- 8 minutes ago
This video, in which Neil Tappin is joined by Titleist golf ball specialist Tom Hiscock, explains what these misconceptions are and will hopefully help you make a smarter choice when it comes to selecting the right ball for your game.
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00:00Hello everyone, Neil Tappan here from Golf Month B and welcome to West Hill Golf Club
00:03in this video in which we're going to take a look at seven of the biggest golf ball myths.
00:09Now we've partnered up with Tightlist for this one and I'm going to play golf with Tom
00:13Hiscock who's a golf ball specialist at Tightlist and he's come up with a list of seven misconceptions
00:18I guess you'd say about the type of golf ball that certain players should be using.
00:23We're going to talk about what they are and hopefully debunk some of those myths in order
00:27to help you make a better choice about what actually is the right golf ball for your game.
00:33Right, let's head out onto the golf course and get started.
00:43Okay so the first one on our list to talk about and this is one I've heard a lot over the years
00:48is people say I don't spin the ball and well that's just not true right?
00:54Absolutely, yeah and this is the reason why we've got so many different clubs isn't it?
00:57The loft of the golf club helps us spin the golf ball and as soon as the golf ball is in the air
01:02or it's left the ground, left the club face, it's spinning and it's spinning backwards.
01:07So we're talking about backspin but we're not talking about how you might perceive backspin
01:12like you do on the TV, you see the players hit it into the green, it's spinning backwards.
01:15We're talking about the golf ball slowing down.
01:17Yeah okay.
01:18So it's all about for us trying to find out how much spin or stopping power or rollout
01:25the golfer's looking for.
01:26Right okay.
01:27We're not talking about curvature, that's something we can come to later but it's more about how the
01:32golf ball's reacting when it hits the green. So spin is backspin but it's stopping power and not
01:38seeing the backspin.
01:39Right and so the sort of the follow-up for me then on this Tom is that because of the
01:43different way that different golfers attack the ball, they will create different spin profiles.
01:50You might think I don't spin the ball but because actually the way that the club attacks the ball
01:54you are creating more spin than you need to in certain shots and therefore it might be ballooning
01:59up into the air. Am I talking nonsense?
02:00No not at all. So every golfer has a different spin profile so we have to match that in with your
02:06delivery and how you deliver the golf club. So like I said every golfer that comes to see us will
02:11spin the golf ball. It's then down to us, if they're having a track man fitting for instance,
02:15it's down to us to guide them or recommend a golf ball based on how they deliver the golf club.
02:21And every golf ball, because they perform differently, it's really important to get the
02:25right one. Especially if you're chopping and changing from hole to hole or round to round.
02:31It's really important to settle on the one that's performing best for you.
02:33Yeah because then you're going to understand how it's going to react when it hits the green.
02:36You're going to know what club to hit presumably as well.
02:37Absolutely, absolutely.
02:39Right Tom, do you know what, you've got 180 in here and it's into the wind and there's just not
02:48a lot going in your favour. I don't want to sort of put you off before we've even got started.
02:51But this is an opener isn't it? It's quite daunting this isn't it?
03:01Oh it's a bit pulley.
03:02It's a bit pulley but do you know it's a good flight. It's on the green.
03:06I've got to tell you that it's fine. Yeah it's okay isn't it?
03:09Okay so for our next one we are going to talk about soft versus hard golf balls and how that affects
03:17performance. And I think the myth here, certainly the conception that a lot of people will have is
03:23that a softer golf ball is going to spin more and that by contrast the harder golf ball is going to
03:28offer me less control in the short game. Is there any truth to any of that? Not really.
03:32No it's a big myth and the word soft is very misunderstood. So soft golf balls are soft
03:41through compression. They feel soft. Right okay. Soft covered golf balls are typically higher in
03:47compression and firm feeling but offer you more spinning control. Right okay. So but you have
03:52different compression golf balls in your range right? Yeah absolutely. So why do you have different
03:58compression golf balls? So the compression is again very much a feeling thing. So every every
04:03golf ball will have a preference. Some golfers prefer a slightly softer golf ball. Some people prefer a
04:08firmer feeling golf ball. So within our performance range which encapsulates true feel, velocity,
04:16tour soft and tour speed, all those golf balls are a different compression. They're all two-piece golf
04:22balls right? Tour speed three-piece. It's multi-layered but true feel, velocity, tour soft are two-piece golf
04:28balls and they have different compressions. They'll feel different but with them being two-piece they're
04:34going to offer you low spin for distance off the tee which we all want. Yes. But as we get closer to the
04:39green because they're two-piece golf balls you're going to get some control and stoppability from loft but
04:47with them being a harder cover over a softer core you're going to compromise a little bit when it
04:52comes to spinning control. Right okay. But there will be a feel a feel difference between the three of
04:57them and therefore there'll be an option for everybody. Come on let's hit this one.
05:10Good hit. Okay so for this one we're going to talk about golf in the winter
05:16and I think it feels like a fairly sensible idea to play maybe a different golf ball in the winter
05:20when conditions underfoot are different. It's wet here today at West Hill. The temptation might be to
05:25use a harder golf ball. What's the sort of tightest thinking on that front? Yeah it's a really good
05:30question Neil and it's a question we get asked all the time. The consistency of playing the same golf ball
05:37from season to season from wet conditions to drier conditions remains the same. We would much rather
05:44the golfer change their club selection or their technique to suit the conditions because if you
05:52change the golf ball to suit the wind say for example where the golf was landing it's also going
05:57to feel very different when you're putting and chipping when the the conditions are not going to be
06:02too different to how they might be in in in some conditions for example but for us the most important
06:09thing is consistency. You play the same ball all the time. Obviously we reference the tour players a lot
06:15and they play at a different venue every single week. They might go from a links venue to an inland venue.
06:20Do you ever get golfers on tour changing their ball? Very very rarely. You're trying to discourage them
06:27from doing it. Yeah absolutely but they would be they would be quite comfortable maybe taking a long
06:32iron out and putting a hybrid in or changing their their wedge selection but they would never change the
06:38golf ball because they know what that golf ball does but also they're hitting that ball on every single
06:44shot. Yes well so in that spirit I've changed my I've gone down in loft I'm going to try and hit it in a
06:50wee bit lower. Great.
06:59Well it's quite high.
07:03Yardage was good. Look at that. I'll take it. Perfect. I'll take it.
07:08Right so the next myth we are going to cover is around swing speed. The idea being here that a lot
07:13of golfers would say well I have a swing speed of let's say 100 miles an hour therefore I need to
07:19use x golf ball but Tom Titus would say that's not actually how golfers should be thinking about it at
07:26all. Yeah absolutely Neil our methodology is quite different so when we're recommending golf balls we
07:33start from the green and we work our way back to the tee because if we think about it this way when it
07:37comes to club head speed yes you are going to swing your driver faster than any other club in your bag
07:43but as soon as you exit the tee and make your way towards the green every golfer is going to slow
07:47down and we've got 14 clubs every club is swung at a different speed yeah what speed do you swing your
07:52seven iron I don't know the answer to that question absolutely to me yeah and then you think about your
07:56sand wedge and and again you could even include your putter yeah we spend loads of time on the green
08:01and it's the club's still moving at a speed so for us it's not about the speed it's more about the club
08:07conditions right so loft spin loft and how the golf ball reacts to the loft that we're presenting
08:14right that's interesting so I was fitted by Tom into a golf ball last year went through the whole
08:19fitting process I ended up with the Titus Provo 1x I'll put in a link below to that video if you're
08:23interested in taking a look and I know from that experience that you start at the green work your way
08:29back towards the tee but you would fit the club to the ball once you get to the tee is that right
08:33absolutely yeah so yeah you're absolutely spot on Neil so we fit the golf ball to the wedges and
08:37the irons we fit the driver to the golf ball there's far more we can change from the driver setting
08:43whether that's loft or centre of gravity or head design to influence spin and distance from the tee
08:50so we focus primarily on the shorter shots given that we spend more time there all of our golf balls
08:56are designed to be low in spin from the tee to give you optimal distance and then we focus
09:03primary on the shorter shots right okay so there will be balls in the range that are low in lower
09:08in spin but they'll be lower in spin around the greens as well absolutely yeah when we're talking
09:13about lower lower spin golf balls it's it's more with with irons and wedges so we're talking about
09:17stopping power as opposed to as opposed to distance from the tee right then let's have a hit give it a whirl
09:23oh come back oh it's at the post on the left get out get bounce i squeaked out
09:36you know okay tom so for the next one i wanted to ask you um was about female golfers and the idea
09:55the myth here being that female golfers should use a golf ball that's designed specifically
10:01for women i know that's not a kind of a school of thought that titelists buy into why not
10:07and how should female golfers be thinking about their golf ball choice it's a really it's a really
10:12good one there and again it's one we tackle every day um i always say the golf ball doesn't know who's
10:19hitting it so the golf doesn't know whether you're male or female whether you're older or younger and
10:23vice versa so for us it's more a case of what what does the goal what's the goal for looking for
10:29regardless of their gender yeah how do they want the golf ball to form uh perform what are their
10:33what are their preferences when it comes to golf balls but typically women's golf balls are softer
10:39for slower club head speeds but again from our our methodology working from green to t for us speed
10:46doesn't come into it because from here every golfer is going to swing the club slowly yes and we spend
10:51more time around the green yes so it's more about our approach from fitting green to t the long
10:58clubs everybody wants the same thing so all the golf balls are going to be distance orientated from
11:02the t but then it depends on what the female or male golfer wants from from here yes and how they
11:07want to see the golf ball perform it's not about speed soft is a big word when it comes to women's
11:12golf balls and for us soft is is more of a feeling thing it's it's not performance based and all those
11:17differences between the golf balls that you've spoken about they're going to be noticed by whoever's
11:22hitting them whether they're male female older younger etc as you mentioned absolutely you can't link a
11:28club head speed with a gender because there will be some females that swing it faster than some
11:32males and vice versa so it's yeah it's more it's more about what the golfer is looking for and and
11:37and not not gender yeah okay right i'm gonna have a go at this this is not my forte this particular shot
11:44tom but i've got faith in you you've actually got a long putt you're in three putt territory there so i feel
11:50fine
11:54oh what a little little kick forward hit the collar of it i'll take it it's fine great
12:12that's beautiful great shot tom
12:14so tom next one i wanted to ask you was about colored golf balls now i don't want to offend
12:21anybody who uses a colored golf ball that watches this video but i have heard people say from time
12:26to time things like oh you know serious golfers don't tend to play colored balls but that's a myth
12:32isn't it yeah again it's it's a big myth isn't it you know there are um colored golf balls being used
12:38on tour now so some of the senior players it might be more of a visual thing but to be honest for us it's
12:42it's more preference right we always talk about when we're when we're fitting and recommending
12:47golf balls we're talking about performance primarily if the golfer's looking for that but
12:52it's really important to find out what the preferences are i remember um fitting a gentleman who was
12:59struggling to hit the white golf ball as soon as i put an orange golf ball down
13:02he he could make really good contact and it completely revolutionized his game that's very
13:07interesting so it is so what i found tom is that i've used um a yellow golf ball in not dissimilar
13:15sort of sunlight to today so kind of like dappled sun where it's quite bright but then there's shady
13:20areas and it can be quite hard to see yeah and i feel like i can see a yellow golf ball maybe a little
13:26bit better in in that scenario yeah i mean the good thing for from our side of things is the the color
13:31golf balls whether it's yellow or some of our matte finished golf balls they all they all perform as the
13:36same as the white golf ball so it's not a performance thing it's just a preference and yeah
13:41in in winter conditions for example like you just referenced or or if the light's changing
13:47then some of the other golf balls might be a bit easier to pick up in in flight yeah and you have
13:52you not just launched a blue golf ball we have yeah yeah yeah so in our velocity range we have
13:57white obviously and then we have orange green and blue yeah so it's it's uh not for everybody but
14:02there will be you know there'll be a lot of people out there that are excited by that proposition yeah
14:06and i always worry with the with blue for instance that it's going to be a bit dark and i might not
14:11see it as it goes into the shade yeah but i take it they've worked on that yeah any anything we do
14:17is is researched before we before we launch any products so um there's been some great research
14:23behind the the color schemes and and the options that are available yeah um and it's from a visual
14:29perspective it's it's great for some golfers and not for others so it's going to be it's going to
14:35be a very individual thing but um yeah it's it's we'll see how it goes yeah quick question do you use
14:41a colored golf ball if so uh which color do you use why do you use it be interested to hear what you have
14:46to say right go on tom okay so this myth is i'm not good enough to play a premium golf ball and i suspect
14:57there's people watching this video that probably will feel a little bit like that and my theory on
15:01this tom is that it stems a bit from tour because you're watching tour players using premium golf
15:07balls and your equipment setup is quite different to a tour player setup so people might also massively
15:12think well my golf ball setup needs to be quite different to a tour players setup what are your
15:16thoughts on that one yeah again it's it's a big myth it's a misconception you know those golfers are
15:22the best golfers in the world and they're they're looking to optimize their performance if they're
15:27looking to optimize their performance then we should as well especially given the fact that we're most of
15:32us are striving to be as good as we can be and typically when it comes to handicap and ability a lot
15:37of golfers don't think they're good enough because potentially they just feel like they're losing too
15:42many so it might be more of a cost thing right okay but actually from a performance standpoint if the
15:47golfer is is looking to improve and and and develop as a player and get as good as they can get when
15:53you're hitting shorter shots into the green you could argue that higher handicappers miss more greens
15:58so therefore having a product that a premium golf ball which gives them more more spin and more
16:03control makes their target bigger so it actually makes the game easier they're more forgiving golf balls
16:08with the shorter shots right so it gives the goal for the best opportunity to get the golf ball as
16:14close as they can to the hole have shorter parts and shoot lower scores so it's it is a big myth but
16:21i can kind of understand potentially from a from a cost effectiveness point of view yeah right we've
16:28been looking at this shot for a time now yeah so it's time to knock it in i should know the read by now
16:33oh oh hate to say you missed on the amateur side there i did low side not good so there you have
16:47it that's our look at golf ball myths hopefully you found that useful hopefully there's been some
16:52guidance in there about some of the things that you might be thinking were true about selecting a
16:57golf ball that actually either aren't true or actually really aren't that important when it comes to
17:01finding exactly the right golf ball for you if you do have any questions please post them below
17:07we'd love to hear what you think but for now from west hill it's goodbye
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