What Is The Best Golf Ball?

What is the most important piece of golf equipment you will ever purchase for your golf arsenal? What equipment is custom made for your individual game? What piece of equipment will you change as your game improves and change even more if your game deteriorates? Your golf ball! From the wooden ball to the Featherie to The Gutta Percha to the post-1900 rubber core ball, the golf ball has evolved and with its evolution, changed the way we play golf.

In recent history, the best golf ball were made with a solid or liquid filled rubber ball, wrapped in hundreds of feet of rubber windings and covered by a relatively thin cover of balata, derived from the sap of a tree in South America. Golf balls were rated by their compression or hardness, with 80 compression balls designed for golfers with slow swing speeds, 90 compression balls for higher swing speeds and 100 compression for low handicap golfers and professionals with high swing speeds. Less expensive golf balls were made with a solid core and hard cover or a hard, one-piece design. The wound balls did not travel as far as the solid golf balls and were not a durable, but the softer balata cover had better spin characteristics for the professional golfer but were often not perfectly balanced, due to irregularities in the rubber windings and the fusing of the two piece covers. Spin balancing devices are made to show the best alignment axis of your golf ball and can be purchased for about $25.00.

A revolution in golf balls took place on October 11, 2000, when Titleist introduced an entirely new golf ball to the professional golf Tour. The Pro V1 golf ball was put into play for the first time at the Las Vegas Open. Billy Andrade won the event with this new ball and golf has not been the same since. By December, Titleist hit the shelves of pro shops with the Pro V1 and the other golf ball manufacturers began scrambling to catch up in technology and sales with Titleist. Most high end balls today have a consistent core with an injection molded cover (urethane injected uniformly around the core). Quality control and uniformity are very high with the golf balls of the last ten years.

Today's ball has the distance characteristics of the less expensive solid balls of the past: a soft polybutediene core for distance and a firmer outer mantle (sometimes two) for controlled spin off the tee. This power pack is covered with a urethane cover that is softer than surlyn and balata and much more durable than the balata covers of the past. These synthetic covered balls, more often than not, will last until you lose them or scuff them on the cart path. The old balata balls were easily split with a topped shot and lost distance within a few holes (when was the last time you saw the "smile" of a mishit balata golf ball. The one drawback to the pro-line balls is their cost. Top of the line golf balls have more than doubled since the introduction of the Pro V1 in 2000.

Lower cost golf balls make up a large majority of the balls produced today. They have a soft rubber core as described above but a hard surlyn cover. They are a little longer that the pro-line balls but have low spin rates and less control than the low handicap balls. In order to bridge the gap, several manufacturers have developed balls with extremely soft covers and less expensive three-layer balls that have a little better spin characteristics than the low cost, two-piece golf balls, not as much as their more expensive relatives. There really are not any bad golf balls on the market; just different types designed for different player abilities. So which ball should you play?

If you are a beginning golfer or lose a lot of balls, stay with a low cost ball. It will give you the most distance and the lack of spin may keep you from slicing or hooking the ball out of play. As you start playing better, take a look at some of the softer balls that have some spin characteristics. These balls will allow you to learn to control your shot shape and give you some stopping ability around the green. When you can control your spin with your irons and driver, start looking at the higher spin and higher priced pro-line balls. It is important that you realistically assess your skills and abilities. You may be wasting your money if you play a "spin ball" if you cannot spin it. Golf balls have come a long way in the past ten years, but the professionals are the ones that gain the most benefit from the technology. Practice hard and work your way to the ability to take advantage of the technology that today's balls offer.

Dennis Krall is an avid golfer that is willing to share tips and experiences with others that share his passion. You can find more tips and information at http://hittingthegolfball.com and http://lefthandedgolf.us.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_E_Krall

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6477731

Posted in: Golf