The Golf Lab
June 2007 
 Ball Fitting Update Part II - Reporting Results
 Does Your Ball Matter?
In This Issue


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Dear Leith,

The first hole at the Palo Alto Muni is par 5 - a little over 500 yards and usually plays into the wind. It is very rare to see any but the strongest players reach the green in two.

Last Sunday, Heather and I were out for a casual round at the Muni. Conditions were normal with a little headwind. We were playing from the white tees but they were only ten steps in front of the blues. I hit a good drive. It got past the 250 yard marker. Then, a hot four wood put me on the fringe, putting for eagle. In fifteen years of playing the Palo Alto Muni, I have been green high only one other time - and that was wind-assisted. What caused this unusual result? Three contributing factors: the ball, the fairway metal and the driver.

 Focus on the Ball
 

Until lately, I've ignored golf balls. Early on, I only played the balls that I found on Ogden Avenue, outside the fence at Hinsdale Country Club near Chicago. Titleist was popular at that exclusive club so I developed a taste for the best. In tournaments I always played Titleist. Other days, it didn't matter. I played any ball I found - Top Flight and Pinnacle excluded.

In those days, we weren't too worried about ball performance. We were proud if we could play a Titleist balata for 72 holes. By the end of that ordeal, it was soft as chewing gum.

Golf equipment companies have put a great deal of money into developing and marketing golf balls - the razor blades of the golf industry. Recently, sophisticated systems have emerged for testing and fitting balls. But golf ball manufacturers are not too keen about players choosing balls because they perform better. They'd much rather let their marketing programs rack up the sales. The rich get richer.

A couple of weeks ago, I introduced Golf Lab customers to the Advanced Golf Solutions (AGS) golf ball fitting system. AGS is an independent organization, determined to find the best ball for a specific player. Today, I report the results of our first two weeks of working with the AGS system as well as some recent enlightenment from Taylor Made. In a couple of weeks, I'll introduce you to Golfballselector.com, an online service to help you find the right ball.

I've become a "true believer". The ball matters. In the last two weeks I've had more fun playing a variety of golf balls than I could have imagined. For the first time, I have been able to see the difference in ball flight, carry distance and response around the green. My experience illustrates the futility of most ball - and club - testing by golfers. If you don't know what you're playing and you don't know what you're testing, how could you possibly tell the difference? But with good information, the difference becomes obvious.

Reaching the green on number one was more than just the ball. I tweaked my driver and my new "hot" fairway metal helped. After seven years of looking for the "magic" it's exciting to find it, even if only for one hole.

If you can't wait to know the magic combination, skip to the end. If you're in the mood for a good read, here's the whole story:

 


 Taylor Made Ball Fitting Demonstration
 

In early June, I attended the International Network of Golf (ING) meeting near Syracuse, New York. Taylor Made was a major sponsor.

Taylor Made is taking the premium ball market very seriously. All golf equipment companies would rather sell razor blades than golf clubs. As evidence of their commitment, Taylor Made hired one of Titleist's top talents as Director of Golf Ball Design to spearhead their effort to compete with Titleist and capture a measurable share of the ball market.

In a demonstration to promote their new tour quality ($40 per dozen and up) Taylor Made "Red" ball, they brought in the club professional at the Turning Stone Resort to hit shots with a Trackman radar-based launch monitor looking over his shoulder.

The first goal of the Taylor Made presentation was to attack the conventional belief that soft cover balls spin more than hard cover balls off the driver. Everyone knows that "high launch, low spin" is desirable for the tee ball. Taylor Made wanted to prove that their soft cover balls were also "low spin".

The second goal was to demonstrate what "accuracy" means with a golf ball. The test pitted the Titleist So- Lo against the new Taylor Made Red. The So-Lo is touted as a hard cover, low compression "value" ball. The Red is a soft cover, premium quality ball.

 


 The Driver Test
 

The professional hit a series of drives with the So-Lo and then another series with the Taylor Made Red. Result: average spin rate was 2300 RPM with both balls. The test was conducted in a dome so it was impossible to see the total distance, but ball speeds were similar. Is the So-Lo longer than the Red? We'll never know from that test, but we do know that the spin rate with the soft cover ball is comparable to the So-Lo. If the Red doesn't go as far, it won't be because it is spinning too much. It was a convincing demonstration. You don't have to buy a hard ball to get low spin.

 


 The Iron Test
 

The professional then hit a series of six irons with the So-Lo and with the Red. The spin rate of the So-Lo was less consistent. The deviation with the So-Lo was over 2000 RPM from shot to shot. The deviation in the spin rate with the Red was less than half that. Same with the launch angle. The deviation in the launch angle with the So-Lo was over three degrees from shot to shot. The deviation with the Red was less than half that.

The Taylor Made marketing personnel explained their interpretation of the data. The hard cover So-Lo, in their analysis, was inclined to "slide" up the clubface, hence imparting inconsistent spin rates and launch angle. On the other hand, the Red, with its soft cover, tended to "grab" the face of the iron. Solid contact was explained as the reason that the softer cover ball exhibited more consistent spin rates and launch angle. The argument is that consistent spin rates and launch angle produce in more accurate shots. That conclusion was believable.

 


 "Out of the Box" Conclusions
 

Here's one conclusion that you'd never expect. The conventional wisdom says that average players with relatively low ball speeds should play soft compression balls like the So-Lo. It turns out that players with low ball speeds suffer from too little, not too much spin. Spin helps keep the ball in the air at low ball speeds. Consequently, low swing speed players - usually women and seniors - are more likely to benefit from soft cover balls that will allow them to spin the ball a little more. Average players should buy expensive balls. Did I say that the Taylor Made presenters were from the marketing department?

 


 Golf Ball Winners from Early Testers
 

In the last Golf Lab newsletter, I reported on the Advanced Golf Solutions (AGS) software that was developed over a three year period. Extensive tests were conducted to discern the aerodynamic performance of golf balls. The finding was that some balls just fly better. That could be due to more consistent manufacturing techniques, better balance or a dimple design that just works better. It's pretty clear that most players would like a ball that goes farther with their current swing - based on better aerodynamics. That's "free distance".

I reported that one ball stood out from the others in the AGS testing. When tracked with radar, balls don't necessarily fly dead straight. Rather, they create turbulence that causes them to "bounce around" in the atmosphere. The AGS testing revealed that by plotting trajectories with the Trackman launch monitor. One ball was tested that seemed to fool the radar. When AGS plotted the trajectories with that ball, they were much straighter. Their conclusion? That ball has superior aerodynamics. Was there a reason? Possibly. The dimple design of the Spaulding Top Flight D2 is "dimple in a dimple" - that's what the D2 stands for in the name.

In our testing at the Golf Lab, the Top Flight D2 is almost always recommended as the best distance ball by the AGS software. It also shows up in the "best overall" category. That was enough for me. I make a trek down to my local Golfsmith and bought a fifteen pack of the Distance (Red) and another of the Feel (Green) D2's. Thirty balls set me back $35. I played them for the last two weeks and handed out a few more to my playing partners. Here's what I found out.

Both D2's are longer. They really stand out on shots into the wind. They perform great on knock downs and hold their line when other balls would not. I had a couple of very good rounds in high winds. The downside? For me, there were two problems. You have to get used to taking one club less when you're "in between" clubs. I usually take the longer club and try to smooth it. I've been deep in the greens or over the back. Out of bunkers, D2's just don't spin. In a casual round at Lake Merced CC, I hit a lot of greens and a few bunkers. The bunkers were deep. The sand was light and normally would have promoted spinning the ball. Four good bunker shots, all landed short and rolled twenty feet long. The D2 does not "drop and stop". Nothing's perfect.

The feel is surprisingly soft, even with the putter. One Golf Lab regular who is known for his chipping prowess - and who eschews soft cover balls as being unpredictable - noted that the D2 felt much softer than his normal Callaway HX Hot. On the downside, I handed out D2's to my playing partners for a recent casual round at the Muni. By the twelfth hole, they were all back to their original favorites. If you're looking for a little more distance, splurge for a fifteen pack of D2's.

With all of the praise noted for the D2, it is important to emphasize that when a player chooses "accuracy" as his most important parameter, he will always receive a recommendation of one of the softer cover, premium balls. The New Titleist ProV 07 comes up a lot as well as the Bridgestone B330, the Nike Platinum and the Srixon models. All Pro V's are not alike - with many players surprised when the software recommends the one that they think they don't like. That why we decided to offer our "free ball fitting" service. We want to know whether the software is smarter than our customers, or vice versa.

 


 Free Ball Fitting Offer Extended
 

For Golf Lab customers who would like to find out what the new technology recommends, we're offering a free ball fitting. We'll test your driver with our Max Out Launch Max and feed your results to the AGS software. You'll get a list of recommended balls for distance, accuracy and best overall. There is no charge. If you would like to expand your ball fitting into a driver fitting, we'll continue to offer our $95 incentive for ball fitting volunteers. Ball fitting takes less than half an hour. A complete driver fitting - utilizing our advanced electronics and extensive driver demo array - well over an hour. Please call the shop for an appointment. 650-493-1770.

 


 The Rest of the Story
 

You may have missed a detail in the long list of USGA prohibitions. They don't care about the "rebound effect" on any golf club over 15 degrees. That has opened the way for a few companies to market fairway woods with "hot" faces. The first to do that was Tour Edge with their Exotics line last year. It became a cult favorite, clearly going farther than other fairway woods.

I've been playing a Tom Wishon "Four Wood" - 16.5 degrees. I chose that because there's nothing more disappointing than standing in the middle of a fairway, looking at the green on a par 5 and then missing the second shot. I want a little more forgiveness in my fairways, which means a little extra loft to me. It is sold as a "hot head".

I paired the Wishon up with a 75 gram Aldila NV driver shaft, tipped to give me a nice solid 6.0 PCS frequency measurement. My thinking was a little higher loft with a low spin shaft would do the trick. It did. For the last several weeks I've been hitting the green on the formerly unreachable 15th at the Palo Alto Muni. If you need fifteen extra yards from your fairways, this is the way to get it without resorting to tedious practice, physical conditioning and lessons. Equipment companies always promise "more distance". We usually don't. I'm making an exception in this case. Come pick up a demo Wishon or Tour Edge and play it for a week on your course (small rental fee required). There might not be a "hot" driver, but there is a hot fairway metal.

I'm back to working with long drivers. This time, it's an ACCRA T-50 M-4 flex paired up with last year's Adams 460-D head. 47". The advantage of removable weight heads like the Adams is that you can get the driver head weight down to 190 grams. That's the secret, if you're going with a long shaft, you need to make sure you have a lighter weight head. You can do that with a Taylor Made R-7 or SuperQuad but you need the weight kit. When you just add length to a standard weight (200g.) driver head, it ends up too heavy and you hit it short into the trees.

If you want to try a long driver again, you don't have to buy it. We've got a few at the Golf Lab that are available for demo. If you can control a long driver, it will deliver an extra ten to fifteen yards.

So that's the combo that reached the first green at the Muni for me the first time in fifteen years. Adams 450- D, ACCRA M 50, and the Wishon fairway metal - and don't forget the Top Flight D2 - Distance (Red).

 


 Golf Lab Professional Fitting Services
 

At the Golf Lab, we strive every day to improve our fitting methodology and our ability to match the fit with precision assembly. If you are a customer who has had a fitting more than six months ago, we will update the fitting with our current state-of-the-art electronics for half of our normal fee. Call the Golf Lab for details. 650-493-1770. If you need your irons tweaked for loft and lie or your grips replaced, call ahead and set time aside, we'll do short jobs while you wait so you don't have to make two trips. We value your time. And, don't forget to tell your friends about the Golf Lab. We need all of the customers we can get.

 


The Golf Lab is just one minute off of 101 at Embarcadero in Palo Alto. Leith Anderson and Bob Huff welcome you to take advantage of their state-of- the-art fitting services. For an appointment call the Golf Lab - 650-493-1770.

Email us at:
Leith Anderson or Bob Huff.

Best regards,


Leith Anderson and Bob Huff
The Golf Lab

phone: 650-493-1770

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This email was sent to leith@calgolftech.com, by leith@calgolftech.com

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