless you are looking to optimize a particular ball flight. For example, in the Titleist line, there is a noticeable difference between the apexes of the Pro V1x, Pro V1, and the newest AVX ball, which launches and spins the lowest of the three.
A premium urethane cover ball is always going to offer the greatest amount of control, but depending on the factors most important to you as an individual golfer, you might find the greatest success in a different category. If you prefer to see short game shots roll out more to your target instead of stopping quickly, an ionomer or surlyn cover ball could be the best choice.
Regardless of the ball you choose to use, sticking with the same one over time is going to help provide greater consistency to your game. I’ve heard too many stories of golfers used to using a two-piece switch to a premium urethane ball for a “big event” or important round and suddenly struggle with distance control on putts and short games shots because of the softer feel and increased spin—resulting in approaches coming up well short of the target.
This is just one example of why, regardless of your preference, you should find one that’s comfortable for you and stick with it.
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Whats in the Bag
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 4: Some old, some new
We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
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Alfredo
Sep 6, 2020 at 7:36 pm
Great article and I could not agree more. I have been playing Bridgestone/Precept for over 25 years and just can not find a better ball. I have tried numerous ‘other balls’ but they just don’t cut the mustard. Recently it has been revealed that the Nike ball Tiger was playing was a Precept/Bridgestone ball, oh my!
Rich
Sep 6, 2020 at 12:45 am
Don’t scrimp on the ball. Even if you lose a sleeve per round, you only save a few bucks by purchasing bargain golf balls, and you sacrifice a tremendous amount of performance.
These days, the top quality balls travel just as far as “distance” balls. The only differences are the cost (minor) and their performance around the greens (major).
But if you must save money, buy a tour ball from a company like Snell, who can give you tour performance at a much lower price–about the same as you’d pay for other companies’ 2nd-tier balls.
I play the Snell. If I thought for a moment that the full-priced ProV1 provided even a slim advantage over the Snell, I’d gladly pay the premium. Again, if you lose a sleeve per round, it only comes to about 7 bucks difference. Given all the other costs of playing golf, it is a small difference. (And no, I don’t lose 3 balls per round!)
Speedy
Sep 4, 2020 at 3:17 pm
Ball sense and otherwise.
Unless you’re a pro, world-class amateur, or other choosing to partake of official butt-tightening competition.
1. Play good condition balls you find, not caring about their normal price categories.
2. When buying new, low-price or mid-price on sale. Never premium, unless they’re 2fers.
3. Switch whenever you want.
4. Have fun in all climates.
Fredo
Sep 4, 2020 at 7:58 pm
Get your scratched up Nxt tour, velocity ole hex diablo found in the rough. Cheap self.
“This volik sure is pretty bright doesn’t stick on chip shots but it sure is pretty bright”
Ole this top flight gamer v2 is pretty solid ole pinnacle goes a mile cause it’s hard as rocks miejer clearance section opinion outta here