Do any of you wear earplugs?

[bunkerputt]

Do any of you wear earplugs when you hit driver? My ears are ringing after about 15 swings with driver. It makes me scared to swing harder. I thought it might free me up a bit...

[TigerWoodz]

Only when the Misses starts nagging...

[shortstop20]

Your driver must sound horrible.

[trog2233]

I laughed reading this thread. That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in awhile haha. Could it possibly be that loud?

[James_Black]

I laughed reading this thread. That is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in awhile haha. Could it possibly be that loud?

ever hear a Cobra driver?

I don't bother hitting mine at the range, the rock hard golf balls make it sound even louder.

[plugged]

It isn't my driver that is loud; its me yelling "POW!!" every time. It does become annoying, but we must do what we must do.

[Gordon McTavish]

It's not a far-fetched comment at all!

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...river-deafness
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...make-deaf.html

[Zeph]

The extreme sound is one of the reasons why I'm considering changing my driver. The sound is LOUD and high pitched, penetrating the ears.

[Stretch]

Probably the wrong thread to pick for a first post, but yeah I use a 5 cent foam ear plug in my right ear whenever I'm hitting my driver in an enclosed range booth. As cited above, 110 decibels plus bonus slap echo is easily enough to cause hearing damage if you're practicing as much as you should be. :)

[senorchipotle]

It isn't my driver that is loud; its me yelling "POW!!" every time. It does become annoying, but we must do what we must do.

maybe you should mix it up with a ''bam!" ever once in a while.

[jamo]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if you need earplugs when you hit your driver to prevent ear injury, you might want to consider buying a new driver.

[TigerWoodz]

It isn't my driver that is loud; its me yelling "POW!!" every time. It does become annoying, but we must do what we must do.

Thats alright for you,i have to shout "FORE" every time i hit mine..lol

[bunkerputt]

Probably the wrong thread to pick for a first post, but yeah I use a 5 cent foam ear plug in my right ear whenever I'm hitting my driver in an enclosed range booth. As cited above, 110 decibels plus bonus slap echo is easily enough to cause hearing damage if you're practicing as much as you should be. :)

Props Stretch. I guess everyone else here is too manly to admit it. Screw it, I'm putting in the plugs because the payoff is worth the small cost.

[tws1098]

Thats alright for you,i have to shout "FORE" every time i hit mine..lol

Haha, nice. I remember doing that my whole first year...

[BonoVox]

Only when I am holding my Wilson Compact CQB (or one of his brothers or sisters) at the range......

[Deryck Griffith]

Isn't hearing the contact of the ball on the face of the club an important thing? It's almost equal to feel. Not being able to "hear" the ball hit the club could seem quite muted and weird..no?

[Fairway_CY]

Isn't hearing the contact of the ball on the face of the club an important thing? It's almost equal to feel. Not being able to "hear" the ball hit the club could seem quite muted and weird..no?

I practice quite frequently listening to my iPod. A lot of times... I WILL take my headphones out if I'm struggling to hear the shots and see if it sounds odd... but I don't need to hear it every time. And, count me amongst those who believe that a loud driver can, indeed, become both an annoyance AND a health issue. My driver (Cleveland HiBORE XLS) turns heads at the range constantly. It's like a gun going off sometimes.

At the course, I've had guys in my club tell me they knew it was me teeing off from 3 or 4 holes away... especially when I catch one in the middle. It's a LOUD driver. That said... I don't think I'd trade it for another right now. I'm just hitting it WAY too well recently. CY

[The Hacker]

Some guy on the range the other day started talking to me, and he wanted me to hit his new driver to see how far it would go. I hit it once, and HOLY COW! It sounded like a high-pitched gunshot. I just handed it back to him. I don't even know what kind of club it was. I just didn't want to hear it again.