G400 VS. G400 MAX

So who's played both of these? I currently play the 400 and really like it, but keep thinking I may be missing out on even more forgiveness that the max affords. Just wondering if trying out the Max is worth the trouble or if I should just stay with a good thing. The only complaint I might have is that I don't get the forgiveness that so many others profess from the 400 on heely hits. I'm sure I'm slapping across the face pretty bad when it happens, but it's worse with the 400 than with my m4 or some other drivers I've had, like, 270-280 becomes 190, high and right. I'd love to hear any observations about anything from anyone whos played them both. Thanks.

I have played them both and can say that the GMAX is definitely more forgiving and in my case longer.

I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

> @Nixhex524 said:

> I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

You are willing to sacrifice performance (forgiveness/consistency/distance) for sound/feel? I thought the objective of golf was to shoot the lowest score possible?

I never understood why this train of thought is so prevalent on these forums.

Played both, Max was longer for me and is what I play now. I dont miss the middle very often so have never really noticed much in the forgiveness piece.

> @J9293 said:

> > @Nixhex524 said:

> > I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

>

> You are willing to sacrifice performance (forgiveness/consistency/distance) for sound/feel? I thought the objective of golf was to shoot the lowest score possible?

>

> I never understood why this train of thought is so prevalent on these forums.

>

>

He did say gains to him were negligible....so if I'm only gaining 2-5 yds with a driver that doesn't fit my eye or ear ,then it's not worth it.....I would need a 10-15yd gain to give up sound/feel

> @Nixhex524 said:

> I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

I was in the same boat as you. My miss hits felt better with the Max compared to the LST, but the results were pretty similar, My average and goods drives were pretty similar as well. My best drives were a few yards longer with the LST. As you mentioned the sound and feel were also better on the LST, so that is the driver I kept.

> @J9293 said:

> > @Nixhex524 said:

> > I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

>

> You are willing to sacrifice performance (forgiveness/consistency/distance) for sound/feel? I thought the objective of golf was to shoot the lowest score possible?

>

> I never understood why this train of thought is so prevalent on these forums.

>

>

I am not if the gains are noticeable... that is why I am gaming the LST now... it is considerably longer and just as straight for me as the Max OR the regular head. But between the Max and regular head, I'd pick the regular head all day for sound/feel. Total distance for me is usually 275-290, so I am not often sacrificing a lot by losing 3-5 yards... I am no pro but I am down to a 2.2 right now so I consider myself a decent ball striker, I'm not looking for max distance as much anymore as I am looking for what I like and what keeps me in play. The whole G400 line is good, I just prefer the Max the least.

Max feels/sounds 100% better with some hot melt. Ping calls it Gilooo or something like that...lol

> @dpb5031 said:

> Max feels/sounds 100% better with some hot melt. Ping calls it Gilooo or something like that...lol

That is true... my first Max was from Ping and I ordered it with melt... it did help a bit.

> @Nixhex524 said:

> > @J9293 said:

> > > @Nixhex524 said:

> > > I have played both, and now the LST. IMO they are ALL very forgiving. I was actually really surprised last time I had the Max at how Unforgiving it was... now, it's still stupid easy to hit, but I found the regular G400 to be just as good. The LST as well... I wasn't willing to sacrifice feel/sound for the VERY little I was gaining from the Max. I do not regret my decision of moving on from the Max at all. Heel hits are heel hits, you're most likely going to get punished no matter what head it is so if you are hitting the regular head well with the occasional mis hit, I am not sure I'd move on. If you're rarely hitting the center then maybe it's worth a look but I really think gains will be negligible. OR, just spring for a head and keep both!

> >

> > You are willing to sacrifice performance (forgiveness/consistency/distance) for sound/feel? I thought the objective of golf was to shoot the lowest score possible?

> >

> > I never understood why this train of thought is so prevalent on these forums.

> >

> >

>

> I am not if the gains are noticeable... that is why I am gaming the LST now... it is considerably longer and just as straight for me as the Max OR the regular head. But between the Max and regular head, I'd pick the regular head all day for sound/feel. Total distance for me is usually 275-290, so I am not often sacrificing a lot by losing 3-5 yards... I am no pro but I am down to a 2.2 right now so I consider myself a decent ball striker, I'm not looking for max distance as much anymore as I am looking for what I like and what keeps me in play. The whole G400 line is good, I just prefer the Max the least.

Fair. If the difference is minimal then I guess it’s not a big deal. I just know there are lots of people on these forums that can’t break 90 with clubs that look cool when they are better off with something more suited to their skill level to help them shoot better scores. But it’s their money and people are free to do as they wish.

I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> @Davidv said:

> I have played them both and can say that the GMAX is definitely more forgiving and in my case longer.

+1

> @Bamabowtie said:

> I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

> @dpb5031 said:

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

>

> I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

Its funny because mine sounds great and not loud at all. Similar to regular G400. I did order it at a higher swingweight so maybe it has hotmelt from Ping and I don't know it?

I ordered the same driver as a backup and have not hit that one so the sound is unknown.

The Max was the worst for me. The best was the LST in terms of feel and distance and forgiveness, especially on toe balls

400 LST to me beat out my new 410 LST even ..... just sayin'

> @dpb5031 said:

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

>

> I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

I tried the 400 LST and then the 400 MAX ... I was much more accurate with the 400 MAX, but I'm a slower swing-speed player (95-ish clubhead speed) and seemed to benefit from the higher spin ... I liked the 400 LST sound/feel, but the spin was too low for my swing and dispersion suffered.

> @Bamabowtie said:

> I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> @Bamabowtie said:

> > @dpb5031 said:

> > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> >

> > I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

>

> Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

>

>

> ***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

Feed around 10" of yarn into the head. It will significantly mute the sound. Take the weight out and feed it in through the screw hole. It is easy to remove with a home-made paperclip hook.

I have yarn in mine and it sounds 100% better. Dare I say TS2 like

> @thigos said:

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

>

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > @dpb5031 said:

> > > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> > >

> > > I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

> >

> > Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

> >

> >

> > ***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

>

> Feed around 10" of yarn into the head. It will significantly mute the sound. Take the weight out and feed it in through the screw hole. It is easy to remove with a home-made paperclip hook.

> I have yarn in mine and it sounds 100% better. Dare I say TS2 like

Did you have to play around with the swing weight at all?

I finally upgraded from the G30 to G400 SF Tec and I'm in total love. Never thought I'd find a driver as good as the G30 but the G400 kills it.

> @Bamabowtie said:

> > @dpb5031 said:

> > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> >

> > I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

>

> Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

>

>

> ***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

It doesnt take a ton of it to improve sound & feel. Its possible swingweight will go up slightly, but not dramatically. Contact Ping's custom WRX department and ask them about it. I've ordered several Ping drivers with hotmelt (giloo).

Not to threadjack, but I've seen a ton of threads about the regular G400, and I've seen a ton about the G400 Max, but I've seen very little about the SFT... is it pretty similar to the Max?

Not quite, the max has the tungsten in the max rearward position for the highest overall MOI, the SFT moves it to the heel to create a draw bias/cure a slice. LST move the weight more forward to get CG closer to the face.

I play the 400max tried several Cally drivers, none of them seem to be as good as 400M. Always wanted to try the SF, but haven’t. I’m always looking to the holy grail of drivers, haven’t found it yet. Always chasing rainbows! Research show that there has not been any or much difference between driver performance the last few years, only promotion related. Find one you hit well and stick with it, there won’t be that much of a difference anyway.

I have heard of other people putting yarn in the driver head as well with pretty positive effect. I saw on a different thread that you can super glue the yarn to the tip of the weight and it should stay put. Then if you want to take it out you just pull the screw out and the yarn comes with it.

> @Bamabowtie said:

> > @thigos said:

> > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> >

> > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > > @dpb5031 said:

> > > > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> > > >

> > > > I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

> > >

> > > Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

> > >

> > >

> > > ***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

> >

> > Feed around 10" of yarn into the head. It will significantly mute the sound. Take the weight out and feed it in through the screw hole. It is easy to remove with a home-made paperclip hook.

> > I have yarn in mine and it sounds 100% better. Dare I say TS2 like

>

> Did you have to play around with the swing weight at all?

A 10" peice of yarn is weightless in my view, so no there is no need to adjust swing weight. I do have a heavier weight in my 400max as I prefer all my clubs fairly heavy. I had a piece of yarn in a 9* 400max head and easily removed it when sold. There is no downside to trying this and it makes a very significant impact on sound. Eliminates the piercing ring these drivers have and replaces it with a solid crack sound.

> @Bamabowtie said:

> I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

True WRXer right here!!!!

I think the G400 Max should be compared to the G410 as they are pretty close in price.

> @thigos said:

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

>

> > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > @dpb5031 said:

> > > > @Bamabowtie said:

> > > > I absolutely love my Max but at 121mph it destroys my ear drums on the range. I have to wear ear buds or I can’t hit it more than a couple of times.

> > >

> > > I'm tellin' ya, take it in for a little shot of hotmelt evenly distributed across the inside of the face. Feel & sound are transformed and its actually very pleasing.

> >

> > Are there any adjustments that need to be made to the driver after it is hot melted? I will do anything to make this thing sound better because it absolutely pierces my ear and I've had several times where people would move down the range to get away from the sound, it's that bad.

> >

> >

> > ***ETA: I just called all of the golf shops in my area and no one offers hot melt services. Maybe I'll send it back to Ping to see if they can do it

>

> Feed around 10" of yarn into the head. It will significantly mute the sound. Take the weight out and feed it in through the screw hole. It is easy to remove with a home-made paperclip hook.

> I have yarn in mine and it sounds 100% better. Dare I say TS2 like

I will need to try this. PIcked up a G400max, it is indeed very straight, but man does it make a terrible terrible sound (my gamer is an M6, which has a nice muted thwack). Will try some yarn, otherwise it's gotta go. I can't believe it sounds so much worse than the G400LST I tried