Ping iBlade vs i210: High Spinning Players Cavity Heads Testing

I was being fit on GC Quad and finding my launch and spin #’s to be low with virtually every company that I was initially attracted to: Srixon Z785’s, Titleist T-100, and Mizuno MP-20 MMC’s.

I was looking for a forgiving players iron. I had been in the Mizuno MP-58’s w/ Project X 6.5 for the last 9 years and wanted a little more forgiveness on miss-hits. Ball striking is a strength of mine, but I wanted to get more forgiveness just because. I am a +3.5 handicap, and will likely start to try to piece together a bag of clubs under the same company with the hopes to improve my game some more and perhaps turn professional and lose a bunch money to the freaks playing on the Mack Tour. Because of having all Titleist clubs in my bag except irons I was horny to try the T100's and was biased to try to throw them in my bag. But it didn't go as I would have liked, spinning them only at around 5,500 rpms no matter the shaft which isn't super playable. We could tell early in the fitting that spin was an issue with my delivery characteristics and needed addressing.

I tested using 7 irons, lofts shown on each club. I used ProV1x for the testing and was limited in shaft combinations that were consistent among each product. I used DG 120 X-100 for every head except the Mizuno (DG 130g X-100, I know it's a very different shaft). I also started to swing slower after the T100 so ball speeds drops are a little misleading. I had a lot more swings than just the screenshots I have provided, I tried other shafts with each model as well, just kept the #'s with the shaft that I could compare and contrast the easiest with.

The fitter said that he had noticed a good 500rpm increase in spin with the Ping heads in fits, so I tried them. Was shocked to see the numbers back up his findings. I was more amazed that the i210 spun higher than the other heads even with a degree less of loft (33*). Never knew something with such a chunky sole could feel so good off the face and with turf interaction. We should have deleted a couple of bad swings from the data to compare the clubs more equal for std deviations, my first swing after waiting for the clubs to be built with each of the ping heads were slow and not great; hence the bigger outliers for std deviation

What do people think about Pings iBlade and i210 models?

I'm a little scared of the chunkyness of the i210's in the shorter clubs, but so many pros still bag the whole set of them.

Also, has anyone else found high spin heads in this category of forgiving player irons?

Thank you for any comments,

Numbers at a glance:

Mizuno MP-20 MMC (DG 130g X-100): 33* Loft (Bent up 1)

Ballspeed: 130.8 (STD DEV. 1.3) Backspin: 5449 (STD DEV.197)

Titleist T100: 34* Loft

Ballspeed: 129.6 (STD DEV. 1.0) Backspin: 5500 (STD DEV.191)

**Start swinging slower at this stage of testing**

Ping iBlade: 34* Loft

Ballspeed: 128.5 (STD DEV. 1.0) Backspin: 5933 (STD DEV.422)

Ping i210: 33* Loft

Ballspeed: 129.6 (STD DEV. 1.7) Backspin: 6344 (STD DEV.410)

Both the iBlades and i210 are great irons. I gamed them both for a bit (i200 but basically the same). I think it's important to remember that mats rip spin off for most people. I was hitting my blades indoors before a trip to Florida earlier this winter and spinning them at 5500. I then had a Trackman lesson with my coach down there and was spinning them at 6800 nearly every shot. That's a huge difference. There is a Flightscope I play on in winter here as well that will only read 7 iron spin at high 4000s when that is in fact not the case. In any event, Pings have very high bounce when compared to other irons and I notice they will spin more off mats as well. In short, I've stopped worrying about that as much when doing indoors fits. I play Srixons at the moment and same deal, they'll be 5500 on a mat but outdoors 7 iron is usually behind its pitch mark.

good players being fit for irons off a mat is a waste of time

I’m a plus handicap and play the i210s. The short irons are actually my favorite part about them. Very consistent yardages and easy to flight etc. I even switched from a specialty wedge to the gap i210 because they’re so consistent. Good luck!

I played both the iblade and i210s and the i210s were superior in my mind. The only thing I did decide to change was I removed the GW and PW and went to the glide 3.0 wedges for them. Full shots were basically the same for both but I found that around the greens I really preferred the glides because I like to play shots with an open club face and it just works better for me with a thinner sole.

0 to plus handicap and I have gamed the iblades ... very solid clubs and much more forgiving than I had anticipated! To me the i210s felt and looked chunky of tight firm fairways.

Thats exactly what I think at address. But so many players that are much better than me game them which blows my mind!

I heard Hovland gamed the i210's based strictly on the trajectory of the short irons. Low, consistent and easy to control

That's beautiful to hear! I know there are really good artificial turfs you can buy (guys at TXG tested theirs and its identical to grass) but the fitter probably had some lower end stuff (QC quad but $10 golf mat ; p )

I had this fear too. I live in Iowa and our course gets baked out and lies can get real thin/tight. I have never had this be an issue. The turf interaction has been outstanding for me. If there is one thing that I would guess any quality club builder/fitter would agree with, it would be that PING clubs “just work”. They aren’t a big hype machine and they aren’t always the prettiest things in the bag but they always perform.

even the best artificial turf is going to forgive an iron hit fat .... if you’re going to try and play the game for your mortgage I’d suggest an outdoor fitting and a trackman. I think Titleist charges roughly $250 for a fitting.

I just recently bought a set of i210 (3-PW).

I went in looking at Mizunos HMB or MMC, 919T and left with the Pings.

The numbers don’t lie.

Feel is superb (never mind forge or cast) as was performance in that I put them ahead of the MMC, HMB and 919T.

They don’t look that bad at all once you get comfortable. I actually got the G410 crossover 17* as well to stretch out my set, blends well.

I couldn't get over the feel of them (AND THEIR CAST!) It was fantastic, and this is coming from a guy who wouldn't change his irons for 9 years because of how good the Mizuno MP-58's felt.

Surprised to hear such a positive push towards the i210 model! Thank you guys so much for all the responses! Keep em' coming!

The exact reason I bought 210s was the launch and spin numbers. Being a low launch and spin guy, the 210s were by far the best fit for me! And they are the softest cast club I have ever hit! Nice thing about these, a Pro can use them and a 15 capper!? Probably why Ping hasn't replaced them yet, hard to beat!?

Awesome! Probably why I can't find these things in the classifieds too, everyone is holding on to them! : o Ping only replaces a club when they make something that's better, they never go backwards - only forward.

I went power spec to make the soles play with a little less bounce. They’re pretty perfect.

Hovland, Westwood & Hatton all won recently with the i210s.

I've had mine for a month or so now and really like them so far - trying to figure out how much of that is the Project X LZ I have in them.

Whatever the answer, that combo feels spot on for me.

Were you a Project X disciple who made a recent switch? The amount of bags these have snuck their way into at the professional level blows my mind for the width of the sole, and them being cast!

I had the PX shafts in my irons years ago but have been playing the KBS Tour-Vs more recently. First experience with the LZ model.

I hear you on the 210 head. If I'm honest, I wanted to try them to see why they were so popular. I was concerned about the cast head but read a lot of reviews and the elastomer insert does result in a very, dare I say, forged feel.

The head is a little larger than I'm used to but as my star fades it may be time for some help. I have a feeling these will be in the bag for a while.

the i210 are superb irons

Makes me wonder why I would play smaller irons than pros when my ball striking is not nearly close to there’s. I’ve always loved ping products, maybe time to give the i210s a go!

the iBlade's the best compromise between a forged traditional blade and a modern cavity back. It literally is changing my iron game...from no confidence to brimming full of it.

I matched mine with an old tech XP s300 and i cannot believe how good these shafts are. Wonder why TT didn't push this much... it feels better than Nippons. and better than the DG120 series

Exactly! I remember someone saying "Play the biggest irons you can stand to look at". I have always been so particular for looks, feel and turf interaction. I thought all these larger profiles were inconsistent and susceptible to massive flyers ect. Pros wouldn't be bagging them if they were ANY less consistent than a blade. With the forgiveness, these are MORE consistent than a blade.

Nice to finally get someone talking about the iBlade! This discussion has been full of i210 baggers. Keen to learn more from iBlade users. And you can find a set of iBlades for under $500 : 0

What iron where you using previous to the iBlade?

I had been through Srixon z945, z965s, Z forged, cobra MBs, then Mizuno MP20 HMBs, then back to my old old Nike Blades. So i have suffered lol. paid my dues.

I have gone back to my iblades after several other sets which include 785s and mp 18 combo set. Nothing else I’ve used has been any better.

Been through a lot of sticks that last few years! What made you go to the older model iBlade over those newer models? Eye opening fitting experience ?

Try the 919t ?

how about blueprints or s55’s?

most guys generally revert to s55 after trying iblades... due to higher spin

Tried the 919 Tour last year and liked them. But decided to stick with what I had in the MP-58;s. This year I honestly forgot about them during testing when the fitter asked about what heads I had my eye on heading in. Blueprints were beautiful, but i certainly didn't want less forgiveness than what I was playing. Spin went down to around 5500 again with them.

s55's tend to be higher spin than iBlades? Can anyone else attest?

I play the iBlade, as you can see in my sig, I play all Ping, I've demoed the i200 and i210, in terms of feel, they are almost identical, but my numbers and overall performance is much better with the iBlade, I have a set of Callaway TA Prototypes (which I love), but the iBlades are much more forgiving, I don't see them going anywhere anytime soon...just try out other clubs and stay with you think looks and performs best, good luck.