Best Ball for High Handicap (19) and High Swing Speed

[Fred Mitchell]

On 5/24/2023 at 10:37 AM, aguybadatgolf said:

@RickyBobby_PR Thanks again for the feedback! I actually do a really good job finding the middle of the face I just need to get ride of my push.

1st off thanks to My Golf Spy we have a great resource to use. The 2023 version is out soon I hope wit the newer model balls  but the 2021 version of this gives you a starting point of balls to choose from lots of fancy reading at the top but scrolling to near the bottom of this 2021 ball test and using this chart/graph/whatever lol with the drop down menus for 3 different clubs driver/8 iron/55 yard wedge and 3 menus for 3 different swing speeds with the far left menu giving you a list of 40 or so balls if all are selected , you can eliminate a lot of them that are not going to work and get down to a handful that fit your criteria. All of these balls are urethane . https://mygolfspy.com/buyers-guides/golf-balls/best-golf-balls-2021/    . Also is this Push a driver only issue or all clubs ? FOR ME not everyone if I stand to close to the ball I end up with a pull not hook or draw it just goes straight and to left, if I stand to far from the ball the same thing happens but it turns into a push, probably not your problem but you talk about a cheap experiment take your normal stance and then scoot 1 to 2 inches closer and make sure you dont adjust your swing , take 10 shots on the range and see what happens, might not helps but cant hurt and its basically free and free is my favorite. Another thing with the push when I started I thought I had a push and couldnt shake it and a older guy stopped me before I swung and said to stay still then he laid his driver shaft  at me feet, turns out I was lining up wrong and the ball was going where it was supposed to all along or at least as close to it as a beginners usually does. Once again this may not be your problem but its free to check out if it is and free is my favorite. LOTS and I mean LOTS of guys on here know much more than I do and the vast majority are ready and willing to help, good luck and keep me posted.

[Iowa Golfer]

We're in a similar boat- I consistently have a driver swing speed around 105, ranging 102-107, with ball speeds 145-151, and didn't know what ball to use after being away from the game for 25+ yrs.  What I did was buy about a dozen different brands(single sleeves wherever possible) after doing some research online and went to my local indoor simulator and hit 10 good drives with each ball (solid contact, little sidespin) and kept a chart on each recording things like total spin, carry distance, total distance, ball speed vs swing speed (didn't record smash though, wasn't really aware of it at the time) and then made my decision based on that info.  

Without getting into the minutiae, I surprisingly found that ProV1, ProV1x, Bridgestone Tour BX and e12, Callaway Warbird, Srixon Q-Star Tour, TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x, and Wilson Staff Model all performed pretty much the same for me for the data I was looking at. The Warbird was by far the best performance to price option of everything I tested.  So right now I'm using up all the extra balls I have whenever I go out, knowing they pretty much all perform the same.  When I'm ready to buy again, barring a dramatic change in my swing parameters, I'll load up on Warbirds.  And when I'm teeing off on a hole with water or a high likelihood of me losing a ball, I use the cheapo Kirklands which performed the worst for me- I don't mind losing a $1.50 ball and the 15-20 yds of carry distance vs the other, better performing balls.

Probably the most important take home suggestion I can give is to get a bunch of balls and test them out for yourself on the same day at the same simulator so you have useful data and make your decision from there.  Not everyone will do well with any specific ball, in spite of what the advertisements say.  And not everyone wants to spend $6 on a ball that they'll likely lose pretty quickly.

[aguybadatgolf]

55 minutes ago, Fred Mitchell said:

1st off thanks to My Golf Spy we have a great resource to use. The 2023 version is out soon I hope wit the newer model balls  but the 2021 version of this gives you a starting point of balls to choose from lots of fancy reading at the top but scrolling to near the bottom of this 2021 ball test and using this chart/graph/whatever lol with the drop down menus for 3 different clubs driver/8 iron/55 yard wedge and 3 menus for 3 different swing speeds with the far left menu giving you a list of 40 or so balls if all are selected , you can eliminate a lot of them that are not going to work and get down to a handful that fit your criteria. All of these balls are urethane . https://mygolfspy.com/buyers-guides/golf-balls/best-golf-balls-2021/    . Also is this Push a driver only issue or all clubs ? FOR ME not everyone if I stand to close to the ball I end up with a pull not hook or draw it just goes straight and to left, if I stand to far from the ball the same thing happens but it turns into a push, probably not your problem but you talk about a cheap experiment take your normal stance and then scoot 1 to 2 inches closer and make sure you dont adjust your swing , take 10 shots on the range and see what happens, might not helps but cant hurt and its basically free and free is my favorite. Another thing with the push when I started I thought I had a push and couldnt shake it and a older guy stopped me before I swung and said to stay still then he laid his driver shaft  at me feet, turns out I was lining up wrong and the ball was going where it was supposed to all along or at least as close to it as a beginners usually does. Once again this may not be your problem but its free to check out if it is and free is my favorite. LOTS and I mean LOTS of guys on here know much more than I do and the vast majority are ready and willing to help, good luck and keep me posted.

Thanks for the tips! It’s really only an issue with my driver. I’m a natural fader of the ball but have had some success hitting a draw when I need to with my irons. Driver has just been giving me problems. I’ll try your advice and see what happens!! 

[Ken C]

On 5/23/2023 at 3:28 PM, aguybadatgolf said:

Hi all!

I’ve been playing for a little over a year now and so far have just played cheaper balls, whatever I found on the course that was in decent shape, and in the last couple months I’ve been playing a box of Vice Pro balls. I’m wanting to pick one ball to game for the rest of the season to limit variables but am struggling to find a ball for me. Most high handicap balls are not made for my swing. I average about 108mph with driver. 
 

thanks in advance!

RickyBobby advice is spot on - try a sleeve of different brands/models and find one that fits you.  A lot of folks like Titleist however I have never been a fan (probably more between my ears than actual play).  Anyway, if you are looking at keeping the cost down Kirkland and Maxfli as mentioned would be worth trying.  I really like Taylormade's Tour Response as less expensive ball and if you want to go one price point lower the Bridgestone e12 (unless you're into working the ball) plays well - might not for your swing speed.  I went through 6 or so different brands/models before settling in on Bridgestone Tour RX - however the Tour Response and Maxfli Tour were close seconds.

[aguybadatgolf]

1 hour ago, Ken C said:

RickyBobby advice is spot on - try a sleeve of different brands/models and find one that fits you.  A lot of folks like Titleist however I have never been a fan (probably more between my ears than actual play).  Anyway, if you are looking at keeping the cost down Kirkland and Maxfli as mentioned would be worth trying.  I really like Taylormade's Tour Response as less expensive ball and if you want to go one price point lower the Bridgestone e12 (unless you're into working the ball) plays well - might not for your swing speed.  I went through 6 or so different brands/models before settling in on Bridgestone Tour RX - however the Tour Response and Maxfli Tour were close seconds.

I took his advice and tried a few different brands now. I’ve played kirklands in the past and like how they feel with irons and wedges but are just too spiny for me with driver and even my irons sometimes. I liked the vice pro quite a bit but was interested in something firmer. I currently am on a couple sleeves of srixon zstars. I’m really liking them and am curious to try the others in that line. Balls are at the right price point for me too. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by aguybadatgolf

[aguybadatgolf]

On 6/29/2023 at 1:39 PM, BMart519 said:

I would recommend low spin balls if accuracy is where shots are being lost as well as consideration for lower launching balls. Taylormade Tour Response, Tour B RX, AVX, Z Star (non-XV), Pro V1. 

That’s where I loose the most by far. I actually have started playing the Z star and really like it so far. Curious if the diamond would work for me just to get a little more green side spin 

[BMart519]

23 hours ago, aguybadatgolf said:

That’s where I loose the most by far. I actually have started playing the Z star and really like it so far. Curious if the diamond would work for me just to get a little more green side spin 

Regular Z star and the XV had near identical spin on 55 yard wedge shot in last MGS ball test. I wonder if there is much noticeable difference between the 3. This was the last generation of Z star balls, but reviewing the data I noticed the regular Z star had one of the bigger jumps from iron and driver spin to wedges. In that test it performed like a low spin ball on full swings and a high spin ball on partial wedges. Seems to be a bit of the best of both worlds if you need low spin off the tee. They had them on sale for 50% in Canada so I had to buy some of the new ones to test. The Divide balls are pretty sweet. 

[Vegan_Golfer_PNW]

New Kirkland ball is a good cheap option. Spins enough but not too much. Feels nice. 

[girlRufus]

If you have some actual launch monitor data, try using Ballnamic. Its similar to the MyGolfSpy ball test, but you enter in your launch data for driver, irons, and wedges, tell the site what your preferences are and it will spit out five (if memory serves me) balls that fit you best based on their database. The backend testing is all done by PING, who doesn't make balls, so they don't have a vested interest in pushing you toward one ball or another.  It does cost $40, but it can take a ton of guesswork/trial and error out of the equation and get you pointed toward balls that will fit your game best.

Also, for the person or persons suggesting that a soft ball was to blame for excessive spin: 2. Soft Doesn’t Spin

Edited July 10, 2023 by girlRufus