Causes of variation in shot area

[Jeff58]

In the Mygolfspy ball test, what are the variables/causes that influence shot area?

[Blueberry_Squishie]

From my reading, one of the most common variables was how centred the cores were inside the ball. If the core is to one side, then that would cause the ball to fly differently.

 

On a similar topic, anyone know (or could share a video) how the cores are centred in the moulds? I have a couple of ideas of how this could occur but wouldn't mind knowing for certain. This could also be a heavily guarded secret that ball companies do differently to each other.

[Jeff58]

Yes. The standard thinking seems to be born from the idea that if a ball were perfectly formed, it would have a shot area of effectively zero, and balls with large shot areas, such as the infamous Callaway’s, are a result of poor manufacturing.

The problem, which I haven’t seen addressed, is that if a ball is inherently unstable, it should manifest this trait *always*. In other words, it couldn’t possibly have a smaller than average shot area in one test, but a very large one in another. However, that’s not at all what we see in the MGS test. The most bizarre being the Callaway ERC Soft, which has the smallest shot area of any ball at high driver speed, but the largest of any at the lower speed.

Another unsettling result seems to be the Srixon Q Star Tour, which appears to have more than 10 times the shot area of the Z Star with the driver. Having played them back to back over several rounds, I found them virtually indistinguishable. The Q Star may be more reactive to side spin, but the robot shouldn’t be introducing any spin variation.

Clearly, at lest to me, there appear to be variables, either in the testing, the test environment, or the balls themselves that aren’t being accounted for. 

[Guest Delete]

On 4/18/2020 at 7:07 PM, Jeff58 said:

In the Mygolfspy ball test, what are the variables/causes that influence shot area?

Balls are different in how they are constructed. If you download the confirming ball list from the USGA, you will see that they list balls with low and high spin with a driver and an iron. If it is listed as H/H then it would always be high spin like a balata ball. If it is L/L then it will always be low spin like a Pinnacle. The Golden ticket is the L/H which is low spin of the driver and high spin with the wedge. 

The robot reveals the balls with those different spin characteristics in addition to consistency in manufacturing. Low spin balls can actually have wider/larger shot areas because side spin has more of an effect on ball flight. Too high of spin can cause balloon balls that are also inconsistent. 

Last time I checked the Titleist pro balls were M/M or M/H for moderate driver spin and High or moderate wedge/iron spin. Some spin helps keep the ball in the air and online = smaller dispersion.

It's worth looking up. Forgive me if my memory is not 100 percent right on the ball designations.