Bridgestone e6 Golf Balls plus Updates to OTTO

Bridgestone e6 Golf Balls – Key Takeaways

Update to Bridgestone’s best-selling, longest-running ball Available in Optic Yellow and White, $24.99/dozen Bridgestone also updating and shrinking OTTO the ball-fitting robot

 

The new Bridgestone e6 golf ball is the company’s horse. It’s been in Bridgestone’s lineup the longest, and it’s Bridgestone’s best seller.

And it’s not even close.

“There’s definitely a following for e6,” says Bridgestone Golf Ball Marketing Manager Elliot Mellow. “It’s always been about soft, low compression and good feel.”

For 2023, none of the above has changed. But the new version is being reformulated to soften something you don’t often think about.

And that’s sound.

Bridgestone e6 Golf Balls: Step Softly

The e6 has been in Bridgestone’s lineup for 15 years now It’s a player in the two-piece soft parade of balls, along with the Wilson DUO Soft+, Srixon Soft Feel and a host of others. The appeal to low compression is twofold. First is the addictive, downy-soft mushiness of the feel. Second is the fact it’s stupid-low spin off the driver so it’s more likely to stay in the fairway instead of the rough on the right, where it’s more likely to roll. Or it goes in the rough instead of the pond on the right, where it doesn’t need to float.

Oh, there’s a third appeal: price.

“We want a ball that’s easy to compress, that’s easy to get in the air and has a soft feel for the consumer,” says Mellow. “With the new design, we’re going with some softer materials and really getting the clickiness out of the impact.”

That appears to be the major upgrade to the 2023 Bridgestone e6. Mellow says the goal is to make Bridgestone’s softest ball not only feel soft, but sound soft.

“We’ve been doing some stuff with frequency and hertz, and how we can deliver a soft sensation to the consumer,” Mellow says. “There’s a segment of golfer than resonates with that.”

The new Bridgestone e6 golf balls will retail for $24.99 per dozen. And, like the rest of the new Bridgestone “e” series balls, will be available sometime in March.

OTTO Updates

Last year, Bridgestone rolled out OTTO; the company’s fully autonomous computerized ball-fitting machine. For 2023, OTTO is getting an upgrade. And a serious slim down.

“We’ve had a year to study OTTO,” says Mellow. “We’ve further refined the algorithm and all the magic behind the science.”

Physically, the new OTTO bears zero resemblance to the old OTTO. The old OTTO looked sort of like a ball-fitting R2D2 and weighed 135 pounds. The new OTTO looks like, well, a highly portable iPad stand.

“We’re making it a little bit lighter and more portable so we can set it up in places where maybe we couldn’t before so more consumers can use it.”

OTTO records swing data for three tee shots and, based on your input, will recommend what its algorithms think will be the best ball for you. Those algorithms, it should be noted, some from many years and millions of golf shots recorded in Bridgestone ball fittings.

Is it the best ball fitting you can get? Not even Bridgestone will tell you that. Is it as good as a live ball fitting with a real live human? Bridgestone won’t tell you that, either. But it is way better than no ball fitting at all, or walking into the golf ball section of your local big box, closing your eyes and going “eeny-meeny-miney-mo.”

Updated Launch Monitor

OTTO is using the MEVO+ to collect your shot data. And Flightscope, the maker of the MEVO+, is giving that little device a major shot of techno-boost.

“We enhanced our entire processing using our fusion patent, which means we are using high-speed image processing in conjunction with 3D radar tracking,” Flightscope CEO and founder Henri Johnson tells MyGolfSpy. “The combination of those technologies gives us a much more stable and accurate set of results.”

Johnson says the updated MEVO+ is also using machine learning algorithms, which he says will make the system more accurate as it measures more and more data.

“It’s becoming more accurate. It’s actually teaching itself.”

The updated MEVO+ is also introducing Face Impact Technology, which precisely captures the location of contact on the club face with every strike. Johnson says when it comes to accuracy, the MEVO+ Face Impact Technology takes a back seat to no one.

“As an engineer, I’m happy to go with any other Face Impact Technology, because this will win. At this price point (base price $2,1099; with Pro Package and Face Impact Technology $3,699), nothing can touch it. But I will take on any technology up to $25,000 and this one will win when it comes to accuracy and repeatability.”

Can OTTO Do More Than Driver?

Short answer, not yet. Bridgestone said when OTTO was introduced last January that it would soon add iron and wedge capabilities for a fuller ball fitting experience. About that…

“I feel terrible that we’re sitting here and a year later and it’s still not out,” says Mellow. “The technology exists, and it can measure any club, and for the most part, the recommendation engine exists. But being able to execute it in a way that it would provide good enough data is where we’re caught up.”

Specifically, hitting off mats vs turf can skew results. And if you are hitting off the turf, it gets chewed up quickly if lots of golfers are trying OTTO.

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