Birdieball Limited Flight Balls - Unofficial Review

[Prodigal Duffer]

Birdieball Limited Flight Ball - Unofficial Review

After I began playing golf again, I wanted a way to practice regularly— after all, I’d like to improve, and I know of no way to do so other than put in the work. As a busy lawyer with two kids under 10 years old, I realized that the only way that would happen is if I can practice at home. I knew I would not get to the range nearly enough to see the kind of improvement I desire. I don’t have the coin to get a simulator, and practice nets do not give me the kind of feedback that I need to figure out my swing. I was also unwilling to shell out for a launch monitor because I wasn’t sure golf would be a lasting hobby. Luckily, I stumbled on Birdieball limited flight balls, and @ generously sent me a dozen. Now, almost a year later (and having hit these probably over a thousand times) I can firmly say that these are the ideal practice aid for me. Hopefully, this review will help you determine if they can be of use to you.

Birdieball’s claims

Birdieball makes a few claims about its product:

1. The ball flies like a real golf ball. It will launch like a ball and follow the trajectory of a real ball. Thus, if you hit a fade, it will fade; if you hit a draw, it will draw. And if you slice, the ball will move way right.
2. The ball has a limited flight, between 25 and 65 yards depending on the club and conditions.
3. You can hit these anywhere.
4. They are fun.

Unboxing/appearance

Birdieballs are packaged like regular golf balls - three to a sleeve. You can buy them by the sleeve or by the dozen. The ball itself is a hollow cylinder, with the logo and name on two sides. The logo comes in four colors: black, red, blue, and green.

 

The ball is made of a hard plastic that is said to be durable, but not indestructible. The field color is brilliant white, with no other options available.

Performance

As mentioned above, I have hit thousands of Birdieballs over the last year. I played with them exclusively in my yard, which at two acres gives plenty of room to test the claimed range. I hit them in a wide variety of temperatures, but never below 45 degrees, as the cold can cause them to crack (the company includes this warning in its packaging). Where I live in Texas tends to be pretty windy, so I have experience playing these in both calm and breezy conditions (up to 25-30mph).

Claim: ball files like a real ball. Verdict: true.

If you hit a good, straight shot, the ball flies on a trajectory like a real ball and goes straight. For example, here is my son hitting a nice, straight shot into the wind:

 

But the ball will also move. If you hit a draw, it will draw. If you hit a slice, it will slice. One issue with the ball is that it is highly susceptible to wind. Here is a video of me hitting a straight shot that then moved probably 10 yards right with a 9mph wind:

This can be a positive - it forces you to learn to play the wind. But if you, like me, are still working on getting a mechanically sound swing, it becomes difficult to know if the ball moved because of the swing or the environment. For that reason, I highly recommend that you hit directly into the wind (or with the wind) if you are focusing on your standard shot.

Claim: limited flight of 25-65 yards. Verdict: mostly true.

While Birdieball advertises its product as having a flight distance of 25-65 yards, it acknowledges that this claim is subject to swing speed and conditions. I have a mid swing speed and find that, in calm conditions, my short to mid-short irons will fly between 25 and 40 yards. Mid-long and long irons will fly at least 40 yards. Woods will fly closer to 75. When it is windy, though, I have to be very careful to make sure I use my short irons with the wind (with a maximum of a 9 iron), or my ball will end up in the neighbor’s yard. But, I can hit pretty much any other club directly into the wind, including woods. It is particularly amusing to hit, say a nice 5 iron, watch it soar, and then essentially hit a brick wall, and sail back landing maybe 5-7 yards ahead.

Claim: you can hit these anywhere. Verdict: mostly true.

Because of the cylinder shape, you could hit these off of many surfaces - dirt, grass, even concrete (if you don’t mind potentially jacking up your club). They are difficult to hit off of a slope, as you have less surface area to strike (you can’t hit the ball if it is on its side). But, if you hit them off grass, the grass can “grab” the ball

Which affects the flight significantly. For that reason, Birdieball recommends that you purchase its strike pad, which always gives a “tight lie” surface, and lets you truly hit off a hard surface. I went for almost six months without a strike pad (or other artificial hitting surface), and every day, thought, “man, I need to get the strike pad.” I highly recommend getting the pad or some other artificial surface. Of course, that just increases the cost.

Update: used the Strike Pad today to hit off my back patio due to rain:

Game changer.

Claim: these are fun. Verdict: true.

 

Birdieballs are fun to hit. Aside from being able to have my own “driving range” in my yard, I’ve got some pin targets (see first video above), which allows me to make games like H-O-R-S-E. It’s also a safe way to practice new shots without endangering other golfers on the range. Practicing with these balls is very fun for me.

Wrap-up/Other thoughts

There are some negatives for the Birdieball. For one, it is almost necessary to invest in a strike pad (or similar surface). Without an artificial surface, it is very common for the grass to substantially impact the ball flight.

Second, durability can be an issue. These balls are a hard plastic and will eventually wear out. I’ve had probably four or five wear out and crack sooner than I think is reasonable:

   

Third, it is tedious to pick these up after hitting them. Of course, this is a problem that regular balls suffer from, too. Birdieball has a roller device that picks up the balls. I just got it, and it’s awesome. But, there’s another ~$70 investment.

Last, it would be nice if these came in a high-visibility yellow. Like regular golf balls, these can be hard to see depending on the conditions.

Birdieballs make practice easy and convenient. While a dozen will run you about $30 (before shipping), you can recoup that cost in saved range fees quite quickly. They’ve given me many hours of fun practice and have become my favorite training aid.

Based on all of these factors, I give the Birdieball limited flight ball 4.5/5 stars.

Edited March 16 by Prodigal Duffer
Update

[Prodigal Duffer]

Apparently I have to use a PC to embed the video. Will be coming at a later date . . .

[cksurfdude]

Wow I can't believe you cracked one!?! You must've really been pounding out (literally haha) some work frustrations on them

I have a set of Birdie Balls .. along with the Strike Pad .. and get some good use out of them on nice days in the late Fall or early Spring off my back patio .. but I just use a few different wedges to hula hoop targets set at about maybe like 5, 10 and 15 yards. Great for getting back the feels of different carry distances.

The only damage on mine comes from my oh ever so helpful ball retriever ....

 

Oh, PS @Prodigal Duffer - good write up, good info, good review format! Thx

[Prodigal Duffer]

43 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Wow I can't believe you cracked one!?! You must've really been pounding out (literally haha) some work frustrations on them

I have a set of Birdie Balls .. along with the Strike Pad .. and get some good use out of them on nice days in the late Fall or early Spring off my back patio .. but I just use a few different wedges to hula hoop targets set at about maybe like 5, 10 and 15 yards. Great for getting back the feels of different carry distances.

The only damage on mine comes from my oh ever so helpful ball retriever ....

 

Oh, PS @Prodigal Duffer - good write up, good info, good review format! Thx

Thanks. I like your ball retriever better than mine. What do you like best about the balls? Least?

[cksurfdude]

Haha thx there used to be two of those big, black, slobbery ball chewing retrievers! (..who would not stay inside while I was out back playing with fun things without them )

Likes: lightweight; durable (for me); good for (short) target practice in that they basically stop where they land.

Dislikes: hard to finesse a shot, eg. short wedge shot with a soft touch .. you pretty much have to hit them solidly enough to make them pop up and fly straight.

Also... Have not tried it but don't think I'd actually like them for full swing work .. but that's just my personal preference (since I got the Birdie Ball setup I've joined a private club that tries to stay open over the winter when the weather cooperates so I can get to the range there to see ball flights).

[TSauer]

2 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Wow I can't believe you cracked one!?! You must've really been pounding out (literally haha) some work frustrations on them

I have a set of Birdie Balls .. along with the Strike Pad .. and get some good use out of them on nice days in the late Fall or early Spring off my back patio .. but I just use a few different wedges to hula hoop targets set at about maybe like 5, 10 and 15 yards. Great for getting back the feels of different carry distances.

The only damage on mine comes from my oh ever so helpful ball retriever ....

 

Oh, PS @Prodigal Duffer - good write up, good info, good review format! Thx

A little off topic, but man... that's a b-e-a-utiful backyard!

 

I, too, enjoy hitting mine around in the evening when the family is chilling on the patio.

[Prodigal Duffer]

9 hours ago, TSauer said:

A little off topic, but man... that's a b-e-a-utiful backyard!

 

I, too, enjoy hitting mine around in the evening when the family is chilling on the patio.

Thanks. We moved to this house a couple of years ago, and the yard was a big reason why. 

[GolfSpy SAM]

20 hours ago, Prodigal Duffer said:

Birdieball Limited Flight Ball - Unofficial Review

Based on all of these factors, I give the Birdieball limited flight ball 4.5/5 stars.

Great writeup! Really awesome info - and as someone who has their putting mat, it's awesome to see that these things (that bear their namesake) are as fun as they seem to be.  I've been pondering this for a LONG time, but especially now as we go to the park a lot as a family, I always think it would be cool to have a few of these in my pocket to hit around the grassy areas while the kids are going crazy on the slides and monkey bars

Really appreciate the time you took to put this all down for the forum! 

[Prodigal Duffer]

@GolfSpy_SAM definitely pick some up. I’ve purchased four dozen since getting my first set 

[Prodigal Duffer]

Finally learned how to get the video into the thread without a link

[JohnSmalls]

Great review!  I haven't had the durability issue that you've had, yet.  Or, at least the extent of your durability issues.  I did have an owl try to swoop down and snag a birdie ball one evening.  He was in for a big disappointment.  

I did try to learn how to hit a draw early on with them and that proved to be a mistake for me.  So if I bring them out now it's just for swing mechanics work and hitting the ball straight.  

[Beakbryce]

When I moved into my new house in 2016, there were no homes behind me. Also had a golf course view. Note: also! Anyway, I hit birdie balls off my back porch hitting mat until houses showed up after a couple of years. These things are awesome. Prodigal Duffer is right in that they are a pain to pick up. The goal was to hit them as close as possible so that it would minimize steps to pick up. 

The other question is what do they do to a clubhead? I had Callaway steelheads then and there was absolutely no damage to the club. I hit them every day that I didn't actually play. I had a dozen and while they are pretty chewed up, I never cracked one. 

They also make a weird noise. Cool but different. I had people walking the empty lots next to my house from the street to the back of my house to investigate the noise! Fun times.

I give them a 5/5 because they work in a limited space and do show ball flight. While they are a pain to pick up, it's just more steps that we all need every day!

[Prodigal Duffer]

Updated to include a brief video of me using the Strike Pad on my patio during a rain storm.

[Eltrain41]

Thanks for the review. I was given the birdie balls as a bday gift and for some reason haven't tried them yet. My backyard is too small of an area and just haven't brought them to the park yet. I was not a big fan of the putting mat. Had some cool features w/ slope and the cups but it felt a bit spongy. Ball did roll well. I've since purchased the perfect putting mat and really enjoy the lines for visibility of a straight path, plus the ball return...can just knock them down like free throws. 

[Prodigal Duffer]

20 hours ago, Eltrain41 said:

Thanks for the review. I was given the birdie balls as a bday gift and for some reason haven't tried them yet. My backyard is too small of an area and just haven't brought them to the park yet. I was not a big fan of the putting mat. Had some cool features w/ slope and the cups but it felt a bit spongy. Ball did roll well. I've since purchased the perfect putting mat and really enjoy the lines for visibility of a straight path, plus the ball return...can just knock them down like free throws. 

I was in SoCal last weekend and would have to assume that using the balls in the yard is off the table for just about anyone there. If I had to take my balls somewhere to use them, I would probably use them a lot less. Are you making trips to the range often? If so, then the cost of birdie balls versus range buckets might weigh in their favor.