Best golf balls for my simulator, here's what I've tried

[Brandon]

I've had my simulator set up for about 3 months now and I've been trying out a variety of golf balls. I'm extra paranoid about using damaged balls as I don't want to damage my screen. I'd say I've tossed about 2 dozen balls in a box deeming them unusable due to wedge scuffs.
Which balls are people finding to hold up well and also perform?

My findings so far listed from best to worst-

Srixon Q Star- for the price hard to beat. Hold up well to wedges, spin almost as much as the premium balls, distance is the same as others

Bridgestone B330S- This is been the ball I've played in real life for years and it's still my go to ball for simulation. I'd say it's the best overall if you get the 2014 versions on Amazon for $25. I finally cracked my first one yesterday.

Srixon Z star XV- Great ball, might be longest for me, haven't cracked one yet, cover holds up well but not as well as the B330S

Srixon Z star- Same results as the XV, I seem to get a little more distance and spin with the XV though. I likely won't buy anymore

Bridgestone B330 RXS- Saw some on sale so I gave them a shot. Very good feeling ball, spin a bit to much for me on the driver. I can't say much for how they will hold up yet as I've only had them a couple days

TaylorMade Tour Preferred X- Tied with the Srixon XV for longest with the driver. I would play them more but the cover doesn't hold up well with wedges or even irons. They actually lose all the white on the high spots of the dimples and the lettering fairly quickly, seems to lead to misreads on Skytrak.

Callaway Chrome Soft- I loved these at first, long, plenty of spin but by far the least resilient. Cover gets torn up with wedges and I cracked 4 out of a dozen. I stopped using the rest in fear a cracked ball would damage my screen

I'd love to hear what other people are using and what they are finding is best.

[BlechBOX]

I have also tried a bunch of balls and I think my favorite is the Titliest TruSoft. It is the new Dt So/Lo. Although it is the opposite of what i play on a course, the hard cover is very durable and the soft compression maintains a soft feel at impact. I have found it goes a little longer than the ProV or the Srixon Z star but it is hardly noticeable.

[goodmatt78]

I got sick of cracking balls....I use Prov1 X-outs. I also find the extra "XOUT" text helps the cameras and prevents false reads with outrageous spin numbers.

[aja]

Guess you didn't get the memo about ProVs being hard on impact screens! 😀

[Brandon]

I'll give the x outs a shot. I was thinking about picking up some logo overruns for the same purpose, hoping it would help out the skytrak.

[wbond]

Does the x-out markings rub off more easily than the standard logo?

I got sick of cracking balls....I use Prov1 X-outs. I also find the extra "XOUT" text helps the cameras and prevents false reads with outrageous spin numbers.

[goodmatt78]

no....same as regular logo.

[BGCurtis2nd]

I use the OnCore Avant on the real course and on my simulator, I started out with the hollow-metal core but switched over to the Avant, they both worked great for me.

http://proshop.oncoregolf.com/collections/golf-balls

[Andyman33]

why do the balls crack so much? i've never had a ball crack in real life....

[Vincent_Vega]

why do the balls crack so much? i've never had a ball crack in real life....

In real life, your ball isn't hitting a stationary object 10 feet in front of you. Have a rotation of balls that you go through while you play. I have about 20 balls that I use throughout the round and I've only cracked one over the last year. I do use a net however which gives a lot more than an impact screen that's pulled tight. So that potentially will effect things as well.

[FaultyClubs]

why do the balls crack so much? i've never had a ball crack in real life....

Good question. I've never seen a proven explanation. But my guess is that in real life we use them differently and eventually lose them before they crack.

Balls are designed to withstand a certain amount of hits at top end PGA driver speeds. I'm not sure what that amount is but have read it is around 100 hits which seems about right.

If you assume you hit driver maybe 15 times per round that's about 7 rounds if you are a tour player with a typical mix of shots. Even more rounds for us slow swinging amateurs. So basically IRL we lose them before we hit them enough. I don't know many hitting the same ball after 7-10 rounds!

The other difference is how we use them on our sim. On our sim we don't just play full rounds of golf. Most of us use the range. So in that case we may hit 100 driver hits in only a couple sessions. Most of us have our balls last longer than that on our sims. That's probably because we aren't hitting at tour pro driver speeds so get a little more life but not enough for it to be a non-problem unfortunately.

The only place in real life where we hit that same way is at the real life driving range. But there we're not hitting the same ball over and over so we don't notice they are cracking. I suspect driving ranges are constantly replacing cracked balls behind the scenes just like we do on the sim.

Rotating 20 balls or just going through 20 balls one at a time should give the same total life. The main difference would be failure distribution. Rotating 20 balls will have a long time with no failures and then a much higher failure rate until all are gone. Using them one at a time will mean a constant failure rate. But the total time before all 20 balls are used up will be the same. I highly doubt impact screens crack balls, the g forces simply aren't high enough.

[Taylor40299]

I have to agree with FaultyClubs. In real life we simply never hit the same ball with a driver anywhere near as many times. I used to hit a cloth covered whiffle ball in the house with a pitching wedge. It would last forever and not hurt the dry wall. Hit that same ball once with a driver and it is destroyed. I know I never hit the same ball IRL with a driver ever a hundred times, probably not 24 times. Just my 2 cents.

[Yongchai]

I use the Wilson Duo Spin. Inexpensive and low compression balls, makes long practice sessions less tiring due to less sting to the hands when hitting a bad shot.

[Dax]

I would just warch balls like srixon with the spin skin as I am scared what they might do to my screen.