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Ping launches new virtual ball-fitting tool: Ballnamic

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Ping has today introduced a virtual ball-fitting experience based on a golfer’s launch conditions and performance preferences: Ballnamic.

Per Ping, Ballnamic offers unbiased golf ball brand and model recommendations for golfers of every skill level, with the software powered by the company’s ball-specific flight models and algorithms developed by its engineers and data scientists.

More than 40 ball models are housed inside the tool, which is periodically updated to ensure that current designs are considered.

The ball-fitting tool is available direct to consumers for a $39 fee at ballfitting.com and provides users with a detailed fitting report contrasting the top five best-matched balls.

Speaking on Ballnamic, John K. Solheim, Ping President. said

“Ballnamic represents our never-ending quest to innovate every variable of the custom-fitting experience. We’ve been studying golf balls since the early days of PING when my grandfather, Karsten Solheim, quickly recognized the ball was the ‘tuning fork’ for golf equipment. Our extensive knowledge library and engineering expertise led us down the ball-fitting path, and we’re excited to bring it to both fitters and consumers. The access golfers have to their data through launch monitors and other tools continues to grow and make advancements like Ballnamic possible. Since we’re not in the golf-ball business, we’re able to conduct independent testing and offer this unbiased tool as another service for golfers to help improve their enjoyment of the game.”

Utilizing the Ping Man swing robot, doppler radar and carefully monitored weather conditions, the brand’s researchers have measured ball performance across a comprehensive span of driver, iron, and wedge shots – in both wet and dry conditions. Per the company, the results generated data approximating how golf balls perform across various speeds and lofts; a low-spin ball on drivers can generate high spin around the green and vice versa.

Once logged into the site, golfers create a profile by completing a questionnaire that guides them to think about aspects of ball performance, just like a Tour player. Golfers enter performance preferences for their long game, irons, wedges, short game, and putter.

Without access to a launch monitor, Ballnamic employs a user’s estimated launch conditions based on their data, such as their driver and 7-iron flight. At the same time, those who have used a launch monitor recently can enter their specs into the tool.

Ballnamic is currently only available in the U.S.

 

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected]

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Rich

    Jan 2, 2022 at 9:20 pm

    It’s too expensive. I learned that by paying for it and using it. It’s too expensive because….

    — It is driven by your inputs regarding distances, which most golfers are self-delusional about.

    — But even if you get that right, you’re limited to just 5 ball outcomes.

    — And you’re limited to just 5 uses of it.

    — And it’s incredibly buggy, with fails and page refreshes all over the place.

    — It loses your info, causing you to go back and re-input–sometimes costing you one of the valuable 5.

    — It asks for your current ball, but doesn’t always include that in the comparisons.

    — There’s almost no explanation for its choices.

    I emailed Ping about the bugginess of the site. They said they were swamped with activity because of the recent publicity and their servers couldn’t handle the traffic. I only got 2 results from four attempts–with about 60 page refreshes throughout. That left me with just one more. They responded and said they were working on the issue and would give me a code for a new 5 tries. I feel like I got comped a meal in Vegas after the hotel’s screw-up.

    Even if this thing worked correctly, paying $42 (including tax) isn’t worth it.

  2. DH

    Sep 1, 2021 at 5:11 pm

    The tool seems cool, and it’s great that Ping is putting all of their data to good use for everyone. I have not issue with them monetizing it either, but $39 for a one time access is steep. I’ll let others on here be the guinea pigs and write reviews before I decide to test it out.

    $39 for a year’s access is something I’d be onboard with. If I get on a monitor 2 or 3 times in a year I’ll be curious to see how the suggestions change (or don’t) after each session, and I’d like to re-visit my suggestions over time as new ball models come out.

  3. Keith Martin

    Sep 1, 2021 at 10:48 am

    Ping should consider providing this for free to promote they’re products. 39$ is a ripoff…

    • KUUUUCHHH

      Sep 1, 2021 at 5:35 pm

      They don’t make Golf Balls… Hard to promote a product they don’t make.

      and it’s their not they’re

  4. Wigib2

    Sep 1, 2021 at 9:05 am

    So let me get this straight, Ping spends untold hours and money researching golf balls with no horse in the race to provide a tool that can help better your golf game…and you deem it a rip off or cash grab because they have the balls (see what I did there!?) to charge for the use of the tool?? No ones forcing you to use it! I don’t see people complaining that Club Champion or Golf Galaxy will happily charge for a ball fitting and then turning around and making a profit on selling you the golf balls. I swear, some people are never happy…

  5. Moe Greene

    Sep 1, 2021 at 12:46 am

    Ping loses my respect for this overpriced nonsense.

  6. Ben

    Aug 31, 2021 at 2:44 pm

    39 bucks? Damn…

  7. Z

    Aug 31, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    Rip off

  8. Lindsay

    Aug 31, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    I was skeptical, but it’s actually an interesting tool. It is pretty cool that it includes past model year balls. For example, it said my best match was a 2019 Srixon XV.

  9. Irwin R. Shyster

    Aug 30, 2021 at 5:16 pm

    Cash grab

  10. dave

    Aug 30, 2021 at 11:19 am

    Dude…journalism 101: Who? What? Where? When? And in the case of a product or service that’s not free, HOW MUCH?

    These guys harvest name and email address at the start of the process and it’s not until you finish filling out the tool that you discover that it will cost you $39.00 plus tax to see your results.

    • HoppItUp

      Sep 1, 2021 at 8:34 am

      “The ball-fitting tool is available direct to consumers for a $39 fee at ballfitting.com and provides users with a detailed fitting report contrasting the top five best-matched balls.”

      Unless they added it in after you supposedly read it, it is right near the top of the, article. RIF.

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Whats in the Bag

Christiaan Maas WITB 2026 (June)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7TW (5-PW)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges: TaylorMade Prototype (50-SB09), TaylorMade MG5 (56-HB12, 60-LV07)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S400

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Check out more in-hand photos of Christiaan Maas’ clubs here.

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Equipment

TaylorMade MySpider Tour and Tour X: More customizable build options now available

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TaylorMade Golf’s MySpider program underwent a substantial overhaul over the last month. Firstly, the company launched the option to customize the Spider ZT model, and now the program has returned with the MySpider Tour and MySpider Tour X.

The revamped page now gives golfers complete control over every visual and functional detail of their putter on the popular Tour and Tour X head, with every cosmetic idea thought of. In MySpider Tour, golfers can choose from four head finishes, 16 paint fill colors, nine Surlyn face insert colors, three aluminum insert options, six sightline configurations, and four hosel options — L-neck, small slant, double bend, center shaft. Six sightline options are available in MySpider Tour, including the optically engineered True Path alignment system. MySpider Tour X gives builders the option of four head finishes, four hosel configurations, and five sightline options, also including True Path alignment.

One of the more interesting features of the new MySpider program is the availability of three distinct face insert options. Along with the usual Surlyn Pure Roll insert trusted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, which can be customized from nine colors, golfers can now also select firmer options. Two are offered with the black aluminum Pure Roll insert, slightly firmer than the traditional insert, or for the firmest feel, golfers can choose from two colors of milled aluminum inserts.

Another fun addition to the MySpider Tour is the ability to use the “Tommy Sightline.” The custom alignment aid design, which was first drawn onto Tommy Fleetwood’s putter by PGA Tour Rep James Holley, is based on the milled sightline on his Spider ZT head. There are five shorter lines on the left and right of a longer central line serving as the traditional short line alignment aid.

See below for the full specifications sheet for MySpider Tour and Tour X:

MySpider Tour

MySpider Tour X

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

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In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

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