Did changing my ball really improve my game ?

 This isnt a does a better ball improve your game question !

Interestingly is the opposite. I have been using Titleist exclusively for a good six months now and have tried so lo nxt and even pro v1. In hw main ive been using NXT's. THe other week I lost my ball and was a bit lazy so I hit a found ball I had in my bags pocket. This was a nike extreme distance ball so was rather firm. Anyway I kept tha ball for a roudn and a half and didnt seem to slice or have much of my usual fade and it got me thinking and reading on the net.

I read that better player balls are designed for spin and therefore for a high hnadicapper may exagerate the slice or hook.

I then went out to buy  abox of new 'cheap sad distance balls' and all i could get were dunlop Quadra so I bought them for the experiment and was willing to suffer the sahme of t-ing off with them ( only joking). Needless to say I have been playing my best golf for 6 months and am knocking in 5 or 6 pars a round so something is going right.

1) Is this theory genuine and do low spin wallies balls give you a straighter shot( all be it at the expense of not stopping)

2) Can anyone recomend a similar ball easy to get hold of and worth trying that doesnt say ' Dunlop ' on it :P

Alls going very well at the mo and I havnt said that for a long while !

Regards Mas

i have moved from titleist balls to srixon,mostly ad333 or soft feel but today i used a srixon distance ball and with the greens being a bit damp didn t notice the lack of stop being affected but must agree my ball didnt fade or draw quite as much.

   on the subject on cheap distance balls i think you will find top flite are a decent quality cheap alternative.

   hope this helps

I'd say the reason your game is better without the ProV1 is because you are now just hitting the ball and not worrying about where that expensive proV will get lost in the trees and deep rough.  As a 24 HC, I would assume that you don't hit a lot of fairways so losing those little expensive balls affects your swing thoughts every time. 

Mas,

When I had my custom fitting at the Belfry they recommended me using the Titlelist NXT Tour as this was firm enough to eliminate side spin but also soft enough generate enough backspin to launch the ball into the air. I swapped balls & although my handicap has stayed the same I do find more fairways & greens!!

John.

Mas,

I like yourself have gone through a load to try and find one that is right for me, i have tried Ad333', NXT's, So lo's, HXT hot, CB1's and mojo's to name a few and have had differing success.

I currently use Warbirds and i cant recomend them enough, they have a soft feel (but not to squishy) and they are very long. Also due to the soft feel i seem to be able to stop them well enough from wedge shots. The only thing i would say is that they do seem to cut up more than other balls so after a full round they seem to get a bit "feathery" and suffer from bunker marks.

Also if you can get past the dumlop name the dunlop LOCO's are very good and for £6 for 12 you cant go far wrong. If you perfer a harder ball then the old classic DDH cant be knocked but they do feel like a stone off the face.

I think that the main thing is to try loads, and see what you like. and then stk with them. Then you cant blame the ball when your game is going through one of those patches.

Let us know how you get on.

Dan

Interesting thread, which has raised a lot of different questions.

I feel it is a negative step to use equipment designed to counteract faults in a persons game, be it a ball or an offset club. Far better to spend the time to learn how to strike the ball correctly.

It is well known that I have only ever used a balata ball and the reason for that is that when I first started playing that is how all balls were made. Now of course, they all claim different characteristics to help  different  situations and different players.

I think that the most important is to find a ball one likes and then stick with it, my preference being the very cheap Top Flite Z-Balata, which is a soft feel ball, does not go very far but is excellent around the green.

Even the long distance balls can be used effectively around the greens, just that a different method is needed.

You should treat yourself to another ball now John, yours is probably getting on a bit by now....

It is not only the ball that is getting on a bit, Tim.

You are entitled to our opinion, Paul, but I like them and as I have used them for many years I know exactly what I am getting with them. I think you are correct in that they may be defunct over here now, as Tesco have wihdrawn them from sale. but I still have three boxes, so no panic yet.

Mas,

Great thread by the way. but i'm confused. you have been playing your best golf for the last six months now using the Dunlops. I too have been playing great golf since using there LoCo balls, but my local Sports world ran out so bought the quadras, (not uesd them yet)

what i don't get is why do you want to find a different ball? so what if it say's dunlop on it. as you can see from my handicap i'm doing well and will ONLY use dunlop as they've helped my game.

all i can say is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

stay with them fella, they have served me well!!

no, i don't work for Dunlop

I've heard such good reports of the Dunlop Loco's that i finally bought some at the end of last year, only played three rounds so far this year but i'm sure there's been an improvement in my game especially chipping,( only 26 putts last round ). mind i have lost three balls in our lake but i know for a fact that there are ball magnets under the water lol. anyway at £8 for 24 it certainly helps the pension, so i hope they,re still available if not i'll certainly try the quadra's.

Give em a go mate. See how they are.

Yeah, saw some "super crazy long" and LoCo MAD, which apparently stands for Maximum allowed distane! (whatever)

Bought em anyway to see how they go.

It is true that the better balls will impart more spin onto the ball, thus if you hit the ball with sidespin then it will go offline and into the rough.

The distance balls are the ones that don't have a high spin rate so if you impart sidespin onto the ball then it won't go as far wide.

The thing that we all need to do is find the golf ball that suits our swing/standard of golf.

Russ

Z-Balata with a fan club of one - me.

I have just purchased 6 dozen on ebay for £39.95, should last till next week.

Two types of Ball I used to play before switching to Titleist (well they threw them at me) were the Spalding Tour Edition and the Wilson Pro Staff [the origional ones].

I still play Titleist by force of habbit but would like to try the Tour Editions again.

I have three Hole-In-One Balls, 1xPro Staff and 2xDunlop DDH's

 I've of the opion that a ball's a ball. I like most fall into the trap (which I've come to the conclusion, is based around supersttion) of playing with the same type of ball until I go through a bad spell and change my ball. However, if you're playing well with a certain type of ball, why not stick with it.

 All that said, the main priority for my ball of choice revolves around my short game, predominantly putting.

 Well Drew, you can't say fairer than that. What do I know?