Are golfers at a tournament just randomly allowed to choose their own ball whatever they want or???? I don't understand. In Tennis germany, we have tournament balls, that are set by rules, we are not allowed to choose our own balls, that would be outrageous.
It is pretty simple, all you have to do to make a course play harder is create more obstacles. You can make a long shot dangerous by adding bunkers and sand traps. You can force professionals to be more accurate by narrowing the fairways and creating ruff areas in the middle and encroaching on key areas. When Jack Nicklaus first opened the Memorial, the players struggled with the difficulty of the course. Some people commented that perhaps Jack had built the course too hard for the players. This is the key, if you make a poorly placed shot expensive, you can force the players to use irons in place of woods and if the fairways are narrow enough they will have to play conservative golf.
Couldn't agree more! Some of the most fun I've had was on courses that challenged the driver and 3w. Being in a bunker or super thick rough with over 100+ yards to the green or having close, low hanging trees is a nightmare and will quickly get you in the mindset of persevering accuracy over distance.
you cant design golf courses based on the performance of the top 150 people thats playing golf in this world. if youre going to make golf courses in a certain way that is going to “force professionals to be more accurate” what would that mean for an average golfer? if a course that is so difficult it forces pga pros to be a certain way then i sure as hell wint be able to play on that course. sports needs to appeal to the mass thats how it survives. Narrower fairway, bunkers and obstacles everywhere is going to sky rocket the entry barrier for beginner golfers and amateur golfers would turn away too.
How the hell do you have John Daly with a 260yd average drive? He was literally the first golfer in history to average over 300yds for an entire season. It took 8 years for someone else to join him in the 300 club...
All they do is fly into the woods more often. With drivers too long for weekend hackers, the poor hacker gets into too much trouble. When we grew up persimmon hit 220-230 for a decent player.
I'm 65 and playing any cheap ball from Wal Mart. For the recreational golfer, that's 90% of folks that play, distance is a myth. What's ruined the game is the golf industry's marketing plan that entices hackers to pay $50 for a dozen pro v's and over $500 for a Chinese manufactured driver. By the way, the woods along any golf hole are filled with pro v's hacked into the woods by the weekend duffer.
@@charlesbarry7479 Yup that’s where I got my Few Hundred Prov’s and every other Brand of Balls , Haven’t bought any in about 10 Years , Go out about 160 -180 yards turn right into woods and find Copious Amounts ! Not allergic to poison IVY . Get out first on course and don’t hold anybody up ! Give them to Family and Friends !
Tiger may have changed balls but he also changed the level of athleticism. He changed how players trained and built their bodies. Yes, technology on drivers and balls had absolutely added distance. But the golfers now are jacked compared to golfers of the past.
Respectfully disagree. In 1963 at the PGA championship Nicklaus won the long driving contest with a driving distance of 341 yards. His driving average was 276 in 1967. Give him an easy 15% for today's ball and drivers . You do the math
@ thanks went down an interesting rabbit hole. It does indeed appear jack was a freak for his time, absolutely crushing the next 10 best hitters. From golf digest: Nicklaus averaged 276 yards, the longest on the PGA Tour. He was 4.5 percent longer than the average distance of 260.2. Extrapolate that 4.5 percent advantage to the 2018-’19 season, when the average was roughly 293.8 yards, and a player with Nicklaus’ advantage would have averaged 307 yards. Currently there at over 100 golfer who average 300. 22 averaging 310. I dont Disagree that jack and other would certainly have driven farther with modern equipment. My point is that way more of them have built the physiques and techniques capable of averaging much higher distances, with the top end having less outliers like jack was. Further, as I said a rabbit hole, driving distances stayed around that 276 range until about 2001 (tiger would have had 5 years in PGA) where they steadily to tick up to the current 300. Which actually gives a lot of credence to this video authors point. So either, tiger came into the league and everyone decided to get jacked. Balls got a lot better. Or some combo.
@@miza6Jack was jacked too. He was honorable mention all Ohio in BB so very athletic . Rory got worse when he decided to hit the weights and one could argue it didn't help Tiger in the long run either. You may find this video interesting as well ruclips.net/video/YIAjB5MbQgE/видео.html
I can see the negatives on increased driving distance, but 90% of the issues they’re having are with professional golfers. Average golfers, and even some amateurs, dream of hitting the long ball like that. Just not everyone can do it. Plus didn’t you hear what they said about Bubba? He took a HUGE risk taking an aggressive line, and it paid off. I think with the increased distance, you just have to more cleverly place the obstacles of the course.
Remember what Woods did to Augusta in 97'. Pre Pro V1 era. He hits wedges and 9i into 11. The players became athletes. 70s golf had Brian Barnes with a pipe in his mouth and lots of guys were heavy. When Gary Player lifted weights back the 60s they told him it was detrimental to a golf swing. Woods put that to rest. All the Tour guys work out now and do speed training. I know the average tour distance is bigger, but the guys swing harder too. It's the ball AND the athletes that play golf. Look at Bryson... He went next level speed training. Showed what's possible
Technology is power creeping the game. As people are improving the equipment all the time it's slowly adding yards to the avg golfers game. Between golf balls and clubs it's gonna reach a time where the avg golfer is able to replicate shots like this.
Im not sure about that mate. Golf clubs have limitations take drivers for example. If you watch a comparison video of a modern day driver and one from 10 years ago there is barely a difference in distance. There are regulations that stop the face producing too much ball speed and modern drivers are at that limit. I’ve got a feeling a lot of the recent gains in distance are down to the professional golfers focus on strength training
I would love to see a classic golf league that uses equipment from Jack Niklaus' era. I find golf so much more interesting when the course has to be played as designed both in watching and when I play. I stopped using my driver and woods for a while because I couldn't hit them worth a damn, and I realized how much more I loved the game once I had to play the course instead of just trying to drive over it.
Oh man, I so agree! I would to see a tourney or a season that required 50 year old equipment, could you imagine? I can remember finding Balata balls in the bushes and using them. Man, you could accidentally hook the shit out of them! And 50 year old clubs? No way. None of them will survive. There would be a bunch of dudes you've never hear of on the leader board.
Why would you punish players for putting in the effort to build up their body and learn how to still keep it in the fairway with the distances they’re hitting
PG. The history aspect of this piece is pretty good. The somewhat sensationalised subsequent analysis significantly less so. Some of the comments below would attest to this. The example you cite is the increase in the length of Augusta National which amounts to 450 yards or 6.44 % total or 0.35 % per hole. This is from the tips. Very few people apart from Tour Pro's play from the tips. Moreover, there are a great many other causal agents in play including club technology and the size and strength of the players. Very few of these changes read across to the average golfer. I am one such average golfer. I am grateful for all the help that the equipment can give me.
I’m fairly certain that athletes have drastically improved in every sport over the past 100 years and I’m sure they will continue to as our science and technology improves.
I'm using a Ping G425 Max driver and not enough is being said about the quality of *golf drivers* these days... I hit a 302 yard drive yesterday... flat terrain, no wind assist... just a solid, fast, center-of-face smack with a new/old stock Titleist ball (not a Pro V1).... At 50 years old, this isn't normal golf. These golf clubs are also playing a HUGE role in the problem.
When the pro V1 came out, I was 37 years old and I could smash that effin thing 320 yards. I could not believe how soft it was. It blew my mind. However, 24 years later at age 61, my go to ball is a Wilson Duo. Two knee surgeries, elbow surgery, plus arthritis I cannot compress a 90 compression ball anymore. I know Titliest says it compresses but not like a 35 compression ball. I hit the Duo 10 yards farther with less spin because it is a two piece ball. For me, it's cheaper, longer and straighter. I can also make it do what I need on the greens. I can check it when I have to. It isn't gonna spin back 5 yards like the PROV1 with the urethane cover back the old days, but I can make stop and even back up a smidge. Even the CHEAPEST golf ball today is better than the best ball before the PROV1 came out. I have always said, you can putt with a 2x4 if you know how to putt. Same thing with the short game. You can even stop a ROCK FLITE if you know how to hit a wedge. No more expensive balls for me.
ProV1 has been out now for 20 years, I think that the Driver technology and players beefing up from 2003 and forward is the main reason for the length increase after ProV1 came out and made its mark. .
Players these days are also speed training & increasing their swing speeds and ball speeds to unprecedented levels. Yes, the major contributor is the ball.
The metal driver (today metal and composite) and stronger players are also contributors to all of this. Players were having to replace wound balls on every hole as they would crush them out of round with the driver. When Tiger joined the Tour, his driver was only 42.5" and had a steel shaft. So, the ball, club technology and player fitness all contribute to the length issue.
That is true but the ball is seriously the biggest difference. The biggest change in drivers is more how forgiving the mid hits are, not too much distance on pure strikes.
Putting Greens, can you point on the doll where the Pro-V1 touched you. Things evolve and change. The desire to go back is never good and ruins things. The game of golf is not being destroyed by long drives.
Prov1 is a bargain compared to the first ball used to win the British open golf championships, the feathery, which was a mini baseball , in today's money 150 years later , cost £50 per ball or 60 dollars. The prov1 costs 1/12 as much and goes twice as far , and lasts 300 times longer .
If this video was made in 1923, every word spoken could have been spoken up to the 1923 golf ball. Meaning this: Stop with the doom and gloom about golf ball tech as it exists today. Is it better today? Yes, of course it is and 10's of millions of golfers are thankful for it. Back when I started playing a golf ball could only be used for a few holes and less if you miss hit it. (remember the big cuts the covers they used to get in them). Today, if I don't lose a golf ball, I can use it for a dozen rounds. I like it the way it is and I can't wait for it to get even better. Stop it! with the doom and gloom that golf is finished if we don't make golf balls shitty again. That's pretty crappy (pun intended) marketing and arguments if you ask me. "Make Golf Balls Shitty Again"? MGBSA! Really get you head out of your a$$.
Nice video! Few small nitpicks, ends a little abruptly, slight echo in the narration. Really well edited though, surprised the channel is so new. Looking forward to many more!
Narrow the fairways, increase the depth of rough and have smaller greens. Rather than sand bunkers, have areas around the green with deep grass as sand is not an impediment to Professional players.
Maybe I'm alone here but I always thought it was extremely cool that Golf is one of the extremely few sports where the average guy has the opportunity to play on the very spot his favorite player played. Changing courses erodes that history. That golfer lost the championship because of THAT bunker? Man, I'D like to try that exact bunker to see how i would do. I get to see the exact same perspective as Tiger woods and John Daley? Wow, what a neat experience.
It's not just a ball that's causing players to hit further. Club technology is also advancing to let players hit further. Not to mention, the swing has also fundamentally changed and players are figuring out how to hit the ball even further.
The relatively wide open courses (like Torrey Pines) are the ones that have to add the most length. Tight, narrow courses (like my high school course, Riviera, in Pacific Palisades, CA) remain tough as long as the shape of the edge of the rough is adjusted to make the driving areas and other shot areas difficult to hit. In the case of Riviera, other hazards keep it tough. Unfortunately, heavy rough (unnecessary at Riviera) makes it more difficult for the members or other daily players who aren't as accurate. It is partly a battle between setting up a course to be difficult for pros and not too difficult for regular players or tourist guests. If the courses were set up properly for pros extra length wouldn't be as necessary. Some added length would often be good, particularly on short holes, but nor on every hole - maybe half of them or less. Most greenskeepers won't set the course up like that though (due to member or management pressure?) which is much (but not all) of the problem.
Errata: "Never seen before" on Augusta's 13th...NOT SO!! I was there in 1965 and watched Jack Nicklaus hit a similar shot all 4 days, leaving a mid-iron approach. For the tournament, Jack dominated the par-5s and won going away, with a then-record -17. And he did this with a persimmon driver and wound balls! Never say "never".
Really good and informative video. Love the history too. I grew up in the wound ball era where balls used to cut with bad swings. They had more feel and you could spin them easier.
Yes this is the pro’s but you have to look at the average player, is no more than 250 yards. If I remember correctly we have only gained 10 yards from this ball technology. So most of the great courses of the world are safe from the average player. 😊
Or instead of making the courses longer, maybe make them harder? Just leave the trees next to the fairway instead making them wide open. Instead of making par threes 240 yards, make the green smaller and harder.
Golf is in no danger. Women and average golfers still are challenged by todays golfers. They still struggle with the average golf course. In fact, ladies and senior tees are common, which drastically shorten the course.
One fix might be to stop having fairways on par fives that go the whole way from tee to green. Splitting the fairway into two sections with a large area of the deep stuff running from 270 to 320 yards out from the tee would force most players to club down for the tee shot. Even narrowing the fairway to a choke point, say, just 15 yards wide with substantial rough either side at that range, might be enough. If the big hitters want to try hitting 320 on the fly to get into the second fairway, or in the latter case, think they are accurate enough to roll into the choke point... let them try. If course designers don't want to go that extreme, start having an array of grass bunkers in the landing zone. A player using driver risks ending up in a grass bunker with a difficult lie for their second shot. Clubbing down will avoid that risk.
In my opinion, from a perspective of one who works in golf, the equipment shouldn't matter and in my opinion isn't the biggest "problem". If anything, it just serves as incentive for courses to adapt and evolve. All the top courses in the world are in one way or another constantly trying to improve their course and maintain/improve challenges. The courses where the pros play all have insane amounts of data they use to keep their courses a challenge. The best golfers in the world will always be good no matter what you put in their hands. Changing the balls won't do anything meaningful.
I agree 100% with this video content, These days people can pound the absoloute crap out of a Ball that it really does go out of sight, and totally stable flight, i used to hit Bridgestone 330 Black balls 330 Metres on the fly. And averaged 350-360 metres Drives , one time we were all looking for a ball 350m from the tee and after 5 mins found it well over 410m from the tee.... just need to right speed/club/wind/topspin/ground conditions
Instead of continuing to lengthen the course, why not create hazards between 280 and 350 yards? Add bunkers, or water hazards - plant vegetation and mark it off as a hazard - force the players to 'lay-up' and play it the old traditional way.
Remind the USGA the tour scoring average has been 71 since 1989, through 2024. Average drive up, scoring average same. Even Gronk know golf ball not impacting scoring!!!
Where did you find this stat? I've been looking for it and can't find it. Btw not being argumentative; I'd like to add this to my arsenal for arguing against the rollback if I can actually pull up the data to reference
I golfed for several years as a kid then quit playing for over 12 years until just last summer my little brother got into golf which got me and my dad back into it , I'm not great but not horrible either idk probably a little better than bogey but not quite a scratch golfer and I'm driving it 300 yards regularly....315 is my longest and idk where this came from I've never driven it this straight and this far in my life !! Must be the Taylor made balls im using
Why not just stipulate that only shorter distance balls can be used for official tournaments? For example, at the average swing speed with a specific club under specific conditions, the ball shall go no further than X yards, and only balls that meet that criteria can be used in official tournaments. Tada! Problem solved.
Could they adjust the pro driver size though too? Drop it from 460cc to 440cc would help as well as make the maximum pro length driver 44in long. These rollbacks would be as effective. They could also make the ball bigger by 10% and that would do it too.
Why not just go back to wooden balls. The game has been defined according to this video on having better technology to make longer balls and now that some 80 year old jack ass or whoever is running the USGA decided that he wants to be nostalgic about golf and play as it was "intended". This is BS, no one wants to play with recalled balls except the guys making money off of changing things. Regulate the game to keep standards to what they are today and call it a day.
Limiting golf balls is a disaster. Maybe the antimatter drive that will allow us to explore Interstellar space will be invented by golfers trying to increase their drives
Ball flight paths are tightly regulated by the PGA and balls must comply with these requirements. Clubs likewise are regulated. The only factor that we cannot control is the athletic capabilities of the professional. As an amateur my drive remains limited to 200 meters or maybe a little more on a good day and accuracy or repeatability is the amateurs curse. By the way, you fail to mention the advent of Surlyn Ionomer resins into the golf ball market from DuPont and its impact on ball design both as a cover material and in intermediate layers. Today, this resin along with urethanes remain critical to ball construction. The Tiger “Nike” ball was actually made by Bridgestone of Japan under contract and was the ball he played for much of the peak of his career. He never really shifted to Nike’s own ball during the shift to Nike’s “own” ball production was actually OEM production in Taiwan. This effort was short lived as Nike failed to penetrate the professional ball market against the likes of Titelist, Callaway and TaylorMade. This lead to them shutting down the equipment business in golf, their biggest setback in targeting professional sport.
It seems ludicrous that they keep making balls that go farther and then they lengthen the courses or tighten them up with hazards and bunkers which make them too difficult for the average golfer to play. The ball should be rolled back to a average distance of no more than 300 yds. and all major brands should be made compliant. Or perhaps they should adopt a tour ball that all players use. I mean why is golf the only sport that doesn't have an official tour ball?
It's not just the ball, clubs are maxed out as well but on tour why do they cut the fairways (faster than my clubs greens) so the ball rolls out 50 + yards? Leave everything as is but limit the length of the driver to the old 43.5" and maybe the size to 400cc (??) I started golf when persimmon drivers were still being used and my irons were blades, I have an old 3 iron thats 1.5" shorter than my current 5 iron. Today's game is bomb and gouge, the skill in golf is deteriorating.
Clubs are like cars. New designs every year. It’s a scam. Spending thousands of dollars for the amateur that just may save a stroke or 2 per round. Pros use the same paid for brands and millions in sponsorship to play CUSTOM designed clubs. Every year you’re told the new clubs are better and better but have they made you that much better other than making you a couple of pounds lighter by taking money out of your pocket instead of using that money to reduce your credit card debt? The newest clubs maybe could help a very few amateurs who are at their peak levels but will they really help the average amateur?? I kinda doubt it. So the great clubs you bought last year or a couple of years ago are now outdated and no good because this year we have a new and fantastic and shinier and more expensive set of clubs you need to shell out 1k plus for just for the set of irons including probably a 3 & 4 iron that amateurs should never use plus a 5k or 6k driver that adds 5 yards to your driver that carries the ball 10 yards deeper into the weeds. Guess what, it makes it harder to find that $4 titlist. . I have an old set of Callaway irons five through the pitching sandwich plus an old Callaway driver. I’ve tried new Set of irons at drivers and basically find absolute no difference in performance. I still have a few dozen Kirkland brand golf balls and they performed just as well for me as a Titleist. 2:53😅
Bubba could have easily sliced it into the hazard and lost the tourney… it is way more than exciting to see the risk/reward play with the modern ball… longer carry distance requires more skill to control… 👎 to dialing back…. I want to see people go low, not chip it around the course
Here is the problem. As a kid in the late 1960’s, my buddies and I would walk the course and be done in 3 hours. The courses were shorter and a 250 yard drive was huge. Now courses are longer, take more maintenance which makes the game more expensive and the time to play is 4 hours on a good day. It seems like everything was better back then. Sorry rosebuds, but true imo.
Anything above 6750yards is Pro-only territory. At a hcp of 2 the longer T’s just mean a hybrid or fairway wood into green, whereas pro’s are hitting 9 irons. Longer is not the solution.
Guess thats one pro Disk Golf has with it being playing in and around wooded areas so much. Even if you have a bomber driving disk it wont help much if you ding a tree and shoot off into the deep woods XD
limiting the technology for pro golfers is a no brainer ... there's no need for 7000 yard golf courses and we don't want to see them hit driver wedge every single hole. manufacturers can focus on the senior tour for advertising.
@@Breakfastststst sure ... cause they can afford 500 dollar drivers and the green fees on golf courses that need way more land to accommodate the new 600 yard par 5s?
@@Breakfastststst You need to understand there are places in Europe where the golf course is in town and surrounded by houses and roads, where every year there are events such as amateur golf competitions that used to attract the best young talents and crowds would show up to watch them play. Now the par 4s are ALL reachable and the best players stopped coming. The golf course has nowhere to grow, the crowds get smaller ... do you see where i'm going with this?
Using stats that only apply to 5 people in the world really doesn’t make a strong point. The tour average distance hasn’t changed nearly as much, and you ignore the fact that training is now a part of the sport, and it absolutely was not in the 70’s and 80’s. Yes the ball plays a role. But no, it’s not solely responsible for the changes in distance.
the ball was designed to fit 400-460cc titanium drivers with light graphite shafts over 44 inches long. The big titanium head with graphite shaft is why the game got out of control, taking out the short hitters. It used to be the driver was the longest, heaviest, least forgiving, most side spinning club in the bag, so it was used sparingly by big hitters---- but a straight hitting shorter hitter could use it almost every hole....ie a Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Corey Pavin, Now the driver is easier to hit than a 3 wood.....and spins less. changing the ball is meant to cover up how the game was allowed to be radically changed, probably to screw up Tiger Woods and Mickelson......ruined David Duval's career.
Just don’t make the ball go any further …. A lot of us work our butt off on the range and at the gym to be able hit ball speeds of up to 180mph. Plus golf is now more fun than ever because of longer hitters like Bryson.
They lost control of the sport when they forgot what the word WOODS meant ....imagine if baseball allowed aluminum bats ! Just go back too WOODS ... Then adjust the ball...
Why does everyone blame the ball. What about the clubs I grew up playing persimmon and drivers today make it so much easier to hit the ball harder. Plus we have athletes playing golf so don't just say it's the ball
Hmmm, Jack/The Golden Bear won a long drive contest at the Masters in the late 60's with a drive of 342. He averaged 307. So its time to dial back the equipment on tour players, really it is. Theyre ruining the game as if all this other crap hasnt already. They need drivers under 225cc and no de lofting of irons and low compression balls. Ball speeds need to be under 155 and driver speeds under 120.
Golf is not just for pros. It is really for the regular daily golfer. So, the distance issue is really about pros. Also, most of the courses that the pros play are off limits to the regular golfer. And if they are not there increased distances are irrelevant to the amateur golfer. So, courses can still be built for the amateur without regard to the issue of distance.
Think they need to go back to woods, kind of like what the Major League baseball does where you can use metal bats in college but once you go to the pros you have to switch the wood.
This problem only is for PGA pros not the average golfer. Just give PGA pros a dumb down ball and be done with it. Don’t screw with 20 handicappers. So to answer the question, no players aren’t hitting the ball too far. The pros are but not the average player.
Thanks everyone for watching! If you want more content like this, hit the subscribe button! I enjoyed putting this together
I’m sure it took you a LOT of effort 😂
Are golfers at a tournament just randomly allowed to choose their own ball whatever they want or???? I don't understand.
In Tennis germany, we have tournament balls, that are set by rules, we are not allowed to choose our own balls, that would be outrageous.
@@kasebrotworst7279 in the state Golfers can choose from a list of approved golf balls to play with.
??????
@kasebrotworst7279 Yes golfers get to choose their own golfballs in tournaments. Some people are actually fitted to golf balls.
It is pretty simple, all you have to do to make a course play harder is create more obstacles. You can make a long shot dangerous by adding bunkers and sand traps. You can force professionals to be more accurate by narrowing the fairways and creating ruff areas in the middle and encroaching on key areas. When Jack Nicklaus first opened the Memorial, the players struggled with the difficulty of the course. Some people commented that perhaps Jack had built the course too hard for the players. This is the key, if you make a poorly placed shot expensive, you can force the players to use irons in place of woods and if the fairways are narrow enough they will have to play conservative golf.
Course renovations addressing this specifically seem to be occurring more and more.
Couldn't agree more! Some of the most fun I've had was on courses that challenged the driver and 3w. Being in a bunker or super thick rough with over 100+ yards to the green or having close, low hanging trees is a nightmare and will quickly get you in the mindset of persevering accuracy over distance.
You nailed it. The PGA Tour scoring average since 1989 through 2023 is 71.
Bingo. Great post
you cant design golf courses based on the performance of the top 150 people thats playing golf in this world.
if youre going to make golf courses in a certain way that is going to “force professionals to be more accurate” what would that mean for an average golfer? if a course that is so difficult it forces pga pros to be a certain way then i sure as hell wint be able to play on that course.
sports needs to appeal to the mass thats how it survives. Narrower fairway, bunkers and obstacles everywhere is going to sky rocket the entry barrier for beginner golfers and amateur golfers would turn away too.
How the hell do you have John Daly with a 260yd average drive? He was literally the first golfer in history to average over 300yds for an entire season.
It took 8 years for someone else to join him in the 300 club...
Thank you
It’s funny how equipment and balls have improved but my game hasn’t 😬
Same lol
That is why this video is bullshit. If the video was true you would be scratch just by buying a new ball alone.
Aint that the truth…
All they do is fly into the woods more often. With drivers too long for weekend hackers, the poor hacker gets into too much trouble. When we grew up persimmon hit 220-230 for a decent player.
how about getting worse. i used to play below a hundred and now it seldom happens
I'm 65 and playing any cheap ball from Wal Mart. For the recreational golfer, that's 90% of folks that play, distance is a myth. What's ruined the game is the golf industry's marketing plan that entices hackers to pay $50 for a dozen pro v's and over $500 for a Chinese manufactured driver. By the way, the woods along any golf hole are filled with pro v's hacked into the woods by the weekend duffer.
@@charlesbarry7479 Yup that’s where I got my Few Hundred Prov’s and every other Brand of Balls , Haven’t bought any in about 10 Years , Go out about 160 -180 yards turn right into woods and find Copious Amounts ! Not allergic to poison IVY . Get out first on course and don’t hold anybody up ! Give them to Family and Friends !
Tiger may have changed balls but he also changed the level of athleticism. He changed how players trained and built their bodies. Yes, technology on drivers and balls had absolutely added distance. But the golfers now are jacked compared to golfers of the past.
Respectfully disagree. In 1963 at the PGA championship Nicklaus won the long driving contest with a driving distance of 341 yards. His driving average was 276 in 1967. Give him an easy 15% for today's ball and drivers . You do the math
@ thanks went down an interesting rabbit hole. It does indeed appear jack was a freak for his time, absolutely crushing the next 10 best hitters. From golf digest: Nicklaus averaged 276 yards, the longest on the PGA Tour. He was 4.5 percent longer than the average distance of 260.2. Extrapolate that 4.5 percent advantage to the 2018-’19 season, when the average was roughly 293.8 yards, and a player with Nicklaus’ advantage would have averaged 307 yards.
Currently there at over 100 golfer who average 300. 22 averaging 310. I dont Disagree that jack and other would certainly have driven farther with modern equipment. My point is that way more of them have built the physiques and techniques capable of averaging much higher distances, with the top end having less outliers like jack was.
Further, as I said a rabbit hole, driving distances stayed around that 276 range until about 2001 (tiger would have had 5 years in PGA) where they steadily to tick up to the current 300. Which actually gives a lot of credence to this video authors point. So either, tiger came into the league and everyone decided to get jacked. Balls got a lot better. Or some combo.
@@miza6Jack was jacked too. He was honorable mention all Ohio in BB so very athletic . Rory got worse when he decided to hit the weights and one could argue it didn't help Tiger in the long run either. You may find this video interesting as well ruclips.net/video/YIAjB5MbQgE/видео.html
@@stevep927 - perhaps look at club head speeds, which, on tour average, have increased tremendously over the past few decades.
@@squidly2112 Perhaps look at the fact there were no launch monitors to measure club head speeds when Jack was in his prime
I can see the negatives on increased driving distance, but 90% of the issues they’re having are with professional golfers. Average golfers, and even some amateurs, dream of hitting the long ball like that. Just not everyone can do it. Plus didn’t you hear what they said about Bubba? He took a HUGE risk taking an aggressive line, and it paid off. I think with the increased distance, you just have to more cleverly place the obstacles of the course.
Remember what Woods did to Augusta in 97'. Pre Pro V1 era. He hits wedges and 9i into 11. The players became athletes. 70s golf had Brian Barnes with a pipe in his mouth and lots of guys were heavy. When Gary Player lifted weights back the 60s they told him it was detrimental to a golf swing. Woods put that to rest. All the Tour guys work out now and do speed training. I know the average tour distance is bigger, but the guys swing harder too. It's the ball AND the athletes that play golf. Look at Bryson... He went next level speed training. Showed what's possible
Okay but then why change things for the 99.99999999% of players who are not on the men's pro tour?
Technology is power creeping the game. As people are improving the equipment all the time it's slowly adding yards to the avg golfers game. Between golf balls and clubs it's gonna reach a time where the avg golfer is able to replicate shots like this.
You dont need to be a pro to drive it 300 yards, you need speed training and range time
@olehoiii Young age helps alot too. You will find out what I mean in 35 years.
Im not sure about that mate. Golf clubs have limitations take drivers for example. If you watch a comparison video of a modern day driver and one from 10 years ago there is barely a difference in distance. There are regulations that stop the face producing too much ball speed and modern drivers are at that limit. I’ve got a feeling a lot of the recent gains in distance are down to the professional golfers focus on strength training
And Speed training ,Old ball pkayer ,Bat Speed not muscle ,some people can muscle but very few.
I would love to see a classic golf league that uses equipment from Jack Niklaus' era. I find golf so much more interesting when the course has to be played as designed both in watching and when I play. I stopped using my driver and woods for a while because I couldn't hit them worth a damn, and I realized how much more I loved the game once I had to play the course instead of just trying to drive over it.
Cope harder lol
Oh man, I so agree! I would to see a tourney or a season that required 50 year old equipment, could you imagine? I can remember finding Balata balls in the bushes and using them. Man, you could accidentally hook the shit out of them! And 50 year old clubs? No way. None of them will survive. There would be a bunch of dudes you've never hear of on the leader board.
Why would you punish players for putting in the effort to build up their body and learn how to still keep it in the fairway with the distances they’re hitting
PG. The history aspect of this piece is pretty good. The somewhat sensationalised subsequent analysis significantly less so. Some of the comments below would attest to this. The example you cite is the increase in the length of Augusta National which amounts to 450 yards or 6.44 % total or 0.35 % per hole. This is from the tips. Very few people apart from Tour Pro's play from the tips. Moreover, there are a great many other causal agents in play including club technology and the size and strength of the players. Very few of these changes read across to the average golfer. I am one such average golfer. I am grateful for all the help that the equipment can give me.
I’m fairly certain that athletes have drastically improved in every sport over the past 100 years and I’m sure they will continue to as our science and technology improves.
This channel is underrated- u deserve 50k subs.
I'm using a Ping G425 Max driver and not enough is being said about the quality of *golf drivers* these days... I hit a 302 yard drive yesterday... flat terrain, no wind assist... just a solid, fast, center-of-face smack with a new/old stock Titleist ball (not a Pro V1).... At 50 years old, this isn't normal golf. These golf clubs are also playing a HUGE role in the problem.
So you would rather drive it 220? I just want to make sure that is what you are saying.
When the pro V1 came out, I was 37 years old and I could smash that effin thing 320 yards. I could not believe how soft it was. It blew my mind. However, 24 years later at age 61, my go to ball is a Wilson Duo. Two knee surgeries, elbow surgery, plus arthritis I cannot compress a 90 compression ball anymore. I know Titliest says it compresses but not like a 35 compression ball. I hit the Duo 10 yards farther with less spin because it is a two piece ball. For me, it's cheaper, longer and straighter. I can also make it do what I need on the greens. I can check it when I have to. It isn't gonna spin back 5 yards like the PROV1 with the urethane cover back the old days, but I can make stop and even back up a smidge. Even the CHEAPEST golf ball today is better than the best ball before the PROV1 came out. I have always said, you can putt with a 2x4 if you know how to putt. Same thing with the short game. You can even stop a ROCK FLITE if you know how to hit a wedge. No more expensive balls for me.
ProV1 has been out now for 20 years, I think that the Driver technology and players beefing up from 2003 and forward is the main reason for the length increase after ProV1 came out and made its mark. .
I hit my first 300 yard drive in 2002 with a prov1. Didn't know anything about the ball at the time but it clearly worked.
Players these days are also speed training & increasing their swing speeds and ball speeds to unprecedented levels. Yes, the major contributor is the ball.
The metal driver (today metal and composite) and stronger players are also contributors to all of this. Players were having to replace wound balls on every hole as they would crush them out of round with the driver. When Tiger joined the Tour, his driver was only 42.5" and had a steel shaft. So, the ball, club technology and player fitness all contribute to the length issue.
That is true but the ball is seriously the biggest difference. The biggest change in drivers is more how forgiving the mid hits are, not too much distance on pure strikes.
Putting Greens, can you point on the doll where the Pro-V1 touched you. Things evolve and change. The desire to go back is never good and ruins things. The game of golf is not being destroyed by long drives.
Lol fair points!
😂😂😂
Prov1 is a bargain compared to the first ball used to win the British open golf championships, the feathery, which was a mini baseball , in today's money 150 years later , cost £50 per ball or 60 dollars.
The prov1 costs 1/12 as much and goes twice as far , and lasts 300 times longer .
If this video was made in 1923, every word spoken could have been spoken up to the 1923 golf ball. Meaning this: Stop with the doom and gloom about golf ball tech as it exists today. Is it better today? Yes, of course it is and 10's of millions of golfers are thankful for it. Back when I started playing a golf ball could only be used for a few holes and less if you miss hit it. (remember the big cuts the covers they used to get in them). Today, if I don't lose a golf ball, I can use it for a dozen rounds. I like it the way it is and I can't wait for it to get even better. Stop it! with the doom and gloom that golf is finished if we don't make golf balls shitty again. That's pretty crappy (pun intended) marketing and arguments if you ask me. "Make Golf Balls Shitty Again"? MGBSA! Really get you head out of your a$$.
Nice video! Few small nitpicks, ends a little abruptly, slight echo in the narration. Really well edited though, surprised the channel is so new. Looking forward to many more!
Noted!
Great channel and animations. Keep it up!
Narrow the fairways, increase the depth of rough and have smaller greens. Rather than sand bunkers, have areas around the green with deep grass as sand is not an impediment to Professional players.
Maybe I'm alone here but I always thought it was extremely cool that Golf is one of the extremely few sports where the average guy has the opportunity to play on the very spot his favorite player played. Changing courses erodes that history. That golfer lost the championship because of THAT bunker? Man, I'D like to try that exact bunker to see how i would do. I get to see the exact same perspective as Tiger woods and John Daley? Wow, what a neat experience.
Totally agree
It's not just a ball that's causing players to hit further. Club technology is also advancing to let players hit further. Not to mention, the swing has also fundamentally changed and players are figuring out how to hit the ball even further.
The relatively wide open courses (like Torrey Pines) are the ones that have to add the most length. Tight, narrow courses (like my high school course, Riviera, in Pacific Palisades, CA) remain tough as long as the shape of the edge of the rough is adjusted to make the driving areas and other shot areas difficult to hit. In the case of Riviera, other hazards keep it tough. Unfortunately, heavy rough (unnecessary at Riviera) makes it more difficult for the members or other daily players who aren't as accurate. It is partly a battle between setting up a course to be difficult for pros and not too difficult for regular players or tourist guests. If the courses were set up properly for pros extra length wouldn't be as necessary. Some added length would often be good, particularly on short holes, but nor on every hole - maybe half of them or less. Most greenskeepers won't set the course up like that though (due to member or management pressure?) which is much (but not all) of the problem.
Really interesting content my friend, thx!
Errata: "Never seen before" on Augusta's 13th...NOT SO!! I was there in 1965 and watched Jack Nicklaus hit a similar shot all 4 days, leaving a mid-iron approach. For the tournament, Jack dominated the par-5s and won going away, with a then-record -17. And he did this with a persimmon driver and wound balls! Never say "never".
Really good and informative video. Love the history too. I grew up in the wound ball era where balls used to cut with bad swings. They had more feel and you could spin them easier.
Yes this is the pro’s but you have to look at the average player, is no more than 250 yards. If I remember correctly we have only gained 10 yards from this ball technology. So most of the great courses of the world are safe from the average player. 😊
😂😂😂 Exactly
At 80mph swing speed the longest ball is not the ProV1, it's the Wilson Zip
You can make fairways and greens as narrow as you want. Distance isn’t the problem.
Need more golf content like yours. Reminds me of a lot of baseball videos
Thanks!
The USGA needs to make sure that no further ball changes take place or they will drive many golf courses out of business.
Agree the current ball standards and driver standards are fine
the clubs hit the ball way further as well, my old driver can't even hit as far as my 3 wood today
I just subscribed! This video is AMAZING!!
Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much!!
Love the swing at 3:24, is this someone famous?
Abusing drive distance is the most electrifying aspect of golf to me
bruh they can just make greens harder and bigger. a straight 300 yd drive is no different than a difficult 5 footer, as they both count as 1 stroke
Dude, the Pro V1 has black numerals on the ball not red as the video shows. Red numerals can be found on the Pro V1x.
Or instead of making the courses longer, maybe make them harder? Just leave the trees next to the fairway instead making them wide open. Instead of making par threes 240 yards, make the green smaller and harder.
Golf is in no danger. Women and average golfers still are challenged by todays golfers. They still struggle with the average golf course. In fact, ladies and senior tees are common, which drastically shorten the course.
One fix might be to stop having fairways on par fives that go the whole way from tee to green. Splitting the fairway into two sections with a large area of the deep stuff running from 270 to 320 yards out from the tee would force most players to club down for the tee shot. Even narrowing the fairway to a choke point, say, just 15 yards wide with substantial rough either side at that range, might be enough. If the big hitters want to try hitting 320 on the fly to get into the second fairway, or in the latter case, think they are accurate enough to roll into the choke point... let them try.
If course designers don't want to go that extreme, start having an array of grass bunkers in the landing zone. A player using driver risks ending up in a grass bunker with a difficult lie for their second shot. Clubbing down will avoid that risk.
I think bunker and tree placement could fix this to a large part.
Are you kidding me, this sport is so hard already players should have the most amount of help possible
Despite this average handicaps aren’t declining. Leave us be. Hitting it further makes golf more fun.
Just put a cap on golf ball development (cap the efficiency of energy transfer). This should be a quantifiable figure that can be monitored.
In my opinion, from a perspective of one who works in golf, the equipment shouldn't matter and in my opinion isn't the biggest "problem". If anything, it just serves as incentive for courses to adapt and evolve. All the top courses in the world are in one way or another constantly trying to improve their course and maintain/improve challenges. The courses where the pros play all have insane amounts of data they use to keep their courses a challenge. The best golfers in the world will always be good no matter what you put in their hands. Changing the balls won't do anything meaningful.
I've been playing Pro v1 this year mostly, and I have noticed that they are in fact a very good and consistent golf ball. Great vid; very informative!
Callaway Chrome Tour is longer and straighter. I have played both and the Chrome Tour blows it away
I agree 100% with this video content, These days people can pound the absoloute crap out of a Ball that it really does go out of sight, and totally stable flight, i used to hit Bridgestone 330 Black balls 330 Metres on the fly. And averaged 350-360 metres Drives , one time we were all looking for a ball 350m from the tee and after 5 mins found it well over 410m from the tee.... just need to right speed/club/wind/topspin/ground conditions
Instead of continuing to lengthen the course, why not create hazards between 280 and 350 yards? Add bunkers, or water hazards - plant vegetation and mark it off as a hazard - force the players to 'lay-up' and play it the old traditional way.
Bingo exactly
I loved the gotta percha balls. I wish we would go back to them
Remind the USGA the tour scoring average has been 71 since 1989, through 2024. Average drive up, scoring average same.
Even Gronk know golf ball not impacting scoring!!!
Where did you find this stat? I've been looking for it and can't find it. Btw not being argumentative; I'd like to add this to my arsenal for arguing against the rollback if I can actually pull up the data to reference
Weird that specialized athletes and light years of advancement in training/nutrition haven’t at all impacted driving distance……
I golfed for several years as a kid then quit playing for over 12 years until just last summer my little brother got into golf which got me and my dad back into it , I'm not great but not horrible either idk probably a little better than bogey but not quite a scratch golfer and I'm driving it 300 yards regularly....315 is my longest and idk where this came from I've never driven it this straight and this far in my life !! Must be the Taylor made balls im using
Why not just stipulate that only shorter distance balls can be used for official tournaments? For example, at the average swing speed with a specific club under specific conditions, the ball shall go no further than X yards, and only balls that meet that criteria can be used in official tournaments. Tada! Problem solved.
Could they adjust the pro driver size though too? Drop it from 460cc to 440cc would help as well as make the maximum pro length driver 44in long. These rollbacks would be as effective. They could also make the ball bigger by 10% and that would do it too.
Why not just go back to wooden balls. The game has been defined according to this video on having better technology to make longer balls and now that some 80 year old jack ass or whoever is running the USGA decided that he wants to be nostalgic about golf and play as it was "intended". This is BS, no one wants to play with recalled balls except the guys making money off of changing things. Regulate the game to keep standards to what they are today and call it a day.
😂😂😂 Facts
Limiting golf balls is a disaster. Maybe the antimatter drive that will allow us to explore Interstellar space will be invented by golfers trying to increase their drives
Ball flight paths are tightly regulated by the PGA and balls must comply with these requirements. Clubs likewise are regulated. The only factor that we cannot control is the athletic capabilities of the professional. As an amateur my drive remains limited to 200 meters or maybe a little more on a good day and accuracy or repeatability is the amateurs curse. By the way, you fail to mention the advent of Surlyn Ionomer resins into the golf ball market from DuPont and its impact on ball design both as a cover material and in intermediate layers. Today, this resin along with urethanes remain critical to ball construction. The Tiger “Nike” ball was actually made by Bridgestone of Japan under contract and was the ball he played for much of the peak of his career. He never really shifted to Nike’s own ball during the shift to Nike’s “own” ball production was actually OEM production in Taiwan. This effort was short lived as Nike failed to penetrate the professional ball market against the likes of Titelist, Callaway and TaylorMade. This lead to them shutting down the equipment business in golf, their biggest setback in targeting professional sport.
It seems ludicrous that they keep making balls that go farther and then they lengthen the courses or tighten them up with hazards and bunkers which make them too difficult for the average golfer to play. The ball should be rolled back to a average distance of no more than 300 yds. and all major brands should be made compliant. Or perhaps they should adopt a tour ball that all players use. I mean why is golf the only sport that doesn't have an official tour ball?
It's not just the ball, clubs are maxed out as well but on tour why do they cut the fairways (faster than my clubs greens) so the ball rolls out 50 + yards? Leave everything as is but limit the length of the driver to the old 43.5" and maybe the size to 400cc (??) I started golf when persimmon drivers were still being used and my irons were blades, I have an old 3 iron thats 1.5" shorter than my current 5 iron. Today's game is bomb and gouge, the skill in golf is deteriorating.
Clubs are like cars. New designs every year. It’s a scam. Spending thousands of dollars for the amateur that just may save a stroke or 2 per round. Pros use the same paid for brands and millions in sponsorship to play CUSTOM designed clubs. Every year you’re told the new clubs are better and better but have they made you that much better other than making you a couple of pounds lighter by taking money out of your pocket instead of using that money to reduce your credit card debt? The newest clubs maybe could help a very few amateurs who are at their peak levels but will they really help the average amateur?? I kinda doubt it. So the great clubs you bought last year or a couple of years ago are now outdated and no good because this year we have a new and fantastic and shinier and more expensive set of clubs you need to shell out 1k plus for just for the set of irons including probably a 3 & 4 iron that amateurs should never use plus a 5k or 6k driver that adds 5 yards to your driver that carries the ball 10 yards deeper into the weeds. Guess what, it makes it harder to find that $4 titlist. . I have an old set of Callaway irons five through the pitching sandwich plus an old Callaway driver. I’ve tried new Set of irons at drivers and basically find absolute no difference in performance. I still have a few dozen Kirkland brand golf balls and they performed just as well for me as a Titleist. 2:53😅
Bubba could have easily sliced it into the hazard and lost the tourney… it is way more than exciting to see the risk/reward play with the modern ball… longer carry distance requires more skill to control… 👎 to dialing back…. I want to see people go low, not chip it around the course
nothing felt like a 100 compression Titleist in the late 70s, early 1980s
Tiger Woods was turning par 5's into 3's & par 4's into 2's & 3's (shooting 14 - 16 under) through sheer power & skill.
Bubba Watson won in ‘12 and ‘14. Adam Scott won in 2013.
The Strata Tour 90 was the first ball of this type, debuting in 1998.
Time is the biggest issue with the sport for amateurs; balls technology is more of an issue for professionals.
Here is the problem. As a kid in the late 1960’s, my buddies and I would walk the course and be done in 3 hours. The courses were shorter and a 250 yard drive was huge. Now courses are longer, take more maintenance which makes the game more expensive and the time to play is 4 hours on a good day. It seems like everything was better back then. Sorry rosebuds, but true imo.
Anything above 6750yards is Pro-only territory. At a hcp of 2 the longer T’s just mean a hybrid or fairway wood into green, whereas pro’s are hitting 9 irons. Longer is not the solution.
This is simply not true. I am a 2 and play around 7300 yards and am not hitting woods or hybrids on approach shots unless it’s a par 5.
Guess thats one pro Disk Golf has with it being playing in and around wooded areas so much. Even if you have a bomber driving disk it wont help much if you ding a tree and shoot off into the deep woods XD
limiting the technology for pro golfers is a no brainer ... there's no need for 7000 yard golf courses and we don't want to see them hit driver wedge every single hole.
manufacturers can focus on the senior tour for advertising.
Nah limiting makes golf less exciting
excitement was never the object of the game ... that's what sky-diving is for.
@@oliverizzard8751 yeah tell that to new generation of kids who will not pick up less exciting sport golf is dead in the future
@@Breakfastststst sure ... cause they can afford 500 dollar drivers and the green fees on golf courses that need way more land to accommodate the new 600 yard par 5s?
@@Breakfastststst You need to understand there are places in Europe where the golf course is in town and surrounded by houses and roads, where every year there are events such as amateur golf competitions that used to attract the best young talents and crowds would show up to watch them play. Now the par 4s are ALL reachable and the best players stopped coming. The golf course has nowhere to grow, the crowds get smaller ... do you see where i'm going with this?
"Too far" is relative to the distance that a course was designed for. Every improvement from equipment to technique causes problems for courses.
Using stats that only apply to 5 people in the world really doesn’t make a strong point. The tour average distance hasn’t changed nearly as much, and you ignore the fact that training is now a part of the sport, and it absolutely was not in the 70’s and 80’s. Yes the ball plays a role. But no, it’s not solely responsible for the changes in distance.
the ball was designed to fit 400-460cc titanium drivers with light graphite shafts over 44 inches long. The big titanium head with graphite shaft is why the game got out of control, taking out the short hitters. It used to be the driver was the longest, heaviest, least forgiving, most side spinning club in the bag, so it was used sparingly by big hitters---- but a straight hitting shorter hitter could use it almost every hole....ie a Hale Irwin, Lee Trevino, Corey Pavin, Now the driver is easier to hit than a 3 wood.....and spins less. changing the ball is meant to cover up how the game was allowed to be radically changed, probably to screw up Tiger Woods and Mickelson......ruined David Duval's career.
Just don’t make the ball go any further …. A lot of us work our butt off on the range and at the gym to be able hit ball speeds of up to 180mph. Plus golf is now more fun than ever because of longer hitters like Bryson.
1991 John Daly was hitting 375
Amazing how all this talk completely ignores how much more we know about the golf swing and how much more athletic these pros are.
They lost control of the sport when they forgot what the word WOODS meant ....imagine if baseball allowed aluminum bats ! Just go back too WOODS ... Then adjust the ball...
Nah stop limiting tech ball rollback will ruin golf
100%
The noise is enough when it comes off the club.
Why does everyone blame the ball. What about the clubs I grew up playing persimmon and drivers today make it so much easier to hit the ball harder. Plus we have athletes playing golf so don't just say it's the ball
Hmmm, Jack/The Golden Bear won a long drive contest at the Masters in the late 60's with a drive of 342. He averaged 307. So its time to dial back the equipment on tour players, really it is. Theyre ruining the game as if all this other crap hasnt already. They need drivers under 225cc and no de lofting of irons and low compression balls. Ball speeds need to be under 155 and driver speeds under 120.
Golf is all about "your" balls
Hate the x
Too spinny
Off tee I’ve never hit it so short and right
There’s no golf ball that’ll make hitting a 45 yard shot over water to a tight pin location easy
Golf is not just for pros. It is really for the regular daily golfer. So, the distance issue is really about pros. Also, most of the courses that the pros play are off limits to the regular golfer. And if they are not there increased distances are irrelevant to the amateur golfer. So, courses can still be built for the amateur without regard to the issue of distance.
Probably 95% of regular golfers should not use a Pro V1 ever. They dont have the club speed to make it worthwhile.
Superb information brother
You neglected to say why Tiger has switched to Bridgestone, although I'm sure money has something to do with it.
He didn’t.. Nike never made golf balls. Nike balls were made by Bridgestone and rebranded.
@@Northeastern-Golfer1952 I didn't know that. Thanks.
Think they need to go back to woods, kind of like what the Major League baseball does where you can use metal bats in college but once you go to the pros you have to switch the wood.
Limit the pros , not the amateur golfer
remember: golf was never promoted correctly
Maybe the downfall to professional golf... if I can claim a 300 yard carry, give me that ball. The longer the better.
Well done 😮😮
This problem only is for PGA pros not the average golfer. Just give PGA pros a dumb down ball and be done with it. Don’t screw with 20 handicappers.
So to answer the question, no players aren’t hitting the ball too far. The pros are but not the average player.
I quit the usga over this issue.
Penalize me because Rory hits it too far! Great idea!
Bryson shouldve been there instead of rory