Golf Ball fittings

This past weekend I was out and about with the missus when as luck would have it I passed a range that had a Bridgestone ball fitting taking place. On the return trip we stopped on the way back and I was able to partake. I was interested in having a go at this as I had played with the B330-RX earlier in the year and they were long, almost a club longer than usual, but they didn't seem to give me much control. I wasn't sure if this was due to the early season course conditions, me, or the ball. Thought this would be a way to try the RXS version that is supposed to spin a little more.

The Bridgestone fitting is one that fits you for a Bridgestone ball after comparing what you currently play with. That was a difficult question for me as I tend to play with other people's that I find. Pro V1, Pro V1X, Callaway Tour i(S), Nike One Tours, Taylormade Penta's, Bridgestone B330-S or RX. Never managed to play the RXS as either the no one plays it or they are really good and never lose one. Plumped for the Pro V1X as the one to use.

The test was to hit driver into a net with some kind of Trackman thingy and here's where my second problem came; no clubs with me. Luckily I was able to borrow one for the testing. After a few swings they got my measurements down on the Pro V1X and then moved me onto the RXS. Hit a few more and then they said try this one; the B330, a few more hits and I was onto the B330-S.

At the end they gave me a printout with swing speed, launch angle spin rates etc. and compared the stats for the Pro V1X to the B330-S. They also gave me a trial pack of balls to take away with me.

Good points:
Consistency: my swing speed were all in the 89-92 mph range despite it being a completely different club and the heat and humidity making me sweat like a glass blower's arse.
Learning point: I'd made the assumption that the RXS version would be the one for me as my swing speed matched their marketing. Was surprised to learn the B330-S come out as the best.
Free golf balls: always a plus point

Bad points:
Not my clubs and no shoes: not sure if this would have made a difference to my stats
Only hit driver: no chance to see how irons and short game would fare
No comparison print out of Bridgestone range: would like to have seen the differences to the other Bridgestone ranges.
Only fit was Bridgestone: but this was their fitting and marketing tool after all

Went out the next day to use the new balls and was quite pleased with the performance. Good distance, reasonable control into greens and on short game. Pleasant to putt with. Did lose both of them to two bad swings.

Overall I think I'm pretty happy with the result but not the price of them, have to hope I keep finding someone else's balls to keep playing these I think. I'm seeing a club fitter in a couple of weeks to get my lofts and lies checked so will ask him about ball fitting too.

Grumpy
Must admit you have "Class Man" I know that's a 60s saying, but getting freebies started in the 60s, and long may it continue.

These young ones think that the hard sell using technology, can bamboozle us, but an old head takes some beating.

I first had a ball fitting a couple of years ago and it was done by the bloke who built my KZG's. He had no affiliation with any ball supplier and we tried hitting all the major brands. I was a sceptic, but won this fitting in a prize draw, that's the only reason I had it. The results were varied with different balls, and felt that I got along better with my Calloway's but data tells a different story. My Calloways actually came in 4th due to high spin off the tee, so lost a bit of distance and when not struck cleanly were fading right. This was my experience with them too in general play, but they felt good.

Bridgestone Tour B330 RX gave me better dispersion, meaning more balls hitting the fairway. They were around 2-yds longer but I also got better control with the short irons. I gave them a whirl as I recieved a free dozen, and to be fair I stuck with these balls for around 12-months and liked them.

As some will know I was fitted at a different place for some Miura's last November, and the guy who built my clubs had just come off tour and set his own business up. He had been runningh the Adams tour van in Europe and many of the stateside events and many years experience with the top OEM's. He did the ball fitting as part of my club building/selection. I have to say that my swing was in transition as well at the time, after starting a rebuild. His set-up was amazing and his balls from all the major suppliers had silver spots in places so that the readings were accurate. When I was asked which clubs I preffered I said I loved the Yonex eZone blades as they're stunning. he said sorry you're not consistent enough with them and showed me the results. My best stuff was with Miura CB501's but only with the Bridgestone 'e' range balls. You could clearly see a difference with all the balls and how they react to my swing. He told me that balls look the same but are different in many ways. Internal differences vary as you can aimagine, but external besides the number of layers or eurothane cover, the pimple placement can be segmented to encourage a particular trait like spin, loft, bounce, forward roll, fade/draw ...... he also said that the cheaper balls are not much different to expensive balls for many players, as we wouldn't notice much difference. We go by feel and consistency of feel, without actually analyising each strike/results, its the feel that makes us prefer a particular ball. The Bridgestone ball always felt harder to me, but when struck properly was amazing. The not so good strike which felt harder to me actually saw my dispersion much better/tighter, so more balls kept in play. Distance was negligable, but keeping the ball in play more was assisting better scoring.

I'm a convert to ball fitting and accept there will be many sceptics out there, but if I save a couple of shots per round then I benefit. But make sure the fitting is done by someone independant, otherwise I think you'll be told that Bridgestone, Titliest etc is the ball for you

Thanks OPW. Definite bonus I thought.

I agree Doc, if you take one of the big boys versions then you're likely to be fitted for one of their range funnily enough.

I was impressed by the performance of the 330-S whilst out on the course and have ordered a dozen of the 2011 version from Lost Golf Balls. A reasonable investment of $14.50 rather than $45.

This is all very interesting, and I'm sure that different balls are suitable for different swing types. However, if you are not using your own clubs (or are being fitted for new clubs) surely the results are going to be completely different?

For example, I recently bought a new driver, Titleist D2. With this club my swing speed is c.90mph, but when I was trying different drivers my swing speed with the TM RBZ was c.95mph. I imagine these clubs would produce different results in a ball fitting session.

100% Agree Ray, it has to be done with your own bats and normal swing. Pointless trying to beast the ball just to try and get a faster/longer reading, as it'll be pointless.

Someone told me that the ball fitting service provided by Srixon, Titliest, Calloway, Bridgstone etc are rigged, and thats why you need to be done by an independant club fitter. They don't have afiliations with ball suppliers. Apparently when they do it there's a duel programme option. So he uses option 1 for all balls except whoever he's tied to, and option 2 for the tied supplier. Option 2 shows better results in most cases, especially distance and dispersion. If true its more like miss-selling than providing a meaninful service. At least when I had mine done I knew there were no ties to ball suppliers, and in the words of my fitter, "use that ball and you should save 3 strokes each round". Which is better than being told you'll get an extra 20-yds ......

I get that guys and which was why I highlighted that fact in the bad points; it wasn't with my clubs and I was wearing trainers. But I wasn't trying to leather it either I was swinging like I would normally.

I tried my freebies out on the course and I was happy quite happy with the results. Spending less than a tenner to get another dozen (when they should be around 30 quid) to try didn't seem too bad to me.

I am seeing an independent guy next week to have my clubs checked out and I'm going to ask him about balls then.