Golf balls are among the hardest sports balls in the world. So, you might be surprised to learn that you can grade a golf ball by softness. What does softness mean for golf balls, and are soft golf balls better for beginners? Read on to find out.
What Is a Soft Golf Ball?
Don’t be fooled by the description: Golf balls aren’t made of feathers and cotton! For golf balls, softness actually refers to a golf ball’s compression rating. Golf ball compression indicates how much the core of the golf ball compresses when you hit it with your club. Softer golf balls will compress more on impact and therefore have a lower compression rating.
Golf ball compression is part of the physics behind its flight. When you swing a club at a ball and hit it, the ball flattens, deforms, and reverts to its original shape. In reverting to its original shape, it bounces off the club face and flies (ideally) towards the hole.
Why Use Soft Golf Balls?
A soft golf ball is useful for someone whose swing speed is slow. A slow swing speed puts less energy into the shot, which means less energy goes into the ball. The core of a soft golf ball compresses and activates more easily, so, even though there’s less energy going into a soft golf ball from a slow swing, it can fly high and long for any player.
A soft golf ball is also more forgiving if it gets hit off-centre. High-compression golf balls lose a higher percentage of velocity if they aren’t hit on the sweet spot, whereas soft golf balls won’t lose so much. In turn, losing less velocity means a soft golf ball will have a more stable flight if it’s hit off-centre.
New golf players tend to have slower swing speeds and hit the majority of their shots off-centre, simply because they’re learning the techniques and proper swing styles. This generally means beginners benefit from using soft balls.
Here at gimmeballs, we supply a wide variety of golf balls from leading brands like Titleist, Callaway, Bridgestone, and Srixon. Our balls range from soft to hard, and come in various colours. Even better, you can personalise the balls you buy!
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If you have any further questions about golf balls and how they work, or any of our products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!
