I do not know if my last post was sent. If it was please disregard

I am a brand new golfer. My daughter and I just started taking golf lessons through the GIVE Foundation. Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere.

I am so confused when it comes to golf balls. For example there are soft golf balls. I was told that they are to land softer. How can this be? The golf ball travels at a certain velocity and as it descends it should increase its velocity a little bit. Its not like golf balls have reverse thrusters.

Then there are golf balls that claim to increase distance. How can this be when a club is designed to hit a golf ball a maximum distance? Its not like golf balls have thrusters to make them go further. So, I am really confused.

What is the life cycle of a golf ball? Or how many hits can a golf ball take? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when a golf balls gets hit, the core compresses. It would seem that with each compression, the core would breakdown a little bit. Or am I just overthinking this golf ball thing? And that a golf ball is just a golf ball and that a $25 box is the same as a $50 box.