How good do you need to be for the type of ball to REALLY matter?

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My opinion is that the golf ball really does not make that big of a difference, as long as you aren’t playing a range ball or something.

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I am currently around a 10 and this is my take as well.

I think anyone that is trying to break into the 70’s should find an optimal ball and use it exclusively. Consistent spin, especially around the greens, is very important.

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I’m a 5 handicap

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73 a few months ago, lowest round of my life

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Really?

Yea, is that bad or something? I felt pretty good about that 73

I just bought a $30 45 pack of nitros. YOLO

I'm halfway joking but a 5 handicap should appreciate the difference a good ball makes. And you could probably be lowering your score by playing a ball that is best suited for your game.

There are certain balls that I could never play, not even factoring in feel. I did a ball test last season and tried 6-7 different balls because the TP5x that I had been playing just felt off. The biggest difference came from the spin off my driver. Two of the balls I tested flew almost identical and I couldn't keep them in the fairway and the other four or so were pretty similar all around outside of feel around the green.

But I would say the ball doesn't matter quite as much if you play on a more open, easier course, or course with slower greens. My home course greens are the fastest greens you'll find and it's like putting on an elephants back. You seriously could not keep the ball on the green with a ball on the firm side. It would be a numerous strokes difference if I tried to switch balls just based on approach and chip shots alone.

I'm halfway joking but between this thread and your thread saying a person gains more strokes practing his driver than he does his short game makes kind of serious too

The consistency of using the same ball matters more than the type of ball. If you're constantly switching between balls, you'll never get consistent results. Find a ball that works for you and use that ball exclusively.

And don't use refurbished balls.

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I'm halfway joking but between this thread and your thread saying a person gains more strokes practing his driver than he does his short game makes kind of serious too

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good memory!

I stand by that statement too up to a certain handicap.

I gain more strokes practicing my short game because I can GENERALLY keep my driver in play. If you are losing 3+ balls OB every round off the tee and having to punch out of the trees constantly because you’re spraying your driver, learning to hit that will absolutely help you more than practicing your short game. And I would say there are more people in the 10-20 handicap range spraying their driver than there are guys 3 putting 4-5 times a round and hitting half their chips off the green or chunking 2ft

If you are a 10-20 cap, can chip it onto the green 80% of the time, and not 3 putt 80% of the time, you probably can gain more strokes by learning to hit your driver than you can practicing chipping

In reality I think my general sentiment is this.

Too many people worry too much about what type of golf ball they hit and not enough on how to hit it.

Too many people give average-below average golfers bad advice about how they should be spending most of their time chipping and putting even though they can’t even get the ball in play off the tee.

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Consistent spin

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is why I play the same ball. As you said, around the greens I know exactly where I land the ball and know within reason the spin/release after landing.