Golf ball compression chart

A compression number is a firmness rating. Lower is softer, and the makers pair softer balls with slower swings: Bridgestone calls its under-105 mph models “low compression” and its faster-swing models “higher compression.”

So find your speed band first. The average 14-handicap man swings his driver about 94 mph, and a scratch player about 110. Men over 70 average 79 mph and women over 70 average 57. Our golf swing speed chart has the full tables by handicap and age, so you can place yourself before you pick a ball.

Srixon’s ball selector asks the same question with three bands: 100+ mph, 85 to 100 mph, Under 85 mph. If you don’t know yours, our guide to measuring your golf numbers at home covers swing speed.

Bridgestone is the only maker here that names a speed. Its Tour B X and Tour B XS are the higher-compression pair for drivers over 105 mph. The X is pitched at distance and the XS at spin.

Srixon’s firmest balls are the Z-Star XV at 102 and the Z-Star Diamond at 100. Its spec table does not tie each ball to a speed band, so read those as the firmest options in the range rather than a fitting. Both are three-piece balls with urethane covers.

Titleist’s Pro V1x is the one Titleist describes with “firmer feel” next to the Pro V1’s “softer feel.” It publishes no compression number for either.

The lowest published number we found is Wilson’s Duo Soft (2025) at 37, a two-layer ball with a Surlyn cover. Srixon’s Soft Feel (58) and Soft Feel Lady (56) are the next softest, both two-piece with ionomer covers.

Under 105 mph, Bridgestone points you to the Tour B RX for distance or the Tour B RXS for spin. That band includes the average 94 mph amateur.

If you want a urethane cover at a lower number, Srixon’s Q-Star Tour sits at 74 and is the ball Srixon labels “Tour Performance for Moderate Swing Speeds.”

Srixon prints a feel rating beside each compression number, and the two don’t track perfectly. The Z-Star at 88 compression gets the same “Softer” rating as the Soft Feel at 58. The Z-Star Diamond at 100 is rated “Soft.”

Use compression to narrow the field to your speed band. Then let the maker’s own description decide whether you lean toward distance or toward spin.

The product pages we checked for Titleist Pro V1, Titleist Pro V1x, Titleist AVX, Callaway Supersoft (2025) describe construction and flight, but give no compression figure. Titleist describes feel in words and runs a ball fitting tool instead. TaylorMade’s product pages blocked our automated check, so its balls are left out of the table until we can read the specs.

Other sites publish compression figures for these balls from their own gauge tests. Those are measurements by a third party, not the maker’s rating, so they are not on this chart.