Lethal is TaylorMade’s newest premium ball, and like its Penta predecessor, it features five-piece construction. But according to Dean Snell, vice president of golf ball research and development for the equipment maker, Lethal is a better performing product, especially when it comes to promoting longer and straighter shots with improved control.
“Our engineers set out to create a golf ball with all-around performance for all conditions,” he said. “Today’s clubs are designed to launch the ball higher, so our team worked to ensure that these higher launch conditions do not cause the shot to balloon or become more affected by the wind.
“We designed Lethal to further maximize distance, extend the second stage of flight and control spin and aerodynamics when playing into the wind.”
The five layers of the Lethal ball are designed to provide, in Snell’s words, a layer for every shot. The soft core is made to produce low driver spin for increased distance, while the inner mantle reduces long-iron spin for a more penetrating low trajectory.
The middle mantle is intended to work with the outer layers to combine controllable spin with softer feel off the mid-irons, and the outer mantle acts with a thin, yet durable urethane cover, to generate low-launch, high-spin conditions off the short irons and wedges.
Lethal also employs “Progressive Velocity,” a technology in which the fastest layers are on the outside of the ball. According to Snell, that design provides outstanding velocity regardless of swing speed, meaning that Lethal is as appropriate a ball choice for tour professionals as it is for recreational amateurs.
In addition, he said, it possesses the most penetrating flight of any TaylorMade ball, thanks to a seamless LDP (Low Drag Performance) dimple pattern.
-golfchannel