Brian Knudson discussed the new tech and features in Bridgestone Golf’s new Tour B Series golf balls at the 2024 PGA Show.
All right we’re here at the 2024 PGA show Adam rver from Bridgestone Golf we’ve got a lot of exciting stuff going on with Bridgestone this year and golf balls are hopping man we’ve got some new technology really exciting stuff from you guys coming in some brand new tech
In the TB Series golf balls uh not only in the actual ball itself but we got some stuff on the outside of the ball to talk about so uh a little everything but let’s start with brand new tour B series balls and let’s start with new tech
There’s new new mantle layer we got some new stuff going on performance wise it’s really going to help improve the golf ball what have we got going on with these new covers and these new parts of the golf ball so we’re excited to launch the new tour B series which features the
X and Xs for swing speeds that are over 105 and then the RX and rxs for the swing speeds under 105 a little softer core design with those golf balls still that ball fitting story but we’re super excited to launch the inside the golf ball technology as you mentioned the
Reactive X system so the reactive X system is is kind of like an equation of the cover and the mid layer working in tandem so what’s new this year is that mid layer that accelerate mid layer and it’s a new mantle design that is more dense so it adds a little bit more
Recoil off the te for more distance off the te and then it acts as a better backboard or a firmer denser mantle layer around the green but we don’t want to make it clicky right we don’t like that clicky chippy sound so we worked with the density and the way the
Material was made from a denseness to give it audable feedback that isn’t as clicky so you get a little bit more spin around the greens with it and then a little bit more recoil off the T for a little bit more distance so the reactive
IQ cover is still there and it works in tandem with the accelerate mid layer for the reactive X system y it’s still urethane we’re not moving anything else still highend premium urethane you just kind of add some Secret Sauce it to get it to perform the way you’re looking for
It yeah we’re still a rubber and polymer company we still think that there is in inovation in the golf ball a lot of companies may think we’ve reached that limit of oh we need to Market better and do some gimmicky things but we still work with materials we’re a polymer
Company obviously bridgstone golf we get materials from Firestone that we put inside this golf ball so we’re excited to continue to innovate with our engineers and our R&D team yep and then also too with these kind of like like you said kind of this new mantle working
With this new cover you’re able to kind of isolate spin between short game shots long game spins so what are you kind of seeing you’re getting more spin on the on the wedges and the short irons less spin on the driver and you know top end
Of the B yeah that slope you want to continue to stretch that slope used to back in the early 2000s and late 90s if you wanted more spin you’d get more greenside spin but then you would also get more driver spin yeah so what you’re trying to do now is stretch that slope
To where you have that lot of spin around the green but then driver Spin Real low and we know to drivers have gotten really well and moving Moi and all that good stuff to make this spin go down so we have to adjust the golf ball too to all those Trends and differences
That goes on with the rest of the clubs so stretching that limit is what we’re trying to do to where we get like the Holy Grail of lots of ball speed and low spin off the te and then a lot of spin around the greens and control yep and
Then also like you guys have always you know really stressed is ball fitting yes uh kind of talk about the difference differences between uh X and Xs oh yeah so these two golf balls are designed for two different demographics that of that faster swing speed so the x is has good
Spin around the greens but it has a little bit more ball speed and a little bit more distance off the T it’s a little bit more pop oriented as tiger says he likes the pop now with the X he always used to be a spin guy I’m about
To say he was always an excess player exactly so now if you play the XS it does have a lot of greens side spin a lot of chew on those wedge shots and a lot of people need more spin but then they also need um more spin off the
Driver it has a little bit more spin off the driver so it’s that difference of hey do I want to stop it around the grain or do I maybe want to yoke one back and have that little sexy spin where it comes back to the hole so the
XS delivers a more Spin and then the x is a little less spin for a little bit more flighty control yep and then you know feel wise are they pretty similar I know there’s some other brands out there they have a similar setup in terms of a
Higher spin lower spin ball and usually one maybe’s a little firmer ably different are they pretty close or yeah in in feel wise as far as the compression they’re not that far apart I say our X in the in the grand scheme of the the environment of balls is not a
Firm feeling golf ball you know I said mentioned tiger moved to the X and he hates a clicky sounding ball and he does not like an audible clicky or a firmer feeling golf ball so he felt that X was in in the landscape like I said is not a
Firm feeling golf ball so the X though it is a little bit firmer than XS as far as compression in in relevance to everyone else like a prov1x X or a left Dash or or a chrome soft X it’s a lower compression golf ball that feels a little bit different and doesn’t give
That harsh feedback yeah um and then we talk about I mean we talk about tiger just moved into the X but another huge name in PGA Tour is Jason day and Jason day had a huge influence on the outside of the golf ball so there’s an option if
You uh you know want to try it which is pretty got a really interesting story absolutely we’re calling it mindset and it’s probably one of the most different things you ever seen on a golf ball but it’s got a great story yeah so we’ve been working on this actually for about
Four or five years internally you know quiet eye uh focus zone there was all these different code words we were using and we were trying to you know obviously printed walls are very popular and but we wanted to enter into the printing space with an actual story not just you
Know lines on the ball or or a clear spot on the ball where you aim it we wanted to kind of build something that had some visual technology and so inside of this for those four or six year four to 5 years we’ve been working on it but
Over the last 18 to 24 months bringing in Jason day helped us kind of get it to the Finish Line put it into the end zone as as the cliche says but um what it’s designed to do is give you three steps and number one is this red circle here
And is identify the Target and that’s the things a lot of golfers maybe do already you know they get the distance they’re getting wind slope all those things but then you move to the yellow which is visualize your shot and that’s where a lot of times we may miss the
Boat a little bit we may get the information but visualizing your shot is saying Hey I want to hit the little high cut to this back right pin or I’m going to tr to a soft draw or I’m going to flight it down and what Jason does he
Actually closes his eyes and he’s visualizing the shot in his mind he’s seeing himself like a movie hitting this shot and some people may do that some people may do it as far as a feel mechanism of what they’re going going to do with the shot some see like a shot
Tracer of what it’s going to do so once you do that one you’ve gathered the data you visualize the shot and then you move to that last one which is focus on the Green Dot to execute you’ve set yourself up to hit the shot you visualize it
Maybe put out all the bad thoughts and visualize a good shot and then so then you you know some people put that green dot on top some of them move it to the back you know on driver and then you execute the shot and you put yourself in
The right mindset to hit a good shot yeah so it’s kind of like you know like you said with printed balls we see a lot of alignment stories and you know we have multiple lines or whatever this is not necessarily made to just line it up
At the hole on putts but to be used basically from Tea Green you no matter what yeah it’s a it’s a mental cue for you to separate analytical thoughts from athletic performance cuz the last thing you want to do is be standing over that
Ball oh I got to take it out my wrist and you know by the time you get over the ball those things should kind of leave you kind of like a Kevin CER remember the movie where he cleared the mechanism it’s kind of that like once
You get over the ball you kind of want to you want to get away from all those things and if you did these first two steps then you’re able to get into it and free yourself up uh Jason Goldsmith which is Jason day’s uh performance
Coach has helped us a lot with this too and he uses that a lot freedom to perform you want to free yourself up to hit the shot you don’t want to be um caged up with all those swing thoughts and the wind you want to take care of
That and then when you get the ball is execution time and fre freedom to perform over that shot Y and there also is that kind of like a little red arrow system so if you wanted to utilize that as something to line up on the green you
Still could but yeah the big focus is almost uh you know creating a pre-shot routine for a lot of cuz we don’t I mean I can admit I don’t have a pre-shot routine or very minimal at best so having that reminder is is a big thing you you certainly lose I use this
Example cuz it happens to me a lot we get the whole 11 or 12 maybe you’re playing well you get a little com you start talking to your buddy about fantasy football or baseball and then you just step into a drive and you you wipe it OB and you’re like man here I
Was playing a good round and I kind of lost it for that little bit of moment I got too comfy or you get too aggravated or you get a phone call so this is that reminder that cue to kind of stay in that over your shot take that 15 seconds
Yep and do the things you need to do and hit it then you talk about fantasy football once You’ striped it down the midd back in the cart you’re good to go so no it’s pretty cool you have the op you can have it or not mindset is
Available on it’s available on all four of the options right but you can get it without it normal blank ball or you can get the mindset version awesome so really kind of exciting stuff from Bridgestone Golf golf balls are such big pieces of tech now it’s really cool to
See but uh thank you for showing us all the brand new tech excited to hopefully get them on the course soon yeah
