Selecting Golf Balls
Any golfer worth his or her salt knows that the quality of their game is heavily dependent upon their equipment. This is why so much effort is spent on selecting the right clubs for each and every shot. However, despite this emphasis on clubs, selecting the right golf balls is also an essential ingredient to shaving those last few points off of your score. That said, how does one go about choosing the right ball? Much like a club, it ultimate depends upon the individual golfer.
The first thing to know about choosing the right golf ball is the three factors that govern the performance of every ball made. The first is distance, which obviously refers to how easily the ball can be driven for far distances. The second is “spin”, which refers to the degree of orbital rotation the ball will undergo during its flight, and consequently, how high it will rise and how far off course it will tend to drift. Lastly, there is durability, which simply refers to the ball’s ability to stand up to repetitive use without losing its shape or performance.
Knowing that, however, one must recognize that there’s no such thing as “the best” distance, or “the best” spin. Each golfer’s unique approach to the game means that each player will do best with a different combination of the three factors mentioned above. For that reason, determining your own needs as a golfer will determine what balls you should seek out. For instance, if you tend to cause the ball to go overly high and fall short of its target, you would want to find a ball with higher distance to allow you to go further, as well as with less spin to prevent you from hooking or slicing. Likewise, if you had trouble with over-shooting the ball on your initial drive, you’d want to select a new ball with less distance than what you’re currently using.
Once you’ve decided what needs you want to address with your new balls, do some research and find a wide selection of those balls which match these standards. Any one of these might fit your needs, but your task now is to narrow the field down to a single standard selection and the only way to do that is by actually putting them to use.
What you want to do is head down to your practice range and try out each kind of ball you selected in a number of different ways. First, try driving the ball for long distances, such as 100 yards, and then 150 yards. Try putting the ball for a short distance, and from a variety of starting points, such as one the fringe of the green, out of sand traps, and across hilly ground. You should be getting a feeling for which balls perform best with your style of playing, thus enabling you to narrow it down even further.
At that point, you should take the narrowed down selections out onto the real course for some actual tee time, so you can see how they perform when it really counts. Ultimately, such on-hand examination of the golf balls that match your individual needs is the only way to find the “perfect” ball for you. However, it is time well spent, as having the right ball at the right time is one of the few guaranteed ways to reduce your score and see immediate results.