Bridgestone Tourstage has long been a dominant force on the Japanese tour when it comes to golf balls. They rank right up there with Titleist and Srixon in the battle for tour supremacy.   Tourstage’s X Series of balls have always been very popular with not only tour players but better athlete golfers and improving players as well. Their X01 Solid and Mild are among the most popular balls in Japan. Tourstage however wanted to take the performance of the Solid and Mild a step further by altering the ball designs to create a tour level distance ball without sacrificing control and spin.

Three Basics of Distance…

Tourstage decided that average golfers are not the only players trying to gain distance. Tour pros also want as much distance as possible of the tee while still having great feel and spin and feel with shorter clubs. They went back to the drawing board and decided to start with the basics… the 3 main factors that create distance in a ball.

Ball Speed

Launch Angle

Back Spin

By changing the aerodynamics and designs of the dimples and swapping out the inner cover for a higher resistance inner cover, Tourstage created the new X-jD distance ball for Pros and higher swing speeds. The X-jD’s design and 326 SHALLOW dimples create more lift but less spin off the tee for a higher launch and much more carry. The new high resistance Ionomer inner cover as well as a firmer more durable high rebound urethane outer cover create more energy transfer and increase initial ball speeds and help reduce back spin as well.

Very manageable 86 Compression…

Even though the X-jD has a firmer outer cover and inner cover for a more crisp feel, the compression of the X-jD is still rated as 86 which is very playable by a wide variety of golfers. Tourstage recommends that the X-jD be used by players with swing speeds between 90 and 110mph.  It is these firmer and high resistance inner and high rebound outer covers that creates a reverse action at impact when using the driver. This reverse action drastically reduces back spin and allows the X-jD which launches higher and carries further than its tour counterparts the X01 Solid and Mild, to even out run them as well when it hits the ground.

Soft But Crisp Feel = Impact Feedback

As swing speed decreases with irons and wedges, the resistance decreases as well allowing the ball to spin higher and land softer around the greens. The X-jD uses a very large NeoG Core which acts almost like a superball at impact. In the past I was a very big fan of soft balls, and I’m probably not alone. Everyone wants soft feeling drivers, soft feeling irons, wedges and putters and ultimately soft feeling balls that come of the face of these clubs. Recently though, I personally find some balls too soft to the point they lack impact feedback. The X-jD is NOT one of these balls. Off the woods and irons and even putter, the X-jD is soft enough to feel the ball compress but firm enough to get some nice crisp feedback which I really do like. I feel this way even though Tourstage ranks the X-jD as firmer on their firmness scale (the lower compression certainly helps).  I find the X-jD to be as long as the average golfer champion ball the Newing Brill and as good feeling if not better.  It has similar launch characteristics and looks to spin even lower.

Previously on the Japanese tour, the X01 Mild was probably the most popular ball with a very good balance of distance and spin and feel, the X-jD looks to have overtaken its place in the bags of many top Tourstage pros giving them more distance plus the same spin control the X01 series balls do.  I’d recommend these balls for players who swing 95mph or more and who need more launch and lower spin off the tee but don’t want to give up feel and spin control. I’ll be adding the X-jD to the pro shop later this afternoon.