Golf Ball Selection Service - Helps You Make Smart Decisions… Again and Again…

- Golf is a sport where game changing equipment and gadgets rule. That being said, the reality is that there are only so many clubs and training devices you can purchase in a given year. After all, costs can add up quickly and can put you way over budget in no time.

The one purchase a golfer really can’t put off is the mighty golf ball, because no matter how careful you are, a sleeve or more can be lost every time you play. With so many brands and types of balls to choose from, how do you go about selecting a “game changing” ball?

A golf ball is a golf ball is a golf ball… Or is it?

If Gertrude Stein played golf, her famous saying about a rose may have been tweaked for the golf ball. That’s not what the manufacturers in this industry want you to believe. Rather, they’d prefer that you embrace whatever technological breakthrough they may have come up with (or just named to make isound good).

To the occasional golfer, making heads or tails of the techie terms is almost a moot point. However, for those averaging 25 or more rounds a year, taking the time to learn more about what type of ball works best for a particular playing style can truly be game changing. Indeed, the mighty golf ball can end up playing a significant role in making a round enjoyable.

Selecting a golf ball… factors that matter:

Have you ever put much thought into what ball is right for you? Do you care more about distance or control? How important is feel (soft or firm)? How do factors like ball speed, club head speed, launch angle and spin factor into golf ball selection?

Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers off the bat. There’s a company called GolfBallSelector.com, which offers a Web-based, subscription service for helping golfers make intelligent decisions about what to buy. They’ve got an amazing profiling tool that helps “fit” you for the right ball by helping you work through a number of variables.

After stepping you through the automated fitting process, GolfBallSelector produces a personalized list of recommended balls based on your profile. This list is derived from a database of 60 leading golf balls.

According to spokesperson, Gary Esayian, the GolfBallSelector service is independent from the major ball manufacturers. In a way, they are like Consumer Reports (CR) with prescriptive component to what they do. And like CR, there is a subscription fee. Annual Memberships are available for $29.95 and 30-Day Memberships are available for $19.95, but when you see the fitting process, you’ll agree that it is money well spent.


Fit Me!

GolfBallSelector.com’s fitting process lets golfers set their own game objectives and goals as well as their individual preferences for distance, control and feel attributes in a golf ball.

The first step is a profiling process where you are asked a bunch of questions, like:

>>Do you know your typical BALL SPEED off the driver?
>>Do you know your launch angle?
>>Do you know your spin rate?

No worries if you can’t answer these questions. Part of the service involves helping you understand how you get to the answers. For example, if you don’t know the launch angle (Generally Higher --13 to 18 degrees off the driver or Medium --12 to 13 degrees off the driver, or Generally Lower --Less than 12 degrees off the driver), then it asks you a series of questions to determine the actual angle at which the ball leaves the driver club face. This angle is the combination of the loft of your club, the angle of attack generated by your unique swing, the center of gravity on your driver, and the type of shaft you are playing.

If you are unsure, it asks further probing questions, such as:

>>Which of the following best describes the flight of the ball off your Driver or a off a mid-iron?

+ My typical shots tend to start off high, stay in the air, and not roll much.

+ My shots look more like "line drives" that tend to have a lower trajectory, don't stay in the air a long time and roll quite a bit.

You get the idea. If anything, the prompts get you thinking of things you may not have considered before.

Based on your answers, it will come back with something like this for your general swing profile:

• BALLSPEED: 95-110 MPH
• CLUB HEAD SPEED: 63-73 MPH
• LAUNCH ANGLE: LOWER
• SPIN RATE: LOWER
• ESTIMATED DRIVER: 147 - 182 Yards


Determining Ball Preferences:
The next part gets you thinking about your objectives and preferences when it comes to distance, control and feel. You are prompted through a series of screens where you are asked to compare characteristics and indicate what’s more important to you. This will also get you thinking about things you never considered before. In a way, this part of the process reminded me of getting fitted for eyeglasses (you know… “How’s this? Better of worse?”).

The whole concept of “feel” was unfamiliar to me. In a way, I’m glad for the membership because as my game progresses, I can go back and make changes to my answers.

I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised with the list of recommended balls GolfBallSelector came up with for me. I must have inputted something wrong (or perhaps placed too much emphasis on distance), because it came back with Bridgestone Tour B330S, Nike One Platinum, Srixon Trispeed, TaylorMade Burner TP and Pinnacle Platinum Feel. Five different brands and many were what I would consider “power house.”

And there’s more! Another fun thing is that there is a screen where you can play around with the characteristics of ball choice (distance, control and feel) and your list of recommended balls is dynamically changed.

For example, based on the profile I filled out and the questions I answered, it had me in the system with the following assumptions about ball selection:

I Select a Golf Ball Based on…

>> The distance the ball goes – 80%
>> The ability to control the ball – 10%
>> What the ball feels like – 10%

Since I can log in and adjust this whenever I want, I can easily return three months from now and tweak my profile to indicate that control is more important to my game.

For the sake of this article, I logged in and made that adjustment and witnessed dynamic changes. When I moved control up to 20%, it lowered distance automatically to 71% and feel to 9%. As a result, the top three types of golf balls that were recommended were the same (Bridgestone Tour B330S, Nike One Platinum, Srixon Trispeed), but now in place of the TaylorMade Burner TP and Pinnacle Platinum Feel, I have another Bridgestone (Tour B330) and the Titelist Pro V1.

That was interesting!

Conclusion:

At first, I was kind of skeptical about paying for a service to help select golf balls. But after playing around with it, I can totally see the value. Plus, I understand how it will help me understand the tradeoffs. It seems like a great investment.

For more information, go to www.golfballselector.com. Also, please note that for a limited time, GolfBallSelector.com is offering a special $5-off membership discount when buyers enter promotional code OFFER900 at checkout.