Bridgestone MindSet Golf Ball Testing - (Sampling and Shot Scope Ops)

[Byrnzee]

Played my first round with the Mindset balls this morning. I wasn't sure how I would feel about having the graphic on the balls, but I really did find it helpful during my shot routine. Especially on the tee, I liked pushing the tee into the ground while lining up the Mindset arrow with my target. 

I struggle sometimes on making sure I'm appropriately lined up to my target. By having the arrow setup before I even hit, I know that I'm in good shape and just need to focus on making solid contact.

I will say I find the graphic more distracting on putts than on drives. I think it's because I mostly putt by feel, so having the graphic there makes me focus too much on hitting the green dot and less on having the right speed. For drives though, I like the mentality of just setting everything up, visualizing the shot, and smashing that green dot.

Besides the Mindset graphic, I've always been a big fan of Bridgestone balls. I was gaming the Tour B RX before this sampling opportunity was announced. I love the feel and definitely will be continuing to play these this year!

[LinksgolfFever]

Round 4 in the bag.  while the outcome wasn't the best there was definitely positives I can associate with the Bridgestone mindset.  To set the table a bit, fourball match play event through NCGA playing at Tehama GC in Carmel CA...Clint's course (Eastwood that is).  

The course was beautiful, tough and a great experience.  Giving up 15 strokes on a course I had never played made it a challenge that we fell short of in the end finishing down 2&1.  Lots of blind shots, tiered and undulating greens...

 

I really felt like the mindset steadied me off the tee today, I missed 3 fairways and 1 was just off in the first cut.  

The good: distance off the tee and fairways hit were considerably better than previous rounds.  Including some narrow dog legs and tight openings.

The other than good: 

With all of the elevated shots to the greens with tiers my greens in regulation dropped some.  No three putts which was great, but 35 putts overall which was an increase over previous rounds.  It wasn't from lack of concentration just didn't want to go in.  I made several putts that lipped out or ran over the cup that didn't fall.  

18th hole, approach from the middle of the fairway (288 off the tee into a slight hurting wind right to left).  

Another 3.5 rounds for this week scheduled, including a match play event Saturday.  

[Rob Person]

Great pics! And glad you were able to get your mindset in the game!

[ILMgolfnut]

Broke out the Mindset balls last Friday during my round with @Tom the Golf Nut. First thing I noticed is that fumblefingers like me have a difficult time getting the ball lined up properly on the tee; it tended to spin a bit before settling into place. But once I got it in place, it seemed to be useful for alignment and for focusing on the green dot to get the proper "mindset". I hit 9 of 14 fairways on the round, unusually high for me, so that alignment aid may have been useful. I found it less useful on the putting green, but then I can have perfect alignment and still pull my putts, so that's nothing new. At some point I need to compare it to my gamer as far as distance, etc., but it certainly seemed to fly as far as my gamer if I hit it well.

[Erin B]

@LinksgolfFever I really enjoyed your last write-up and photos. Thank you! I’ve already completed my evaluation of the MindSet and will continue to play what I have. I’ll comment on them when I play them, but have noticed now that I pay more attention when putting and focusing on the ball in all aspects because of the MindSet technique. I was always sort of doing it, but now it’s really in my mind, not really anything else when I putt. Taking a shot is a little different because I’m working on my swing so I’m thinking about things like backswing and attack angle. Still, I’m focused on the ball.

[Michael.Sandoval33]

On 4/19/2024 at 12:26 PM, buckpillar said:

Testers, do you feel that you are focusing more on the mindset at address than your line?

Personally on the putting side, I was using the arrows pointed forward on my line and using the green dot to keep my putter's line at the same point. It definitely helped when I was in the right Mindset and remembered to set it up.

[Erin B]

9 minutes ago, Michael.Sandoval33 said:

Personally on the putting side, I was using the arrows pointed forward on my line and using the green dot to keep my putter's line at the same point. It definitely helped when I was in the right Mindset and remembered to set it up.

@buckpillar @Michael.Sandoval33 I liked the MindSet graphics and most of the time the focus didn’t adversely affect me. I saw the green dot but found myself doing what Michael is doing. I was more focused on the whole ball than I was on the green dot after testing a few rounds.

[Rob Person]

I will be taking 3 with me to the benefit tournament on Thursday to use. We will see how they impact me and my team.

I have to say,  once you have this idea rattling in your brain,  it almost becomes autonomous with any ball. The visualization is just a reminder to actually use the IVF-E

[Michael.Sandoval33]

7 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I will be taking 3 with me to the benefit tournament on Thursday to use. We will see how they impact me and my team.

I have to say,  once you have this idea rattling in your brain,  it almost becomes autonomous with any ball. The visualization is just a reminder to actually use the IVF-E

I swear I heard your voice from the YouTube uploads on the course last week when I was using the mindsets

[Erin B]

41 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

I will be taking 3 with me to the benefit tournament on Thursday to use. We will see how they impact me and my team.

I have to say,  once you have this idea rattling in your brain,  it almost becomes autonomous with any ball. The visualization is just a reminder to actually use the IVF-E

Facts!!!

[poprocksncoke]

4 hours ago, Michael.Sandoval33 said:

Personally on the putting side, I was using the arrows pointed forward on my line and using the green dot to keep my putter's line at the same point. It definitely helped when I was in the right Mindset and remembered to set it up.

Same, haven't been able to get them out on the course yet, only the putting green.  Definitely helpful in setting up.  

On full shots I like to pick a spot in front of me between me and my target.  Have a feeling these will be a lot easier to line up compared to the small line on the Maxfli balls.  We shall see......

Edited April 22 by poprocksncoke

[Rob Person]

7 hours ago, Michael.Sandoval33 said:

I swear I heard your voice from the YouTube uploads on the course last week when I was using the mindsets

Hahah!  Oh wait.... thanks?  

[Mike10487]

For the testers. From a speed of play standpoint, do you think this makes your pace of play faster or slower? 

[Skibum]

I haven’t seen a change in my pace of play with the ball. I do all the stages of the mind set in my normal set up. It really didn’t effect me. 

[Rob Person]

1 hour ago, Mike10487 said:

For the testers. From a speed of play standpoint, do you think this makes your pace of play faster or slower? 

At first, I found myself envisioning the process,  but only for a few extra seconds.  Now, it's just in the hamster wheel turning

[Freshbrockoli]

On 4/12/2024 at 10:30 AM, GolfSpy_APH said:

Yes, but it may still be another week or so till the two dozen arrive. Dont worry tho as all those in the Shot Scope portion will be given adequate time to get plenty of testing time in!

@GolfSpy_APH Following up on this, still have not received anything. Any update on the time frame for arrival ?

[nupezb]

[mention=61361]GolfSpy_APH[/mention] Following up on this, still have not received anything. Any update on the time frame for arrival ?

Same here.


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[Timberwolfmadcat]

3 minutes ago, nupezb said:

Same here.


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Make that 3 thought I was the only one. Almost two weeks since ship date...

[J7Hawkins]

Love all the info here on the Mindset balls! I have the XS and I’ve really enjoyed the ball. I’ll separate my thoughts out between the ball itself and the Mindset process. 
 

I really like this ball, overall I’d give it a 8.7/10. It’s a ball that I think deserves consideration for a top ball. The XS has great spin from what I’ve seen on the course, I feel confident in what I’m going to get around the green. The only thing keeping it from getting an even higher rating is the feel. For me, I think it has a more solid feel than I like, compared to my normal gamer which is a Mizuno RB Tour X or ProV1x. Off the tee I’m not seeing any distance loss due to TOO high spin. 
 

The Mindset process I’m not as high on, but I will admit I think it’s just not for ME. I have a pre established routing pre shot and already do somewhat similar visualization before hitting a shot so trying to change it a little was a challenge. Especially so when the mindset depiction wasn’t even visible on the ball as it lay. However, I have friends that I have shown the ball to who didn’t already have a process in place and I think this would help their game a lot! So I think it’s just a bit situational as to the benefit to each golfer. I will say one thing I will be taking with me from using these balls is that I really enjoyed having the green dot visible on putts. Often times, I find myself not quite sure of what I should be looking at when I’m putting and my eyes wander. With the Mindset I just told myself to look at the green dot and that was very helpful! I’ll be taking that lesson with me as I move forward whether it’s with the Bridgestone XS or my normal gamers, I’ll be putting a dot to look at haha!

[deattle]

Make that 3 thought I was the only one. Almost two weeks since ship date...

Wondering the same thing.


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[PhilM75072]

2 hours ago, Freshbrockoli said:

@GolfSpy_APH Following up on this, still have not received anything. Any update on the time frame for arrival ?

Nothing received by me, either. Maybe Bridgestone changed their minds about wanting Shot Scope data?

[Javs]

I have completed my final review of the Bridgestone Tour B X MindSet on page 9. 

 

Edited April 23 by Javs

[Rob Person]

Great review @Javs !  I'm glad it worked mostly well for you!

[bama no 1]

19 hours ago, poprocksncoke said:

Same, haven't been able to get them out on the course yet, only the putting green.  Definitely helpful in setting up.  

On full shots I like to pick a spot in front of me between me and my target.  Have a feeling these will be a lot easier to line up compared to the small line on the Maxfli balls.  We shall see......

there is absolutely no way i could look at that thing while i am putting.

[Javs]

24 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Great review @Javs !  I'm glad it worked mostly well for you!

Thank you!

[William P]

4 hours ago, Javs said:

I have completed my final review of the Bridgestone Tour B X MindSet on page 9. 

 

Nicely done @Javs. Very good read.

[Javs]

21 minutes ago, William P said:

Nicely done @Javs. Very good read.

Thank you!

[LinksgolfFever]

On 4/19/2024 at 12:26 PM, buckpillar said:

Testers, do you feel that you are focusing more on the mindset at address than your line?

I don't like to use the alignment aides on balls to get super specific on my line.  I try and use it more like a directional starting point.  If I see the putt breaking left-right, the extent I use the alignment aide is to make sure it is pointing left of the cup (Vice-versa for right-left breaks).  This has helped me to trust what I saw in my read and not overthink/re-think what I picked for a line.  In the end I think it comes down to whatever you can do, to have a trustable/repeatable setup and pre shot routine you'll be better off.  

Happy golfing

[Javs]

28 minutes ago, LinksgolfFever said:

I don't like to use the alignment aides on balls to get super specific on my line.  I try and use it more like a directional starting point.  If I see the putt breaking left-right, the extent I use the alignment aide is to make sure it is pointing left of the cup (Vice-versa for right-left breaks).  This has helped me to trust what I saw in my read and not overthink/re-think what I picked for a line.  In the end I think it comes down to whatever you can do, to have a trustable/repeatable setup and pre shot routine you'll be better off.  

Happy golfing

I used the MindSet logo to line up the direction/line of where I wanted the putt to start. I didn’t concentrate on the green dot. I just used it the way I would the arrows on a Titleist. It didn’t change my standard pre-shot routine. 

[BreakfastBall15]

So I’m not a tester for these but I did pick up the BX mindset version to try. I really like the ball. Distance is better than my game (Maxfli tour S; as far as I can tell with no raw data) and the green side spin is fantastic. The mindset logo took a while to get used to, it’s very large IMO but it helps me focus on each shot. So far I’m a big fan