If you are going round a golf course hitting any old golf ball, then it may be time to change that. We will be looking in this article, why it is important to play with a consistent ball.
It is obvious that you need to develop your feel but there is so much more to it than that. When you use any old ball such as from the lake or something similar, it is difficult to develop an element of feel and good touch in your game.
This is not a review article which is going to analyse different golf balls on the market right now or suggest which ball you should use. If you are looking for an in-depth review of the best golf balls then check out this article by WhatAllTheProsUse.
Instead, in this article, we are going to focus on the process that you will need to undertake to find an appropriate golf ball for you.
Let’s get started with the feel
So when it comes to finding the right golf ball, it is all about the feel when you strike the ball. If the ball doesn’t feel good or as a matter of fact not sound good, then it’s pretty obvious that it’s not a good fit.
Now in terms of the actual process itself, it all begins with the green and you work your way back to the tee. You’ll essentially be doing a process of elimination to find out exactly the right ball for you.
So that means, you start with your putter which makes sense because it will be the club that you use the most around the golf course.
How does it feel off the putter?
This is probably in our opinion the most important thing to look out for when choosing that right ball for you.
All you are doing here is testing the feel from around the green, these can be short or long putts. However, the whole idea here is that you get an idea of the feel and sound of the ball.
Obviously, you are doing this with a wide range of balls so that you learn about the different feels and sounds that the ball give you.
Things you are looking out for when comparing different balls:
- Is it harder or is it softer?
- Does it feel good off the face or clunky off the face?
- How does this ball spin? Does it spin too much?
By comparing the balls in this manner, you will already begin to eliminate certain balls that do not feel or sound good of the putter face.
What does it feel like to chip?
Very similar to the putter in that you are looking for the feel and sound of the ball off the face of the club when playing your short green-side shots.
We recommend hitting a variety of shots from around the green including high, low and running shots.
Another factor you might want to consider is spin! Does this ball spin enough or does it come off too hard? If the ball spins too much then obviously that’s going to be a problem and you can’t consider getting ready of that.
Pitching test
These again are some simple short-range pitch shots which begin around the 30-40 yard range and go up to about 70 to 80 yard mark.
As per before, the key here is feel and sound but just like your chip shots, the spin factor is crucial here. You really have to take a look at how does the ball spin? Does it spin enough?
If the answer to these question is that the ball doesn’t spin enough and can’t hold a green with your pitch shots, it’s time to get rid of that ball.
You could also have the opposite that it spins too much and your pitch shots are spinning back off the green which is not very usual either so get rid of those.
Now let’s try the 7 iron
As you probably know this is probably the best all round option when choosing an iron and will give us a pretty good idea as to how the short, medium and long irons will perform.
Just like the other clubs, you want to focus on the feel first, how does the ball feel off the club face. If you like the way I feels then again check the sound at impact.
Then just like your chipping and pitch shots, look at the spin. Does this ball spin enough? Or does it spin too much? If the ball is landing on the green and flying through the back then you know it’s time to eliminate that ball.
Here, looking at the distance is also a major part of the test because if the ball is soft and spinning a lot, then it’s probably going to carry short. At the same time, if it’s quite a hard ball then it may even carry too far.
Finally the driver!
By this point, you should already be down to just a few balls to test and finding that right one.
Again nothing changes here, you are starting off with the feel and sound of the ball off the driver face. You then move onto the spin and distance whereby carry is very important when it comes to the driver.
Conclusion
What you will find as you work back from the green is that you will eliminate balls very quickly and by the time that you get to your driver, you will probably be down to only two or three balls. At this point, it becomes personal preference as you develop an advanced feel over time.
But the key component here is the fact that the ball should check all of the boxes from the test and really stands out. If you feel like the ball gives you good control around the green while not compensating any distance or feel, then you have found the right ball for you!