20XI? - dumb, dumb, dumb, Mr Nike

[TheTrueReview]

Well, the new Nike 20XI balls are on their way. IMO they should've kept the One Tour brand going as the company's premium golf ball brand (like Titleist's Pro V1 brand). Fair enough, introduce new, improved balls but slot them into the premium brand. We've had the Black/Platinum range, One Tours & now its 20XI. Given the year specific moniker (2011), the company will be forced to change it's brand (again) next year. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

FWIW, here is a blurb from a Nike insider.

"The most unique aspect of the new 20XI is its core, which is made by injection-molding a new resin that Nike developed with DuPont. The material took four years to perfect, and Nike claims that the new core makes the 20XI 2-3 mph faster than the company's previous offerings with compression-molded rubber cores.

Because the core material is so light, Nike engineers were able to use heavier materials in the layers that surround the core, which should add durability and increase the ball's moment of inertia (MOI).

"You can think of it as a perimeter-weighted golf ball,"

""It resists spinning at impact with the driver," "But once you get the ball spinning, it stays." It also means the ball is less affected by cross winds."

The balls should leave the clubface with 100-200 rpm less spin than Nike's previous premium offerings (the ONE Tour), but will have 100-200 rpm more spin after the ball reaches the apex of its trajectory. That should mean more green-grabbing spin on approach shots."​

 

[xamilo]

Package looks just like something you would find at Dick's made from Maxfly or low level Topflites, not premium balls...

 

[Bignose]

Some of these claims are kind of weird.

1) The "perimeter weighting" is pretty much exactly what Callaway did with their i series balls, so that isn't really new

2) Not really sure how a ball can have less spin off the driver, but more spin at the apex. There are implying that the spin decay rate is lower for this ball, but that is almost completely a function of the medium through which it travels -- air. The dimple pattern can have an effect too, but spin decay is a function of drag just like loss of linear velocity. So...

3) If there is less drag, and they claim 2 to 3 mph more initial speed -- in the end these must be pretty meaningless since the ball has to pass the overall distance standard in order to be conforming for play. The ball cannot go farther than the maximum, else it is deemed non-conforming. So, are they claiming that they weren't pushing right up to the limit before? Because I think every manufacturer have been pushing up to the limit since the limit was established.

 

[slickpitt]

Package looks just like something you would find at Dick's made from Maxfly or low level Topflites, not premium balls...

That's exactly what I was thinking.

 

[floggerrushmd]

Some of these claims are kind of weird.

1) The "perimeter weighting" is pretty much exactly what Callaway did with their i series balls, so that isn't really new

2) Not really sure how a ball can have less spin off the driver, but more spin at the apex. There are implying that the spin decay rate is lower for this ball, but that is almost completely a function of the medium through which it travels -- air. The dimple pattern can have an effect too, but spin decay is a function of drag just like loss of linear velocity. So...

3) If there is less drag, and they claim 2 to 3 mph more initial speed -- in the end these must be pretty meaningless since the ball has to pass the overall distance standard in order to be conforming for play. The ball cannot go farther than the maximum, else it is deemed non-conforming. So, are they claiming that they weren't pushing right up to the limit before? Because I think every manufacturer have been pushing up to the limit since the limit was established.

Spin rate decay is determined by both friction ie the medium it passes through AND moment of inertia which is essentially how much the object resists change in its current state. So perimeter weighting a golf ball would theoretically do what they are claiming. And Nike Balls have been for the last few years higher spinning balls than other major brands which means that they were in fact not pushing the limit. Most premium balls don't actually push the limit in distance due to the fact that their covers were designed to increase spin for control around the green. So all of their claims a possibly true it is just a matter of whether you believe it is true in reality.