Golf Ball Dos and Don’ts

Finding the right golf ball is hard, which is why we recommend getting fitted for a golf ball. That said, a good ball fitter is hard to find (harder still if you’re looking for a brand-agnostic option), so we didn’t even put Do get fitted on this list (even though I think you should).

What you’ll find here is what I suppose you might call general advice – a short list of Dos and Don’ts to help you avoid making the big mistakes when choosing a golf ball.

DON’T buy refinished balls

If you only take one piece of advice from this post, make it this one.

Avoid refinished (sometimes marketed as ‘refurbished’) golf balls.

Refinished golf balls have only one thing going for them: They’re cheap. The problem with refinished balls is, well, absolutely everything else.

The finish quality is typically poor, and when there’s a significant blemish, often they’ll paint right over it.

Beyond that, what’s actually under the hood is never guaranteed. The samples we’ve tested have invariably contained multiple versions of the ball suggested by the sidestamp, and when we’ve hit them with a robot, performance doesn’t come close to what you get before refinishing.

If price is a major concern for you, you’re better off buying used balls in AAA condition or buying a DTC (direct-to-consumer) offering in bulk.

DO consider DTC brands

If you’re balling on a budget, the big brands may have priced themselves out of the conversation. If $50 a dozen is too rich for your blood, consider buying from what are often classified as DTC brands.

While they’re not all created equal, smaller brands like Vice, Maxfli, and OnCore (coincidentally, the ones whose products are made by Foremost) offer an appealing blend of quality, performance and more affordable pricing.

DON’T play a low-compression (aka soft) golf ball if you’re a high swing speed player

Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, there is no such thing as the right golf ball compression for your swing speed but very often there is a wrong one.

As our robot ball tests have taught us, soft is slow. The correlation between compression and ball speed is undeniable. As balls get softer, ball speeds get slower.

To be sure, there is a point where swing speed dips enough that the loses are so fractional that they’re not worth worrying about but for faster swing speed players, ball speed drops can be significant. We’ve seen differences of more than 3 mph with urethane balls alone. With softer ionomer balls, the speed drops are greater still as faster golfers will over-compress the ball and lose distance for it.

With that said, there is an exception to the rule. Faster swingers who generate high spin off the tee (3,000+ rpm) will sometimes see more distance as a result of the lower spin properties of softer golf balls.

Do give firmer balls a chance (even if you’re a slower swing speed golfer)

The idea that slow swing speed players should avoid firmer golf balls is one of the most troublesome golf ball myths.

The reality is that slower swing speed players often struggle to generate spin and, while most prefer the feel of a softer ball, the low spin that comes with it often doesn’t provide the stopping power you need.

The reality is that slower swing speed golfers often benefit from higher-spinning “Tour” balls like Pro V1x, TP5, and Chrome Tour X. Even something soft by Tour standards, like the Bridgestone Tour B XS is worth considering.

Firmer balls are almost universally better for faster swingers and they’re often better for slower ones, too.

DON’T play a scuffed golf ball

This one requires a discerning eye or perhaps discerning touch but when the cover of ball is damaged, it’s time to say goodbye.

The devilish detail comes in distinguishing between a small surface blemish and real damage. If you’re just missing a bit of paint, it’s no big deal, but when the cover is cut or scuffed in a way that disrupts the dimple pattern, there’s a good chance the aerodynamic properties of the ball will be negatively impacted.

Toss it in the shag bag and move on.

DO think about quality

Let’s get real for a minute. Between the USGA’s rules and the vast amount of intellectual property that has filtered into the public domain, almost anyone who sets their mind to it can spec out a high-performance golf ball that performs similarly to the best-selling balls on the market.

The fine print on that last statement is that turning that high-performance spec into a golf ball, and then making that same ball over and over again, is where a lot of brands and the factories that make balls for them struggle.

The leading OEMs are mostly good (though I’d argue Titleist remains a cut above), Foremost in Taiwan is really good too. After that, the data we’ve collected in our Ball Lab suggests quality drops off appreciably. The fire that closed Launch Technologies has only made the issue worse.

And, yeah, I’ve heard the “I’m not good enough to notice” argument but whether you notice it from one shot to the next doesn’t make the differences any less real. Quality and consistency matter.

I will concede that if you’re not competitive, just looking to have a good time and don’t care what you shoot, then it certainly matters less.

DON’T play what your friends are playing (Maybe)

Consider this your subtle reminder that golf ball fitting matters and just because a ball is popular or your friends are playing it doesn’t mean it’s the right ball for you. If you’re not going to get fitted for the ball, you should at least experiment to find one that works for you in every facet of the game.

DON’T play matte balls

I get it: matte balls may look cool. Color is fun. Unfortunately, the matte finish introduces greater inconsistency than you’ll get from a standard glossy-finished ball.

The differences are most noticeable in wet conditions. That includes everything from a touch of morning dew to a full-on downpour. Moisture is also introduced anytime grass between club and ball, which is often.

What does all that mean?

A wet ball golf ball will invariably launch higher and spin less than a dry ball but those differences are more significant with matte-covered balls.

The only time matte balls make sense is for golfers who struggle to follow the ball in the air. In those cases, the value of being able to see the flight of the ball may outweigh the performance loss.