rilesaustin

I played the RX for 9 holes yesterday and the XS model yesterday and today (18 holes) I used the same XS ball for  oth rounds
RX final review - 70/100
RX- I was fitted for this ball via Bridgestone website based on several factors,  the most distinguishable being my swing speed. I have kept and played the same 2 balls for 5 rounds.  ( I did lose 1 ball halfway through a round)
Off the Tee Box- 8/10 
The ball flies lower, even with teeing it up higher. It rolls out pretty decent too. Average driver landing distances were 200-220 plus 15-20 yards roll out. Where I took away points was for the flight path. It did not want to launch at all! On par 3s I really had to try to get it to pop up, and it didn't want to stop or check where it landed.
Fairway play- 9/10
The RX, much like off the tee has a penetrative flight. It didn't want to lift up, and still rolled out.  This was a blessing and a curse for me.  On long approaches I could tag a 3 or 4 wood amd send the ball out and know it would roll 30 or 40 yards more most of the time.  The bad part was not being able to control my fades when it doesn't get high enough to move the way I wanted it too. I would end up selecting a wood or hybrid over using a 6, 7, 8 iron just for distance reasons.
On and around the green- 7/10
Lost points based on a simple fact. The ball just didn't check or stop! I could land the ball within 5 feet of the pin, and it just would roll out past the hole... forever!!! And if I overshot the pin by a small amount,  I knew I was 2 or 3 putting to get back to it. Or worse, roll completely off the green. Some can argue I should have played a modifed shot based around the balls characteristics , but I don't think I should. Putting just came down to feel and control,  which is 100% operator errors in my opinion.
Durability- 10/10
These balls can take a beating!  Errant  shots off trees, roots, paths, hard pack dirt, you name it,  and remains very playable! The cover is resilient!!!
THE MINDSET PROCESS/LOGO- 10/10
I am 100% on board with the process that it provides! Identify Visualize Focus! With or without the logo in place, I have adopted this "mindset " mantra into every shot, everytime. It was almost a seamless transition integrating this into my routine. For me the logo just acts a reminder to think through my shot process. I do occasionally use the logo as an aid on setting up a tee shot, but it's not required. 

Bridgestone Mindset Tour B XS Review
After about 320 shots over four rounds, as well as a multiple wedge/putting practice sessions, I am confident enough to give my full review on the Bridgestone Mindset Tour B XS ball.
Pro’s -
Excellent spin inside 150 yards Spin control on chipping is one of the best out there Distance is great - about the same as my current ball Durability is good too, especially out of the sand Con’s - 
As a 3 handicap, the Mindset logo is actually kind of distracting. I personally like a clean white ball For me, it’s a little bit too spinny off the tee End Result - 
I actually used to play this ball up until last year. I currently play the TaylorMade TP5. The Tour B XS is a pretty comparable ball. After the review, I am still going to play the TP5. However, if I were to switch balls again, I would likely go back to the Bridgestone Tour B XS - without the Mindset logo. 

Today I will perform a head to head challenge with the RX vs XS mindset balls. As much as I enjoyed playing the RX, it is lacking in stopping power for me, so I hope the XS may prove more worthy of my needs.

12 holes yesterday (what typically play as that's like 2.5hours and then I catch up to the decrepit slow golfers that make it take 2.5hours for the last 6 holes [emoji1787]

Anyways....alternating back to mindset, like I noted when I ignored everything I learned with mindset was like flicking a switch. Fairway percentage not reflective of how well I drove the ball, as I ripped one 3 bills on the 3rd hole which I then stuffed a 2i to 18 feet just off the green and made an easy birdie. Birdied the other par 5 as well after hitting it 286 down the middle and knocking a wedge from 80 yards to about 10'. Putter was hotttttt [emoji91] made everything the first 6 holes, then a couple loser swings on the last 3 holes (started to get pretty windy (~40km/h) and I didn't commit to some shots. Overall I think mindset is absolutely helping show where the weaknesses in your game are and giving you some tools to address it.

I think I've got another 3 rounds or so with mindset before I hit that 10 round testing. But I've seen enough data now that I can probably give a conclusion. Now the real test will be with the gamer ball following the mindset principles....or if that logo/ball combo is the reason for improvement [emoji848]

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Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Won my first tournament with these balls this weekend! 
 
Had 2 penalty tee shots that I can truly say I didn’t follow the pre shot routine of the mindset balls. All the others were full commitment to the shot and play. One drive was 350 yards on a par 5 that converted to a missed eagle putt and made the tap in birdie. 
 
They are playing extremely well and the mindset is amazing as well as the alignment tool. 
 
I’ll still test the my gamer with similar mindset graphics, but if I continue shooting lower scores, I may just switch. 

Second round (well, 9 holes) with the 1.1 ball from my Tour B RX dozen.  It survived!   Previously, I played 18 with this ball over the weekend and it went well.  A few scuffs from the first round, and I think MGS would say toss it, but we have developed a relationship.  We might start taking selfies.
Tuesday was my league night.  Nine holes on my home course, lift and place, generally an easy round.  That said, it was the best round (9 holes) of the year for me.  I was three strokes below my league index.  Championship!
Again, I have been taking lessons, and working on my game, so I can't give all credit to the Mind Set balls.
That said, I like the process.  To review:
Picking a target seems obvious, but it's not.  Take your time, pick a target.
Visualizing is the hardest part.  Not sure how we do that.  Any tips?  Eyes closed?  Picture the swing?  Picture the result?  First person?  Third person?  Gah!
And focusing on the green dot:  not always visible.  But pick a spot and concentrate on that.  Quiets the cacophony in your head.  It really seems to work.  Best part of this ball. 
Again, another green dot etc. to visualize on the ball would help.  
Someone asked if we use the Mind Set logo for an alignment aid.  I don't.  I am not an alignment aid kind of guy.  I view putting as more of an art more than a science.
That said, so far, I am a believer.  Still on ball 1.1, so we will see.  I have been a student of 'ready golf' and playing fast, so taking a minute to slow down has been helpful.  Looking forward to holes 28-46 with ball 1.1 this weekend. 
I don't really have any notes on the balls distance, spin, etc., I am more interested in the Mind Set (tm) system.
On to Cincinatti.
 
 

Much better round today using the process. I still think "visualizing" my shot is a weakness. I "plan" what I want to do, but don't always "see" the shot before hitting it. I am better at focusing on the green dot and the ball on the tee and green, but I am hit-and-miss when it comes to doing that if the Mindset graphic isn't showing. For putting, I think I need a longer line for lining up my putts, the little orange arrow doesn't do it for me. In fact, it could be longer for more functionality everywhere as far as I am concerned.

I just got a dozen shipped to me and it was exactly the excuse I needed to get out for a quick 9. I receive the Bridgestone Tour B RX and they performed great. Bridgestone has slowly been working its way into my game a bit more recently and these performed great. I can't say I noticed a huge difference hole-to-hole but I did find myself feeling confident as a I stepped into shots by having the brief yet easy to remember routine at address.
 
Will need to use them some more to see if it was a happy coincidence but I did find they took my mind off high pressure shots a bit which was great. What's the highest pressure shot in golf? The tee shot when a group lets you play through and are all watching. Had this come up on the third hole and I definitely felt the shift in focus by walking through the process and proceeded to hit one of my better drives of the day. Endorsements may not get better than that.

I have five rounds with the Mindset under my belt.  The latest was playing our back nine twice yesterday due to aeration.  
I know that there's a significant difference between correlation and causation.  In golf, it's often hard to totally separate the two at times.   With only five rounds in, it's tough to single out if the Mindset process has yielded my recent string of consistent golf or it's just a hot streak that coincides with introducing the Bridgestone ball into my game.  
Discounting the one round immediately after food poisoning (assignable cause) I've had my best score...ever (75), no double bogies in my last 48 holes and only five double bogies total in four rounds.   It's probably the most consistent golf I've played for a long time.  Is it due to the Mindset process?  Tough to say.  There are so many other variables that come into play.  However, I can safely say that it likely helped and certainly didn't hurt.  

Great fun to be a part of this one! I received mine just in time to play 9 holes on Sunday morning and figured first impressions are worth something, right?
A quick background, I am a weekend warrior nowadays. I got ok playing high school golf (20 years ago) but my game was much different back then.  Mostly, I’ve happily gotten quite a bit faster (110-115 mph) but lost my feel in the short game…that’s golf I guess.  I’m looking for a ball that can out-perform either the Srixon z-star or the maxfli tours that i normally play. 

 
So I spent some time going over the videos to internalize the theory.  I think “mindset” is a really nice, tight technique that could really help stay present for each shot, which is something that  I have been working on, but can sometimes forget to do.  It’s also refreshing to see something a little different to differentiate the normally boring alignment lines.  Though I have been practicing heads up putting lately, I still believe that the theory will be helpful.  However, it cold and rainy really put some pressure on my ability to use the mindset technique for my first go.
Two things initially stood out.  First, I found myself really liking the technique off the tee and on the greens, but forgot about it on a few approach shots.  I hit some good shots despite the bad conditions, and I believe that the technique really helped.  Second, the BX is a monster in the wind, it cut through much better than my normal maxfli tours, really impressive because I quite like that ball. 
I'm excited for my next round. Hopefully in the sun. 

I’ve been having a lot of success with finding more fairways using the Bridgestone. My shot scope data thus far backs that up, with a lot less penalties taken. 
 
While I don’t love the ball, I will be doing some experimenting with this using my normal Prov1. I’ll draw something similar to the green and red circles on the ball. I do think this ball is giving more purpose for tee shots especially. 

I’ve been having a lot of success with finding more fairways using the Bridgestone. My shot scope data thus far backs that up, with a lot less penalties taken. 
 
While I don’t love the ball, I will be doing some experimenting with this using my normal Prov1. I’ll draw something similar to the green and red circles on the ball. I do think this ball is giving more purpose for tee shots especially. 

I’ve been having a lot of success with finding more fairways using the Bridgestone. My shot scope data thus far backs that up, with a lot less penalties taken. 
 
While I don’t love the ball, I will be doing some experimenting with this using my normal Prov1. I’ll draw something similar to the green and red circles on the ball. I do think this ball is giving more purpose for tee shots especially. 

I’ve been having a lot of success with finding more fairways using the Bridgestone. My shot scope data thus far backs that up, with a lot less penalties taken. 
 
While I don’t love the ball, I will be doing some experimenting with this using my normal Prov1. I’ll draw something similar to the green and red circles on the ball. I do think this ball is giving more purpose for tee shots especially. 

I had my first round with my Bridgestone Tour B RX Mindset ball.  Here's what I got between my round and the averages for the last 15 rounds:
Fairways hit:  Today:  93% (with the one miss only a foot off the fairway in the first cut); 15 round average:  72%.  Shots gained by tee shot went from -1.42 to -0.40 with the one round on Mindset. Greens in regulation:  Today:  17%; 15 round average:  21%.  However, my approach shots that were short went from 64% to 48% with more misses long, left and right.  Average proximity went from 121 ft. to 109 ft.  Short Game:  Today:  Average up and down=56%, average proximity:  19 ft. and shots gained 1.78.  For my last 15 rounds:  Average up and down=49%, average proximity:  14 ft. and shots gained 1.51 Putting:  Today:  26 putts, average first putt distance:  10 ft.  Total distance of putts made:  58 ft., strokes gained: 1.83.   For the last 15 rounds:  28.1 putts, average first putt distance:  12 ft.  Total distance of putts made:  40 ft, strokes gained:  0.54 As I mentioned in the VCT post, "once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is a trend."  So far, I think I have a good accident in the making!
Going through the round, I noticed it was easier to apply the Mindset steps on the tee and green.  In the fairway, I still went through the steps, but had to focus on something other than the green dot as it wasn't always visible.  
I also consciencely made a change in my pre-shot routine.  My previous tee box/driver pre-shot routine consistence of the following:  tee the ball up, back up behind the ball while tagging the club with my H4, pick my target, find a spot about a foot in front of the ball along my target line, walk up to the ball, take one practice swing, find the spot, align the driver on that line and let it rip (as much as a rip a 72 mph driver speed can generate).   Today, I entered the visualize step after identifying/picking my target spot.  The good news is that could replace picking the target spot in front of the ball with aligning the Mindset graphic to my line.  I found for me, the practice swing after walking up to the ball seemed to distract me a little from the Mindset process.  So, a few holes into my round, I took the practice swing while I was behind the ball and before Identify and Visualize.  That way, all I needed to do was identify the line, visualize the shot, walk up to the ball, align myself to the Mindset graphic and go.    Again, for me, it seemed to let me stay focused on the three steps in succession.
So far, so good!  I can only hope that this improvement is sustainable.  If so, the one downside is what am I going to do with the nine dozen Maxfli Tour S, two dozen Snell MTB Prime, two dozen of Srixon QStar Tour and one dozen of OnCore Elixr balls I have sitting on the shelf?

I've gotten a couple rounds in recently with the Tour BX mindset balls.  I've really tried experimenting with the mindset aspect of it. I have found that I definitely like it better with the arrow pointing back toward the club for some reason.
The mindset has really seemed to help my putting recently compared to several pervious rounds with other balls, but I haven't noticed the same performance advantages off the tee.
 
 
Strokes gained with other balls

Played the other day doing some ball testing. Played the front 9 with the Wilson Triad and the back 9 with the Bridgestone BX. Took the Bridgestones out of the sleeve and teed off on 10. Got to the green, marked my ball and noticed the paint was coming off the ball. Not sure if the paint came off when it landed in the rough or off the wedge shot but I checked the used ones I had in my bag and there was no scuffs whatsoever. Not sure if just an anomaly but this was in the same box as the other ones. Any of the testers/samplers notice this at all? 

That's awesome!!!
Nice breakdown of the timing!

Today, I did a little experiment with the Mindset ball (Tour B RX for me) in my back yard chipping and putting green to assess the time between approaching the ball and executing the shot using both Mindset and "non-Mindset" set up philosophies.
I simulated a driver off the tee, a fairway shot and putting.  Truth be told, my pre-shot routine captures two of the steps of the Mindset process:  Identify and Focus.  Once I place the tee in the ground or walk up behind the ball in the fairway, I'll tag my club with my H4, identify my desired landing area, pick a spot in front of the ball to help my aim, align my feet and focus on a spot in back of the ball.   What I'm missing is the Visualize step.   For putting, my pre-shot routine (after reading the putt while others are putting out), I'll stand behind the ball, pick my spot, visualize the path (why on my putts and not on any other club is beyond me), take a one-handed practice swing to get the feel, place the club behind the ball and stroke it.
In this exercise, I started the clock assuming the tee and ball are in the ground.  For fairway shots, the clock started when I walked up behind the ball.  For putting, I started the clock when it would be my turn approaching the ball from behind.  I took five swings using my existing pre-shot routine and five swings with the Mindset steps added.  Here's what I found:
For the driver:  I averaged 16 seconds (rounded) with my existing pre-shot routine and 17 seconds with the Mindset.  That yielded a second difference mostly attributed to adding the visualize step.   My driving is pretty consistent.  I tend to hit 75% of my home course's narrow fairways with a straight or slight cut.  So, it won't take me too long to visualize as I only have one shot.  On the course, there may be a few seconds added to align the Mindset graphics on the tee to my intended line.
For fairway shots:  I averaged 13 seconds with my existing pre-shot routine and 15 seconds with Mindset.  The shorter overall timing was mostly due to eliminating the walk back from the tee to behind the ball that I had from my drivers.  I found the extra two seconds were associated again with visualize and picking a spot on the ball to focus on as I couldn't always depend on the graphics showing up each time.
For putting:  My normal pre-shot routine yielded 18 seconds while the Mindset pre-shot routine was up to 23 seconds.  Here, I made one major change in my pre-shot routine by taking the extra 5 seconds to align the Mindset graphics with my intended line.   I only took five putts, so there's not enough data to suggest that it made any difference at all.  We'll have to see when I get the 10 rounds in.  
Overall, I didn't perceive any significant time added to my existing pre-shot routine by adding the Mindset steps.  With that behind me, now it's time to take Mindset to the course!