Suffering short drives due to your slow swing speed? Discover how switching to the right golf ball could add up to eight yards to your tee shots – and improve your approach shots too.
Golf can feel a lot tougher when your swing speed is on the slow side. You might struggle to reach greens in regulation, forced carries over water can wreck your card, and on long par 3s you could be pulling driver while your mates are hitting irons.
But here’s the good news: our latest golf ball test shows you could gain as much as eight yards of carry distance with your driver – without swinging any faster or spending a fortune on a new driver – just by switching balls.
Does the golf ball make that much difference?
Eight yards might not sound huge, but at slower swing speeds it’s often the difference between clubs. That could mean hitting a 7-iron instead of a 6-iron into a green, or an 8-iron instead of a 7-iron. Over 18 holes, those shorter approaches add up to shots saved.
There’s also the fact that a better-performing ball will carry further on your approach shots as well as your drives. If you gain eight yards on your drives and five yards on your iron shots, you’ve effectively just made every hole 13 yards shorter.
How we tested the golf balls
The 2025 Today’s Golfer Robot Golf Ball Test measured 62 leading golf balls across every conceivable performance metric – distance, spin, launch, and more.
To see how balls perform at different swing speeds, we tested them with driver at 78mph, 93mph, and 114mph. Here, we’re focusing on the 78mph speed – to see which ball slower swingers should be looking at.
Maximum distance for golfers with slow swing speeds.
Longest golf ball for slow swing speeds
Pros & Cons Specs Features
Pros High feedback and responseQuality performance from tee to greenWidely played on Tour Cons Not as much short-game spin as the TP5 Carry distance (yds) Driver 114mph – 272.5 | Driver 93mph – 210.3 | Driver 78mph – 163.6 | 7-iron – 157.2 Ball speed (mph) Driver 114mph – 163.7 | Driver 93mph – 134.9 | Driver 78mph – 114.3 | 7-iron – 109.4 Backspin (rpm) Driver 114mph – 2,700 | Driver 93mph – 2,777 | Driver 78mph – 2,548 | 7-iron – 4,609 | Pitch – 6,042 Launch angle (°) Driver 114mph – 11 | Driver 93mph – 12.5 | Driver 78mph – 13.7 | 7-iron – 21.1 | Pitch – 29.9 Descent angle (°) Driver 114mph – 37.1 | Driver 93mph – 32.5 | Driver 78mph – 27.7 | 7-iron – 45.2 | Pitch – 35.1 Peak height (yds) Driver 114mph – 32.1 | Driver 93mph – 22.6 | Driver 78mph – 15.8 | 7-iron – 29.9 | Pitch – 6.6 Compression (psi) 117 Speed-wrapped coreProgressive 5-layer constructionSeamless Tour flight dimple pattern322 dimples5-Piece constructionAvailable in white onlyAlternative models include Pix, Stripe, and Limited Edition patterns Gain driver distance by switching golf ball
At an 78mph clubhead speed, the TaylorMade TP5x generated the longest carry distance of all the balls in the test, averaging 163.6 yards. That’s 7.9 yards (5%) longer than the Pinnacle Soft, which was the shortest ball at this swing speed, averaging 155.7 yards.
Close behind the TP5x were the TaylorMade TP5 (162.6 yards) and Seed SD-02 (162.4 yards).
BallCategoryCompressionBall Speed (mph)Launch Angle (°)Backspin (rpm)Carry Distance (yds)Height (yds)Descent Angle (°)TaylorMade TP5x5-piece Tour117114.313.72548163.615.827.7TaylorMade TP55-piece Tour104113.913.62676162.615.828.1Seed SD-024-piece Tour104113.414.02484162.415.927.8Wilson Staff Model X4-piece Tour114113.413.82623162.215.928.1Callaway Chrome Tour4-piece Tour113113.413.92508161.815.727.6Wilson Staff Model4-piece Tour112113.313.92595161.715.828.0Callaway ERC Soft3-piece Club87113.214.02388161.415.527.3Maxfli StraightFli2-piece102113.114.32254161.315.527.0Mizuno Pro X3-piece Tour116113.114.02426161.315.627.4Bridgestone e12 Speed2-piece103113.214.12317161.315.527.0Callaway Warbird+2-piece92113.014.22346161.315.627.3Maxfli Tour X4-piece Tour117113.213.72701161.215.728.1Seed SD-X13-piece Tour101113.113.92523161.115.627.6Callaway Chrome Tour Triple Diamond4-piece Tour112113.113.92539161.115.627.7Srixon Z-Star3-piece Tour92113.113.72693161.115.828.1Titleist Pro V13-piece Tour98113.113.82525161.015.527.5TaylorMade Distance2-piece95113.014.12314161.015.427.0Srixon Z-Star Diamond3-piece Tour106113.113.62719161.015.728.1Callaway Supersoft2-piece41112.514.82060160.815.626.9Vice Tour3-piece Club112113.014.02381160.815.427.1PXG Tour X3-piece Tour112113.014.02458160.815.527.4Callaway Chrome Tour X4-piece Tour111113.013.52921160.816.028.8PXG Tour3-piece Tour99113.014.02430160.815.527.3Srixon Z-Star XV3-piece Tour112113.213.62654160.815.527.7Maxfli Tour3-piece Tour100113.013.82554160.815.527.6Vice Pro3-piece Tour106113.113.82499160.715.427.3Seed SD-013-piece Tour90112.914.02466160.715.527.5Titleist Velocity2-piece101112.914.22261160.615.326.8Kirkland Signature V3.03-piece Club107112.813.92572160.515.627.7Bridgestone Tour B X3-piece Tour112112.813.92512160.515.527.5Vice Pro Plus4-piece Tour116112.913.72643160.515.627.8Callaway Chrome Soft3-piece Club81112.814.02474160.515.527.5Srixon Q-Star Tour3-piece Club76112.814.02428160.515.527.4TaylorMade Tour Response3-piece Club82113.013.92423160.515.327.1Bridgestone Tour B XS3-piece Tour99112.813.72795160.515.828.4Vice Drive2-piece93113.014.22231160.415.226.7Titleist AVX3-piece Club84112.914.02408160.415.327.1Titleist Tour Soft2-piece95112.814.02438160.415.427.3Bridgestone Tour B RX3-piece Club99112.913.82532160.415.427.5Vice Pro Air3-piece Club87112.813.92456160.315.427.3Maxfli Tour S3-piece Tour94112.813.92481160.315.427.4Mizuno Pro S3-piece Tour106112.913.92447160.215.327.1Mizuno RB 5662-piece92112.614.12381160.215.427.2Titleist TruFeel2-piece68112.614.42218160.115.326.8Titleist Pro V1x Left Dash4-piece Tour114112.614.02446160.015.427.3TaylorMade SpeedSoft2-piece50112.414.52217160.015.427.0Srixon Q-Star (AD333)2-piece68112.414.22371159.915.527.3Wilson Triad3-piece Club89112.513.92546159.715.527.6Maxfli TriFli3-piece Club92112.614.22263159.615.226.7Titleist Pro V1x4-piece Tour108112.613.72619159.615.427.6Maxfli SoftFli2-piece48112.214.32231159.215.226.8Bridgestone e12 Straight3-piece Club75112.314.12352159.215.227.0Bridgestone Tour B RXS3-piece Club81112.313.92483159.215.327.3Seed SD-152-piece64112.014.42233158.915.226.8Srixon Soft Feel2-piece63112.314.02338158.815.026.7Bridgestone e12 HiLaunch2-piece43111.914.52200158.715.226.8Pinnacle Rush2-piece89112.014.22227158.415.026.5Wilson Duo Soft2-piece55112.014.32220158.415.026.5Bridgestone e6 Soft Feel2-piece45111.714.42190158.115.126.6Seed SD-053-piece Club83111.713.92587157.915.227.5Srixon UltiSoft2-piece36111.514.42248157.815.226.8Pinnacle Soft2-piece35110.714.42210155.714.826.5
Why this is such a surprise
It’s interesting that none of the balls delivering the most distance at 78mph are those typically aimed at golfers with this type of swing speed. The TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x are five-piece, premium balls, used by many of the best players in the world, and typically seen as made for good golfers with fast swing speeds
Seed’s own website, meanwhile, says the SD-02 is “geared for higher swing speeds”.
On the other hand, the Pinnacle Soft’s compression of 35 makes it the softest ball of the 62 models we tested. Old thinking said that slower swings need softer balls because they can’t compress firmer ones. But the results are clear: that just doesn’t stack up in performance.
It just goes to show: if you want to find the best golf ball for your game, rely on data-led testing, not marketing.
But… I’m not a robot
We hear it all the time: “Use real golfers, not robots!” We do on-course testing too, but here’s why robots matter. A robot can strike every ball in exactly the same way, controlling lie, swing path, face angle, attack angle, impact location, hip rotation, wrist action – everything – at speeds from 5-130mph. Even the world’s best golfers can’t repeat swings with that level of consistency.
That’s why manufacturers use robots for development, and why we rely on them for pure data. Human testing still plays a role – for feel, sound, and on-course impressions – but if you want comparable data you can rely on, the robot is king.
Not all golfers are created equal
Two golfers swinging at 78mph can still produce different launch conditions. Spin, launch angle, and impact location all affect carry distance, so the “best” ball might differ slightly from player to player. That said, a ball that ranks near the bottom in our test is very unlikely to suddenly deliver the most distance for you.
The bottom line
Don’t automatically reach for the softest ball thinking it’s right for slower swings. Pick a ball backed by data, and you could see extra yards on every shot, turning once-daunting carries and approaches into manageable scoring opportunities.
Eight yards here, five yards there, and suddenly the course feels a lot shorter and more gettable. In golf, small gains really add up.
About the author
Contributing Editor (mainly contributing unwanted sarcasm and iffy golf takes, to be honest)
He’s played golf with tour pros and celebrities including Greg Norman, Charley Hull, Matt Wallace, Long Driver World Champion Joe Miller, and Rob Brydon, watched The Open with Gary Player, and had a pull-up contest with Rory McIlroy. He’s interviewed countless tour pros and will always have a soft spot for Tommy Fleetwood.
