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  1. #1

    Another golf question

    Do balls get old?

    Why do stores sell last years balls cheaper than this years balls? I see this a lot especially this time of year.
    ~rthomas

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Brookline, MA
    The second question is simpler to answer than the first: it's because there are newer versions of the balls that are being released early this year, so stores and the golf companies want to clear out last year's stock, so they are put on sale. I like to take advantage of the sales this time of year because I can buy the tour level balls for half price of what they were last year, and I don't see much difference year to year.

    In terms of balls getting old, the golf balls that are on the market now don't really get "old" in terms of decreasing in performance unless you expose them to really cold or really hot temperatures, or just don't use them for a very long time. Usually the golf balls that I buy are used within a year of when I buy them, and if you do that, you should be fine.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    I reluctantly take a try at this. Golf balls don't get old. Old golf balls for beginners are not a concern. You might want to try a low compression ball, an 80 will do--made for slower swings and less than ideal swing planes and impact alignments. Precept makes a women's ball that fits the ball and is way less expensive to men's balls and performs exceptionally well. Has a soft, nice feel, which allows for nuanced play in the short game. Oy.

    What you need to be clear about and be able to replicate is a proper impact alignment, which is way different than a proper address alignment. The former will have your hands passing the ball before the clubhead strikes the right inside corner by being pulled. Your left wrist will be flat and in line with the lagging shaft, your right wrist bent, and your right elbow in front of a rotating right hip, so as to impart in-line pressure into the ball. Compressing the ball in that manner (the stick will need to be on plane) will make the ball fly easily and predictably, which is what the aim of golf is, I think.

    So, balls are a secondary concern, old or new, and your principal focus should be on how you use the shaft.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by greybeard View Post
    I reluctantly take a try at this. Golf balls don't get old. Old golf balls for beginners are not a concern. You might want to try a low compression ball, an 80 will do--made for slower swings and less than ideal swing planes and impact alignments. Precept makes a women's ball that fits the ball and is way less expensive to men's balls and performs exceptionally well. Has a soft, nice feel, which allows for nuanced play in the short game. Oy.

    What you need to be clear about and be able to replicate is a proper impact alignment, which is way different than a proper address alignment. The former will have your hands passing the ball before the clubhead strikes the right inside corner by being pulled. Your left wrist will be flat and in line with the lagging shaft, your right wrist bent, and your right elbow in front of a rotating right hip, so as to impart in-line pressure into the ball. Compressing the ball in that manner (the stick will need to be on plane) will make the ball fly easily and predictably, which is what the aim of golf is, I think.

    So, balls are a secondary concern, old or new, and your principal focus should be on how you use the shaft.
    Yeah, and I always seem to get the shaft.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Greybeard, you make the golf swing sound so easy.

  6. #6
    There is nothing worse than old balls.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by Indoor66 View Post
    There is nothing worse than old balls.
    Some of us resemble that remark...
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  8. #8
    I always chuckle when I see a 25 handicap break out a brand new sleeve of Pro-V 1s. First off, they will probably play better with a harder ball since they aren't trying to spin the ball, they are just tryin to keep it in play. Heck, I play to about a 10 handicap and have found the Titleist NXT line to be my favorite (although I play whatever I happen to have in my bag).

    The golf ball business is an absolue racket. For anyone other than the really elite golfer, it really makes about zero difference what ball they are hitting.
    My Quick Smells Like French Toast.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by steven52682 View Post
    The golf ball business is an absolue racket. For anyone other than the really elite golfer, it really makes about zero difference what ball they are hitting.
    So true. I can't hit any of them straight.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Quote Originally Posted by steven52682 View Post
    I always chuckle when I see a 25 handicap break out a brand new sleeve of Pro-V 1s. First off, they will probably play better with a harder ball since they aren't trying to spin the ball, they are just tryin to keep it in play. Heck, I play to about a 10 handicap and have found the Titleist NXT line to be my favorite (although I play whatever I happen to have in my bag).

    The golf ball business is an absolue racket. For anyone other than the really elite golfer, it really makes about zero difference what ball they are hitting.
    Playing to a 10 means you actually compress the ball, which you do know hardly ever happens for 17s and above. That means you actually have figured out some remarkably complex movement sequences and then can execute them to hit the shot at hand in the circumstances presented. Way above my paygrade. Hat's off to you, S.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Deeetroit City
    Quote Originally Posted by steven52682 View Post
    ... For anyone other than the really elite golfer, it really makes about zero difference what ball they are hitting.
    Absolutely untrue. The price of the ball directly correlates to how deep a hacker will wade into a lake or into poison ivy to retrieve a ball, or how long he will thrash through gorse to the chagrin of his partners and the foursome seething at the tee. When I see a 25 open a new sleeve of ProVIs, I add on 20-30 minutes to the length of the round.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by BD80 View Post
    Absolutely untrue. The price of the ball directly correlates to how deep a hacker will wade into a lake or into poison ivy to retrieve a ball, or how long he will thrash through gorse to the chagrin of his partners and the foursome seething at the tee. When I see a 25 open a new sleeve of ProVIs, I add on 20-30 minutes to the length of the round.
    This is the reason why they put golf balls in packages of 3 and sell them by the dozen... they don't last forever and you won't have it forever. But is sure ticks me off when I've only hit a ball a time or two and lose it. That's why I buy "previously owned" golf balls. Or perhaps I should call them previously lost golf balls!
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Quote Originally Posted by steven52682 View Post
    I always chuckle when I see a 25 handicap break out a brand new sleeve of Pro-V 1s. First off, they will probably play better with a harder ball since they aren't trying to spin the ball, they are just tryin to keep it in play. Heck, I play to about a 10 handicap and have found the Titleist NXT line to be my favorite (although I play whatever I happen to have in my bag).

    The golf ball business is an absolue racket. For anyone other than the really elite golfer, it really makes about zero difference what ball they are hitting.
    It may be true that top balls of similar types are close enough that they won't make a difference to any but the best golfers, but there is a huge difference in feel between harder balls and those which enable you to work it a bit more. Personally, I don't care whether I'm using a high-end Callaway or Titleist, but there are plenty of balls out there which feel like rocks when either hitting or putting.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Quote Originally Posted by BD80 View Post
    Absolutely untrue. The price of the ball directly correlates to how deep a hacker will wade into a lake or into poison ivy to retrieve a ball, or how long he will thrash through gorse to the chagrin of his partners and the foursome seething at the tee. When I see a 25 open a new sleeve of ProVIs, I add on 20-30 minutes to the length of the round.
    This is GREAT.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Clipsfan View Post
    It may be true that top balls of similar types are close enough that they won't make a difference to any but the best golfers, but there is a huge difference in feel between harder balls and those which enable you to work it a bit more. Personally, I don't care whether I'm using a high-end Callaway or Titleist, but there are plenty of balls out there which feel like rocks when either hitting or putting.
    correct, and if you can consistently work a draw or a fade I am assuming you are a pretty good golfer - not a hack, like 95+ percent of golfers out there.
    My Quick Smells Like French Toast.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.
    Blond Joke: Old guy in a Cadillac drives up for some gas. Goes to pay attendant, reaches in pocket and two tees fall on seat next to him. "What are they for," the blond babe with him asks. He tells her. She replies, "What'll the Cadillac people think of next." Baddaboom

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by steven52682 View Post
    correct, and if you can consistently work a draw or a fade I am assuming you are a pretty good golfer - not a hack, like 95+ percent of golfers out there.
    I'm a beginner. Been playing less than 2 years. I've played less than 20 full rounds of golf. I shoot legit high 90's, so I'm no where near a good golfer yet. I know better than to play Pro V1's or any other similar balls. That said, I have played with some that, as Clipsfan mentioned, feel like rocks when you putt them.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Genedoc View Post
    I'm a beginner. Been playing less than 2 years. I've played less than 20 full rounds of golf. I shoot legit high 90's, so I'm no where near a good golfer yet. I know better than to play Pro V1's or any other similar balls. That said, I have played with some that, as Clipsfan mentioned, feel like rocks when you putt them.
    when you are putting I assume you can tell the difference, but the benefit of a softer or harder ball is not seen once the flat stick comes out the bag. Either way you line it up and hit the putt. A putting stroke is far too slow to have any sort of effect on the ball. You may have a personal preference over putting a harder or softer ball, but there is no real performance difference (other than a harder ball may jump off the butter surface a little more).

    The benefit of a pro v-1 is when you are standing over a 6 iron and need to hit a high cut, or when you only have 8 yards of green to work with and need to stop the ball on a dime.
    My Quick Smells Like French Toast.

  19. #19
    Speaking of golf - any locals interested in a round tomorrow morning in Raleigh? We had a couple of groups planned, but someone had to cancel at the last minute, so we've got an opening to play Eagle's Ridge tomorrow at 11. PM me if you're interested.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    New Orleans
    I am Genedoc although since I am New Orleans I guess that is out of the question. You should come down here and play a round or two.

    I play to about a 12 (when I was playing) and I did notice a difference in feel. I was playing a pretty consistent cut (and was trying to work on getting a draw but never could). I also agree that the feel of a softer ball off of the putter is nice.

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