Ping G30 LS vs distance of new drivers

I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

I bow to your 320 yds.

320 in the fairway?? Whatelse could you want lol. Keep playing THAT club!

> @farmer said:

> I bow to your 320 yds.

Haha I can thank slow pitch softball for teaching me how to turn on it lol...

Wow not one answer... Anyone know how much hotter new drivers are now compared to a 5 year old driver Ping G30??

I wouldn't know what to say myself - can't even think about hitting a driver 320. You can probably find a combo a little longer, but if you are hitting it that far with accuracy there is not a course out there you can't bring to it's knees.....

Sas golf just did a video a g10 driver carried 10 yards less than a g400. You have a g30 so I assume the difference will be less than 5 yards.

it's hard to say. I typically don't hit Ping drivers as far as other brands, but many do. If you're properly fit i doubt you'd gain more than 7-8yds.

If you're hitting it 320 i doubt this is really a problem either way, unless you play at the International in Mass , or Chambers Bay from the tips

I shouldn't have said how far I drive it lol.... gonna have to start a new thread cause you yardage junkies are like a deer in the headlights lol

> @Barfolomew said:

> I shouldn't have said how far I drive it lol.... gonna have to start a new thread cause you yardage junkies are like a deer in the headlights lol

I drive it 300+ myself. But that's why i also don't get too caught up in yardage gains. An extra 5-7 yards is gonna mean nothing for me on a 6700yd course. If anything it may end with me hitting LESS drivers.

It's a pretty valid comment i think, at 99% of courses you're probably maxed to the point that distance gains won't even help you

> @MtlJeff said:

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > I shouldn't have said how far I drive it lol.... gonna have to start a new thread cause you yardage junkies are like a deer in the headlights lol

>

> I drive it 300+ myself. But that's why i also don't get too caught up in yardage gains. An extra 5-7 yards is gonna mean nothing for me on a 6700yd course. If anything it may end with me hitting LESS drivers.

>

> It's a pretty valid comment i think, at 99% of courses you're probably maxed to the point that distance gains won't even help you

I hear ya... I wouldn't change driver for 20 yards unless I had as good control....Never been fit so thought that + newer tech should add yards.

> @Barfolomew said:

> > @MtlJeff said:

> > > @Barfolomew said:

> > > I shouldn't have said how far I drive it lol.... gonna have to start a new thread cause you yardage junkies are like a deer in the headlights lol

> >

> > I drive it 300+ myself. But that's why i also don't get too caught up in yardage gains. An extra 5-7 yards is gonna mean nothing for me on a 6700yd course. If anything it may end with me hitting LESS drivers.

> >

> > It's a pretty valid comment i think, at 99% of courses you're probably maxed to the point that distance gains won't even help you

>

> I hear ya... I wouldn't change driver for 20 yards unless I had as good control....Never been fit so thought that + newer tech should add yards.

Whatever you do, keep the G30 around as a back up. You never know....

By the way, the G400 LS won driver of the year award on another site.

It's tough to say how many yards you might be giving up because we don't know anything about how that G30 is performing for you. You say you're hitting it 320 and that sounds pretty great. But if you're swinging 130 then maybe it's not so great after all. Without knowing how optimal the numbers the G30 produces are it's not easy to tell you what may be out there. If you're asking if the technology is better since 2014 to give you more yardage, eh, not necessarily. There may be a couple out there but the way you're gaining any meaningful yardage is with a driver that's a better fit than what you currently have. If you really want to know what you may be giving up get on a monitor somewhere and get a baseline with the G30. Absent that information 320 and relatively consistent doesn't sound like something anyone would give up.

You don't need more distance....Just hit it straight and make good choices from the tee...

0-1 yards. The only reason I switched to the G400 LST is because it looks and sounds better. I might hit it about a yard longer thanks to the smaller head size.

Distance gains with on center hits will be minimal. There may be some improvement off center, but that's a function of your miss pattern. Add in how a club's CG matches up with your swing, and it's hard to say if new club will be better _for you_.

> @BlkNGld said:

>** Distance gains with on center hits will be minimal**. There may be some improvement off center, but that's a function of your miss pattern. Add in how a club's CG matches up with your swing, and it's hard to say if new club will be better _for you_.

Now this makes complete sense since the COR is .83 for all drivers.... but which driver can keep that speed up on off center hits is the real debate and do newer ones really do it much better the previous models

> @Barfolomew said:

> I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

> @Barfolomew said:

> I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

How far does it go when you hit it on grass and not into a parking lot?

G30 is fantastic driver. Go shop for putters!

> @pinestreetgolf said:

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

>

> > @Barfolomew said:

> > I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

>

> How far does it go when you hit it on grass and not into a parking lot?

>

> G30 is fantastic driver. Go shop for putters!

I was reading last night bout all drivers hit the same distance on the sweet spot with the .83 COR rules ..... but just like softball bats.....how big is the sweet spot is what separates the clubs.

Golfer like to use the term forgiving but sweet spot is more accurate cause forgiving sounds like dispersion not pop....ijs So I guess I'm lookin for the lateset driver with the biggest sweet spot to put up against my G30....

>

>

> @Barfolomew said:

> > @pinestreetgolf said:

> > > @Barfolomew said:

> > > I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

> >

> > > @Barfolomew said:

> > > I'm still gaming my Ping G30 LS... I don't have access to launch monitors But was wondering if some of you pundits could guess roughly how many yards its giving up to the newest clubs like F9, 410, TS3, M6 etc... compared to G30 at 320 total yards. Driver is a strong club for me and I'll take a shorter club into the green as long as the control is there...thanks!

> >

> > How far does it go when you hit it on grass and not into a parking lot?

> >

> > G30 is fantastic driver. Go shop for putters!

>

> I was reading last night bout all drivers hit the same distance on the sweet spot with the .83 COR rules ..... but just like softball bats.....how big is the sweet spot is what separates the clubs.

>

> Golfer like to use the term forgiving but sweet spot is more accurate cause forgiving sounds like dispersion not pop....ijs So I guess I'm lookin for the lateset driver with the biggest sweet spot to put up against my G30....

> >

> >

>

>

The "sweet spot" is the dead middle of the club face. Since club size is also regulated (460cc) all drivers also have the exact same size sweet spot. The best driver at maintaining ball speed on hits outside the face depends completely on your swing. Take Rogue versus Twist Face. One is designed to forgive exactly the same amount no matter what the miss is and one is designed to be really good at fixing two misses (high toe, low heel) at the expense of others.

I played a G30 LS about 2 years ago and was popping them out around 290. Somewhere along the way I started losing control of it, and changed to a Ping G (non LS) with the same shaft. I lost about 30 yards but was pounding FIRs. Then I started losing control of that and got fitted. Swing issues aside, I was ill fitted for the shaft I was playing, got fit into a TS3 and gained those 30 yards back, plus some. I am most definitely longer than ever, but I know it is not as forgiving on toe hits as the G30 LS. I am ok with that (for now).

This is all circumstantial, but I credit the low spin head for lowering my spin back to earth (also went from 9 to 8.5), the proper flex for getting my swing tempo where it should be so I don't have to work too hard (went from X to S), and a change in shaft profile for an increase in club head speed (went from L/L to M/M).

Bottom line: I do believe that we can achieve more distance by lowering spin, but there always seems to be a trade off with forgiveness. I also believe that the gains you can get from increasing club head speed by playing the proper shaft are greater than the gains you can get from lowering your spin from a different head.

> @Barfolomew said:

> > @BlkNGld said:

> >** Distance gains with on center hits will be minimal**. There may be some improvement off center, but that's a function of your miss pattern. Add in how a club's CG matches up with your swing, and it's hard to say if new club will be better _for you_.

>

> Now this makes complete sense since the COR is .83 for all drivers.... but which driver can keep that speed up on off center hits is the real debate and do newer ones really do it much better the previous models

>

>

Here again, you have to define what constitutes a sweet spot for you. Is it the area where 90% of ballspeed is retained? 75%? You can have a face that retains a high percentage over a relatively large are then drops off quickly, or retains a lower percentage over a larger area, and they are not likely to be the same designs.

What's more, the pattern isn't always uniform, so it would be best to match that up with where you miss as much as possible.

There's no simple answer because engineering is all about tradeoffs. While the ad writes will suggest huge gains in sweet spot size, compared to your G30 the gains are probably on the order of millimeters. There really isn't a sweet spot the size of Texas.

I hit my G30 lst as far as my G400 lst…….I also see no improvement in the G410.

> @wobgon said:

> I hit my G30 lst as far as my G400 lst…….I also see no improvement in the G410.

Makes sense since there's actual limitations set by the .83 COR rules... but thats not what I wanted to hear I was lookin for a "free" 15 yards lol

You might find distance with a new driver, or not.

Every club is different.

It's even possible you could buy another driver and shaft the same as the one you are playing, and lose yards.

> @Barfolomew said:

> Wow not one answer... Anyone know how much hotter new drivers are now compared to a 5 year old driver Ping G30??

Not at all any hotter. COR has been maxed out for decades. The only major changes are with spin and launch characteristics. You could probably pick up some yardage if you went to a fitting and decided thats what you wanted max distance, more likely you would not get anything major and it would be a controlling your shot shape and eliminating one side of the course 90% of the time.

I picked up 32 yards of carry when I changed from a RAZR Hawk to a fitted M1. Ive tried M3/4/5/6 heads and the only major difference is where I get optimal spins on average and the sound of the driver. Ive hit buddies Callys, Pings, and what have you. There is nothing in it between the drivers, unless I get a higher lofted spin version of the line and it eats my distance.

So no, unless you go chasing extreme low spins and long drive set ups, you not likely to see major distance gains, and even then it might not be in carry.

Funny .. my friend has the Ping G400 driver and hits it about 280yds, i have a very very old Ping G2 driver and often out drive him. He tried my driver and hit it just as far as his G400 but straighter. So ... newer is not always better

To give my answer to the OP, I used the G30 for four years, then got fitted for the G400, which has a smaller clubhead. I gained 3 mph of swing speed and 10 yards, with no loss of accuracy. These are not the numbers for the LS versions, and I have not hit the G410, fwiw.