PING G400 irons - switch from i20

Hi!

My i20 irons are 7 years now and beginning to look a bit worn.

Now you can get G400 irons with a good discount, so I was thinking of treating myself to new sticks.

Anyone in the forum who made the same switch and can share their experience?

I'm a 10-handicapper and struggling more and more with my irons (getting older, 56 years now), so I am aiming for forgiving irons. I use G400 for driver and fairway woods and love them!

(My driver club head speed is just over 95 mph so I'm going for regular flex, but I am not not sure if I should go for steel or graphite...)

Thanks!

I'm about the same swing speed as you and also play the G400 driver and woods. I played the i20s for several years then switched to JPX 900 Forged briefly before going to G400 irons with the stock shafts in regular flex. I'm a 5 HC and I didn't know if I'd like the G400s because of the size and offset. I'll be 50 this month and have had back problems for 10 years that make it difficult for me to practice much. That's what led me to try them. It's easier on my back to play 18 than hit balls at the range. My thought in going to the G400s was to find something really forgiving so I could get away with very little practice. I play 50 rounds a year over about 8 months and have been able to break 80 most of the time without much practice. I do have a good short game though so I get away with missing a lot of greens on my off days. The G400s have definitely helped with that. I loved the i20s but the G400s are so much more forgiving on mishits. I was shocked when I first got them at how much help they gave me. They want to go high and straight and it takes a pretty bad swing to change that much. There's no question that I hit a couple more greens per round with them than what I would with a less forgiving iron. The feel is softer than some forged irons I've owed as well. The only thing I don't love is the offset in the longer irons. I draw everything already and this is accentuated a little with these longer irons. But I just play for it so it's not a huge deal really. The G400 short irons and wedges are really good. More compact and closer to the i20s. I had to get over my ego a little to get the G400s as I've always had players type irons. But I honestly think more low handicap players should be using game improvement irons. KJ Choi played G400s in PGA tour events and he's miles better than any of us on here. I'd definitely recommend them over what you're playing now.

Thanks for your comprehensive answer! I'm thinking the same way: why should I _not_ take the advantage of forgiving clubs. I did the same switch for the driver (i20 to G400) and that helped a lot.

The only thing backdraw I can see (from the specs) is that the PW has 2-3 degrees less loft than the i20 one, so my gap wedge (52 degrees) will have a big distance down to the G400 PW. Maybe I will keep the i20 PW as a second "gap wedge"!

> @barnum1 said:

> Hi!

>

> My i20 irons are 7 years now and beginning to look a bit worn.

> Now you can get G400 irons with a good discount, so I was thinking of treating myself to new sticks.

> Anyone in the forum who made the same switch and can share their experience?

>

> I'm a 10-handicapper and struggling more and more with my irons (getting older, 56 years now), so I am aiming for forgiving irons. I use G400 for driver and fairway woods and love them!

> (My driver club head speed is just over 95 mph so I'm going for regular flex, but I am not not sure if I should go for steel or graphite...)

>

> Thanks!

Maybe it's because I'm lefty but I'm having a heck of a time finding any decent prices on nearly-new or like-new G400 irons. Once in a while a set shows up on eBay around $600 but most are selling even more than that.

Here in Sweden, I can get new ones (6 clubs, steel) for just over $600.

Usually, US prices are much lower than over here, so I thought this was pretty good.

I use the G400 Gap wedge and like it a lot. It's 49.5 degrees I think. Fits well with my Vokey 54 and 60 degree wedges.

Yep a wedge round 48-50 degrees sounds smart!

I did a similar swap at the beginning of the season. I’m also 56, not sure about swing speed but hit my 8-iron 145 here in Texas heat, if that helps for comparison. I had the S58s and, like you, was overall unhappy with my iron game - so I decided to go for more forgiveness. I was also fighting tendonitis (golfer’s elbow in one arm, tennis elbow in the other). Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, I opted for graphite shafts. I went for a formal fitting and they put me in a stiff flex Alta CB shaft.

I’ve been delighted in every way with the G400s. My index is down from 12.5 to 9.5, I seem to throw a couple of darts with the irons each round, get more height, more distance and more trajectory. And - my tendinitis is all gone.

This iron swap has been an unqualified win for me. Like someone else above, I also got the U wedge and added the Stealth Glide 2.0 in 54 and 58 degrees.

> @barnum1 said:

> Here in Sweden, I can get new ones (6 clubs, steel) for just over $600.

> Usually, US prices are much lower than over here, so I thought this was pretty good.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ping-G400-Black-Dot-Golf-Iron-Set-4-UW-Steel-Shaft-Stiff-Flex-AWT-Left-Handed-LH/264426035490?hash=item3d91051922:g:FKcAAOSwFpddThWn

Thanks for your comment @Chris_NH I also hope to throw darts at greens (never had that feeling before) and get higher trajectory. Not sure about steel or graphite though. Glad to hear that it helped your tendonitis, do you know exactly what helped there?

> @barnum1 said:

> Thanks for your comment @Chris_NH I also hope to throw darts at greens (never had that feeling before) and get higher trajectory. Not sure about steel or graphite though. Glad to hear that it helped your tendonitis, do you know exactly what helped there?

I’ve read in several spots that the softer graphite helps with tendonitis; it just absorbs more of the shock. That’s particularly true if you ever hit on mats. Some people went so far as to say if I bought graphite, my tendonitis would disappear and never return. They were right about the first part; I’m hoping they’re right about the second part too.

> @Chris_NH said:

> > @barnum1 said:

> > Thanks for your comment @Chris_NH I also hope to throw darts at greens (never had that feeling before) and get higher trajectory. Not sure about steel or graphite though. Glad to hear that it helped your tendonitis, do you know exactly what helped there?

>

> I’ve read in several spots that the softer graphite helps with tendonitis; it just absorbs more of the shock. That’s particularly true if you ever hit on mats. Some people went so far as to say if I bought graphite, my tendonitis would disappear and never return. They were right about the first part; I’m hoping they’re right about the second part too.

I play a lot (try for at least 3x a week year round) but seldom practice. And when I do practice it's off a fairly firm and sandy driving range but still turf rather than mats.

I recently hit about 25 shots during a lesson, half with a 7-iron and half with a wedge. My right arm (front arm, I play lefty) had something that felt like a very mild case of tendonitis that evening. It was gone by the next morning but dang, if I hit 100 balls off mats a couple times a week like some people do I'd need more than graphite shafts.

I have a similar swing speed and index as you do. Unfortunately, I never played the i20s so not exactly what you are looking for, but I went from a forged CB to G25s a while ago. I would definitely say give it a go. A bad swing is still a bad swing but I think these types of clubs can help people down to an even lower index, especially those with moderate swing speeds (for me, the ball flight is just better although this may be largely due to a lighter shaft).

Regarding the wedge lofts, I'd say get the set GW if you think you will mainly use as a full swing (i.e. non-greenside) club. You may find that there is still a decent yardage gap with your 52 degree wedge, if this one is a more traditional blade/wedge. You could always bend the 52 degree weak as well. A last option would be to get all of the G400 clubs bent 2 degrees weak. This would also probably make the offset closer to what you are accustomed to looking at (which may or may not be an issue for you).

I have some hand and wrist issues and have gone to graphite in my i210s. Wanted steelfiber but couldn’t afford it, so with the Alta CB being ascending weight for barely any upcharge, I went with those in stiff. I think at 95 mph you could probably go stiff in that shaft as it is not very stout and fairly light. I swing driver about 100, maybe 103 max and they feel pretty good to me.

On the elbow issue, I too had tendonitis a couple of years ago that bothered me when I played golf. I did two things. First I got a Theraband Flex bar and did the exercises daily with it. That completely fixed my tendonitis. Secondly, I put Sensicore inserts in my irons which made my steel shafts feel more like graphite as far as vibration was concerned. They're cheap and they work. Highly recommended.

I've played both. The G400's are 1 club longer and much more forgiving. The G400's hit really high and lately I've been going over trees that I couldn't with my player's forged irons. Some reviews have noted low spin and balls not stopping. I've had NO problems whatsoever. Ball goes HIGH and stops on a dime and often back up even with 6-7 irons. I can hit the 4 iron as good as any hybrid. Literraly dropped balls at the 200 stone and was flying 4 iron to the middle of the green. I havn't been able to do that in YEARS. Yeah yeah the 4 iron has a 3 iron loft. But it sure doesn't hit like a 3 iron. :smiley:

Thanks for all input! I didn't know graphite was better for your body, that's something I need to consider. I am playing graphite now in my i20 irons, but I sometimes feel that the shafts are "weak". Not sure why, just a feeling.

About the wedge distances, I definitely need to address that (In fact, I already have that problem with my i20s....)