I understand that this is your view. But, you seem to have no actual data to support it.
Paul is the one trying to compare tour averages to the controlled conditions of a lab test.
If using tour averages is bad, then using one player, Bubba, is worse.
It is not just Bubba. Check the stats of others and you'll see that the ball speed stats don't seem to fit for the measured distance stats.
Or look at the "average ball speed" Padraig posted above. Trackman has the ball speed rising about 2 mph from 2011-2013, yet Paul has the average distance decreasing by around 5 yards during the time period. Since when do higher ball speeds produce significantly shorter drives? According to Trackman, since 2009 average ball speed has increased 4.5 mph, but Paul says there has been no net gain in distance during this time period. The tour averages aren't reliably reflecting what is going on with the driver.
It is possible that there is potential for tour players to gain more distance than their tour averages suggest. But, you discount the same potential in "average" players. For tour players it might be course management related. For average players it might be a lack of skill to achieve optimal conditions on a consistent basis.
It is not "potential" for the tour players. The are choosing to lay-back. You aren't seriously equating the lack of skill and ability of an average player with Bubba's choice to hit a 300 yard 3 Wood rather than 340 yard driver, are you? If you are, give me a break.
As for the average player, I "discount" potential for average players because it is a fiction. You can't treat an 85 mph swinger like a 95 mph swinger because theoretically maybe some day he'll improve. He won't. And if he did, he would no longer be an average player!
Like I said to Jim, if it makes you feel better, focus only on well struck shots for each group. My ideas remain the same.
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On the ball "behaviour" front, I'm still trying to understand how you think different balls behave differently. Suppose we create a hypothetical scenario where a robot is set up in a controlled environment to have a repeatable swing speed, angle of attack, dynamic loft and spin loft and hits two balls - the ProV1 and the TopFlite. And, we compare the results of multiple repetitions of the test for each ball. What aspects of the ball launch and trajectory do you think would be different? What forces would be at work to produce the different behaviours? What parts of the composition of the ball would affect the behaviour and why?
They are different balls, Bryan. With different covers, layers, materials, dimple patterns, compression characteristics, etc. They will behave differently in a controlled test. Different spin rates, different launch angles, different trajectory, different apex point, different initial velocity, different carry, different distance, different roll. You really don't get why I think they would perform differently in some respects on a launch monitor?