For more equipment guidance, read our article Implement Your Game: Equipment for Better Golf, one of the 5 Pillars of Better Golf.
Maybe you’ve been playing the same ball for a while, maybe you never really thought about your golf ball, or maybe you just realized that you could get some help in understanding if what you play is right for you. Either way, you want to learn more about golf ball fitting, and Titleist’s option is a good place to start.
If you need help booking an appointment, want to learn about the Titleist golf ball fitting experience, or simply want to learn more about golf ball fitting in general, we’ve got you covered below.
Why Get Fit for a Golf Ball?
If you’re looking to have a consistent game, you have to remove variables, and the only thing you can guarantee is going to be the same from round to round is your equipment. And with the goal of golf being to get the ball in the hole, you better believe you need a golf ball that suits your game and will perform as consistently as you’d like to score.
At Better Golf, we highly recommend getting fit for equipment that best suits your game, and getting fit for the golf ball is no different. You could even argue it’s more important than getting fit for a club. As the Titleist website says, it’s the only piece of equipment you use on every shot.
Think of it this way: if you’re playing the wrong ball and need just a bit more spin around the green, the extra few feet of rollout could routinely put you just outside of 1- or 2-putt range, adding up to 2-3 strokes per round. An extra green-in-regulation and one less OB/water shot per round due to tightening shot dispersion is another couple of strokes – all of a sudden, with the right ball, you can get closer to that next scoring milestone you might have.
Unfortunately, it can be tough to get fit for a golf ball – even so-called ‘equipment agnostic’ club fitters don’t offer this service, and when you get fit for clubs you often use whatever they have on hand. Thus, a brand-specific look like Titleist golf ball fitting is the only way to go.
How Do I Book a Titleist Golf Ball Fitting?
If you’re lucky you can find a demo experience where they will pull out a Trackman on a driving range and someone will run through a session with you to find what you need. But if you’re not, then you’ll have to look online.
While it’s a bit buried in the site, booking a virtual fitting is easy. If you head to the Balls or Fitting sections of the website, you’ll see a link to set up a live consultation with a Titleist expert (note we’re not affiliated with Titleist or any of its related companies, so this link is here purely for your convenience).
Note that as part of the booking form, you’ll be asked for your address. This is a good thing, as Titleist is going to send you some free samples based on the conversation.
The Golf Ball Fitting Experience
After booking, I received a 30-minute calendar invite option and a confirmation email with a link to a Zoom call for that time. While the call was booked for a half hour, we only spoke for 5-7 minutes, so this is not a very time-consuming appointment.
I spoke with Jake Hardy, a member of Titleist’s golf ball sales and marketing team based on the east coast, who asked me a few questions about my game. Here are a few example questions:
- Are you playing a specific ball now?
- What does a typical 7-iron ball flight look like?
- Do you hit the ball high or low?
- What kind of spin do you see?
It’s helpful to put some thought into your game beforehand and remember to be honest with yourself – if you let ego in the way, the fitter may give you a bad recommendation. One thing to consider, which I didn’t know until Jake told me: the driver is nearly irrelevant in the golf ball fitting, so if you’re expecting a magic bullet to save you those big misses, you’re going to have to re-evaluate your driver instead.
After I answered his questions, he suggested two balls and said he’ll send samples my way to try on the course – after all, there may be preferences or nuances that a virtual fitting can’t uncover.
Go in with an open mind, as the recommendations may surprise you. As a single-digit handicap, he recommended I give the AVX a shot based on my shot profile, something I was not expecting. I figured it’d be down to the premium ProV1 and ProV1x (and other varieties) since I told him the price point didn’t matter, but with his explanation, I agreed it made sense to give the AVX a chance.
Do Other Golf Ball Manufacturers Do Fittings?
Titleist is clearly the leader in the golf ball fitting space at this time with its virtual fittings, a clear demonstration of their dominance and leadership in the golf ball market at large.
TaylorMade also does virtual fittings, but it’s unclear if this includes the golf ball fittings, or if it’s only for members of the MyTaylorMade community. Callaway, Bridgestone, Srixon, and other major manufacturers all have ball selector tools, but none offer online golf ball fittings, though you may be able to get one at a local demo day if you’re lucky.
If you’d like to learn more about what golf balls are right for you, check out our guides on golf balls for beginners, average golfers, women, seniors, mid-handicappers, and more.
After failing to hit a curveball, Ryan turned to golf more seriously as a teen. He played in high school in and around Scottsdale, Arizona before taking a break through college and his 20s. Today, Ryan spends his weekends playing Torrey Pines as a San Diego resident, working to chip away at his single-digit handicap.
While he's had great mentors along the way, much of Ryan's game improvement has been from study of the game itself. Ryan hopes to give these keys to success to other golfers through his work here at Better Golf Online.
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