Foam and limited-flight balls: what they are

Limited-flight balls are made to go a short way, according to their maker. Whether foam or limited-flight balls are right for your screen is a question the sources here mostly leave open.

Two terms the sources use differently

"Foam ball" and "limited flight" are not treated as the same thing in the sources, and this page doesn't treat them as interchangeable.

almostGOLF's site states a distance of approximately one-third of what a regulation golf ball covers.¹ It also contrasts its ball with foam balls or wiffle balls that fly unpredictably.¹ GOLF.com, on the other hand, calls the almostGOLF ball a hard foam ball (see below). The two sources describe the same ball in different terms, and the saved pages don't settle which is right.

What a magazine says

A GOLF.com roundup describes one ball as a hard foam ball that flies just like a real golf ball, except at one-third distance.² The article adds that if you have a backyard where you can make some swings, it's a great option.²

Separately, it describes one product as "marshmallow-esque training aids" limited to a 40-yard flight distance, and says "These aren’t actually balls".² That product isn't a ball in the same group, and the article points to backyard use for it too.

That's one article written for a home-practice audience, not a test of how these balls behave on a simulator screen. Treat the numbers as rough.

What a maker says about where to use them

almostGOLF describes its CO2 Pressure Tech as enabling limited distance performance while remaining soft enough for backyard practice.¹ The wording points to yards and gardens, not to impact screens.

What the sources don't tell you

None of the pages saved for this site says how a foam or limited-flight ball reads on a launch monitor. None says how it treats an impact screen. Nor do they say whether it bounces back less than a regular ball.

That's a real gap. Here's what you can do about it.

• Ask the monitor maker whether it reads this type of ball.
• Ask the screen maker whether it has a view on foam balls.
• Remember that a monitor built around real-ball flight may report short or odd numbers for a ball that isn't a real ball.

That last point is reasoning, not something a source states. Check it with a few swings.

Compared with a regular ball

A regular practice ball is built to be inexpensive and durable while keeping the main behaviours of a tournament ball.³ No saved source says what foam balls in general are designed for. The limited-flight balls described above are made to fly a short way, so a swing with one isn't a like-for-like test of a swing with a regular ball.

Whichever ball you use, nobody should stand in the hitting area. Swing a real club in the room before you build anything.

Where to go next

For the ball types that most monitors expect, read golf ball types used with simulators. For what screen makers say about wear, read how balls wear impact screens and nets.