We spend lots of time selecting our clubs, clothes and shoes. The selection of the golf ball is often quick. It may be the last ball you found in the woods when you were looking for your golf ball.
Golf Ball manufacturers talk about swing speed, three piece golf balls, urethane cover over rezin mantel, distance off the driver and spin around the green.
It is a lot to understand.
Selecting a golf ball can be simpler.
A pro once said to me that the most important thing about a golf ball is to select one and always play the same one. The reason being is that all golf balls behave a little differently. By selecting a golf ball to play, you will learn how it reacts when you hit it. You will be able to anticipate what it will do. Will it float high and land soft? Or will it land and run along the ground?
Do you need to pay $5 a golf ball to get a good one? No.
New golf balls which are 18 for $15 are better than a used golf ball which has been sitting in the bottom of a lake. A new golf ball will travel higher and further than an old ball. It will give the best option of carrying a hazard. And old golf ball will not compress as well when hit and will most likely end up in the water again.
So how do you pick a golf ball?
Getting “fitted” is one way. Many golf ball manufacturers offer fittings at local golf course or retail store where they put you on a swing analysis and then have you hit different golf balls to see which one results in an optima flight path.
Or you can do some testing yourself. Try this
Go to a putting green and put down 3 or 4 balls of different types on the green. Putt each one at a target. Feel the feedback when the club and ball met. Listen for the sound the golf ball makes when ball and putter meet. Watch how each golf ball rolls when you hit it with the same stroke. Which one feels and rolls the best to you?
Repeat this exercise chipping the same 3 or 4 golf balls around the green. Again listen to what it sounds like when you hit it, what it feels like. How the ball rolls out. Hit each ball until you can see or feel a difference.
Now based on both tests which two golf balls “feels” best to you?
For me I like a golf ball which feels solid when I hit it. It does not sound like hitting a ping pong ball nor does it feel like I am striking a rock. It feels like a knife going through butter.
There is not vibration and the sound is just “right” for my ears.
Take the two golf balls you liked the best and get a sleeve of each. Go play a round of golf. Play one ball type exclusively for 3 or 6 holes (⅓ your round), then play the other for 3 or 6 holes (⅓ your round). Note how the ball comes off your driver and rolls along the ground. Does it fly high or low most of the time? Which one did you feel more confident with? Play the last 3 or 6 holes with the one you liked the best.
When you are done the one that feels the best and makes you feel confident is the right one for you!
Swing Away!
Kate Collins
The Den Caddie
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