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Coaching InformationAll golf balls look the same, but do they perform the same?
by:
Bill Ritchie
Finding the right ball for you is just about spin, feel, distance, and price.
Just like golf clubs, golf balls must fit the golfer, and as with clubs, you must match the golf ball that better complements your specific swing and style of play.
Golf balls, though not inexpensive, are low-cost enough to allow a degree of experimentation. You should try some brands and types of balls before subsiding on one.
Distance and Spin
Today’s golf ball is just about acquiring the 2 basic factors of distance and spin correct.
The flight (launch angle), provides the distance, and the spin provides better control of the golf ball.
Launch or flight angle is determined first by the driver, and then next by the golf ball.
If you already driving the ball long and accurate, possibly the spin and feel of the ball about the green is more important.
Some top golfers wish fit the golf ball, from the spin and feel of a ball about the green, back to the driver. Others wish go from distance with a driver down to the wedge.
There are trailing devices used by professionals and ball manufacturers that track the flight and launch angle of the ball. The higher the COR of a ball , the higher the speed this gives, but with a more lower feel to the ball
So what should you be looking for to get more distance through a better launch angle?
If you have, a low hand speed, then a ball that has high spin would-be give more optimum lift, therefore more distance.
Conversely, a. higher hand speed would-be be better with a low spin.
Of course a side
to the higher spin ball, is that if you hit it incorrectly, then you wish besides put on the ball more side spin and the ball could go further off to the right or left of centre!
Feel
It is the core that determines the compression and the hardness or softness of the ball. The outer cover wish determine the lastingness and spin.
The old balata balls gave lots of spin and a good feel, but were less good for ball flight, or durability.
The Top-Flite Strata golf ball, introduced in the mid-1990's, make the 1st 3 piece ball.. It incorporate a high-spinning, soft-feeling Tour Balata type of ball, with the low-spinning, long-flying, and durable Pinnacle or distance ball.
This remarkable three-piece ball, was, indeed, two balls in one: It was a long-flying/low-spinning distance ball off the tee, and a high-spinning control ball off the irons.
They achieved this by adding a soft ployurethan cover on what was virtually a Top-Flite distance ball, and then adding a thin middle or mantle layer that cased the ball's already large and solid rubber core.
A few years later, balls such as Titleist's ProVI, Maxfli's M3 Tour, Callaway's Rule 35, Nike's TA2 (both the Long and Spin models), and others, including new balls from Strata, improved on Strata's innovational breakthrough, by up the lastingness of their ester
outer covers and devising them dilutant and firmer for accessorial distance.
At the same time, advances in rubber systems allowed ball makers to design cores that were more energetic or "faster," for even as more distance on shots hit with the longer clubs, piece maintaining a good soft feel.
Tour balls today, can provide good distance, lastingness and spin, but at a price.
What is better for you?
If you have a high hand speed, then a higher compression ball, like a ‘DT’ ball, possibly better.
With a slower hand speed, a lower compression ball like the ‘Maxfli noodle’ would-be probably suit. (I am not a representative of either golf ball manufacturer).
The manufacturer, today, can do a ball with a large rubber centre that feels soft like the low-compression balls of years past, but flies far with a lot of initial ball speed like the old high-compression balls.
Therefore, it is wise now to see what it says on the box, and try them out. You wish be astonied at how some balls react.
Price
Tour golf balls are still the best, but are a high cost to pay.
Perhaps a happy medium is the mid-price range, which wish provide good spin or distance characteristics, without having to pay through the nose. Plus if you lose those golf balls, then possibly you won’t need to spend as long looking for them.
Be honest with yourself, what is the ideal for you, is it distance or feel, or a happy medium all round.
Good luck in your ball fitting.
Simply just about the author:
Bill Ritchie runs a site dedicated to providing great golf tips, from the basics through to elaborate tips, and practice drills, to help improve and enjoy your golf, plus topics on rules, fitness, nutrition, sloping lies, bad weather, history, and playing
articles.
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