 Now did you know that prior to 1990 the USGA and the RNA had different size golf balls approved for play? You see the USGA had a golf ball approved with a minimum size of 1.68 inches whilst the RNA had a ball that only needed to measure 1.62 inches. In fact when it comes to competing in the open most of the American golfers chose to play what would be commonly known as the British ball because it flew further and it was a bit easier to shape in the wind. Stay there ball, stay there. No shaping just about straight. I stand on the left turning a tad I need a good bounce to get over that bunker. Keep going, keep going. Full leftful after taking it. 1990 was when it all changed the USG and the RNA. Finally agreed that the golf ball should be 1.68 inches and a minimum weight of 45.93 grams. But the question that is on your mind is well why the hell are you telling us all this hand? Well I'm telling you that because the ball I'm using is a day from Callaway but it doesn't comply to those stats it is in fact a different size golf ball again but it does in fact still comply to the rules of golf. You see the thing is when I did my research on the minimum size of a golf ball I found plenty of facts relating to that which I've just relayed. The one thing I couldn't find was anything that told me there was any maximum size of golf ball you could in fact have in play. Yet this ball from Callaway is in fact bigger than the norm it's 1.73 inches. Now that might sound a great deal but as you can see we need to put these two balls side by side the standard super soft against what is the super soft max. There is a visible difference but the question is of course why would anybody want a bigger golf ball? It doesn't seem to make any sense to me. In fact I'd have one initial concern. Be right that concern being well the bigger the ball gets the smaller the hole becomes. Well it matters if you don't hit the hole and of course what we need to do here today at Hollywell Golf Club is well we need to put their theory to the test and see just in fact is this bigger ball stop any better to the average golfer and the standard size of that 1.68 inches. And when I say better Callaway claims this ball to be more suitable for those with slower swing speeds it also suggests it launches the ball higher than normal. Go and we shall find out. I'm even threatening the hole to see if my theory about bigger ball means smaller cup. I should have pointed out that in doing some research about this ball I did read that my golf spy readers or 40% rather of their testers found that this ball did launch higher and a standard golf ball. Now of course the obvious thing to do would be take this ball inside and start to recall some dry ball data and compare it to the launch of another golf ball. The forgiveness the distance what happens with that slower swing speed or we can just bring it out here in reality when you get lies like that and see what kind of difference it really makes in terms of performance. That's the best shot of it all day. So the plan is very very simple you're going to see me hit a number of shots I'm going to play drive I'm going to play iron short irons long irons chips putts and you'll see just how this thing performs and can I notice visibly any difference in terms of the performance of this golf ball to what we commonly know as that standard size golf ball. I'm interested. Right we'll get down and take a little bit of shelter from what is a pretty windy day up here all the while and perhaps the perfect time to test this thing because it is really really interesting. I think I'll start by saying I really like the feel of the golf ball itself it's super soft as it suggests but it feels good off the driver but it's particularly good off the putter off the short end of the game like I said I really like that soft the feel. What are you going to see me start off by doing hitting a couple of drives they were very straight which makes a change really pleasing in terms of the launch did I see any difference maybe not. I think I certainly fall into that sort of slower swing speed characteristics and all I can say is I hit a couple of really good drives with the ball but did I see anything different no in fact what I would suggest is off the face itself it feels that soft that it suggests in your head at least that it's not as fast off that clubface but that's just the driver it does get very much more interesting. So next up we'll talk about irons and what did I see in terms of performance will arguably very similar to driver I never noticed visibly any great difference in terms of ball flight in terms of that launch hit the ball okay felt super soft but this state still no major differences but they are about to come trust me you see the major differences for me well they were down the short end of the bag and that was whether I had a wedge in my hand or whether I had a putter in my hand the ball looked incredibly big and when I say that on a tee when you've got a big driver head in hand or a fairway wood then it doesn't really look that much different then when you put your club behind the ball when you've got your putter or your wedges it is so so different in terms of visible size and especially when you've been used to playing the same ball for so so long I think one of the big deals for me would be if you moved over and played the super soft max golf club ball I think you'd have a real issue in switching back because all of a sudden just that minute difference that it seems has played tricks on your eyes and you would swap back from the larger ball into the smaller ball and I think you'd start to struggle a little bit in terms of your confidence so the thing is a strong argument to suggest this is once again all about what's between the ears because if you think you've got a better chance with a bigger golf ball then by all means go ahead and use one it's a good strike and stay there ball stay and sit the one thing I will say and I said it earlier on about the irons and the feel I love the feel of the golf ball and the fact that these come in around 20 pound a dozen in the UK whether you want the super soft or the super soft max I think it's a tremendous value golf ball and like I said from a feel perspective I think it's superb that is one of the scenario which I find quite interesting that's when the ball is nestled down in the rough if you think about it for a minute a bigger ball just sits up that little bit more now that just might be me thinking a little bit weird but if you look at these clips once again I think you can see quite visibly just which one of the two is the bigger golf ball and for something out there you might just think you've got a better chance of getting it out now put us not on song today but what are my overall thoughts well quite simply I have seen nothing to suggest this ball is any better for my golf game I've also seen nothing to suggest it's any worse for my golf game to be quite honest I'm a strong believer that you've seen videos before that golf ball certainly does make a difference but I think you've got to understand where you're at with your swing and what you're looking for from that golf ball and unless you are I think in the sort of top-end single-figure golfer then you're not but really going to get the performance benefits that you can do from most premium golf balls or something like the super soft like I said are relevant to whether that be the standard size or the max is a real good decent performing ball and as you can see from the wind out here today in the way that cameras wobbling is it's put through its paces it's performed incredibly well and probably a lot better than I expected it to but in terms of the size of the golf ball I'm not buying into that one I'm afraid