Hot balls?

Does it pay to keep your balls warm? Penfold's Golf Ball specialist reveals all...

Warm balls are best - myth or fiction? Let's get technical in order to answer this...

The compression of a golf ball is a measurement of the resilience of the ball. To measure this, a ball is squeezed in a vice-like testing machine (pictured with me left) which records the amount of force the ball is using to recover its original shape. Just because a ball is made from a very hard material doesn't mean it will have more resilience than a softer material. This is why there are hard sounding balls that have a lower compression than softer sounding balls.

The resilience of a golf ball is determined by the material used in its construction. This measuring system is standard in the rubber industry, but when introduced for golf balls a new unit of result was used - designating the hardest ball at the time to be 100 compression. The modern materials available today make it easy to manufacture balls with compressions higher than this. (Bear with me, I am answering the question!)

The temperature of the ball also affects its resilience. Professional golfers will tell you how they always keep a golf ball in a warm pocket, as they can get 20/30 metres extra distance when it's still warm and hit with a driver. However, this is a one shot wonder, as the ball flying through the air will cool at such a rate that the next hit will not have such a big effect.

Heat does affect golf balls

Range balls are equally affected by the temperature, so that in the summer many balls will be flying further. However, there is a big difference between one and two piece balls. One piece golf balls are made from a single lump of synthetic rubber, which are only slightly affected by increases and decreases in temperature. Two piece golf balls are very different as they have polymer covers which soften with heat and allow more of the performance of the centre out. Cold weather has the opposite result on two piece golf balls, with the cover become harder and reducing the performance.

So when you have a great day at the driving range, striking the ball really well, it could be that you have just hit balls that have been sitting out on the range all day in the sunshine. (Alternatively, you could be related to Tiger Woods or Padraig Harrington.) Just as two piece golf balls will show marked extra distance on a warm day, one piece balls will be flying a little further too.

So before you go ahead and hit the cheapest range balls available, speak to the golf range ball specialist who can explain all these important characteristics to you.