Having played golf for something like 45 years, the one glaring omission from my CV is a ball fitting.
I’ve had at least a dozen club fittings and know various chunks of my TrackMan data. As for the most appropriate ball I’ve done countless online Q&As, asked myself the same old questions over which one suits me best, am interested in hitting the ball (and scoring) better, am well aware of my limitations and how unlikely I am to improve them – but have still done nothing about any of them in terms of playing the right ball for me.
That said I always play a premium ball and, in recent years, have become less fussy as the general standard of leading balls appears to be better than ever.
But nearly every ball in my bag will be a Titleist ProV1 or ProV1x and I have always suspected that the latter will suit me more – I hit the ball very low as pretty much every shot is played off the back foot – and I’ve never once hit a ProV1x Left Dash nor the AVX.
My swing speed is now slower than ever due to age/body so I am also open-minded to anything that would help. My handicap is 6 which is built on being a decent driver, ordinary and inconsistent ball striker, functional (poor) chipper and average putter.
The only thing that I have told myself is to listen to the experts, in this case Titleist golf ball specialist David Stoker, and stick with whatever ball is suggested.
In the space of the next half an hour at Alwoodley in Leeds, all my questions were answered and I came away with a better insight than I’ve ever had over what golf ball best suits me.
How long does a ball fitting take?
My idea of a ball fitting was an exhaustive process of hitting balls where my standard of striking would fall away with each passing shot.
This is something else; you can get a genuine idea of what ball to use within 12 shots and poor shots are dismissed to give a true reflection of what each club can do. You begin with a club that travels 50 yards, then your pitching wedge, 7-iron and finally the driver.
There was no need to hit your ‘longest iron’ or to hit a collection of chips, just four clubs to give you a genuine idea of what your characteristics are.
What is being measured?
I hit the ball low which is fine on courses where it might be windy or you can run the ball in. The flip side is that there are plenty of courses/holes where this strategy quickly falls short and my carry distances are very short.
If I have a lesson I want very clear and easy information to digest. This was even better. My peak height with the 7-iron and a ProV1 was 66 feet, coupled with a land angle of 36˚.
Given this was downwind, and the ball was getting knocked down, this could be adjusted to something a little higher but the ideal is to have that up to and around 45˚ and above.
This would translate into the ball stopping quickly. In short my shallow land angle, low spin and insufficient stopping power with each club was letting me down.
What about the driver?
When stats are flashed in front of me, like most golfers, I will pay attention to the driver as these numbers make more sense to me. In a ball fitting this is actually the least important aspect.
Titleist do NOT recommend balls based on a player’s swing speed. They will consider that any golfer will produce a variety of swing speeds throughout a round which is emphasised in the green-to-tee fitting approach – 50-yard pitch shot, full wedge, 7-iron and driver.
All of Titleist’s balls are considered distance balls and they’re all low spin. So, even with a ProV1x which is the brand’s highest flying and highest spinning ball, it’s low spin off the tee. If it wasn’t, the best players in the world wouldn’t use it.
One common misconception is that more spin means a lack of distance with the driver, which is logical, but Titleist’s premium balls are not a high-spinning product with a driver. You might also think that it would encourage a slice or a hook, also incorrect.
The only aspect that is being influenced is backspin. The only reason the ball will move offline is because the axis of the ball is tilted which is down to the delivery of the club – and this is on us.
What about the feel?
The ProV1x is often talked about as having a firmer feel which isn’t for everyone. I would play with an X maybe 30 per cent of my rounds and, for me, this is very minimal.
What is worth knowing/remembering is that the cover material is the same as the ProV1, which is the softest of any Titleist ball, and that cover is the bit that interacts with those grooves we were talking about.
Feel is driven by, essentially, the compression of the core. The ProV1x is a dual core ball rather than a singular core in the Pro V1 and that’s just how it needs to be to produce the intended performance.
So the softer you make the cover, the more friction and more spin there is which is one of many reasons why tour players are using it as they get more control into and around the greens.
You might associate layers with quality, basically don’t. The ProV1 is a three-piece ball and is used by more pros than any other.
With this ‘quick fitting’ you don’t test putting but we do know already what the feel is like here. Titleist have certain pillars that they look into when dialling in the ball and feel is more a preference. All of the balls have been tested to produce the same ball speed with the putter so this is probably an area that you just need to get used to if it doesn’t fit your feel.
Then again many of the best players on the planet use a ProV1x and we’re all probably more swayed by being told that it’s a ‘bit clicky’ rather than this actually being the case.
What did I get fitted into?
It wasn’t a surprise that I came out with the ProV1x, it was a surprise that I was matched as high as 76%. The ProV1 was 20%, the Left Dash 1% and the AVX 3%. All of which fitted with what I had in my head but never to that extent.
With the ProV1x there was extra height and extra spin which is going to help improve upon that peak height. Plus the spin rate will translate to more carry as well which is a win-win.
This is as valuable a half hour as you could wish to spend. Most of us carry around a variety of balls in our bags but there will be one model that best suits us so the rest just need to go.
The most revealing aspect of this fitting is how similar all the balls were off the tee and there wasn’t any 10-yard leap that might make you want to use it more. They’re all distance balls but with the ProV1x there was more carry, an elevated ball flight and more stopping power.
Titleist work from the green backwards as this is where we see the biggest differences. We miss far more greens than the pros so see this as a sensible starting point.
You want to come away from a fitting with clear and concise information about why you might want to change what equipment you’re using.
This is fantastic, you hit the shots that you want to see coming off the clubface and, 12 shots later, it then gives you a precise reading of what ball to use. There’s no element of guesswork or pushing anyone towards a pricier ball, just a logical solution to helping us hit better golf shots.
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Article Link: How a Titleist ball fitting will improve your game...in just 30 minutes