Can you hear the hiss of your own ball?

[KwSipp]

Idk guys maybe its the thick air down where I live but I hear just about every shot I have EXCEPT my driver which is rare to hear, But I even hear 50 yard shots with wedges. Being the loudest would have to be my 7-6 iron... dont ask me why lol.

[TheNatural]

I would hear my own once in a while but only with irons. I would guess that it is more common with irons that produce high spin. Then again for all i know the ball was nicked.

One thing i notice on one 5i strike 2 years ago was the ball balooned and didnt carry much more than 160..The hiss I could hear for a few seconds. It may have been nicked though. I cant remember all of it. Just the hole and the shot.

[JaY_B]

I here mine fizz, not all the time but when I hit it well you can definitely hear the ball going through the air for the first few yards of its flight.

Try hitting a low punch shot, striking it well and I don't doubt you will hear the fizz of the golf ball.

[ComftaBill]

I usually hear the hiss from the ball only from my 3-5w when I really connect well with them. I think I've heard an iron or two also, but much much less frequently.

Just my 2 cents from a month of playing =)

[wrx_junki]

Never heard my own ball hissing, just figured I don't have the swing speed to produce the hissing.

[~Troy]

No I can't hear my own. I've never asked whether I do it or not though, intriguing question though.

[BigBoy]

I remember warming up the range when I was really new to the game, and I could hear my playing partners shots hissing thru the wind, and I thought, oh man, my shots never make that noise -

[worst_shot_ever]

I think Iacas has it exactly right.

[TheNatural]

then explain how people hear their own ball hiss?

for Me when it hit it with a driver I dont hear it at all. I think its because my ball speed breaks the sound barrier. BOOOM I mean POW!

[Zeph]

There is no doubt you can hear them, read the answers in this thread and you'll see it.

It's not so much about swing speed either, you do not need over 100mph to hear the ball through the air. It's about the speed of the ball, which of course is somewhat related to the swing speed, but not so much as the ball impact and level of compression. I hear my ball when I strike it firmly down and find the sweet spot. This produces the highest ball speed, which is what makes the noice, the ball travelling fast through the air.

[ryohazuki222]

ahh... i was really hoping to see an answer to my longtime question on this thread, but havent. is a hissing ball good or bad?! or neither?

I just thought a hissing ball meant it had a crap-ton of spin. and the general ballooning that happens when I hear it has just "confirmed" this for me.

I don't usually hear the ball hiss when I hit it.... but I have heard my own balls hiss on many occasions. Usually it's when I feel like I really hit down on the ball with an iron and make clean contact. the flight pattern is different too......... everything seems to support my theory that it just had to do with how much spin was on the ball.

but there's nothing related to that in this 4 page thread. so am i that far off base?

I've never been able to really hit my 3 wood off the deck. when im at the range and having a really good ball striking day with the driver or wood, sometimes ill just screw around and see how clean i can hit them without a tee. I have about a 95% success rate of hearing my own shot hiss if I actually hit a good shot (about 1/15 shots! woot!). The balls start low and climb up.

The CRAZIEST hissing i've ever heard from one of my shots is one really bad top/skull (i think!???... felt weird) it stayed low hit a small mound and just skidded off the ground into the air hissing with a GOOD amount of carry. Imagine skipping a rock and after the first contact the thing flew 100-150 yards until the second skip -- it was such a weird thing to see.... but it hissed like crazy after hitting the mound.

[TheNatural]

ahh... i was really hoping to see an answer to my longtime question on this thread, but havent. is a hissing ball good or bad?! or neither?

best advice is go to a pro=am or pga event and see for yourself. I know the topping thing all too well. Super hiss has strong relation to ballooning IMO unless thats the shot you want...usually they go straight,,not far.

[$2 Nassau]

I heard it once hitting a SW in the fairway. Thought it was kind of strange. Thing spun like crazy when it hit the green, guess it just had a little extra juice on it for some reason.

[bprater13]

First, sound does travel in 360 degrees, with no magic involved. If somebody honks a car horn and you are above, below, beside or any direction from the horn you will hear it. The ball does move away from you so the ball will block some sound and the sound waves are diminished for other physical reasons as well. Also, the amount of spin on the ball will affect the sound the ball makes. I hit a ball with a lot of RPM's of backspin off my driver, more than most people, and I have been told my ball makes a louder and more of a "ripping" sound when it flies past a person on multiple occasions, even when I am playing with somebody who hits it longer than me. Everything else Iacas said is 100% right, including the part where the strength of the sound waves is not as strong in all directions, which is due to the ball moving away from you and blocking some of the sound where most of the initial turbulence happens (in front of the ball).

[bunkerputt]

I hit a really spinny shot with a range ball that had a gouge in the middle of it. It kind of made a really fast and low "whoopa-whoopa" sound like a helicopter when it took off.

[youngskip40]

I will occasionally hear the sound of my ball, but only at the driving range, and only if it is a range that has poor quality balls. Even then, it's rare.

Usually if I hear a hiss from my own ball, I look up and the ball does this ridiculous fade/hook or hook/fade because the aerodynamics of the ball are obviously shot. It'd be fun to be able to produce that shot by will though.

[youngskip40]

I hit a really spinny shot with a range ball that had a gouge in the middle of it. It kind of made a really fast and low "whoopa-whoopa" sound like a helicopter when it took off.

whoopa-whoopa? Are you sure you didn't hit a police car?

[beachbreak]

Sometimes if I really try to jump on one on the 10th tee, I will hear a hiss at the moment of impact. I attribute this "breaking of wind" to the cheap hotdog I ate on the break.