BMart519

Just before the results were published I bought 1 dozen (used): Pro V1, V1X, Tour Speed, Z Star, and Tour BX. I had some Tour B XS and RX as well as NEW Z Star XV for on course testing over the 2nd half of this season. I now have a bunch of balls that fit well for a Mid Speed guy with aspirations of working towards high speed. The '19 ball test settled me on the Z Star (non-XV) and made the Tour BXS my default ball. As an equipment ho always looking for the latest and greatest fix. In the search of distance, I wanted to test other balls and like the last TP5X. The ball lab quality data raised some questions about any non-Titleist ball above which increased this curiosity. The '21 / '19 tests in addition to on course tests with the balls above have led me to the following: - HOT TAKE: disregard the ball lab quality data on the Z Stars and Bridgestone, it didn't generate any real world performance issues that MGS published - I've never used refurbished and they will continue to go direct to the short game shag bag - confirmed the BXS as my ball moving forward as it doesn't seem to give up distance to the balls above and gives me best greenside performance (and scores) - Z Star will be my back up and I will buy new balls to compare with used when they go on sale for 50% off ($27/doz in Canada, Snell is $43 in bulk FYI) - aerodynamics/spin are important as the longest balls are not strictly the ones with highest ball speed, in a windy area - this requires special attention - In a pinch I will play a Tour Speed or RX, especially if holding a green is not a concern. But Pro V1 are the best Titleist ball for me and I will keep handing V1X off to friends when I find them. Unless I approach scratch or play in competitive events, I have not encountered any problems with used balls to justify spending $40+ per dozen on new balls. Z Star is the only tour level ball that gets close to the price of used balls ($1-1.50 each) in Canada at $27-37/doz. Titleist/Callaway/Bridgestone are $65/doz NEW, which isn't happening when I can get used for $15-20.

When this is what happens to your worst tee shot, take it as a sign you're on the right path Ride the 3w until it goes cold and you get driver figured out. Nearly 4 SG improvement is a nice result. What is your average GIR on that 9? Looks like you averaged about 235 with 3w dropping that last hole which is comparable or higher than your average driver distance. (But shorter than your good ones).

When did this happen? There are no shortage of online club reviews... This is a huge part of what TXG does.

Interesting session last night. Decided to significantly change my intention to: make a slow, wide backswing with the left arm pushing the club back as far as possible. Then almost pause at the top and plant the left heel to initiate the downswing. This is a feel that is really close to my gamer swing and was leading to good contact in my warmup. the result: set personal bests at all weights for both single swings and averages. Weather was nearly 20 degrees colder than seasonal, so that would have been working against me compared to previous fast days. Resumption of weight training on the FFG 101 program is definitely helping move past this plateau and eliminate muscle pain with 2 of my past 3 sessions being at or above previous all time bests.

Start with the ball teed up 1" above the ground so that even if you hit down on it that it will strike close to center of the face. Then slowly work up towards 1.5" and possibly 1.75"... Even with negative AoA this should center the strike on the top half of your driver face and may lead to some surprising results and consistency from not trying to alter your swing so severely by swinging up. Should also eliminate issue #2 for practice at home to at least get some reps in. An AoA between 0 and -2 struck on the top half of the face will likely have better launch conditions than something off the bottom or heel of the face hit with a +2 AoA

240-250 average off the tee would get you around a HCP of 0 according to Shot Scope data, seems like a reasonable compromise until you figure out driver. Honestly, anything 220+ and straight will allow you to play good golf on a course up to 6300-6500 yards. On the flip side, you only hit 1 drive past 250 and it wasn't even in a position to play to the green and you averaged around 220 ignoring the skyball. So I wouldn't focus on giving up 15-25 because it wasn't there this round or with your current swing. If you are on the tee box concerned about where driver is going, it's not going to end well very often. You need to commit and let it fly or shelf it. I was in a similar position and then saw that I had 2x the number of penalties off the tee with my 2H than driver from "playing safe".

It was the MTB Black... This was the chart I was thinking of but forgot both Snell balls were tested, thanks for posting. My opinion is the shot area is either a function of spin/aerodynamic consistency or ball quality/consistency, at least relative to the test pool - with smaller being better.

Great analysis and since you took the time and have the interest, I figure you would be the best person to pose the question to: If there was no commentary in the 2021 ball test about outliers that went significantly offline, high/low, etc., do you feel the quality data from the individual ball labs influence ball performance during flight? If memory serves, the MTB-X was one of the most offline with driver in the 2019 test, which I find more concerning than a measured difference of 3 compression points between the pole and seam and some of the other criteria used to identify a ball as bad.

Interesting results in this test comparing the R10 to the GC2+HMT. fairly consistent bias with swing path to the left and excessive negative angle of attack. Ball speed and carry looked great. But the face/path data causes some weird side spin calculations. Will be interesting to follow as more reviews come out.

Carry is within 1-3 yards and should be the priority vs total. It had the least rollout, which should be viewed as a positive IMO for better control on approaches. You can’t compare total distance for irons and wedges as the shots weren’t hit into a green or there wouldn’t be 16 yards of rollout on an 8 iron.

Expanded the game above to 40 and 50 footers after getting down to 16 putts when working up to 30'. Took 66 putts on the first attempt up to 50'. Then added a Play 9 session where I have to shoot par or better to work on random distances and estimating effect from upslope and downslope... Must have took an hour (on Summer) and was quite frustrated by the end. But I clearly need to sharpen up my distance control as confirmed by 4x 3 putts on Friday, so the frustration was well deserved. This was my routine to start the season when I was down around 32-33 putts per round which has crept up to 36 range recently. Going to get back at it a few times a week and see if that get my putting closer to a 5 HCP than a 15...

Funny that the Bridgestone B XS is lower launch and spin than the BX, similarly with the regular Z Star vs Z Star XV. At mid speed anyway... Seems like some marketing material needs to be updated. As Tony mentions in the article, there really is minimal differentiation between balls other than the top or bottom 5 for each test. I was surprised to see such little difference in roll out on the 55 yard shots between high spinning balls and the lower compression/low spin balls like the Tour Speed and RX/RXS. Based on this information, I don't see anything conclusive pointing me toward using Titleist balls given the mark up. My confirmation bias was satisfied that the Tour BXS works best for me or close to it based on how I score on the course. The only thing I plan on comparing is if the 2 Z Star balls are actually shorter off the tee as shown in the data. With Srixon regularly going on sale for 33-50% off in Canada (and making it cheaper than Snell or Vice with shipping and exchange rate), hard to argue against that ball unless information from the MGS Ball Lab can quantify performance impacts from the perceived quality issues with the balls. They are also in a price tier below Bridgestone for used balls and another tier below Titleist.

You guys are all making me feel a lot better about my choice to pay up from the Bushnell Pro XE at this point...

Why would you order new irons if the numbers were all the same? Unless you were switching from steel to graphite to try and reduce joint pain.

The testing pools are not large enough to have that level of statistical significance, you also see this when the same club is tested multiple years with different players. There would need to be hundreds or thousands of testers at each speed. On the flip side, it shows how much variation there is based on how someone delivers the club head. Which is why all anybody says is get fit, or go trial them at a store. I was able to find a driver that was longer with tighter dispersion because my previous club was a random off the shelf pick based from online reviews and knew nothing about clubs. I would save the $9 on True Golf Fit... The best way is to go in for at least 2-3 sessions to try 5-6 heads with different shafts (there will be day to day variation in your swing as well). Then compare the 2 clubs that performed best against your gamer, ensuring you finish the sessions with your gamer so you aren't hitting your current driver first thing getting out of your car. Then the fitter says BINGO, this new driver increased your swing speed 3-5 MPH when it was just you getting warmed up and it no longer than your current club on the course.

Pretty hard but the general trend in the most wanted results usually points to Ping being amongst the most forgiving drivers. Callaway and Titleist seemed to fair well this year as well. Default to the 'forgiving' models, TSi2, Max, XB in Cobra, etc. The fitter can dial in from there.

The unit doesn't read spin so this is a factor on lofted wedges as well as a limited window of launch angles it can read. Unless you are delofting a SW or LW, the ball probably leaves the read area quickly which reduces accuracy. The company isn't going to do anything to fix the sensor.

I agree with the shorter rough concept. A recent Fore the People podcast just discussed this course. Sounds like pace of play is 5-6 hours because there is a bar and smokehouse on the Par 3 12th hole where most groups spend 30-40 minutes eating, drinking, and heckling other groups as they tee off.

Do it next year and start it 2 or 3 months before your season starts. More of the tracking and gameplay comes out in the last 3 months.

1) Search for "TPI assessment" and perform the tests to see if you have limitations in t-spine rotation or external shoulder rotation 2) Google "improving external shoulder rotation", find exercises, do them... OR 3) See a physio to cover steps 1 and 2 above if your google machine isn't working. OR 4) Get the "Fit for Golf" app/subscription or follow him on Twitter and you will see multiple exercises and assessments over time.

I own a copy of LSW and have a 6 month Decade membership. The dispersion circle concept is the same in Decade, except it is shown at the end of the cone for tee shots. The major difference is LSW doesn't talk about specific widths of your dispersion circle. The most specific numbers are the penalty buffers which are either 5/10 or 10/20 yard offsets from later hazards/OB. If you are not going to put the effort in to spend hours on a launch monitor with all or half the clubs in your bag to calculate your dispersion circles with each club, there will be less value in the specific approach strategy to Decade and the LSW approach will get you 80-90% of the way there in terms of strategy. A big aspect is learning where the center of your dispersion circle is relative to your aim: if your shots finish on average 10 yards right with long irons and 20 yards right with driver, do you know that number and are you taking it into account with your aim on each shot. If you slice driver 30 yards, you might need to aim at the edge of water on the left or within the "penalty buffer" from LSW. That said, there is tons of valuable info, videos, and tools in the Decade app and subscription from putting and range drills to mental game scorecards, etc. I would say the 6 month membership (which often gets discounted) provided more value at 3-5x costs of the LSW book. Even seeing the practice stations that Scott uses to maintain his skill level as a +5 handicap is helpful to improving your game. I've read multiple books Scott has suggested as well as subscribed to the Waking Up meditation app on his recommendation.

Played the #4 ball last night and hit side by side with the 3 on a few occasions. 3 seemed slightly softer, I use my hollow body G700 4 iron off the tee as it is loud especially on mis-hits. Minimal performance difference on full iron swings. These are 2 tee shots that ran out to 225 with the 4 iron. Couldn’t do that again if I tried. Full swing performance into greens is mostly of the one hop and stop variety. Full 8 iro : Full 9 iron which backed up off an up slope: 2x 70 yard shots with lob wedge off downhill lie. Landing spots were different slopes so unable to judge run out. Was only able to hit driver twice. Had 1 wipey heel slice with each ball. I would say the #3 ball curved a bit less. Ball flight seemed higher with the #4 but would need more data with consistent strikes. Nothing from this test would discourage me from playing the #4. Next time will play the #3 with a few side by side shots with the 4 sprinkled in.

Random coins from foreign travel: Mexico, Slovakia, Poland, etc. Or coins from Canada and the US with special edition images on them.

TGF should be viewed as a way for you to spend $10 to get an idea of 1 or 2 drivers to demo. Any assumption those would be the best fit for an individual is wishful thinking. I was able to fit myself into better off the rack options than the top 2 suggestions (M5 and G410). To be fair, their 2nd place suggestion (G410) likely would have been my next selection or close to it. (TS3 or Epic Flash would have been close).

Tricky bit about these numbers is the first 4 sessions of each program are at "gamer" swing. Afterwards you are instructed to swing at a maximum, which is probably around 5 mph faster than you would use on a course other than the long drive hole for your scramble. What is your average drive on course? I would be interested to see how these numbers "stack" up against real word performance for yourself as well as @mr.hicksta and @dlow206 I average 250 on all drives according to Shot Scope and my Performance Average on good shots is around 270. My gamer swing speed is around 100 mph versus 110 on the Stack with peaks of 115.