Golf Balls – Tips That Every Golfer Should Know
Back in the old days, your choice of golf balls was simple — high-level professionals would use a 3-piece golf ball, which had a high spin, and covered with balata. Your every day, normal golf players would opt for the 2-piece golf ball which was covered with surlyn and was rock solid.
Today, however, there is an enormous amount of golf balls to choose from. For the beginner, making this choice may not be easy, so let's simplify things a bit and take a look at a few details of today's golf ball varieties.
The easiest way to look at the types of golf balls that are available today is to view them from a two-sided menu. On one side you have the type of balls that professionals use, which is softer; offer high spin ratio's, are very expensive, and utilize a 3-piece design.
One other choice you have are standard two-piece golf balls that create low spin, inexpensive, and are the average choice for beginner and amateur golfers.
Then you have the middle — in between the two general ball types where you will find many kinds of multipurpose golf balls which provide plenty of distance when hit from the tee, yet gives enough control to the player.
Making The Right Choice
You can use the above simplified explanation of golf ball types to make the right choice for your needs. If you are a beginner then you would obviously want to go with the two piece, low spin golf balls. While you have less control, the fact that your swing should have the ball going straight as possible will alleviate potential bad shots, thereby reducing penalties.
As you improve your golfing skills, you can then start to move towards the middle choice of multipurpose golf balls which will start to give you a bit more control over the flight of the ball. Soon enough you will be at the skill level to actually steer the ball in different directions to make more successful shots.
Good golfers want as much control as possible so that they can steer the ball to the left or to the right, depending on their intended direction. Beginners should only be concerned about driving every last yard they can from their shots, and in a straight direction.
There is also 2 more last tips…
- Keep your golf balls warm. Did you know that a ball will suffer the loss of distance if it is too cold? If you are playing during a cold day, hold on to a few balls inside of your coat pocket and handle them here and there to keep the balls warmed up. You can then alternate balls at each new tee so that you can start one that is warm.
- Golf balls do not last forever. Golf balls have a shelf life. After approximately 1-year, you will lose distance with the same ball. It's best to keep track of how long you have had your golf balls to avoid using them stale. And remember, 3-piece balls tend to lose their quality sooner than 2-piece golf balls.
Golf Balls — These Are No Ordinary Golf Balls
Have you ever wondered how so much energy can be generated, when you hit a golf ball with your clubface, why the ball is sent soaring through the air at such tremendous speed, velocity and lift? In order to produce this energy there are two factors involved…
- The manufacturing/construction of the ball.
- The velocity of the club head.
The average golf ball is manufactured and constructed according to rules set forth by the United States Golf Association (USGA). These rules state that a golf ball must be in the shape of a sphere, 1.68 inches in diameter at the smallest, and a maximum weight of 1.62 ounces.
The golf ball is then tested by specific equipment approved by the USGA. With these proper tests, the ball is not allowed to generate velocity of over 250 feet per second. This equates to approximately 170 mph, and a temperature of 75 degrees (F).
Ever Heard of "Iron Byron"?
The USGolf Association also has a very detailed robotic hitting machine which golf balls are tested with, known as the Iron Byron. When this machine is used for such testing, each ball must not travel greater than the distance of 280 yards, with a tolerance percentage of no more than 6%.
The purpose of these guidelines is to prevent professional golfers from using golf balls that may travel farther than other balls. In other words, it is a great checks-and-balances system to ensure that nobody is cheating with a ball that may have been purposely manufactured to fly at greater distances.
What Is A Golf Ball Made Of?
A well thought out design goes into the making of every golf ball you play with. Each ball is either a 2-piece or 3-piece design. And not every golf ball is made of the same material. Less expensive golf balls are typically made from a synthetic rubber substance known as surlyn. Over the years, these compounds change as science improves these materials.
Then there was golf balls made out of synthetic balata, which were often used by more experienced players who desired a ball that has a softer and generates more spin. This cover gave the player better control with steering their shots. Most beginner and amateur golfers stick to the 2-piece balls, as they have less spin, thus minimizing poor shots.
Golf Balls – What Makes A Golf Ball Fly The Way It Does?
When a golf ball goes soaring in the air towards the direction of your target, there is more to the movement of the ball than just flying up and then dropping down. As it moves, the golf ball also spins on its own axis. A similar analogy would be the way the earth rotates on its axis while moving around the sun in its orbit. Golf balls are able to spin sideways and backwards, with each direction causing different results.
The Backspin
No golf ball could fly through the air without having backspin. Between the backspin and the construction of the golf ball, its materials and dimple design, create lift which is responsible for the ball flying high up into the air. Without backspin, created by the engineering effect, the ball would never reach a height of more than a few feet from the ground.
Once the ball is struck by your club there will be a certain amount of backward spinning, which differs from club to club. For example, when using a driver, you will initiate a very tiny amount of backspin which results in a low flying ball. This is because the driver club is designed with 7° to 12° of loft.
When using a pitching wedge as another example; this club typically has 48° of loft which will create a lot of backspin, which causes the ball to reach a higher lift, much sooner.
The Sidespin
The sidespin movement of the ball can be initiated on purpose, especially when an experienced golfer uses his or her longer clubs. While the sidespin can be a friend to the professional golfer, it can cause quite a headache for beginner and amateur players.
New golfers have not yet developed sufficient control to utilize the spin to their benefit. When the ball is hit from the angle of the clubface, a spin can turn into a slice or hook, which is a not exactly the shot you want to make.
Note: You will have less sidespin on the ball as the loft of the club increases. With higher lofted clubs used to hit the ball, the backspin produced will cause most of the sidespin to be reduced, or cancel out, if you will.
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a.k.a. Vanilla Gorilla
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