Why golf ball rollback could actually help amateur golfers

Some amateur golfers thought the sport was already hard enough.

The R&A and US Golf Association’s decision to roll back the golf ball not just for the pros, but for absolutely everyone, has split opinion across the game.

It is estimated that the average recreational player will lose five yards off the tee when the big rule change takes effect in 2030.

And for many regular players who aren’t threatening to overpower courses ‘bomb and gauge’ style like Bryson DeChambeau, that’s been a cause of frustration.

• Tour pros respond to rollback plans

• Opinion: Rollback isn’t popular, but it’s for the best

Obsessive amateurs have always tried to find ways to maximise their game and some feel unnecessarily inhibited. However, leading golf coach Oliver Morton has explained why the rollback should actually be viewed as an opportunity.

Morton’s advice to amateurs? Move on. He believes the decision has given players the chance to look within for that crucial edge on the course.

“With manufacturers, people have been able to buy distance,” he says. “Now you’ve got to work more at it. It’s a major opportunity. If you can’t get some of the same benefit from equipment now, over to you.

Thoughts on Rollback:

• Decisions made, move on
• Learn to swing faster
• Get in the gym

What a great time to be alive as a Golf Coach/Fitness Trainer… 😉⛳️#LetsGo pic.twitter.com/GwUfbKHvII

— Oliver C. Morton (@ChangeTheGame54) December 7, 2023

“Get in the gym, work out, develop your body, get faster, improve your technique. The onus now is on shifting the club head faster and clubhead speed when you don’t have ball speed.”

Morton, who has worked with former Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher, feels plenty of amateur golfers are already performing their own act of self-sabotage, and this news could force them to act.

• Golf ball rollback: Governing bodies announce major rule change

• Golf ball rollback debate: Will the new rules be good for the game?

“Most amateurs are playing the wrong tees,” he stresses. “In the States there’s a culture of earning the right to tee it back. If you’re playing the appropriate sets of tees in a group, you all end up in the same place in the fairway anyway.

“If you’ve lost one option it creates an opportunity in another area. It starts to get you thinking broader about your game. There’s other avenues to look at now.”

On the importance of clubhead speed to counteract loss of distance, Morton explains: “The general rule of thumb is that it’s about 2 or 2 ½ yards per mile an hour. If you can increase your clubhead speed by 5mph you are back where you were. Through doing some work in the gym, that 5mph is pretty easily attainable.

“The amount of effort it takes to combine improving your technique and getting in the gym with some good advice, you’ll be there in a few weeks. It’s not a huge amount at all.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.