How Often Do You Change Golf Balls in Your Simulator?

[Buckminster]

My simulator is about two years old. It gets fairly heavy use, but nothing like a commercial simulator would. I have not been very good at changing the golf balls that I use, some probably had the equivalent of 50+ rounds of golf.

Recently, I took a simulator ball to the real golf course. The ball had been hit so many times that the printing was about half worn off. The ball felt like hitting a marshmallow and flew like a knuckleball...like it had very low spin. It was very noticeable and got me thinking about what difference it might be making in the golf simulator. I use ProTee, so it does not directly measure ball spin.

I'm now thinking I will probably start replacing my simulator balls after ~500 hits. Anybody else ponder this issue?

[SkeetShooter]

Are you hitting into a screen or net? If a net, its not a big deal since, like you said its a ProTee system. However, I just had this come to Jesus moment with my balls. I usually get 3-5 rounds out of a ball depending on what kind of shots I'm hitting. I tend to really kill the covers with my high spin wedge shots, so that severely reduces my ability to use on my screen. A few members here pointed out that all I was doing was shortening the life of my screen, and given that I have more money in that than the balls I'm using... Well I change them out regularly now and just use those on the course or give them to my brother or buddy to use.

[Solstice72]

Yeah, replace balls, save screen

[mthunt]

I check the balls for wear. When the logo is getting worn off the throw the balls in my kids bag. I use three new ones at a time.

[Monovision]

Depends on the kind of balls. Ionomer/surlyn covers really don't get as sharply scuffed, so they can last quite a long time. Urethane, probably only 200 hits with minimal wedge use, or even fewer if wedges. I use a net, and the scuffed balls act like a buzzsaw on that, too. I tend to keep remnants of previously torn nets to hang in the high density spots. That way I don't have to buy a whole new net as often.

[Wizard of Coz]

When they crack or if the surface gets rough.

[JoseM81]

TP5 scratch easily with my vokey wedges. Srixon Z-Stars and Snells have been holding up well for me so far.

[jasonreg]

Any scuffs or obvious wear and into the shag bag (or the kids bags) they go. Balls are much easier to replace than screens!

[Godfather]

I feel the cover and as it gets rough I take it out of play. I used one ball too much a couple years ago and cracked it so I check them more regularly now.

[Sanderson43]

I change golf balls very often. Approximately once every 350-400 strokes. Most often I look at the state of the ball, if it is already rough and frayed, then I replace it no matter how many hits I did. I try to use only high quality balls. It's easier for me to just buy a new ball, of course you might think it might be expensive, but it's much more convenient for me. I recently found a site https://clubandtee.com/ where they help with the choice of equipment. I read several articles about balls and found out some new information for myself. Now I change balls a little less often, but still try to keep them in perfect condition. This is the best option for me.