I posted similar in another comment reply on the video, but will post again so more people can see it. Which will hopefully prove that the exercise of balancing balls is *futile and unnecessary*. At home, I have 20 feet of high quality putting turf, and a stimpmeter. Which means that I can roll the ball perfectly every time on a controlled surface. So I mixed up some saltwater solution and found one balanced ball, and 5 "unbalanced" balls. These balls varied in brand and quality. I then rolled them using my stimpmeter at two different lengths. One configuration was a "firm" 5 foot putt. Which means that I set everything up so that it would roll out to around 6 feet. The second configuration was a "soft" 10 foot putt. In this case, I set everything up so that the ball would stop rolling at almost exactly 10 feet. Now that I had my balls and testing setup, I rolled approximately 200 putts (100 at each length). In the process, I would place the balls in different orientations. Logo perpendicular to the hole, logo parallel to the hole, logo diagonal to the hole, etc. The holes on my putting turf are also undersized by an inch (3.25" diameter). Which makes the test more demanding than if I were using a standard sized hole (4.25"). In all 200 putts, not a single one missed the hole. *Balanced or unbalanced, it didn't matter*. All went in. So to kick it up a notch, I drilled holes in 3 different balls. Using a .275" drill bit, and drilling them about a half inch deep into the ball. One hole, I left empty. While the other two were filled either a 2g or 6g shaft weight. And then I re-rant the test. It turns out that weighting can have an impact. But it needed to be wildly different between the two hemispheres of the ball. The ball with only a hole drilled in it continued to go in every time. No matter the orientation I set it in when placing it on the stimpmeter. The ball with the 2g weight installed still went in the majority of the time. The only times it would miss is if I placed it on the stimpmeter in a way where the weight were to the extreme left/right. And even then, it still would go in on occasion. The ball with the 6g weight would also miss when the placed with the weight to the extreme left/right. But would also miss in other orientations. It would however go in every time if the weight were oriented at or near the center of the ball (i.e. it rolled end over end in the same plane as the weight). So, yes, it can have an impact. But any modern ball would be nowhere near as lopsided as any of my test balls with holes drilled in them. As even the ball with only a hole drilled in it still went in every single time. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and balance your balls. But it will have ZERO impact on whether or not a putt will go in.
Get back to me when you're testing at high rotational speeds. This is like saying I can tell my tires are balanced because I rolled out of the driveway earlier. Try going 70mph. Does the imbalance show up now?? Yep. Spin that golf ball at the 6k rpm that your 6-7 iron should be and let's see. If a ball has poor balance it's rotational energy is going to be increasingly less efficient over the shot arc. You will hit a crisp spinning shot and it will hit he greens dead. A. Pro golfer who can hit that on command would be visibly puzzled. Why did it lose so much spin? I hit it essentially perfect? Well maybe it lost its rotational energy along the way. And maybe slightly effected the distance.
@@jordaneimer2873 this is all theoretical nonsense. For which you've provided zero substantive proof. I drilled an f'ing hole in a ball, and it didn't even change the weight of the ball by a full gram. There is no scenario where a ball off the assembly line would have that much deviation. And sure, I could test the spin component too with my LM. But then proponents on your side would come up with some other nonsensical hurdle to clear.
MaxFli balls come factory balanced. They spin the balls after construction, but before they add the graphics, and they align the alignment mark to the balance line.
@cobra7282 true, I think you may have described it better... They are factory "centered" is I guess the most accurate way of describing it. If a maxfli is off-balance during the spin test, they will realign the markings to match the alignment of the CoG. In essence, a ball may be off-balance, but if you align the StraightFli markings, you will never be hitting an off-balance center of gravity... They make it so that you are always hitting the ball along the center of gravity, even with an imbalanced ball.
@@cobra7282I mean when it's too difficult to perfectly balance in the process, might as well help a brother out and let them know where the imbalance is. Pretty nice of them, honestly.
For the price we pay for these top quality balls you would think they could guarantee they are balanced. I've been doing this test for years and i have found the Pro v1 to be more consistent but not perfect either. One thing I haven't tried but it would seem it's possible to use an unbalanced ball to reverse a slice or a hook by placing the heavy side of the ball in a certain position on the tee.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 Another think you could test... You know how they say if there's a clump of mud on one side of your ball your shot will go in the opposite direction? Maybe if you take a ball that is very unbalanced and put the heavy side on either the left or right side of the tee you can get the ball to travel left or right intentionally. Just a thought.
Good stuff for the pros, don’t think amateurs as myself will have to worry about an unbalanced golf ball. If anything the unbalance might help straighten some of our shots.
Last month I had my worst round of putting ever with a set of brand new mid-tier balls. Got a ball spinner and found that basically every single one (even the ones from the box I hadn’t played yet) were not balanced, and once I put a line around them for the correct line it was on a different line around the ball than the balls own printed line marking. Last week with the same balls, but new lines on them, I had one of my best rounds of putting. I ended up testing every different ball I had at home and only the Pro V1s had many that were balanced and didn’t exhibit a heavier spot. I don’t have premium balls from another brand, but all the various mid-tier soft balls I had were mostly unbalanced.
That’s is crazy, all balls should be balanced considering their price. I think Bryson is right, might as well test all your balls, I’ll do further testing to see if there are major differences, but your experience is crazy, thanks for sharing
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 something I forgot to mention is that I also tested the balls I play with on my putting mat. With the new lines I drew, and the ball aligned along that, they went straight most of the time (assuming in my technique probably was the reason for the few that didn’t) When I deliberately set the ball with the new line off-axis, to try and put the heavy spot on one side, they would turn slightly. Enough to turn a “just in” putt to a miss at 7ft. So yeah I’m a believer lol
@@djjezza this is absolute placebo. My testing showed zero difference between unbalanced and balanced balls. Even a ball with a hole drilled in the side of it stayed on line just as well as a balanced ball. And I didn't putt them myself. Which would introduce all sorts of potential errors, inconsistencies, and subconscious variables. I rolled over 200 puts with a stimpmeter. Which rolls the ball identically every single time. Again, zero difference was shown. With every ball finding the cup.
40 years ago most serious players did this. We had wound balata balls, some with liquid centers. Few if any were well balanced as well as out of round. Always carried a ball gage as well, after a few full hits, balls would lose some roundness.
25 years ago, Chet Shira of Carbite Golf observed this problem as it affected putts while testing putters with a robot on a perfectly flat table. He identified the problem as the core, the cover and layers of golf balls are not the same density so, if they’re not perfectly centered, they’re out of balance. He solved the problem, filed a patent on it and licensed it to Wilson sporting goods. They introduced a ball under the brand-name True. He was a pretty smart guy.
I still have a Carbite putter, it's a really nice bit of kit. I remember a golf magazine running a piece about balls being unbalanced, that might have been because of the Carbite tests. Nearly every ball I tried was out of balance. Funny that the media is now treating this like something revolutionary.
Excellent video. This would likely only make a slight difference for high level players. If you ain't breaking par regularly, don't waste your time salt-balancing your golf balls in hopes it will help your scores.
i think what the internet needs is more comparison, line up a short putt with the unbalanced ball and show how the different balance points affect the putt
Except that test will mean nothing if a human does it. Too many other variables. For any test to be meaningful, every other variable would need to be as controlled as possible. At the very least, set up something like a stimpmeter to roll the putts. Not perfect. But far better than an average golfer trying to consistently deliver the putter in a way where you could draw meaningful conclusions about the balls.
This was done 20+ years ago. I've been floating balls in concentrated Epsom salt solution and it was surprising how many 'top tier' balls back in the day were not perfectly balanced. The test was done on a perfectly flat synthetic green and a long ramp to roll the balls to the hole. They'd made sure everything was flat and level and laser aimed the ramp...but some balls missed to either side. The ones that went in the hole would do it again and again so they rolled true and after floating and marking the light spot if you put that on one side before releasing the ball would miss on one side and rolled the other way miss to the other side. If you expect the ball to roll true it must be neutrally balanced. Modern solid balls are a LOT better than the old construction.
For tournaments I think this is very good, but for casual golf it's just a waste. But this is 100% something I would do. I love doing things with equipment if it gives me even a 0.1% advantage. Good video.
Ok - here’s my question - when you hit a ball, it compresses quite a lot. And then you hit it again, and again assuming you don’t lose it in the meantime. Doesn’t the act of hitting and compressing change the balance of the ball? I’d be curious to compare a balanced ball with an unbalanced ball with the ramp that they use to test the speed of the greens. Then repeat that for balls that have been hit several times. Pardon my skepticism.
Players were doing this back in the 70s and 80s. This is not anything new. In the 90s they came out with ball spinners. I still have one and use it. It's laughable that players think this is something new.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 Spinners are not ideal, because salt will show differently. As the weight could shift to the top of bottom while still spinning pure.
Depends on your skill level, I will do a short putt test with balanced and unbalanced balls to see if there is an actually difference like Bryson claims
I spin mine. I want to know where the dynamic balance point is. It's supposed to spin/roll on a straight line, not sit still. Wheels, precision cutting tools, turbine engines, or anything that really needs to be balanced and turn true is spun to get the dynamic balane point. It does have a minor effect when putting, but dial up the RPMs, and it can have a significant effect on flight path.
Yes I saw those spinning devices, I’ll try to get one, but not sure they’re accurate, I mean those balanced balls can be placed anywhere it only works for unbalanced balls where you can draw a line
@thebackyardgolfer7010 Well, just like the salt water, if it's balanced it will spin wherever. If it's unbalanced, it always finds the same spot. That's been my experience anyway and I've spun thousands of golf balls from nearly every brand out there.
Just a thought but I think Bryson meant that if it’s unbalanced than you mark it on the spot that it turns to each time and that is the axis you want to roll it on when you play that ball so it will roll straight. The imbalanced weight as long as you line that dot up will roll end over end. Don’t throw them away just mark them appropriately
Like Bryson said you can use the unbalanced ball. Just make sure you put the spot you marked on top and in line with your putt. That way it's rolling over itself. Don't put that spot on the side and expect it to roll straight. Ball spinners do this for you.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 If you set it on a table with the spot straight up the heavy side should be on the table. Draw a line from the spot to where it was touching the table. That's your line for putting.
The point isnt just to get all totally balanced balls. I mean were talking micro differences here. For most of us it isnt gonna matter much. The point is he marks his line over the dot so the center of mass is rolling end over end when he putts.
Too bad they don't come from the factory balanced. But I don't play enough to have to worry about this. Also I think if you spend so much on balls this is kind of not good those companies trying to say their ball is perfect or better. Still I think if you find the balance point it will help on the green and in the air. Cool video!!
Thanks, one of my friends checked all his golf balls and found so many unbalanced, not sure how much it will affect your game, but a little for sure, especially the putting
i did this just for fun to see, knowing it wont make a bit of difference and out of almost all of the new prov1xs i had at home MAYBE 2 of them were out of balance.
Most golf balls are not balanced. The issue is how much are they out of balance. Bryson applies a known weight to the light spot and then retests to quantify how much it is out.
Callaway balls are X-rayed in production to make sure the core of each ball is perfectly balanced and centered. They spent about $100 million around 5 years ago on an adjacent facility as part of their production line. Callaway makes the best balls in golf and it isn’t even close!!!
At best they do an AQL via X-ray. There's no way they would want to spend the money or the processing time to X-ray each and every ball. Even a mini pallet of say, 25 balls would be crazy expensive and time consuming to inspect 100%.
False. Even if this were true, x-raying for centering doesn’t necessarily ensure balance. Agree with a previous post that it isn’t feasible for every ball to be scanned. Your “and it isn’t even close” comment shows so much bias that it’s prob a waste of time to tell you about several balls that are objectively better, so I won’t. Enjoy your Callaways.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 he mentioned it in the clip. as long as the dot is facing up, and say you are putting the off balance should just roll over itself and stay on line. Vs if the heavy side is on one of the sides it would wobble the put. He didn’t really say what he does when driving off the tee. But in theory the out of balance probably isn’t that bad in the air. Up and down is probably always best since the side spin would be least affected by it.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I know they have a ball spinner that aligned the ball and you just place a maker on it and it spins the line. However, if the ball is balanced I would just mark the line on the ball where it is normally already marked. Just to make it more pronounced. They also have a hand held half circle that you can use to draw a line.
I bet manufacturers are well aware and ignoring this tolerance issue. They've probably determined it's not worth the cost to fix. But, given Bryson's growing exposure which puts this problem in the sphere of general golfer awareness, they may adjust their protocols. Either way, you'd think that the pros would get premium balls that pass through a higher degree of inspection. Interesting topic.
What surprises me is that the balls that Bryson gets go through a salt water test, the manufacturer should provide him with better golf balls, I guess everyone gets the exact packs from the manufacturer!
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 , If I were working for a ball manufacturer I would capitalize on this. I would not be surprised if they start advertising this, or working it into their ball description terminology. It's an easy promise to make without requiring much change, really just tighter inspection. Could work out as a temporary boost..... idk, maybe, maybe not.
Every golf ball will do this.. there is always a heavy side to a golf ball..this is due to manufacturing tolerances and gravity. You do this salt float to mark the heavy side, and when you putt you align the mark so the heavy side will roll end over end. Dave Pelz has done testing on this. It isn't anything new.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I just don’t use the unbalanced balls now. I started doing this bc I was slicing my driver. But honestly didn’t really notice till I fixed my swing.
really guys??? you think at the level you play that this is going to shave even one stroke off a round in a summers worth of golf? Bryson is a geek and this matters to his mind but not much else is my guess. glad you did the video ntl, well explained.
yeah, ive never heard of this in my life and ive been playing golf on and off for 15-20 years. it may not be a new concept but im willing to bet a very, very low percentage of people know of it. bryson is the first pro ive ever seen talk about it on a platform like that.
Need to sneak in a jar of epsom salt and water to the store you buy your golf balls, and grab 4or 5 boxes of a dozen golf balls and go to the restroom.
My gym teacher told us he took one to the nuts playing hockey one time and had to have a testicle removed after it wouldn't stop swelling. Now that man had unbalanced balls!
More 'over-thinking' by Mr. Dechambeau. It might be perfectly valid when the ball is brand new and never been hit, but once it has been struck a couple of times, or if it picks up any soil, or a grain of sand embedded, the whole process is rendered pointless. Just for reference, about 20 years ago, Wilson had a demonstration using a small tank in pro shops, showing how their manufacturing was better than everyone. That was ridiculous then and it still is.
I would be just concerned of how much weight there is on one side of the ball, if its just insignificant then okay, but if there is a lot more weight then it could be an issue
This is just silly. Bryson has been doing this forever. So if it were really a competitive advantage, why didn’t it help him all the other Majors and tournaments in prior years. The only impact I could see is mental/confidence. Which would make sense for Bryson. Because the dude is an absolute head case. But still placebo in all other regards.
Is that a serious comment?i it doesn't mean you win em all when you play with a balanced ball. You just give yourself a slight advantage to the player that doesn't use them
It could be, but the test doesn’t tell you how much weight there is on one side, if the weight is light there may be not much difference, but if the weight is significant I think there could be a difference in ball trajectory
@@CARPital absolutely serious. Point me to legitimate and statistically significant evidence that this will provide a tangible advantage with modern golf balls. While it's a waste of time. I have a stimpmeter, high quality putting turf, and can test it. If it makes you feel like you've got an advantage. Fine. The mental side of the game is a thing. But believing it actually makes a difference is laughable.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 if it were that significant. You'd have noticed something already in all the rounds you've played. With modern balls, the defect/deviation simply won't be meaningful enough. As mentioned in another reply, I have the ability to test this with nearly all variables controlled for putting. I could even drill a hole through a portion of one half to really exaggerate the weight difference. Which would be far beyond any mfg. defect.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I mixed up some saltwater solution tonight. Have a couple examples to test in both categories. And will chuck one up in my drill press later to remove even more weight from one side. From there, I'll roll them all using my stimpmeter. On premium indoor putting turf that's been cleaned/vacuumed prior to testing. Will roll putts varying lengths, from 3 to 20 feet and let you know if I find anything meaningful in the testing.
I told my friend about it and he’s a 3 handicap and he played really well today with a well balanced ball and he said he felt the difference, but it could be a psychological reason 🤷🏻♂️
Do you have a Check-Go? I am shocked and annoyed at how inconsistent balls are - the markings are all bullshit - but that's what most players use for alignment!
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I posted similar in another comment reply on the video, but will post again so more people can see it. Which will hopefully prove that the exercise of balancing balls is *futile and unnecessary*.
At home, I have 20 feet of high quality putting turf, and a stimpmeter. Which means that I can roll the ball perfectly every time on a controlled surface. So I mixed up some saltwater solution and found one balanced ball, and 5 "unbalanced" balls. These balls varied in brand and quality.
I then rolled them using my stimpmeter at two different lengths. One configuration was a "firm" 5 foot putt. Which means that I set everything up so that it would roll out to around 6 feet. The second configuration was a "soft" 10 foot putt. In this case, I set everything up so that the ball would stop rolling at almost exactly 10 feet.
Now that I had my balls and testing setup, I rolled approximately 200 putts (100 at each length). In the process, I would place the balls in different orientations. Logo perpendicular to the hole, logo parallel to the hole, logo diagonal to the hole, etc. The holes on my putting turf are also undersized by an inch (3.25" diameter). Which makes the test more demanding than if I were using a standard sized hole (4.25").
In all 200 putts, not a single one missed the hole. *Balanced or unbalanced, it didn't matter*. All went in. So to kick it up a notch, I drilled holes in 3 different balls. Using a .275" drill bit, and drilling them about a half inch deep into the ball. One hole, I left empty. While the other two were filled either a 2g or 6g shaft weight. And then I re-rant the test. It turns out that weighting can have an impact. But it needed to be wildly different between the two hemispheres of the ball.
The ball with only a hole drilled in it continued to go in every time. No matter the orientation I set it in when placing it on the stimpmeter.
The ball with the 2g weight installed still went in the majority of the time. The only times it would miss is if I placed it on the stimpmeter in a way where the weight were to the extreme left/right. And even then, it still would go in on occasion.
The ball with the 6g weight would also miss when the placed with the weight to the extreme left/right. But would also miss in other orientations. It would however go in every time if the weight were oriented at or near the center of the ball (i.e. it rolled end over end in the same plane as the weight).
So, yes, it can have an impact. But any modern ball would be nowhere near as lopsided as any of my test balls with holes drilled in them. As even the ball with only a hole drilled in it still went in every single time.
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and balance your balls. But it will have ZERO impact on whether or not a putt will go in.
I'm doing a similar test tomorrow
Get back to me when you're testing at high rotational speeds.
This is like saying I can tell my tires are balanced because I rolled out of the driveway earlier. Try going 70mph. Does the imbalance show up now?? Yep.
Spin that golf ball at the 6k rpm that your 6-7 iron should be and let's see.
If a ball has poor balance it's rotational energy is going to be increasingly less efficient over the shot arc. You will hit a crisp spinning shot and it will hit he greens dead. A. Pro golfer who can hit that on command would be visibly puzzled. Why did it lose so much spin? I hit it essentially perfect? Well maybe it lost its rotational energy along the way. And maybe slightly effected the distance.
Ball balancing is not at all for putting. It's absolutely for flight path from high spin shots like iron shots.
It's not all about putting, weirdo. Balance is more critical when balls are flying high speed in the air
@@jordaneimer2873 this is all theoretical nonsense. For which you've provided zero substantive proof. I drilled an f'ing hole in a ball, and it didn't even change the weight of the ball by a full gram. There is no scenario where a ball off the assembly line would have that much deviation.
And sure, I could test the spin component too with my LM. But then proponents on your side would come up with some other nonsensical hurdle to clear.
I bet Rory is at home doing this right now.
He doesn't have to, he was born with salty balls.
poor guy 😂
😂😂😂😂😂
Yeah but he’s using his own salty tears 😂
@@doodoobutter09yeah the guy above you said that buddy
Loved this review! Great video
thank you!
MaxFli balls come factory balanced.
They spin the balls after construction, but before they add the graphics, and they align the alignment mark to the balance line.
This is interesting, I will check test them when I find them
The ball isn't balanced, they are just marking it with the imbalance in mind.
@cobra7282 true, I think you may have described it better...
They are factory "centered" is I guess the most accurate way of describing it.
If a maxfli is off-balance during the spin test, they will realign the markings to match the alignment of the CoG.
In essence, a ball may be off-balance, but if you align the StraightFli markings, you will never be hitting an off-balance center of gravity...
They make it so that you are always hitting the ball along the center of gravity, even with an imbalanced ball.
He didn’t roll the ball as per directions.
@@cobra7282I mean when it's too difficult to perfectly balance in the process, might as well help a brother out and let them know where the imbalance is. Pretty nice of them, honestly.
For the price we pay for these top quality balls you would think they could guarantee they are balanced. I've been doing this test for years and i have found the Pro v1 to be more consistent but not perfect either. One thing I haven't tried but it would seem it's possible to use an unbalanced ball to reverse a slice or a hook by placing the heavy side of the ball in a certain position on the tee.
I hear Callaway balls are better balanced. I will test them when I get a new pack.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 Another think you could test... You know how they say if there's a clump of mud on one side of your ball your shot will go in the opposite direction? Maybe if you take a ball that is very unbalanced and put the heavy side on either the left or right side of the tee you can get the ball to travel left or right intentionally. Just a thought.
@@JackRainfield yes thanks this could be very interesting
All that to hit my best slice with "balanced ball" and be sure that i'm bad at golf, no excuses anymore lol
😂 my buddy checked all his golf balls and found 5 bad and like you say no excuses now, he actually played really well today
DO BETTER!
WOW! This is wild! I've never thought about this before. I need to see if my balls are balanced. Good vid Erich!
This doesn't matter for 99.9% of us. We don't even play on greens where it's gonna matter. Outside factors matter so much more
thanks bro
Is there any difference between this method and using a Check-Go? I've had one in my bag for years.
I’ve never seen that check go device, but the concept is the same
Good stuff for the pros, don’t think amateurs as myself will have to worry about an unbalanced golf ball. If anything the unbalance might help straighten some of our shots.
I guess it depends on how unbalanced the ball is
Last month I had my worst round of putting ever with a set of brand new mid-tier balls.
Got a ball spinner and found that basically every single one (even the ones from the box I hadn’t played yet) were not balanced, and once I put a line around them for the correct line it was on a different line around the ball than the balls own printed line marking.
Last week with the same balls, but new lines on them, I had one of my best rounds of putting.
I ended up testing every different ball I had at home and only the Pro V1s had many that were balanced and didn’t exhibit a heavier spot. I don’t have premium balls from another brand, but all the various mid-tier soft balls I had were mostly unbalanced.
That’s is crazy, all balls should be balanced considering their price. I think Bryson is right, might as well test all your balls, I’ll do further testing to see if there are major differences, but your experience is crazy, thanks for sharing
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 something I forgot to mention is that I also tested the balls I play with on my putting mat.
With the new lines I drew, and the ball aligned along that, they went straight most of the time (assuming in my technique probably was the reason for the few that didn’t)
When I deliberately set the ball with the new line off-axis, to try and put the heavy spot on one side, they would turn slightly. Enough to turn a “just in” putt to a miss at 7ft.
So yeah I’m a believer lol
@@djjezza I will do a lip out test with balanced and unbalanced balls, I also think there is a difference
@@djjezza this is absolute placebo. My testing showed zero difference between unbalanced and balanced balls. Even a ball with a hole drilled in the side of it stayed on line just as well as a balanced ball.
And I didn't putt them myself. Which would introduce all sorts of potential errors, inconsistencies, and subconscious variables. I rolled over 200 puts with a stimpmeter. Which rolls the ball identically every single time. Again, zero difference was shown. With every ball finding the cup.
Chefs chocolate salty balls was one of Southparks funniest episodes ever
You've made my day...
Eww suck on my chocolate salty balls
40 years ago most serious players did this. We had wound balata balls, some with liquid centers. Few if any were well balanced as well as out of round. Always carried a ball gage as well, after a few full hits, balls would lose some roundness.
I didn’t know that, an easier device to check levelness would be handy
25 years ago, Chet Shira of Carbite Golf observed this problem as it affected putts while testing putters with a robot on a perfectly flat table. He identified the problem as the core, the cover and layers of golf balls are not the same density so, if they’re not perfectly centered, they’re out of balance. He solved the problem, filed a patent on it and licensed it to Wilson sporting goods. They introduced a ball under the brand-name True. He was a pretty smart guy.
Now sold as the Wilson Triad ball. They’re pretty awesome and a great value btw.
I still have a Carbite putter, it's a really nice bit of kit. I remember a golf magazine running a piece about balls being unbalanced, that might have been because of the Carbite tests. Nearly every ball I tried was out of balance. Funny that the media is now treating this like something revolutionary.
The interview with Bryson and the Salty balls was of course funny. But the balancing thing is a real thing. Coolio. 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
I will do more testing, but I will use balanced balls for my tournaments for sure
After hitting the balanced ball for 9 holes, does that ball become unbalanced?
I will do some testing on this, but I don’t think so
Excellent video. This would likely only make a slight difference for high level players. If you ain't breaking par regularly, don't waste your time salt-balancing your golf balls in hopes it will help your scores.
totally agree, my friend is a 3 handicap and now he has become obsessed with balanced golf balls, he feels that there is a huge difference
i think what the internet needs is more comparison, line up a short putt with the unbalanced ball and show how the different balance points affect the putt
Yes, exactly, I will do this in a future video
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 Find some X out balls and try with them too.
Except that test will mean nothing if a human does it. Too many other variables. For any test to be meaningful, every other variable would need to be as controlled as possible.
At the very least, set up something like a stimpmeter to roll the putts. Not perfect. But far better than an average golfer trying to consistently deliver the putter in a way where you could draw meaningful conclusions about the balls.
This was done 20+ years ago. I've been floating balls in concentrated Epsom salt solution and it was surprising how many 'top tier' balls back in the day were not perfectly balanced. The test was done on a perfectly flat synthetic green and a long ramp to roll the balls to the hole. They'd made sure everything was flat and level and laser aimed the ramp...but some balls missed to either side. The ones that went in the hole would do it again and again so they rolled true and after floating and marking the light spot if you put that on one side before releasing the ball would miss on one side and rolled the other way miss to the other side. If you expect the ball to roll true it must be neutrally balanced. Modern solid balls are a LOT better than the old construction.
was done already this is about the 10th video on this subject ive watched
For tournaments I think this is very good, but for casual golf it's just a waste. But this is 100% something I would do. I love doing things with equipment if it gives me even a 0.1% advantage. Good video.
Thanks, I’ll do further testing on the putting green
Possibly correct when some people will easy bash 200 balls at the range with little care. I get tired at 50
Ok - here’s my question - when you hit a ball, it compresses quite a lot. And then you hit it again, and again assuming you don’t lose it in the meantime. Doesn’t the act of hitting and compressing change the balance of the ball? I’d be curious to compare a balanced ball with an unbalanced ball with the ramp that they use to test the speed of the greens. Then repeat that for balls that have been hit several times. Pardon my skepticism.
I will do more testing, maybe test a balanced ball after a round, thanks for the idea
Players were doing this back in the 70s and 80s. This is not anything new. In the 90s they came out with ball spinners. I still have one and use it. It's laughable that players think this is something new.
I will look into buying a ball spinner seems easier than the salt test, more handy, especially if you buy balls on the go, thanks
Jack Nicklaus was doing this way back
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 Spinners are not ideal, because salt will show differently. As the weight could shift to the top of bottom while still spinning pure.
@@intsol_team3854 it’s about $30 for a spinner so it might not be worth it
Works A1 try it . Balance marks will have no relevance to printing on average golf balls. Was shown how to do it 40 years ago by a top golfer mate.
Not sure what you’re talking about A1?
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 A1 = good
Boy, this will save me at least 20 strokes a round! 😅
Depends on your skill level, I will do a short putt test with balanced and unbalanced balls to see if there is an actually difference like Bryson claims
I spin mine. I want to know where the dynamic balance point is. It's supposed to spin/roll on a straight line, not sit still. Wheels, precision cutting tools, turbine engines, or anything that really needs to be balanced and turn true is spun to get the dynamic balane point. It does have a minor effect when putting, but dial up the RPMs, and it can have a significant effect on flight path.
Yes I saw those spinning devices, I’ll try to get one, but not sure they’re accurate, I mean those balanced balls can be placed anywhere it only works for unbalanced balls where you can draw a line
@thebackyardgolfer7010 Well, just like the salt water, if it's balanced it will spin wherever. If it's unbalanced, it always finds the same spot. That's been my experience anyway and I've spun thousands of golf balls from nearly every brand out there.
It would be interesting to see what happens to an imbalanced ball after playing with it. Does the balance point stay the same?
Good idea I will test this, thanks
Somewhere out there, is a 15hdcp player doing this in his garage, hoping this will fix his slice.
😂
Just a thought but I think Bryson meant that if it’s unbalanced than you mark it on the spot that it turns to each time and that is the axis you want to roll it on when you play that ball so it will roll straight. The imbalanced weight as long as you line that dot up will roll end over end. Don’t throw them away just mark them appropriately
yes, I will be doing this on unbalanced balls so I can still used them
This is pretty wild !
I would suggest keep at least 1 or 2 for putting ONLY.. after driving 300+ yards, most of the ball won't be as the original shape or balance.
On a practice round ok, but in a tournament you can’t change your ball until the next hole
Epson Salt works great
Like Bryson said you can use the unbalanced ball. Just make sure you put the spot you marked on top and in line with your putt. That way it's rolling over itself. Don't put that spot on the side and expect it to roll straight. Ball spinners do this for you.
So which was do you draw the line, to the side of the spot? Across the floating ball and up and down?
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 If you set it on a table with the spot straight up the heavy side should be on the table. Draw a line from the spot to where it was touching the table. That's your line for putting.
@@unclewilliam5950 thanks that's very clear now, I will draw a line on my unblanced balls and actually use them
The point isnt just to get all totally balanced balls. I mean were talking micro differences here. For most of us it isnt gonna matter much. The point is he marks his line over the dot so the center of mass is rolling end over end when he putts.
But what about the balanced balls the don’t stop in the same position every time, where should you make them?
@thebackyardgolfer7010 Then it shouldn't matter as the center of gravity is actually in the center so any placement should roll correctly. I think lol
Too bad they don't come from the factory balanced. But I don't play enough to have to worry about this. Also I think if you spend so much on balls this is kind of not good those companies trying to say their ball is perfect or better. Still I think if you find the balance point it will help on the green and in the air. Cool video!!
Thanks, one of my friends checked all his golf balls and found so many unbalanced, not sure how much it will affect your game, but a little for sure, especially the putting
Does salt damage the surface coating on the ball ? I guess not.
I did this last year and no it does not, unless you leave it in salt for days
Salty balls are the way to go !! 👍
agreed
No wonder, it was never my perfect swing's fault! I've been playing with very unbalanced balls all my life! 😂
More testing to be done, but I think it would not alter trajectory by much, I would say a couple of yards if any
i did this just for fun to see, knowing it wont make a bit of difference and out of almost all of the new prov1xs i had at home MAYBE 2 of them were out of balance.
That’s not bad, I had 4 unbalanced balls from a 13 pack of prov1s 🤦🏻♂️
But how many putts went in or stayed inbounds because of it?
In my last video from a 3 pack I did a lip out test and 1 ball went in out of 3
Wilson Triad's are supposedly made with materials with all the same density. Their claim is that enables them to be perfectly in-balance.
I’ll try a pack
if you don't have salt you can use gatorade, or even sugar
Salt is the cheapest for me, good to know, thanks
How much does this REALLY affect ball performance?
It’s hard to know, but it could cause a lip out so it might be worth looking at 🤷🏻♂️
did you make sure your table is level? :D
It’s not perfectly leveled, but yes basically
Most golf balls are not balanced. The issue is how much are they out of balance. Bryson applies a known weight to the light spot and then retests to quantify how much it is out.
Exactly what I was thinking, the problem I think is to determine how much they’re out of balance and I think there is no way to test that!
I thought at least callaway have a process whereby all the balls are balanced now?? Anyone know if that’s true??
A few people mentioned that about Callaway. I will be buying a new pack of soft chromes, we’ll see
I've had a check go golf ball balancer for 15 years and they work
I will order one, thanks
Some one did this with kirklands and they were as good as pro v1's.
At this point it’s better to buy cheaper balls…,
Bryson is playing chess in a field full of checkers players
I'll pass. I prefer to have more excuses as to why I just missed that 3 footer for triple boogie.
If you look at my last video, this proves that putts can be missed due to an unbalanced ball
Callaway balls are X-rayed in production to make sure the core of each ball is perfectly balanced and centered. They spent about $100 million around 5 years ago on an adjacent facility as part of their production line. Callaway makes the best balls in golf and it isn’t even close!!!
I will go for another pack of chrome soft and test them, thanks for the info
At best they do an AQL via X-ray. There's no way they would want to spend the money or the processing time to X-ray each and every ball. Even a mini pallet of say, 25 balls would be crazy expensive and time consuming to inspect 100%.
I use Callaways for pond balls to protect my Titleist 😂
False. Even if this were true, x-raying for centering doesn’t necessarily ensure balance. Agree with a previous post that it isn’t feasible for every ball to be scanned.
Your “and it isn’t even close” comment shows so much bias that it’s prob a waste of time to tell you about several balls that are objectively better, so I won’t. Enjoy your Callaways.
What sucks is that we are paying a premium for these balls and many of them are not good…
exactly what I'm saying....
I was into Bryson doing this in 2014 and everyone was laughing at me. Now look who's laughing.
Same with the way he's putting, everyone is getting your putter now!!!
Imagine doing all this just to loose 5 good well balanced balls 7 holes into the first 9.
😂😂😂😂
It’s totally fine. Even Bryson uses the balls. He just makes sure the dot is always rolling over itself.
I see your point, so draw a line over the dot
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 he mentioned it in the clip. as long as the dot is facing up, and say you are putting the off balance should just roll over itself and stay on line. Vs if the heavy side is on one of the sides it would wobble the put.
He didn’t really say what he does when driving off the tee. But in theory the out of balance probably isn’t that bad in the air. Up and down is probably always best since the side spin would be least affected by it.
@@patriotfox7192 it makes sense to know this, but what about balls that are balanced? Where should you draw a line on the ball to putt?
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I know they have a ball spinner that aligned the ball and you just place a maker on it and it spins the line. However, if the ball is balanced I would just mark the line on the ball where it is normally already marked. Just to make it more pronounced.
They also have a hand held half circle that you can use to draw a line.
@@patriotfox7192 I’ll order one of those spinner devices
Dc real scientist in golf
I bet manufacturers are well aware and ignoring this tolerance issue. They've probably determined it's not worth the cost to fix. But, given Bryson's growing exposure which puts this problem in the sphere of general golfer awareness, they may adjust their protocols. Either way, you'd think that the pros would get premium balls that pass through a higher degree of inspection. Interesting topic.
What surprises me is that the balls that Bryson gets go through a salt water test, the manufacturer should provide him with better golf balls, I guess everyone gets the exact packs from the manufacturer!
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 , If I were working for a ball manufacturer I would capitalize on this. I would not be surprised if they start advertising this, or working it into their ball description terminology. It's an easy promise to make without requiring much change, really just tighter inspection. Could work out as a temporary boost..... idk, maybe, maybe not.
High tech stir stick.
😂
Now, all golfers will have salty balls!!!
Knowing that you cannot blame it on the ball, one less excuse
I once shot +1 with a maxfli that had a nipple in it 😂 must of balanced it out
So that explains it.
@@earl3496 there is a slight difference for sure
A balanced setup, a balanced swing, a balanced finish; but an unbalanced ball may/can be the difference in inches.
I bet that there’s plenty of PGA players that play with salty balls quite often. Especially when they lose.😂
Agreed
Every golf ball will do this.. there is always a heavy side to a golf ball..this is due to manufacturing tolerances and gravity. You do this salt float to mark the heavy side, and when you putt you align the mark so the heavy side will roll end over end. Dave Pelz has done testing on this. It isn't anything new.
I’m a bit paranoid now about unbalanced balls 🤷🏻♂️
Thanks for another excuse I can use!
😂
Ben Hogan used to do this.
I’m doing it for my tournaments, no question about it. I will do more testing though with my putting
Yeah, you don't need to do this if you're playing RBZ...because those are all out of balance
2 were balanced from 6 balls, but not great quality, I’ll get some premium balls
Bryson literally tells you how to mark and still use an out of balance ball. Don't have to toss them out of the bag 😂
Yes I know, I will do it on my unbalanced balls
I’ve been doing this for about 4-5 years.
I think even if it helps you slightly it worth it
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I just don’t use the unbalanced balls now. I started doing this bc I was slicing my driver. But honestly didn’t really notice till I fixed my swing.
So how does a “balanced ball” react in the salt? I must have missed that.
it basically floats to a different position every single time, so there is no heavy part
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 oh ok. Thanks for the reply.
Give them to your opponents 🤭😂🤪🇺🇲
really guys??? you think at the level you play that this is going to shave even one stroke off a round in a summers worth of golf? Bryson is a geek and this matters to his mind but not much else is my guess. glad you did the video ntl, well explained.
I will do a lip out test to see if it really matters, putt balanced and unbalanced balls to the lip of the cup and see what happens
"Salty balls"
Yes 👍
Where have ya’ll been??? This was in a golf magazine in the 90’s…..
some say it does make different, I will be doing more testing
This is not a new concept. Floating balls has been a thing for over a decade. Why the shock & awe?
I don’t think many people know about it
Agreed!
yeah, ive never heard of this in my life and ive been playing golf on and off for 15-20 years. it may not be a new concept but im willing to bet a very, very low percentage of people know of it. bryson is the first pro ive ever seen talk about it on a platform like that.
Need to sneak in a jar of epsom salt and water to the store you buy your golf balls, and grab 4or 5 boxes of a dozen golf balls and go to the restroom.
@@A-FrameWedge 😂😂😂that’s exactly what my friend wants to do
Use EPSOM Salt
I think regular salt works the same 🤷🏻♂️
Give it to your opponents 😅😂
@@kiddytube3915 😂
You'll get more salt dissolving with warm water.
I'll use warm water next time and less salt, thanks
It's a Calloway, what do you expect 😅
😅😅😅
Give it to your opponents?? 🤣🤣
I keep thinking the stick on the table is a blunt
😂😂😂
My gym teacher told us he took one to the nuts playing hockey one time and had to have a testicle removed after it wouldn't stop swelling. Now that man had unbalanced balls!
It’s from Dave pels book putt like the pros
More 'over-thinking' by Mr. Dechambeau.
It might be perfectly valid when the ball is brand new and never been hit, but once it has been struck a couple of times, or if it picks up any soil, or a grain of sand embedded, the whole process is rendered pointless.
Just for reference, about 20 years ago, Wilson had a demonstration using a small tank in pro shops, showing how their manufacturing was better than everyone. That was ridiculous then and it still is.
I would be just concerned of how much weight there is on one side of the ball, if its just insignificant then okay, but if there is a lot more weight then it could be an issue
This ain't news.. We were doing this 40 years ago..
I never heard about it
I could spend three hours going through a bunch of balls to get a balanced ball that I hit out of bounds on the first tee.
true, but maybe instead of slicing or hooking by 30 yards, it could have been 20 yards, staying in bounds
I’m going to add salt to all of the water hazards on our golf course…….
@@iainhirons9909 😂😂😂
very interesting
As soon as you hit that ball the first time it is out of balance.
@@nummynutz1 I don’t think so, not if it’s a balanced ball. I tested old used balls that were balanced
i'm pretty sure this would only apply to an elite player - highly doubt anyone else would be able to notice.
It would matter if you lip out because of an unbalanced ball, but the probability is quite low I guess…
for almost 20 years they have sold a 25 dollar device that spin balances the ball.
I have heard about this devices, I will order one from amazon
I’ll quit golf before I worry about balanced-balls.
there is a difference, I did a lip out test
This is just silly. Bryson has been doing this forever. So if it were really a competitive advantage, why didn’t it help him all the other Majors and tournaments in prior years.
The only impact I could see is mental/confidence. Which would make sense for Bryson. Because the dude is an absolute head case. But still placebo in all other regards.
Is that a serious comment?i it doesn't mean you win em all when you play with a balanced ball. You just give yourself a slight advantage to the player that doesn't use them
It could be, but the test doesn’t tell you how much weight there is on one side, if the weight is light there may be not much difference, but if the weight is significant I think there could be a difference in ball trajectory
@@CARPital absolutely serious. Point me to legitimate and statistically significant evidence that this will provide a tangible advantage with modern golf balls.
While it's a waste of time. I have a stimpmeter, high quality putting turf, and can test it.
If it makes you feel like you've got an advantage. Fine. The mental side of the game is a thing. But believing it actually makes a difference is laughable.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 if it were that significant. You'd have noticed something already in all the rounds you've played. With modern balls, the defect/deviation simply won't be meaningful enough.
As mentioned in another reply, I have the ability to test this with nearly all variables controlled for putting. I could even drill a hole through a portion of one half to really exaggerate the weight difference. Which would be far beyond any mfg. defect.
@@thebackyardgolfer7010 I mixed up some saltwater solution tonight. Have a couple examples to test in both categories. And will chuck one up in my drill press later to remove even more weight from one side.
From there, I'll roll them all using my stimpmeter. On premium indoor putting turf that's been cleaned/vacuumed prior to testing. Will roll putts varying lengths, from 3 to 20 feet and let you know if I find anything meaningful in the testing.
Try real life putting test with balanced ball and unbalanced ball to show how big the effect is..
Yes sir, I'm planning to do a lip out test very soon!
Epsom salt is actually magnesium, not table salt
I just use regular salt and it seems to work good
Is this legal
Yes, of course
I wonder if a 10 handicap golfer would notice a difference?
I told my friend about it and he’s a 3 handicap and he played really well today with a well balanced ball and he said he felt the difference, but it could be a psychological reason 🤷🏻♂️
Absolutely not. Full stop.
Mental game, maybe.
when you mark the ball with sharpie you already made it unbalance! don't use that method.
I will try the spinning device mentioned here
Do you have a Check-Go? I am shocked and annoyed at how inconsistent balls are - the markings are all bullshit - but that's what most players use for alignment!
I will purchase one and compare it to the salt water test, but I'm also planning on doing more putting testing with unbalanced and balanced balls.
Great now I'm paying $52 for 5 Pro V1s. 😜
Exactly so true, it sucks actually!!!!
Wilson Duo Soft 25 bucks.
@@eyesaidthat2109 no thanks. $2 balls are $2 dollar balls for a reason.
im sure Bryson plays pro v1s (left dash i think), happens to them all.
@@eyesaidthat2109 yeah no reason to spend more if only 4-5 are going to be actually balanced…
The balls are good. You now know the heavy side. So you will be able to roll the ball the right way... do you not understand what he is saying?
I get it now, but I don't like marking my golf balls, I will have to get use to it, I could I guess