height or spin?

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By Marc H

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  1. Marc H

    Marc H
    Leesburg, VA

    Question for Titleist engineers, Trackman or other flight monitors experts: When a ball comes into the green, the amount of roll is based on the hardness of the green, the spin, and the landing angle. Given that the hardness of the green is out of your control, if you wanted to shorten the roll, would you:

    1) Try to increase spin? Since spin is based on club head speed and dynamic loft, this would be tricky.

    or

    2) Hit the ball higher, or use a ball that goes higher? Note that the softer balls from Titleist go higher, but spin less.

    So what matters more (scientifically) in stopping the ball on the green: spin or landing angle?

    MRH

  2. Don O

    Don O
    Madison, WI

    I'm not any of the above, but none of the above have responded.

    The nature of the green is a deciding factor. You need to play for how the surface responds. A soft green with a high approach will have very little roll. On a hard surface, low approach and more spin will be more controllable. Of course, more spin with a steep back to front may spin off the front of the green. A high shot on a hard green may result in a first bounce that could go anywhere.

    That's why you need to use a ball that you can get the spin you need to be able to apply it to the course conditions for your best scoring. Average golfers can't control the amount of spin they apply or even generate enough spin even with a urethane ball. Within the ability of your club head speed, you can adjust the amount of spin - advanced teaching lessons may help. PM spent years getting crowd approval with crazy backups, but eventually applied less spin to have the ball end up closer to the pin based on conditions.
  3. Frank P

    Frank P
    Port St. Lucie, FL

    Military
    I prefer the lower flight with the" two hop and stop" action.
  4. Madhatter

    Madhatter
    Edderton, Highland, Scotland

    My fitters at a recent Titleist Thursday advised that I dont generate a lot of spin, as aresult they changed my ball from PV1 to PV1X, the additional height I now get has made a great difference to my short game accuracy.


    Madhatter
  5. Madhatter said:

    My fitters at a recent Titleist Thursday advised that I dont generate a lot of spin, as aresult they changed my ball from PV1 to PV1X, the additional height I now get has made a great difference to my short game accuracy.


    Madhatter

    That is exactly how I was fit.
  6. I really enjoy reading really informative posts like this.

    I am lucky cause I got a few test pro v1's and at the time I was gaming the trusoft. I tested them side by side.

    The difference was great to see but when using a ball the rolls out a lot you play for that to happen.

    Seeing the spin using the pro v1's is fantastic but cause your not use to it it's difficult to land it knowing it won't roll out.
  7. Spin is first priority and Launch angle/landing angle is second priority but they are both important since they compliment each other for the result you may be looking for.

    I would consider taking a couple balls that you are considering since players shots react differently and the best way to determine what is right for you is to test them! Every two years, I do the testing process as the Titleist ball team update the ProV1 and ProV1x (and now ProV1x Left Dash) to determine which is the ball for me.

    For instance, I desire spin on my iron approach shots which on a piece of paper would lead me towards the ProV1x however during testing I noticed the ProV1x left Dash gave me enough spin with lower dispersion (left, right, long and short shots that were not hit perfectly) that I chose it! Thus, the specs on paper are good but one needs to test the balls in playing conditions to determine the best option IMHO!

    Cheers, Just a thought...
    Chris
  8. Hunter E

    Hunter E
    Ohio

    Was just watching School of Golf this week and they had an interview with The Golden Bear. He said he used to always grind his grooves down to get LESS spin on the ball because he would much rather play his high trajectory ball flight. He said it is more consistent and predictable in his opinion. If you ask me, the man might know a thing or two about what he is talking about.
  9. Hunter E

    Hunter E
    Ohio

    Was just watching School of Golf this week and they had an interview with The Golden Bear. He said he used to always grind his grooves down to get LESS spin on the ball because he would much rather play his high trajectory ball flight. He said it is more consistent and predictable in his opinion. If you ask me, the man might know a thing or two about what he is talking about.
  10. scooterhd

    scooterhd
    Arizona

    Hunter E said:

    Was just watching School of Golf this week and they had an interview with The Golden Bear. He said he used to always grind his grooves down to get LESS spin on the ball because he would much rather play his high trajectory ball flight. He said it is more consistent and predictable in his opinion. If you ask me, the man might know a thing or two about what he is talking about.

    Keep in mind he is talking about a completely different ball. The balata ball would spin like crazy. It was an art to take spin off the ball and probably difficult to do for Jacks preferred setup and ball flight. Make sense he would use equipment to help him achieve his goal.

  11. Military
    Agree with scooterhd....that would be like us explaining to our kids how to drive their EV like an ICE with downshifting and heel and toeing! LOL...Anyone who has played the old balatas knows that they are just tops waiting to spin and it was always a trick to figure out how to take the spin off of them.
  12. Mike M

    Mike M
    Marblehead MA

    I think the landing angle is key. Hypothetically and for the sake of argument, lets say the ball comes down dead straight (i know thats impossible).It's not going to roll much, if at all, thus negating the hardness of the green factor.If you relate that to normal playing conditions, the steeper the angle, the less roll you should have regardless of green firmness.
    Spin is a whole different thing.Not only back spin, imparted on the ball at the strike, but sidespin as well. We all know anything left to right for a right handed player, fade , cut shot ,whatever, is going to spin more and thus hold the green better, in most cases than a similar shot going right to left, in my opinion.
  13. Tyler_S

    Tyler_S
    Cypress, TX

    I think height and spin go hand in hand. The higher you hit the ball the more spin you have to impart on the ball for it to fly higher. Decent angle is a factor as the steeper it comes down the faster it will stop. Firmer greens require a steeper decent angle for the ball to stop sooner. Soft greens and a steeper decent angle can create the ball to spin but that brings into account the slope of the green.

    I would say take 2 balls that you are interested in and try them side by side. However see the performance around the green with chipping, pitching and putting then work backwards from there. In a perfect world the ball that best works around the green for you is the ball of choice.

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