Equipment

Why you should always use the same ball

Published

6 years ago

Sep 4, 2020

When it comes to testing equipment and playing golf, there is one piece of absolutely essential gear—the golf ball.

You use it on every shot, and it has the ability to change how the rest of your equipment performs and feels. As far as testing is concerned, the ball is one of the easiest things to experiment with, but it also leaves many golfers often switching back and forth between brands and models, which is never a good thing for consistency. This is why regardless of the brand or the style of ball you choose to play, you should use the same one every time for the best opportunity to shoot your lowest scores.

Eliminating variables

Even though most manufacturers have lines of golf balls that closely mirror performance characteristics, there are going to be one or two options within the spectrum that will perform their best for you. Kind of in the way shoe manufacturers all reference the same sizes but how they fit depending you your feet can be vary greatly.

Beyond just the performance, because of the nature of golf ball design and materials used, there will also be a substantial acoustic difference, which depending on the golfer, will have a big impact especially in the short game, which is where more than 75 percent or your shots are taken.

The factors a ball will affect the most

Short game feel
Spin in all facets of your game
Carry distance
The amount of check and releasing on chips and pitches
Directional misses right and left caused by increasing or reducing spin on full swing shots

How to decide

There are a lot of factors when it comes to choosing the right ball for you, and most golfers would see the biggest improvement in their game if they started by comparing short game performance and then slowly evaluating shots further away from the green.

Most golf balls are going to show similar numbers with the driver unless you are looking to optimize a particular ball flight. For example, in the Titleist line, there is a noticeable difference between the apexes of the Pro V1x, Pro V1, and the newest AVX ball, which launches and spins the lowest of the three.

A premium urethane cover ball is always going to offer the greatest amount of control, but depending on the factors most important to you as an individual golfer, you might find the greatest success in a different category. If you prefer to see short game shots roll out more to your target instead of stopping quickly, an ionomer or surlyn cover ball could be the best choice.

Regardless of the ball you choose to use, sticking with the same one over time is going to help provide greater consistency to your game. I’ve heard too many stories of golfers used to using a two-piece switch to a premium urethane ball for a “big event” or important round and suddenly struggle with distance control on putts and short games shots because of the softer feel and increased spin—resulting in approaches coming up well short of the target.

This is just one example of why, regardless of your preference, you should find one that’s comfortable for you and stick with it.

Related Topics:

Up Next

GolfWRX x TRENDYGOLF USA: The hottest trends in golf footwear today – Nostalgia

Don't Miss

On Spec FAQ: A guide to basic club fitting and building questions

Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

4 Comments

Alfredo

Sep 6, 2020 at 7:36 pm

Great article and I could not agree more. I have been playing Bridgestone/Precept for over 25 years and just can not find a better ball. I have tried numerous ‘other balls’ but they just don’t cut the mustard. Recently it has been revealed that the Nike ball Tiger was playing was a Precept/Bridgestone ball, oh my!

Reply Report comment
Rich

Sep 6, 2020 at 12:45 am

Don’t scrimp on the ball. Even if you lose a sleeve per round, you only save a few bucks by purchasing bargain golf balls, and you sacrifice a tremendous amount of performance.

These days, the top quality balls travel just as far as “distance” balls. The only differences are the cost (minor) and their performance around the greens (major).

But if you must save money, buy a tour ball from a company like Snell, who can give you tour performance at a much lower price–about the same as you’d pay for other companies’ 2nd-tier balls.

I play the Snell. If I thought for a moment that the full-priced ProV1 provided even a slim advantage over the Snell, I’d gladly pay the premium. Again, if you lose a sleeve per round, it only comes to about 7 bucks difference. Given all the other costs of playing golf, it is a small difference. (And no, I don’t lose 3 balls per round!)

Reply Report comment
Speedy

Sep 4, 2020 at 3:17 pm

Ball sense and otherwise.

Unless you’re a pro, world-class amateur, or other choosing to partake of official butt-tightening competition.

1. Play good condition balls you find, not caring about their normal price categories.

2. When buying new, low-price or mid-price on sale. Never premium, unless they’re 2fers.

3. Switch whenever you want.

4. Have fun in all climates.

Reply Report comment
- Fredo
  
  Sep 4, 2020 at 7:58 pm
  
  Get your scratched up Nxt tour, velocity ole hex diablo found in the rough. Cheap self.
  “This volik sure is pretty bright doesn’t stick on chip shots but it sure is pretty bright”
  Ole this top flight gamer v2 is pretty solid ole pinnacle goes a mile cause it’s hard as rocks miejer clearance section opinion outta here
  
  Reply Report comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

19 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

20 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

20 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”