What Golf Ball Should I Use
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Choosing a golf ball is super confusing. There are a ton of different options with a wide range of prices. This leaves golfers wondering what ball to use and ultimately picking by brand or whatever looks the best. This guide will help you make a more informed decision based on your game.
Step 1: Price
The fastest way to limit your selection is to decide if you have a price range. If you’re a high handicapper, you probably won’t get much value from buying a more expensive ball, especially when you’re probably losing them into the water, woods, and out of bounds.
If this is the case, buy cheaper balls and save money for some lessons before moving to a more expensive ball.
In this case, I’d get either a 2-piece construction ball, which holds up better to hitting things like the cart path or a tree and is usually cheaper, or a low-priced 3-piece. Think:
Also, check out this article on some of the best golf balls for high handicappers.
If you want cheap golf balls, it’s better to go with a sale on real golf balls than some random refurbished golf balls where you have no idea where they came from, but they’re resurfaced or cleaned.
Step 2: Feel for the Win!
After deciding on a price range, I’d recommend checking out how the golf ball feels. If you hate the feel of a rock-hard golf ball or feel like hitting a soft golf ball is like hitting a marshmallow, let that guide your pick.
Feeling confident with approach shots and around the greens will likely matter more than optimizing a specific stat.
If you prefer softer golf balls, they are often labeled as soft or you can look for the label to say two-piece construction.
These balls tend to have lower compression, lower spin, and less distance, so if you don’t mind something in the middle, I’d recommend moving toward higher-compression balls.
If you want a softer feel but don’t want to lose as much distance, check out the:
- Titleist AVX
- Bridgestone Tour B RX (or RXS for even softer)
- Callaway Supersoft
- Vice Pro Soft
If you don’t mind a harder feel, you’ll likely get some added distance. An average ball here would be a 3-piece like:
For an even harder feel, you could try:
Also, check out our golf ball compression chart.
Rules are meant to be broken! If you have a particular golf ball that you test and like, don’t worry about getting the maximum distance, perfect compression number, or some other vanity metric.
Step 3: Spin
Generally, a higher-handicap player will want slightly less spin, and a lower-handicap player may want more. If you’re hitting hooks or slices, having extra spin can make those shots even worse. However, if you can keep the ball relatively straight, the extra spin can give you some stopping power on the green.
The second consideration with spin is, even as a good player, if you know you already tend to put a lot of spin on the golf ball, you may not want a spinny golf ball. Having too much spin will rob you of some distance off the tee. You can check how much spin you’re putting on your driver using a launch monitor. In general you’re shooting for under 2900 rpm (the faster you swing the lower the target).
For higher spin, try:
For lower spin, try:
If your golf ball has damage to the outer shell, you’ve altered the spin that you’ll get off the ball significantly, and it should be retired.
Step 4: Distance
All the balls I’ve listed above will give you good distance, as I’ve left the worst-performing off these lists. I wouldn’t pursue the longest-distance golf balls until you’ve covered the first three steps.
Generally, the longest-distance balls will be firmer, and you’ll have to have good strike and spin numbers to achieve their potential, but they could get you around 5-10 yards of extra distance on a drive.
Some of the highest distance options include:
Conclusion
Finally, if you’re still unsure what to pick, you can find places to do a golf ball fitting or try an online one either through a golf ball manufacturer’s website or this Ballnamic fitting tool (a paid service). Or just buy some 3-ball sleeves of different balls and rent some time at a golf simulator and give them a test!
