Picking The Right Golf Ball: Beginners Guide

by The Golf Club Guru

Playing your best golf requires decent skills and a twist of the wrist. The outcome of the game and the scores you post depend exclusively on how well you swing your clubs and strike your golf ball.

Making the most of your unique swing and style of play, however, would not be possible without some quality gear and equipment. Your clothes, your shoes, your clubs, and even your bag (to a lesser degree), will make a difference in your quality of play. Every piece of your equipment matters and can either spoil your game or boost it. There is one thing though, that many beginning golfers overlook, without which your golf kit will be incomplete – the right golf ball for your game. Many beginners just smack any ball on which they can get their hands … but putting the right ball in the path of your swing can bring far more enjoyment to the rounds you play.

In this article, we talk about various types of golf balls to help every player find a perfect fit for their swing speed and unique style of play!

How To Choose Wisely?

Remember from your high school chemistry class the concept of “necessary but not sufficient” (i.e. oxygen is “necessary” to have a fire, but it is not “sufficient”). You must understand that even a properly fit golf ball all by itself is not sufficient to have a significant impact on your performance, but it can help to mitigate the flaws of a less than perfect swing. In combination with your skills, properly selected/fit clubs, and good shoes, the right ball can really make a difference. Choosing the right ball for your swing speed and style of play is necessary but not sufficient to achieve lower scores.

What are your strengths and in what areas does your ball flight need help? Do you want more distance, more control or more accuracy? Or do you want a higher spin rate or a higher or lower ball flight? Considering a few simple questions can help you to make a wiser choice on what ball will give you that x-factor to find the most success from your swing speed and style of play.

Making an educated decision requires understanding the design characteristics of the various types of golf balls available for you to play.

What Main Features Distinguish Golf Balls?

• The simplest of classifications lies in the five categories into which golf balls fall based on their construction. Players can pick between the basic one-piece options all the way through two, three, and four piece balls, right up to the most advanced and performance boosting five-piece balls.

• Based on their construction; golf balls can offer low, mid or high spin rates. The design and construction of each ball will determine their function when put into play. Accuracy, trajectory and distance are elemental products of how a ball is designed and the achievement of each characteristic is relevant and directly proportional to each golfer’s swing speed and style of play.

• Finally, there are balls with high and low compression.

Many additional design and construction characteristics go into the production of each type of golf ball, including; the materials used and their dimple pattern. However, the criteria mentioned above deserve the most attention.

Why Pick Balls With Low Compression?

There are a few benefits that players receive from low compression golf balls. They tend to travel farther, due in large part to the fact that they have a higher spin rate. This allows the ball, when properly struck, to fly higher and therefore greater distances. Beware though, that this element of higher spin will also cause poorly struck balls to fly further offline if struck with the dreaded “side spin”. When struck properly though, the low compression ball will fly higher, generally giving it greater distance, and it will also stop quicker by falling more directly out of the sky. This element of stopping quicker allows golfers to better control the playing distances of each club in the bag.

Low-compression golf balls also provide a softer feel which is significant for all golfers and provides better control on shorter shots playing into and around the greens. Most players agree that the softer golf balls provide a higher spin rate which translates into higher ball flight and trajectory for greater distance from the tee, as well as a softer feel for more control on shorter shots.

The low compression golf balls are generally found in the three, four and five piece categories. These balls tend to be a bit more expensive and therefore may not be the best choice for beginners and high handicappers who tend to send a lot of ball offline and lose a few or more each round they play.

How to decide whether this type of balls suits your needs? Softer golf balls are great in many ways and, without a doubt; they can really complement your game and help you to play better. However, it is vital to pick the option that suits your swing speed, style of play, your budget and the other equipment you play. We recommend looking for balls that are the most effective with your irons.