I know sound and feel is intensely personal so maybe it's me...

chisag · December 27, 2023

21 minutes ago, Fred Mitchell said:

I agree there are limits but my exaggerated example of Biff isnt that far of an exaggeration to some I have seen. My biggest peeve is sound. A better player feel has validity and looks can have some play into mental side. But sound the freaking ball is gone, if you are really really good MAYBE but if you are NOT good and trying to get better watch where the ball goes and quit listening to the club. No disrespect to you or anyone elses opinion just expressing mine, if 99 people think I am a peckerhead for saying it and 1 person who really really needs help with his game needs to quit listening to very good players talk about looks/feel/sound/etc and concentrate on results sees this and doubles down on results then call me MR PECKERHEAD.

... We are all just sharing opinions so no right or wrong. Peckerhead should be reserved and used if needed on a different subject. One of the few advantages of getting old is hopefully gaining wisdom. Yea, I get a secret chuckle out of a Biff that shows up with his name on a Callaway Staff bag, packed with all Callaway clubs, has a distinct pre shot routine he has seen a PGA TOUR player use and is dressed to the hilt in the latest golf fashion ... and then doesn't hit a single quality shot the entire round. But in the end if that makes him happy why should I care? I play around 275 rounds a year and have a normal group of pards I play with 75% of the time but the other 25% I am paired with strangers. Being Phoenix is a winter getaway as well as a snowbird city I meet all walks of life and have seen just about every nuance there is. In the end it only boils down to a few things: don't talk politics, keep pace and be pleasant company for 4.5 hours. The rest is irrelevant to me.

... That said my favorites are anyone that loves golf and accepts their game that day. Could be a +1 or someone not breaking 100. OK to get upset over a bad shot if you let it out then let it go. Nothing worse than spending 4.5 hours with negative energy or an unpleasant personality. Thankfully those individuals are rare in my experience.

NM01 · December 27, 2023

2 hours ago, Fred Mitchell said:

With u at a 7 handicap I get it to a point but when i see people who cant break double bogey going on on on about looks, feel and sound of this club

Really has nothing to do with handicap. At a 15 and even at a low 20s feel and sound were different to me and I knew what sound I liked and didn’t like. I was able to feel mishits in the hands whether it was a toe hit or heel hit.

bens197 · December 27, 2023

I am a "sound is feel" person. While I've experienced it throughout my game, it's also just simple science.

The amygdala is highly sensitive to sound and the direct correlation between sound & feel can be simply explained through our own brain's experience.

Fred Mitchell · December 27, 2023

1 hour ago, chisag said:

... We are all just sharing opinions so no right or wrong. Peckerhead should be reserved and used if needed on a different subject. One of the few advantages of getting old is hopefully gaining wisdom. Yea, I get a secret chuckle out of a Biff that shows up with his name on a Callaway Staff bag, packed with all Callaway clubs, has a distinct pre shot routine he has seen a PGA TOUR player use and is dressed to the hilt in the latest golf fashion ... and then doesn't hit a single quality shot the entire round. But in the end if that makes him happy why should I care? I play around 275 rounds a year and have a normal group of pards I play with 75% of the time but the other 25% I am paired with strangers. Being Phoenix is a winter getaway as well as a snowbird city I meet all walks of life and have seen just about every nuance there is. In the end it only boils down to a few things: don't talk politics, keep pace and be pleasant company for 4.5 hours. The rest is irrelevant to me.

... That said my favorites are anyone that loves golf and accepts their game that day. Could be a +1 or someone not breaking 100. OK to get upset over a bad shot if you let it out then let it go. Nothing worse than spending 4.5 hours with negative energy or an unpleasant personality. Thankfully those individuals are rare in my experience.

I might not have worded it right if hes happy and a good playing partner hes welcome in my group however he plays , we all started somewhere and its not an easy game to get really good at. But if Biff is looking down his nose he damn sure better be good enough to back it up.

ZackS · December 28, 2023

On 12/26/2023 at 2:49 PM, Beakbryce said:

It struck me in the last few days that either I lack any feel and sound discrimination, or the hot new clubs just don't appeal to me. If you have read any of my posts about drivers, the realization that I love my years old Epic driver is well, epic. I just went through the Mizuno long game review process and the driver left me cold. I wasn't into the sound which I felt was not memorable and couldn't feel where the ball hit on the clubface. I passed them on to test to @Silver Fawkes and while he just got them, he already appears to love the sound and possibly the feel. You might want to follow his review as he tries out the driver, 3 wood, and 4 hybrid as it already looks like he is going to be a strong reviewer.

Anyway, back to this discussion. When the Stealth first came out I hit one at a demo day and wasn't impressed. I had a chance over Christmas to hit the Ping 430 driver and the Paradym X driver. Both clubs are highly rated for my swing speed. I wasn't enthusiastic about the sound or feel of any of these clubs. This is pretty weird as I have always liked Callaway woods and have felt in the last several years that Ping is building nice woods. I was really hoping in particular the Paradym X would blow my socks off because I have started looking for a reasonable price on Callaway pre-owned and am now rethinking that notion.

I'm hoping I can blame the lack of sound to my years being around jets and guns, but feel? Really trying to find an excuse.

Please let me know if you have started to discern less feel and sound from the new generation drivers or it's just me! I hate to see a grown man cry, but I can take it.

Have you hit any of the Srixon MK2 drivers? They might be a limited muted then years ago but they are an all titanium head and have sound that reflects this. They also perform very good as well.

Beakbryce · December 28, 2023

20 hours ago, ZackS said:

Have you hit any of the Srixon MK2 drivers? They might be a limited muted then years ago but they are an all titanium head and have sound that reflects this. They also perform very good as well.

I haven't but if they have a demo near me I will go try them out. Thank you.

Beakbryce · December 28, 2023

On 12/27/2023 at 11:07 AM, Fred Mitchell said:

Give us a driver that goes down the middle and 10 extra yard an sounds like honking a clowns nose, WE DONT CARE

Absolutely one of the funniest things I have read this year!

and so true.

RATOUR7 · December 30, 2023

Sound is a personal choice based on what is sweet or sour to what you prefer !!! Audio is not the same for everyone ....

But I like a soft thud sound .The sound gives me a feeling of power .....

jolter1 · December 31, 2023

If I worried about how my clubs sounded and felt while I was playhing, Lord knows what I would score on a golf course. The only sounds, besides, nature that matters to me, are the sounds of hitting the golf ball flush and the ball going into the hole. I play Ping clubs and all I know is that they work for me.

Drive2Survive · January 1

Give the Srixons a try. I picked over a couple others because of sound/feel and looks at address. All together make me feel more confident. Stupid game..

Willie T · January 1

On 12/26/2023 at 5:08 PM, Beakbryce said:

You are right in that with the metallic sound it may be easier to figure out where it hit on the club head as it gets tinnier enhancing "feel". If it is a dull thud all over it just doesn't work.

I don’t have a world of wealth like @cnosil in terms of driver tone. I can say that being with other players and hearing their drivers there is defined trend toward “muted” sound (maybe the mfg’s trying to harken back toward the ‘persimmon’ sound). My son plays a Cobra Speedzone that has that solid thwack when in the sweet spot, conversely my G400 is very metallic in any spot except the sweet spot where is a solid muted “clink”. Then there is the SLDR that has a similar tone to the Cobra. The TItleist in the rental set while in the DR this summer was super sweet in its tone - almost a perfect pitch to my ears.

You may be on to the frequency loss that comes from shooting - those tiny hairs really suffer and as such create frequency dead zones. Friends in bands that played loudly over the years can’t hear certain frequencies, as my friends that rode V-twins with drag pipes….

Kevin W · January 1

To me, when I'm setup to the ball, I'm so focused on my target and execution that by the time I'm done with my shot, I realize sound just doesn't matter to me. I simply don't notice it. Now when someone else hits I notice it more and then kinda have a preference but in the end if it performs the way I want, sound won't matter. Feel on the other hand is important to me. Like to know where on the face I'm striking it.

GolferXY · January 3

I AM a sound and feel guy, to the extent that I gave up a very productive Ping G30 driver because it was just too loud! Broken ear drums shouldn't be a side effect of golf.

That said, fast forward a couple of years and I break my Titlelist TSR2. Well I thought I did, anyway big tourney coming up and needed a new driver. I hit a bunch, including the new Stealth 2 and even though I don't like the sound of Taylormade drivers generally, and the Stealth 1 in particular, this club just gave me the best outcomes in testing. When I hit the center of the face it gave me decent numbers, but when I mis-hit it I was almost always still in the fairway. This has proven to be true on the course too. I still hate the "clock" sound, and you really have to listen hard to discern a difference between a center hit and mis-hit, but I can always feel when I hit it outside of the sweet spot. For feel, the Titleist TSR series is my favorite, but when I want the best results I go for the Stealth regardless of esthetics.

Preeway · January 3

I too really like the TSR drivers for feel and sound but now that I have a new Aerojet I’ll have to wait and see how it feels and sounds. I liked everything about it when I tested it back in April.