Hello, Team Titleist!
It's June and Titleist fitting events are in full swing. This week I attended a Titleist golf ball fitting event and there were a number of questions that different golfers raised again and again. It occurred to me that many of you may also have similar uncertainties when it comes to your golf ball. So, with a big assist from Mike Rich, Titleist Director of Golf Ball Fitting & Education, we thought it would be helpful to provide answers to some of the more common questions that golfers ask our golf ball fitting and education experts.
Click on the FAQ links below to get the real facts about golf ball performance. And If you'd like to know which model is right for you game, visit our Golf Ball Fitting & Education Resources, where you can schedule a live, one-on-one virtual golf ball consultation with a member of the Titleist Golf Ball Fitting team and access the Titleist Golf Ball Selection Tool.
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At Titleist, why do you talk about golf balls in terms flight, spin and feel?
Selecting the correct golf ball begins with understanding golf ball performance. Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX are the best performing, highest quality golf balls in the game. While Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash and AVX are each designed to give golfers the best opportunity to shoot lower scores, they are differentiated based on flight, spin and feel.
Pro V1 provides optimal flight and spin for most golfers with very soft feel.
Compared to Pro V1, Pro V1x flies higher, spins more, and feels firmer.
Pro V1x Left Dash will have a similar flight to Pro V1x with significantly lower full swing spin than Pro V1x and a firmer feel.
Compared to Pro V1, AVX flies lower, spins less, and feels softer.
Every golfer's game is different and selecting the model that meets their unique flight, spin, and feel needs is key to helping them play their best.
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Why shouldn't I choose a ball based on distance?
All Titleist golf balls are designed and manufactured to be exceptionally long and provide golfers with distance. Simply put, there is no significant distance advantage to be gained when selecting one Titleist model over another. When we fit a golfer into a golf ball, we start at the green and work back to the tee, as optimizing a golfer’s performance on the scoring shots (approach shots and short game shots) is the key to playing better and shooting lower scores.
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Why doesn't Titleist use a player's swing speed to make golf ball recommendations?
Many golfers are mistakenly led to believe they should be fit for a golf ball based solely on their driver swing speed. This is a flawed approach. Golfers need a golf ball fit to their game that delivers total performance on ALL shots. Every golfer uses many different swing speeds to execute the array of shots played during a round. Titleist golf balls provide outstanding performance at every swing speed and on every type of shot.
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Why doesn't Titleist make golf balls based on a player's gender?
The golf ball doesn’t know who is hitting it. It doesn’t know the golfer’s age, skill level, or gender. The majority of golf balls labeled “Women’s” or “Lady” are two-piece, ionomer covered golf balls that are low spinning on all shots and do not deliver the high performance for any golfer. Women golfers, just like every male golfer, can benefit from playing high-performance golf balls like Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash or AVX.
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Don't highly skilled players need a higher performing golf ball than less skilled golfers?
Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX are not golf balls designed just for highly skilled players. In fact, a less skilled golfer can benefit even more than a highly skilled golfer when using a Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash or AVX. Why? A lesser skilled player is going to have far more “scoring shot” opportunities throughout their round, and playing a high-performance golf ball is essential to executing these shots.
Additionally, while Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash and AVX provide the very best performance for any golfer when they hit a shot well, what is often overlooked is the impact that the advanced technology that goes into designing and manufacturing these golf balls has in terms of delivering performance to golfers when they may not hit a shot just as they envisioned.
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What does Titleist mean by "Performance". Is it simply the scores that golfers shoot?
For a golfer to play their best and shoot their lowest scores, the golf ball must perform on every shot that the golfer needs to execute during a round. A golfer’s score is certainly one indicator of how well the golf ball is performing for a player. But, being fit for the right golf ball is critically important for every player. Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX are total performance golf balls with unique flight, spin, and feel characteristics. During a golf ball fitting, we take a deep dive into a player’s game and ill analyze launch condition data points like launch angle, spin rate, peak height, and angle of descent on a variety of different shots. Also, whenever possible, we work with the player on the golf course, evaluating the performance of the golf ball from green-to-tee in real life playing conditions. At the end of the day our goal is simple: fit every golfer into a golf ball that will provide the optimal flight, spin, and feel combination to help them perform their best and shoot their lowest scores.
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How much difference can a golf ball really make in someone's game?
The golf ball is the only piece of equipment a golfer will use on every shot of every round. So, if being the best player you can be matters to you, then the golf ball you play matters a great deal. When we help a golfer select the best ball for their game, and they commit to playing that golf ball consistently, not only will they experience better performance, but they will also build confidence and consistency into their game which will ultimately lead to them shooting lower scores.
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What advantages will I experience by playing a Titleist golf ball vs. other competitor products I see out in the market?
There are a couple of key advantages to choosing to play a Titleist golf ball. The first is performance. Titleist has the best performing golf balls in the game, and with Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX we have unique flight, spin, and feel characteristics to meet the needs of every golfer.
The other key advantage is quality and consistency. At Titleist, we control every step of our design and manufacturing process, which allows golfers to trust that the performance of our golf balls from ball to ball, sleeve to sleeve, and dozen to dozen will be exactly the same, delivering the performance that every golfer that trusts Titleist relies on to play their best.
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If price is an important consideration for me, can I still find a high-performing Titleist golf ball within my budget?
While Pro V1, Pro V1x, Pro V1x Left Dash, and AVX provide total performance to golfers of every skill level, individual preferences can also influence the golf ball selection process for some golfers. Feel, color, price, appearance (play number or markings), and durability are all examples of player preferences. If preferences factor into a golfer’s selection process, Tour Speed, Tour Soft, Velocity, and TruFeel are Titleist golf balls designed to meet the complete range of player preferences, with an offering that delivers performance and quality at a multitude of price points. With Tour Speed, Tour Soft, Velocity, and TruFeel golfers can select a golf ball that meets their various preferences and trust that each of these models is the best performing and highest quality ball in each segment of the market.
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Do you have additional questions about golf ball performance? Please share them by replying to this post and we'll get you the right answers – straight from the Titleist Golf Ball Fitting and Education experts.
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