AskMyGolfSpy Vol. 35

AskMyGolfSpy is an opportunity to submit questions to our experts here at MGS. You can pass along your questions to the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or right here in the comments section below! 

Q: Will softer balls land more softly and roll less on the green than harder ones? I struggle with length (slow swing speed) so I end up having to use long clubs to hit the green and, therefore almost no spin. Will a soft ball roll out less than a harder one? -richk9holes

Painting with my usual broad strokes, I’ll start by saying that, generally, a soft ball will roll more on the green than a firmer (higher compression) ball. The typical design characteristics of low compression (soft) golf balls are high flight with low spin. The high flight helps increase the landing angle, which works to offset the spin loss.

As you move closer to the green and start hitting partial (less than full height) shots, it becomes more difficult to offset spin with descent angle.

Once you’re greenside, softer balls are at a significant disadvantage as it relates to stopping power. To generate spin on a shorter shot the ball needs to have a soft cover and a firm mantle layer.

In 2-piece designs, you have no mantle layer, just a firm cover over a soft core. That’s never going to spin.

With 3-piece soft designs, to maintain the soft feel, the mantle layer needs to be softer than it would be on a high compression ball. Without the firm backstop for the soft cover to pinch against, greenside spin is lower than it is with most high-compression offerings.

Q: What’s your favorite golf app and why? – FallenSabber

Full disclosure, I’m not a huge golf app guy. The golf app I use the most is the Stack System (it’s required for the speed training program).

As far as on-course stuff goes, I’ve used Arccos off and on for several years, but when I’m playing poorly (as I am right now), it can be frustrating (penalty strokes, missed putts, etc.) to input data accurately.

As far as GPS stuff goes, we’ve covered both Golf Shot and SwingU recently. Both offer free GPS and a rich set of additional features with their subscription plans.

The GPS app I’m using these days is from Bushnell. It’s intended to be a complement to Bushnell rangefinders – and if memory serves, you need a Bushnell rangefinder serial number to activate it.

The app is easy to use, and I like the graphics. As you’d expect, it has a scorecard and basic stat tracking. It’s not as robust as some of the others, but if you’re looking to keep it simple (and you have a Bushnell rangefinder), it works really well.

Q: Which club manufacturers are currently used in AI to design their faces, and which ones aren’t? – dmack099

With allowances for the fact that AI is kind of a catch-all …

I know with certainty that Callaway, COBRA, and Titleist are. Given what PING has done in other areas, I’m confident that they’re leveraging AI in some capacity, and I’d be shocked (though I’m not positive) if TaylorMade wasn’t as well.

If asked to put money on it one way or another, I’d bet that PXG is too.

After that, it’s harder to say, though I think it’s safe to assume that some of the smaller brands can’t afford the horsepower and don’t have the software engineering expertise in-house to make AI viable.

From a practical standpoint, if your business is largely single-piece forged clubs, the upside of AI isn’t nearly as high.

Q: Why hasn’t someone in the industry created a simple comparison chart for shafts? If you have an iron shaft you fit into and love the results, why can’t you find a driver shaft that fits that profile?

Someone has … kinda.

It’s not intended for average golfers (it’s mostly licensed to fitters), but the CoolClubs S3 database has profile information for nearly every imaginable shaft. It’s a fantastic tool to do exactly what you’re asking about.

That said, I’m not sure that finding a driver profile that matches your iron profile is the best approach. Your iron swing likely isn’t the same as your driver swing, and many instructors would likely tell you it shouldn’t be.

Here’s a quick example based on what I’ve been fitted into.

The Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 is a really good iron shaft for me. Well, I hope it is. It’s what I’ve been fit into in each of my last six full iron fittings.

EI curves for irons and drivers will never match perfectly because of the shorter length of irons, but I would describe the Modus 120 as having a stiff handle section, a soft middle, with a slightly firm tip section.

I could probably dig through the database and find a near-perfect match, but the Ventus Blue 6X is reasonably similar to the Modus. At a minimum, the profiles share similar traits – stiff handle, softer mid-section, and slightly firm tip.

As a quick aside, the profile is similar to many Fujikura Speeder offerings as well as nearly everything in the Graphite Design TOUR AD lineup.

Does this mean the Ventus Blue is the best (or a really good) driver shaft for me?

I’ve played the Blue when it first launched and it worked well enough, but in my recent fittings, I’ve been consistently fit into the Ventus Black, which has a noticeably flatter EI curve.

It’s different than what I play in the irons.

Again, the driver swing isn’t the iron swing and that means that what works really well for one may not work for the other.

Q: I have always had an issue with a slice. I’ve been playing the Ping 410 SFT Driver the last few years. It has helped with my slice, however, I now hook it sometimes. I am about to purchase a new Ping G430 Driver. Since I’ve seen some improvement with my slice I’m wondering if I should stick with the SFT model or go with the MAX with the adjustable weight?? Any advice would be appreciated!

The simple advice is to try them both and see how it shakes out.

With the G430 line, PING has tweaked the SFT with an adjustable heel weight. When the weight is in the DRAW+ position, shot shape correction will be similar to past SFT drivers. In the standard DRAW position, the G430 SFT it’s a bit less draw-biased.

Eyeballing the charts I have from PING, call it 20 yards worth of correction in the DRAW+ position and 13-14 yards n the DRAW position.

The PING G430 MAX is designed to be entirely neutral when the weight is in the middle. In the DRAW position, you’re looking at about 8 yards of help.

Is 8 yards of draw bias enough, or do you need more?

Another consideration is loft. The G430 SFT is only available in 10.5 degrees. If you need less (or more) loft, then the MAX will likely be the better choice.

Q: Golf balls prices seem to be trending upward. Do you feel there is a reasonable cap for how much a dozen balls should cost? – Golfspy_APH

Despite now being $55 a dozen for everything made at Ball Plant 2, Titleist remains solidly the number 1 ball on the market, so, it doesn’t seem like we’ve hit the cap yet.

There will be new premium balls on the market from Bridgestone, Callaway, and TaylorMade next year, so it will be interesting to see who raises prices to match Titleist. My hunch is that 2 of the 3 will.

There’s a perception game that gets played with price, and not everyone is comfortable getting out-premiumed by the other guys. The objective is to avoid being seen as less than, and to an extent, matching price (no matter how high) is one way to do that.

The upside in all of this is that it opens doors for smaller brands to make inroads at lower price points.

The downside is that higher prices from big OEMs might allow DTC brands to raise prices as well. They can maintain the same value proposition (at least on a dollar-for-dollar basis) with the big guys, while increasing revenue.

Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. If it does, we all know who loses.

Q: Are y’all testing any of the Seed balls? I’ve always wanted to see how they would perform against the big dogs!!! – Th3JaunAndOnly

That’s up to you (and our other readers) to decide.

We’ll be testing 50 models in this year’s test. As it stands now (subject to change), 40 of those spots have been filled. The remaining ten will be put up for a vote, with the readers deciding which golf balls will round out our testing field.