There is a difference, dear friends, between hardcore golf blog readers and normal people.
Normal people who play golf don’t geek out over golf ball minutiae like golf blog readers (and writers) do. Most of them wouldn’t know the difference between cast urethane and Polythene Pam. A core is what’s left after you eat an apple, a mantle is either Mickey or that thing over the fireplace, and dimples are what happens when babies smile.
Bless their hearts, some of these so-called “normal people play golf just for fun.
Yet they look at us like we’re the strange ones.
All joking aside, there’s something to be said for keeping a golf ball message simple. That’s the approach Bridgestone is taking with its new e12 golf balls. The 2025 e12 line features three ionomer-covered golf balls, each with a specific purpose for a specific “normal person” who happens to play golf.
That’s not terribly unique. The interesting part is twofold. First, three options give Bridgestone a fitting story to tell which is rare for an ionomer ball. Second is the extension of Mindset.
Bridgestone e12 golf balls: Evolution of a line
Bridgestone lays a legitimate claim to inventing golf ball fitting. Since 2006, it has collected data from more than four million golfers hitting not only Bridgestones but competitors’ balls as well.
“One thing we’ve learned is that 85 percent of golfers who play ionomer-covered distance balls are losing distance because their launch conditions aren’t optimized,” Bridgestone Marketing Manager Elliott Mellow tells MyGolfSpy.
“It could be a trajectory problem, it could be a horizontal (hook/slice) problem or it could be a spin problem. Either way, for that 85 percent, it’s not a ball speed problem. It’s a trajectory-related problem.”
According to Bridgestone, nearly half of that 85 percent are horizontally challenged. They’re the hookers and slicers who lose distance because they’re hitting the ball crooked. A little more than half of those remaining struggle with getting the ball up in the air. The rest tend to have the opposite problem: they hit it too high and lose distance by ballooning the ball.
After sorting golfers into those three buckets, Bridgestone set about engineering a solution: Optimal Flight System.
Now before you start …
I know, I know, “GET LESSONS!!” “Golf balls won’t fix a crappy swing,” yada yada yada. No one, least of all Bridgestone, is claiming the new e12 HiLaunch, e12 Speed or e12 Straight will magically turn a hooker/slicer into a long and straight bomber. The Optimal Flight System is designed for a nobler and simpler purpose: to help those golfers have more fun on the course.
If you tend to hit the ball too low, it’s probably a swing speed issue. That’s why you’re seeing OEMs offering game-improvement irons with an HL spec that feature weaker lofts and lower centers of gravity to help get the ball up in the air. The new Bridgestone e12 HiLaunch is built to help, too. It’s a two-piece ball with shallow dimples and the lowest compression in the new e12 line.
“Because it’s low compression, it stays on the driver face longer as you’re swinging upward,” says Mellow. “That gives you high launch. The dimple package then helps keep the ball up in the air longer.”
For the hooker/slicer, there’s the e12 Straight. It’s the only three-piece ball in the lineup. It’s also a low-compression ball, just not as low as the e12 HiLaunch. The firm cover and mantle layer help reduce spin and Bridgestone’s Contact Force Dimples create more surface area contact between the ball and club. That also helps control spin off the tee.
The e12 Speed has the highest compression of the new Bridgestone e12 golf balls. The combination of higher compression and a deeper dimple pattern promotes a more penetrating ball flight for golfers who need to get the ball down.
“We think 44 percent of the distance ball players will fit into the e12 Straight,” says Mellow. “That’ll be our horse but we think the HiLaunch has a chance to be the sleeper of the group.”
“I got my mind set on you …”
Also of note with the new Bridgestone e12 golf balls is the addition of MindSet.
Released last year on Bridgestone’s Tour B line, MindSet is a unique marking system designed by Jason Day and his mental coach Jason Goldsmith to help golfers develop a consistent pre-shot routine. MindSet is a three-step, tri-colored process. First, the red circle and arrow ask you to identify your target. Second, the yellow inner circle prompts you to visualize the shot. Finally, the green dot says focus on the shot and let ‘er rip.
It’s not just a marking on the ball for fun. There’s actual science behind the design.
“By going through the process, you start by activating the analytical side of your brain,” says Mellow. “By the time you get to the green dot, the analytical side shuts down and the athletic side takes over to make the swing.”
The idea is to quiet the mind and keep it from getting in the way. To paraphrase Crash Davis, “Don’t think, Meat. Just hit it.”
Does it work or is it just a gimmick?
A fair question. And as with anything designed to aid the mental side of the game, it depends on who’s using it. It probably won’t surprise you to learn Bridgestone’s own testing shows MindSet can be quite beneficial, especially for higher handicaps.
“We found the higher your handicap, the more upside there is for you to use a technology like MindSet,” says Mellow. “You probably don’t have a pre-shot routine or the one you do use could use a little refinement. That’s where MindSet helps.”
Bridgestone studied dozens of players with a wide range of handicaps and found 80 percent of them saw scores drop by an average of three strokes after using MindSet for five rounds. Specifically, the test showed MindSet helped higher-handicap golfers exponentially more than lower-handicap golfers. The conclusion was that higher-handicap golfers typically don’t have a pre-shot routine or a mental visualization process of any kind.
Of course, this is a Bridgestone study of how effective an already released and marketed Bridgestone feature is so a grain or two of salt might be in order. Last spring, MyGolfSpy conducted its own MindSet study with 30 of its Forum members. The study was less focused on scoring as it was on ball performance as well as MindSet’s impact on distance, accuracy and putting efficiency.
Distance data was spotty, given it was early spring and some players switched from ill-fitting balls. Accuracy (fairways hit) was also spotty but, again, it was an early-spring test. Testers did find MindSet helped as a putting alignment and focus aid. As a group, all testers saw a decrease in putts per round and an overall reduction in three putts.
You can check out the testing thread here.
Final thoughts
An awful lot of people out there play golf just for fun. The new e12 golf balls appear to be Bridgestone’s way of saying those people can have nice things, too.
“These balls are fun for us to design because it’s truly a blank slate,” says Mellow. “Going from one e12 ball in 2023 to three e12 balls now, consumer data drove that. It fits into our ethos of being a fitting company.”
Given the target golfer, Bridgestone is also simplifying its e12 fitting messaging. As we mentioned at the top, these are golfers who don’t read blogs and don’t get all nerdy over golf ball technology. They just want something round and dimpled to hit. Bridgestone’s visual messaging is designed to help that golfer pick the right e12 for their game.
“We won’t get into the nuances of dimple depth or core composition,” Mellow explains. “We want to avoid some of the traditional jargon that can get lost on this golfer and we want to simplify it in terms of what that golfer can expect on the course.”
Bridgestone e12 golf balls: Price and availability
The new Bridgestone e12 golf balls will retail for $34.99. That might seem high for an ionomer ball but Bridgestone is packing a little more technology into these golf balls than you’d find in a $22.99 per dozen two-piece softy. It’s pulling a few different levers to provide specific performance for each target golfer who is generally not looking to pay the freight for a “Tour-level” urethane ball, probably won’t buy a DTC brand online and wants the comfort of a known name. That might not be you but Bridgestone believes there are enough golfers out there who feel that way.
Not surprisingly, that $34.99 retail price is the same as the 2023 edition.
The new Bridgestone e12 HiLauch and e12 Speed will be available in standard white. The e12 Straight will be available in white, matte green and matte yellow.
They hit retail Feb. 14.
For more information, visit the Bridgestone website.
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