Jim,
My friend is real. I also know who David's test case is. I'd agree that neither test passes muster to prove anything. They are interesting uncontrolled anecdotal pieces of information. Mine is better because I have two points - mine and my friend's.
At my swing speed, the Balata was a couple of MPH slower than the ProV1. My "real" friend might have had the same or marginally higher ball speed with the Balata at 115 MPH. I don't think the difference is statistically significant given the number of variables that were uncontrolled.
BTW, don't hold your breath too long on Patrick. You know we'll never hear about that again until the next time he misremembers a fact.
David,
When you measured Latex Lynn did you optimize his launch conditions for the Balata as well as the Pro V1x? You mentioned he had optimized his equipment, but that was presumably for the modern ball. He may have gotten even better results with the Balata and his current equipment. And, no I didn't optimize my or my friend's launch conditions. I'm still trying to figure out how to get to a positive angle of attack. The distance gains are so appealing.
Vis-a-vis your theory about different slopes on the distance/swing speed chart, it seems very likely that the slopes of the lines for different balls, past or present are all different. In fact, it's almost impossible that they'd all be exactly the same. The reason I asked if you had any stidies supporting it was simply that it would be fascinating to know, even if it is only for different kinds of modern balls. I like the Wilson Staff Duo for it's soft feel, but wonder if I gaining or losing distance compared to other ball.
Given that different balls would produce different distances for my swing, or your swing, or Jim's makes me wonder if it's worth trying to optimize the ball I use. I used a lot in play, but really can't note any consistent difference in distance. It occurs to me that, although the slopes may differ and the starting points may differ, the differences might be quite small. For instance the results I posted above, I think show a 3.2 yard increase in distance per MPH (a bit higher than I've seen in other controlled studies). If it were 3.0 or 3.4 yards per MPH in optimal conditions, would we notice the difference given all the other variables - launch angle, spin rate, efficiency factor that are inherent in each individual shot we take.
Vis-a-vis the Balata vs Pro V1 slope difference creating an extra advantage for high speed drivers, I am of the opinion that my one anecdotal uncontrolled test doesn't support the concept of a significantly higher slope for the Pro V1. If you can find a 115 mph driver in your cadre, why don't you do the Latex Lynn test on them and let us know what the results are.
BTW, a slight nit to pick, you refer to the swing speed/distance relationship as a curve. It is linear with a slight tail off at the top end, as you know. Calling it a curve only leads to poor souls like Patrick thinking that it is an exponential curve.