Golf Ball Selector: Know Which Ball to Use and How to Select

Golf balls can affect your game performance as much your clubs can.

The current market is full of different types of golf balls that can suit the individual style of play. But that’s also a problem. You can become confused.

We won’t discuss specific brands and which balls from these brands will suit you. You can read our reviews if you want to know about brands.

Instead, we will talk about some of the most basic types of golf balls, and we are sure you can find them in any brand’s collection.

By the end of this article, you will have a good idea on what golf balls you should use and when.

But first, let’s start with a few tips!

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4 Tips For Choosing The Right Golf Ball

Tip 1- Make golf ball your friend

We don’t have hundreds of best friend, do we? It’s best to stick with a golf ball that you have tried and tested.

There are hundreds of balls from different brands out in the market. It’s easy to get attracted by the functionality of these balls. Some might offer more spin and some more distance.

You should experiment and find a golf ball that matches your budget. This should ideally be the ball that works for you in most conditions. Have it with you all the time.

Too much experimenting can lower your performance.

Tip 2- Be compatible with your clubs

We often focus more on distance and spin when buying balls. That’s not wrong. But, it’s not effective either.

You need to ask yourself the right question like “how far can I hit with my driver? “How does it feel when I hit with an iron?”

What we are trying to say is that you should focus on the outcome of your shots from different clubs. Balls can have a different relationship with different clubs like wedges, irons, drivers and putters.

This should be your major concern. Buying balls using this mindset will help you find effective balls for your game.

Tip 3- Compression doesn’t matter

Compression matters for tour players who have a fast swing speed of more than 110 mph.

If you are starting out, you might not have developed such speed yet. Higher compression balls have more energy transfer during shots. So, gaining more distance is easy.

But modern golf manufacturers have made this possible even in lower compression balls. So, if you are not a tour player compression won’t matter much.

Tip 4- Change your balls often

You can buy highly durable balls, and they won’t deform playing with them long.

But does that mean the balls are okay? Not necessarily. If your balls have scratches and the dimples wearing out, you can lose yardage.

So, it’s best to change balls often.

Expensive vs Less Expensive Golf Balls

We have heard many say that the price doesn’t matter when choosing a golf ball. But do you really think premium balls would perform the same as less expensive ones?

Premium balls are superior and have significant performance benefits. Because of their Urethane covers, they produce more distance and spin.

Less expensive Surlyn Covers can provide durability, but when you are looking to take your game to the next level, you should prefer premium balls.

Premium balls perform better near the green and performance should be your major concern rather than the cost if you are taking the game of golf seriously.

Golf Balls Categorized By Construction

Should you get One-piece golf balls?

One-piece golf balls are primarily for recreational golfers. Beginners can also start with these.

The balls are highly durable and inexpensive. But the backdrop is you can’t gain distance with these balls.

If you are looking to play with your family, one-piece golf balls will do the job.

Lost golf balls? Who cares?

Should you get Two-piece golf balls?

Among ordinary golfers, these balls are highly popular. Because of its durability and distance coverage. The balls have Surlyn cover and a two-layer structure.

The controlling part is bad for these balls. For practicing, these are perfect.

Should you get Three-piece golf balls?

Starting from Three-piece golf balls, the spin separation feature is included. These balls either have Surlyn or Urethane covers.

Three-piece golf balls offer more spin than the one-piece and two-piece golf balls. For professional golfers three-piece golf balls are starters. You can get customized performance for any club you use.

If you are seriously into golfing, start playing and practicing with these balls.

Should you get Four-piece golf balls?

The four-piece golf balls give more distance and feel on shots. The outer layer is thin and almost always made of urethane.

The inner layer made of rubber helps to produce that explosive distance. When you hit with drivers, you will get to know how it feels.

Dimple counts are also more in these balls. In most cases, you can find 300-400 dimples on these balls.

For pros, these balls are ideal as they produce more spin on iron hits and perform better on the greens.

Should you get Five-piece golf balls?

The Five-piece golf balls are the most expensive in the market. But you will get what you pay for.

These balls are made for tour-level performance as each of the layers in these balls react differently to different shots.

You can produce advanced spin shots with these balls. For anyone playing on tours, these balls should be part and parcel in your golf bag.

Balls From The Perspective Of Spin

Basically, there are 3 types of golf balls. You can either choose low spin, mid spin or high spin golf balls.

Low Spin Golf balls

Low spin golf balls are not used for advanced gameplay or by tour players.

These balls have a specific use and specific users.

Sometimes when you are struggling to hit straight and are constantly slicing, you can save your day using low spin balls.

Senior citizens and women golfers who have low swing speed can take the highest advantage from these balls. These balls have lower side spin, and that’s the reason you can get more distance from them.

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You might not get so much flight, but the ball rolls more upon landing.

Mid Spin golf balls

Mid Spin golf balls have features that fall in between low and high spin balls.

They are typically made to suit most types of golfers, if not all. These balls can provide distance as well as feel when hit. The spin is also minimized for accurate hitting.

If you are starting out your journey in golf, a mid spin golf ball should be good enough for you.

High Spin golf balls

High spin golf balls are ideal for ball controlling on the greens. These balls produce more spin when players slice or create backspin.

The ball flight will be higher with these balls, but without a certain level of skill set, it’s hard to control these balls.

Tour players use them because they know what shots to play with them.

For shot-making on the fairway, a low or mid spin golf ball would be suitable.

Choosing Balls According to Outer Cover Preference

For this, you need to decide what is your style of play and what skills you have.

If you are a beginner choose the Surlyn cover golf balls, but if you have already mastered the art of spin and hooks, urethane cover balls are best. But keep in mind urethane balls are more expensive than surlyn balls.

Surlyn cover golf balls

The surlyn cover although more affordable than other urethane is also more durable. Because of this durability, these balls have a huge demand in the market.

Beginners who are practicing hundreds of shots in a day won’t have to worry about the ball wearing out or deforming. And you can even gain more distance from these balls because of their tendency to spin less. For professional, it’s the last thing they want.

Urethane cover golf balls

Urethane golf balls are not as durable as the surlyn balls. But these balls are very responsive and match the abilities of players.

If you are still not able to control your shots, you will have a hard time scoring with these balls. Because these balls spin more on the greens. And this is the reason professionals love urethane balls.

The downside is these balls are expensive. They wear out after a few shots, and that is not economically viable for beginners and budget golfers.

Ball Preference According To Compression

What is compression?

Compression is the unique feature of a golf ball that tells you if a ball has a hard or soft feeling.

Golf balls with lower compression feel soft when you hit them. That gives you a good feeling when playing. The softest golf ball has a compression rating of 50.

High compression golf balls feel hard when you hit them. A compression rating of 100 means it has the highest compression rate.

When to use high compression and low compression balls?

The shot selection or match situation has very less to do with compression. Players with high swing speed use high compression balls. Because they can make an impact with their hits.

On the other hand, low compression golf balls deflect easily on hits. Golfers with slow swing speed can get the best out of these balls. The softer feeling and distance are the key features of these balls.

Frequently Asked Golf Ball Questions

Can I use Multi types of golf balls?

Sure you can. There is law in golf that says you can’t have different balls for different shots.

You can use low spin, Surlyn cover balls for shots from the tee. For this, you can gain more distance.

On the greens, you can use premium urethane balls that can help you get the spin.

You can only do this when you know your weaknesses and strengths. Players with a swing speed of more than 110 mph don’t bother using surlyn balls. They can get the same distance with urethane balls as well.

What golf balls to use in the winter?

Golf is best when it is played in the summer or in warmer conditions. This is because winter affects both your visibility and the performance of the balls.

For every 10 degrees decrement of temperature, Golf balls lose quite some distance. And the speed is also affected.

So, if you are using high compression balls in the summer, it’s best to use low compression balls in the winter. The urethane balls compress more and thus reducing distance.

You can also use colored golf balls for better visibility. Otherwise, you will pay a huge price for lost balls, especially if they are premium.

After you return home from playing, store your balls in a warm place. So, the next day, you can get better speed and distance with those balls.

Short in budget? You can try recycled golf balls

We don’t directly recommend you using recycled golf balls. But when you are still learning, you don’t want to limit your rounds of play because of the golf ball price.

With newer golf balls you can definitely get a better carry, but recycled golf balls will also get the job done for players with good skills and high swing speed.

Golf ball prices are still rising as more and more innovative technologies are implemented. You can get recycled golf balls from Lostgolfballs.com.

Now you can enjoy playing with premium balls in the price range of mid-level balls.

But who again who doesn’t want new balls for a new game?

Lake golf balls! Should you get them?

No. But yes!

Don’t confuse yourself with this. There are many lake-ball companies in the market currently. They recover balls from the lakes and resell them using shiny gloss. That’s not bad when you can get these balls in affordable rates. But the major problem is the functionality of these balls.

Many of these lake balls spend 8 days to a few months in the lakes. So, the more time the balls spend in the lakes, the more they lose yardage. You can lose up to 6 yards if the ball remains in the lake for 8 days. And that’s quite a difference.

For beginner golfers looking to practice more, we see no problem is using them. But, you should be careful to know when to shift from them.

Do I need to look at the dimple counts on a golf ball?

A flat golf ball would be more affected by the air compared to a ball having dimples. The dimples decrease the area on a golf ball for air to create drag.

When the ball is hit in the air, the air molecules bounce off the dimples, and so the ball can travel far and straighter.

Balls with higher dimple counts will perform better. Although professionals find dimple counts to affect their gameplay rarely.

To sum it up..

Golf balls come in various features and functionalities. Reading this article will help you get the very basic idea of what to choose.

But the real deal is when you start playing. Get yourself few balls of varied features and practice shots with them. You will slowly start to understand each ball’s pros and cons.

We recommend getting some mid level and premium balls. You can really see the difference once you start playing with them. Choose your brands based on your preference, it should not be the other way around.