New Titleist Pro V1 ball: myth busting
1
My swing speed isn’t high enough to play a Pro V1
Golf balls are not designed to perform at different swing/ball speeds as you will hit a variety of shots. If a ball only works with your driver it won’t work with your 8 iron.
2
I should play a lower compression ball because I can’t compress it like a tour player
The ball is compressed with all shots – everyone compresses it. Also there is no single element of the ball that contributes to its performance. A lower compression will spin less than a higher compression but if you take a Titleist Velocity and the Pro V1, the compression is identical at around 90. It is more to do with launch characteristics and all different elements of the ball working together than a single element.
Everybody spins the ball but the difference how you spin it off the tee to how you spin it with your chipping and pitching is dramatic 3
I don’t spin the ball enough to play a Pro V1
Everybody spins the ball but the difference how you spin it off the tee to how you spin it with your chipping and pitching is dramatic and this is the fundamental reason why players are fitted into a Pro V1/x. Off the tee from the difference in a low to high spinning shot is less than 500rpms.
Around the green the lowest spinning to highest is as much as 1500 which is the difference between chipping back or putting. One piece of advice, Titleist say, is to play same ball every single time.
Dan Murphy
Dan loves links golf, which doesn't mean he is very good at it. He is a four-handicapper at Alwoodley. A qualified journalist and senior editor with 25 years’ experience, he was the long-time editor of NCG. His passion is golf courses and he is the founding editor of NCG Top 100s course rankings. He loves nothing more than discovering and highlighting courses that are worthy of greater recognition.