How to Choose the Right Golf Ball
Choosing the right ball is critical to cutting your golf handicap. A ball impacts your game almost as much as your clubs, so it s important to choose a ball that s right for you. Below is a six-step process for selecting the right golf ball, a process I often review in my golf lessons and golf tips. It s a relatively new selection approach. But first, let s review the standard historical approach to choosing a golf ball.
Standard Selection Approach
With this approach you chose a golf ball going from the tee forward. In other words, you hit balls from the tee and observed their performance characteristics. You based your decisions primarily on control and distance, depending on their preference.
This
...directly centered in between your stance. Improper addressing of the golf ball will eliminate an error free swing along the projected putter glide path and will hamper any ability for a proper follow through.Now that you've successfully achieved the proper ...
1. If you wanted the ultimate in control, you chose a three-piece with a balata cover. It offered high-spin rates, soft feel, and good maneuverability, but it lacked durability. I used to recommend this ball in my golf lessons and golf tips for players with low golf handicaps adept at shot making.
2. If you wanted the ultimate in distance, you chose a two-piece ball with a Surlyn cover. This ball would travel far and last a long time. Unfortunately, its lack of spin greatly reduced control, especially around the greens. I used to recommend this ball for players with high golf handicaps who needed distance more than control.
3. If
...of the ball has to be clockwise. If struck properly, the ball actually spins towards you as it flies through the air. If you top the ball, and produce a counter clockwsie spin, or the ball spins away from you, ...
This process worked well for a long time. But it s less appropriate for evaluating today s golf balls, which incorporate the latest advancements in technology.
Breakthroughs in Technology
Ball manufacturing technology saw several breakthroughs in the 1990s and beyond, complicating selection. Multilayer balls, like the Top-Flite Strata, which provide less spin for more distance and a softer cover for better control around the greens, hit the market in 1996, followed by Titleist s Pro V1 a solid-core, distance ball in 2000. Nike s One and Titleist s Next also debuted
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While these balls all represented technological breakthroughs, they challenged the standard approach ball selection. Basically, you still chose a ball from the tee going forward based on distance and control.
A New Selection Approach
Today, there s another approach to choosing a ball. This approach is based on going from the green backwards. It s proving more appropriate for today s game. Below is a six-step methodology for choosing a ball based on this new approach.
Step 1: Define Your Needs.
First, you need to (1) assess your game, (2) define your needs, and (3) decide what you want and don t want from a ball. Defining your needs is crucial to choosing the right ball. Remember not everyone with
...For example, if you?re trying to make a shorter shot, irons may be your best bet. Irons are usually available in sets that include several different sizes. You must also take into consideration the style, size, and type of material ...
Step 2: Chose Test Balls
Select several balls you want to test. Base your decision on your defined needs. Try selecting balls from each category multilayered, two-piece, and super soft, low compression to see how they test. Remember not every manufacturer s models of the same type ball will react exactly alike.
Step 3: Test from the Fringe
Take the test balls to the fringe of the green. Hit some chip shots and pitch shots, and observe the results. See which balls hit the green and
...leads to cuts and nicks. This "softness" is said to provide "better playability" which is to say that the golfer can "shape" his/her shot (fade/draw), and get more "action" (backspin) on the greens. These are usually more costly and have ...
Step 4: Test from 100 Yards
Take the balls and move out into the fairway to the 100-yard marker. Test each ball from that point and observe each ball s checking and releasing characteristics after it hits the green.
Step 5: Test Balls from 150 yards
Now, take your balls out to the 150-yard marker and hit from there. Observe the results. Use the same criteria to
...t easily fall apart. You see, from the beginning golf was intended to be played by royalty.The next deviant ball was Gutta-percha latex; a sap derivative from a tree of the same name. Chemically, Gutta-percha is polyterpene somewhat similar with ...
Step 6: Test Balls from the Tee
Go to the tee box and hit the balls with your driver. Look for drives that reach their apex or highest point quickly and then level out and carry far down range. What you don t want to see are drives that start low and then shoot up like a jet plane taking off. Such shots indicate that the driver has added too much spin to the ball, resulting in shorter drives that hook or slice more.
Now, obviously you can t necessarily go out onto the course to do all this testing. Your local range or practice area will work just fine. Once you ve completed these steps, you re
...called a hook. The target line is the line that would connect the current position where the shot is taken to the hole which is actually the line that the golf ball is supposed to follow to be put into ...
Remember a golf ball impacts your game almost as much as your clubs. If the ball you choose doesn t feel right after selecting it, try another. Give each ball a fair trail.
Choosing a ball that s right for you, as I say in my golf lessons and golf tips, takes some work, but it s well worth the effort. Having the right ball is crucial to
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Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros. He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.













