One of the most impressive sounds in golf is that of an elite player absolutely smoking a drive. It’s like a cannon has been fired and it’s guaranteed to elicit whoops, oohs and aahs from the appreciative spectators, no matter where the ball ends up.
When the very best players strike a ball, the sound is just a little different, purer, cleaner and louder. It’s an authoritative crack. It’s a resonant thwack that basically says, “take that, ball.”
At an elite event, if you walk up and down the range and know what to listen for, you can identify the very best ball strikers in the field just by hearing them hit.
Sound is important to us mere mortal amateur golfers too. A good sound at the strike gives us positive feedback that we are doing something right. It builds confidence.
When choosing a golf club, from driver right down to putter, sound is a hugely important factor to consider.
The acoustics of a strike and the associated vibrations give you a feeling for a club. If they are positive, you are more likely to feel positive about playing shots with that club.
If the sound is clanky and the vibrations through your hands and arms are unpleasant, you’re going to feel that the club isn’t performing correctly.
The sound a club makes may have no direct effect on its performance, but it will influence your, the player’s, performance. If you like the way a club sounds, you will enjoy using it, you will commit to shots hoping to experience that satisfying percussion.
If you’re testing drivers or irons and two models perform relatively closely but one sounds great and the other sounds a little dead, there’s only going to be one winner. Sound is a crucial component of getting the right club to suit your game.
Can the sound be misleading? You bet. As mentioned above, the sound a club makes does not directly impact upon performance. A great sounding driver might produce more spin and less distance than one that sounds like you’re ringing a cowbell at the point of strike.
Irons that sound clicky and clumsy when struck correctly might deliver a perfect, consistent ball flight while the forged blades that sound so pure when you hit the middle might produce a decent result one in every 10 shots.
The sound a club makes will undoubtedly influence you but don’t let it hoodwink you. If the results aren’t good, it doesn’t matter how amazing it sounds.
When it comes to the sound a club makes, it’s really a matter of personal preference what is desirable. With a driver, for instance, some prefer a dulled impact, one that feels you’ve barely touched the ball as it sails away into the deep blue yonder.
This is common on the best golf drivers that use a lot of carbon fiber, like the TaylorMade Qi35 or Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max.
Others might prefer a far more kinetic noise at the strike, one that gives the feedback that, yes, you’ve really nutted that one. Drivers like the Ping G440 Max and the Mizuno ST-Max 230 give your ears a little more to go off.
We each know what sound we like to hear with each club in the bag. For me, I prefer a pistol-shot like crack with the driver and steadily duller sounds all the way down the bag, with wedges delivering a swoosh rather than a hit and the putter making pretty much no noise at all.
A shorter sound is generally considered preferable over one that reverberates for a long time, relatively speaking. When comparing clubs and assessing them for sound, be sure to do this outside as the acoustics can vastly differ when hitting indoors on an echoey, enclosed simulator, which is not where you will end up playing most of your golf!
What’s your preference? Let us know by leaving a comment in the box below.
I think sound will always play a part in club selection and a positive noise greatly helps you gain confidence and to play in a positive way. But I also think sound can be misleading. A tractor has an engine that’s as loud as a Ferrari, but it can’t get round the Nürburgring quite so quickly!
