Ping G400 Driver, Fairway Woods and Crossovers (Including Bubba's Custom Driver and 3 Wood): Shot at

[3woodvt]

The driver, fw, and hybrids (maybe one crossover, but still not sure I get along with them tbh) will be in the bag as soon as I can get fit.

 

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From the spy site:

 

"The sum total of the enhanced design yields a clubhead with combined MOI over 9000 (9263 to be exact), which PING says makes the G400 the most forgiving driver on the market (by plenty) despite its 445cc footprint. The G400 has a heel/toe inertia of 5342 (g-cm^2). Assuming that's true, the G400 isn't just the most forgiving driver in golf, it doesn't even fit on our CG/MOI chart. We'll need to expand our x-axis to make room.

 

Yeah… that’s right, killer MOI in a sub-460cc package."

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Even if the G400 gave me exactly the same distance and dispersion as my current driver, I would still get it on looks and sound alone.

 

It's bad Word not allowed. And no crazy 17 yard claims year after year from PING.

 

Itching to demo this thing.

That is amazing.

 

I've noticed the G launched higher than the G30 and I lofted down. With the new loft at 8.5 vs 9 on the new LS versions I assume it launches higher than its predecessors as well. More forgiving, better sound, smaller head, and higher ball speeds equals me wanting to compare my fitted G with this new club.

 

The G was a fairway machine for me and this thing is off the charts compared to any club before it, it will be a homerun for Ping.

[^m9]

Wow that heel toe moi number is awesome. What's the USGA max? 5700?

 

Not 100% sure, but I think it's 5900?

 

Thought the sumo2 took it to the limit which was 5900. Does shaft torque play into MOI calculations?

 

I think they only measure the head for it's resistance to twisting (i.e. they perch it up on a machine/holding pins), but I could be wrong.

[^m9]

The driver, fw, and hybrids (maybe one crossover, but still not sure I get along with them tbh) will be in the bag as soon as I can get fit.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the spy site:

 

"The sum total of the enhanced design yields a clubhead with combined MOI over 9000 (9263 to be exact), which PING says makes the G400 the most forgiving driver on the market (by plenty) despite its 445cc footprint. The G400 has a heel/toe inertia of 5342 (g-cm^2). Assuming that's true, the G400 isn't just the most forgiving driver in golf, it doesn't even fit on our CG/MOI chart. We'll need to expand our x-axis to make room.

 

Yeah… that’s right, killer MOI in a sub-460cc package."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Even if the G400 gave me exactly the same distance and dispersion as my current driver, I would still get it on looks and sound alone.

 

It's bad Word not allowed. And no crazy 17 yard claims year after year from PING.

 

Itching to demo this thing.

That is amazing.

 

I've noticed the G launched higher than the G30 and I lofted down. With the new loft at 8.5 vs 9 on the new LS versions I assume it launches higher than its predecessors as well. More forgiving, better sound, smaller head, and higher ball speeds equals me wanting to compare my fitted G with this new club.

 

The G was a fairway machine for me and this thing is off the charts compared to any club before it, it will be a homerun for Ping.

 

I'm thinking the same thing. I'm hoping to see more significant differences in stability coming from my G30. It's about time I upgraded my driver (the rubber weight thing in the back broke off, so now all that's there is the metal screw).

 

I will definitely demo and get fit of course. I should be the first on the list at the shop around here.

[BlackM00Nlight]

Want to get fit for this driver/fairway line. My Nike driver and 3 wood might be in trouble for the more forgiving G400 line.

[Shawn Paul]

I like PING Stuff but holy hell is this stuff ugly. Not bashing PING by any means but I've stepped back objectively and looked at these clubs and they are not sexy. They are the Honda's of golf clubs. Work really well but never sexy. I'm sure these perform outstanding and I'll definitely hit them.

 

I think the putter offerings from PING have much more panache.

[davo32683]

Tried the G400 today at Continental Golf and was blown away by the ball speeds I was getting compared to a well-fit 917D2 driver I'm playing. The G400 LST was consistently 3MPH higher.

 

They finally got the sound/feel fixed too!

[3woodvt]

Tried the G400 today at Continental Golf and was blown away by the ball speeds I was getting compared to a well-fit 917D2 driver I'm playing. The G400 LST was consistently 3MPH higher.

 

They finally got the sound/feel fixed too!

Continental? If so I got to drop by there and compare my G against it as well. What shaft(s) did you try with the LST? Thanks in advance. SS?

[pitchinwedge]

^^3woodvt, don't think that's you in the avatar? What's the story behind the pic?

[davo32683]

Tried the G400 today at Continental Golf and was blown away by the ball speeds I was getting compared to a well-fit 917D2 driver I'm playing. The G400 LST was consistently 3MPH higher.

 

They finally got the sound/feel fixed too!

Continental? If so I got to drop by there and compare my G against it as well. What shaft(s) did you try with the LST? Thanks in advance. SS?

 

Yep, I work about 10 minutes from them. Sadly, they know me well! lol

 

I tried the stock Alta in stiff and a Di6X they have. Alta didn't do much for me. It's a touch soft honestly for my 110-115 SS and got lower ball speeds than with my 917. Di6X made it come to life for me.

 

Justin said they didn't have any of the other shafts in yet, but they have ordered the whole package of Tour shafts and other $45 upcharge shafts (Kuro Kage DC, HZRDUS Yellow, XTorsion Copper)

[davo32683]

I would have tried more shafts, but none of my collection has Ping adapters. I've written them off the past couple of years due to sound/feel even though the results were pretty solid. In any case, I've never seen ball speeds like what I saw today on their LM. Must be something to the aerodynamics of that head??

[3woodvt]

I would have tried more shafts, but none of my collection has Ping adapters. I've written them off the past couple of years due to sound/feel even though the results were pretty solid. In any case, I've never seen ball speeds like what I saw today on their LM. Must be something to the aerodynamics of that head??

thank you

[3woodvt]

^^3woodvt, don't think that's you in the avatar? What's the story behind the pic?

that is Smokey from the Movie The Big Lebowski. Mark it 8 Dude...Mark it zero...next frame says Walter. Gotta watch it. Cult follower here.

[D0ch0l1d4y]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

[Stetson]

Last night a member said it is available for $15

[pitchinwedge]

^^3woodvt, don't think that's you in the avatar? What's the story behind the pic?

that is Smokey from the Movie The Big Lebowski. Mark it 8 Dude...Mark it zero...next frame says Walter. Gotta watch it. Cult follower here.

 

Whew! Just didn't think the guy in the epic could be a serious club ho or WRXer!

[jrhyno]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

Can someone educate me on how that works? I understand that the heads are adjustable, but I like playing with them set at neutral (I have my shafts spine aligned that way), and would prefer a 9.0 or 9.5 or somewhere in between if possible.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

[3woodvt]

I would have tried more shafts, but none of my collection has Ping adapters. I've written them off the past couple of years due to sound/feel even though the results were pretty solid. In any case, I've never seen ball speeds like what I saw today on their LM. Must be something to the aerodynamics of that head??

I'll try and stop in. Got fitted last year with shaft w Justin so I'll stick my gamer in the new head and compare.

[Foreleft]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

Can someone educate me on how that works? I understand that the heads are adjustable, but I like playing with them set at neutral (I have my shafts spine aligned that way), and would prefer a 9.0 or 9.5 or somewhere in between if possible.

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

 

I will tell them, for instance, that I want 9.25* loft, 2* open face when at neutral setting.

[Stetson]

I thought Ping wouldn't allow any Spec beyond loft to be specified, was that false? Can I request a 258 CT? ?

[G-Bone]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

All LST's are exact loft as stated on G400, per Ping rep... there will be no digital lofting options this year.

 

You can also order LST with hot melt in toe, heel or neutral for draw, fade or sound changes.

 

Finally, I spent some time on Trackman with G400 LST tonight... the thing is unreal. Played G30 LST, got beat by G LST. G LST got beat by Epic Sub Zero. Tonight G400 LST made a mockery of all of them! Legit 10 yards longer in the air plus 5 on the ground! My AoA is 5 up, swing speed right at 100, carrying 250 and more at times... according to Trackman 100% maxed out for my speed. Ball speed was in the high 140's... I've never been there.... standard for me is low 140's. Ping Tour shaft upgrade is great, but AD-BB beat it out for me. Not only is it longer, but considerably straighter and more consistent than Epic... Much easier to turn over. Excited to have it in the bag!

 

PS - Blown away by the sound and feel improvements... night and day compared to older G's

[bluejeeprubi]

I like PING Stuff but holy hell is this stuff ugly. Not bashing PING by any means but I've stepped back objectively and looked at these clubs and they are not sexy. They are the Honda's of golf clubs. Work really well but never sexy. I'm sure these perform outstanding and I'll definitely hit them.

 

I think the putter offerings from PING have much more panache.

 

Damn ugly Honda cars

 

[bluejeeprubi]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

All LST's are exact loft as stated on G400, per Ping rep... there will be no digital lofting options this year.

 

You can also order LST with hot melt in toe, heel or neutral for draw, fade or sound changes.

 

Finally, I spent some time on Trackman with G400 LST tonight... the thing is unreal. Played G30 LST, got beat by G LST. G LST got beat by Epic Sub Zero. Tonight G400 LST made a mockery of all of them! Legit 10 yards longer in the air plus 5 on the ground! My AoA is 5 up, swing speed right at 100, carrying 250 and more at times... according to Trackman 100% maxed out for my speed. Ball speed was in the high 140's... I've never been there.... standard for me is low 140's. Ping Tour shaft upgrade is great, but AD-BB beat it out for me. Not only is it longer, but considerably straighter and more consistent than Epic... Much easier to turn over. Excited to have it in the bag!

 

 

Guess I'll call tomorrow and ask why there was an upcharge to have mine digital lofted then.

[PingGuy68]

I like PING Stuff but holy hell is this stuff ugly. Not bashing PING by any means but I've stepped back objectively and looked at these clubs and they are not sexy. They are the Honda's of golf clubs. Work really well but never sexy. I'm sure these perform outstanding and I'll definitely hit them.

 

I think the putter offerings from PING have much more panache.

 

I could not disagree more. I love the look of the new driver, woods, hybrids. If I didn't have barely used G30 and G gear I would be all over them. Actually, still thinking of which pieces to sell for a piece of the new line. I want the G Stretch, or maybe a hybrid.

 

Ahhhh, my G30 3W from the tee is long and the 5W off the deck is a sure thing. My G hyb is crazy easy to hit..........MUST BE STRONG!

[G-Bone]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

All LST's are exact loft as stated on G400, per Ping rep... there will be no digital lofting options this year.

 

You can also order LST with hot melt in toe, heel or neutral for draw, fade or sound changes.

 

Finally, I spent some time on Trackman with G400 LST tonight... the thing is unreal. Played G30 LST, got beat by G LST. G LST got beat by Epic Sub Zero. Tonight G400 LST made a mockery of all of them! Legit 10 yards longer in the air plus 5 on the ground! My AoA is 5 up, swing speed right at 100, carrying 250 and more at times... according to Trackman 100% maxed out for my speed. Ball speed was in the high 140's... I've never been there.... standard for me is low 140's. Ping Tour shaft upgrade is great, but AD-BB beat it out for me. Not only is it longer, but considerably straighter and more consistent than Epic... Much easier to turn over. Excited to have it in the bag!

 

 

Guess I'll call tomorrow and ask why there was an upcharge to have mine digital lofted then.

 

If it's LST head I would too.

[bluejeeprubi]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

All LST's are exact loft as stated on G400, per Ping rep... there will be no digital lofting options this year.

 

You can also order LST with hot melt in toe, heel or neutral for draw, fade or sound changes.

 

Finally, I spent some time on Trackman with G400 LST tonight... the thing is unreal. Played G30 LST, got beat by G LST. G LST got beat by Epic Sub Zero. Tonight G400 LST made a mockery of all of them! Legit 10 yards longer in the air plus 5 on the ground! My AoA is 5 up, swing speed right at 100, carrying 250 and more at times... according to Trackman 100% maxed out for my speed. Ball speed was in the high 140's... I've never been there.... standard for me is low 140's. Ping Tour shaft upgrade is great, but AD-BB beat it out for me. Not only is it longer, but considerably straighter and more consistent than Epic... Much easier to turn over. Excited to have it in the bag!

 

 

Guess I'll call tomorrow and ask why there was an upcharge to have mine digital lofted then.

 

If it's LST head I would too.

 

Wouldn't surprise me. Couldn't get an answer if the copper is the real deal or not.

[Onespeed24]

Weird numbers from Crossfield, he's normally consistently hitting a number around 260 with every driver on the market. 262 as normal with the LS Tec, but numbers really drop off with the other two. 244 with the SF Tec with 2800 spin and 248 with the normal version (which he hit extra shots with to try and get more "normal" numbers) spinning up at 2900.

 

Maybe his swing was just off when they were capturing the data. His on course results had the standard and LST much closer. The SFT is just not a good fit for his swing, so no surprise his numbers and on course results were worse than the others. I could probably hit the LST much further in raw distance than the others, but I'd always be in the right rough or worse. This is what I love about this series, all the same look and general feel, but different bias for different swings. Heading for a fitting tomorrow, bringing my G SFT gamer to see what's what. Even if I get similar numbers, the sound alone may have me dropping the cash for the new one... and I need a FW anyways, so will almost certainly pick one of those up.

[Onespeed24]

They are not charging $75 upgrade for a "made for" shaft, are they?

 

Upgrade cost:

Atmos 350

GD AD 385

Tensei Pro White 370

Oban White 405

 

So yea... $75 for a "made for" isn't out of the question

 

That's outrageous - wouldn't all of those be cheaper to just buy the aftermarket new?

There are companies out there that absolutely will not make a "made for". It takes more time and money to make a specific shaft for a company. A lot of companies simply just won't do it.

 

I appreciate that this may be the case from time to time, but 4 things:

 

1. They are offering a made-for HZRDUS yellow as a "slight upcharge" shaft, so I don't think PING is that company.

 

2. Other OEMs offer some of the same real-deal shafts for less (for example, Titleist offers the Kiyoshi white for $375).

 

3. Notwithstanding your point, I do find it a bit off-putting that I need to pay retail prices for the shafts. If I'm already paying $400 for the head (presumably some of which is being paid for the shaft), why am I paying $400 for a $400 shaft, especially since they likely order enough to justify a break from the shaft manufacturers (see 2 above).

 

4. I play 80g shafts in my fairways and I'm not going to pay an extra $200-400 just to have a fairway wood I'm comfortable hitting.

 

I'm not saying I wouldn't buy PING, far from it - I love their clubs and I can't wait to pick up a G with a Tour 75, but I just feel like they really just go out of their way to hinder people from buying aftermarket so they can keep you within the sphere of what they think is best. I almost see them as Apple that way - stay in their ecosystem and you'll be fine, but if you want to play around with it on your own terms, you'll end up having a tough time.

 

Anyway, rant over...I really am looking forward to hitting this stuff.

 

Keep in mind you're already $100 less than the Epic or M1 to begin with. I know its' not the entire difference, but $100 is a good chunk towards any upgraded shaft you may want.

 

I tend to agree with your theory that Ping really wants you to use their shafts, or at least one of a handful of shafts handpicked by them. They probably feel the majority of golfers will get the most out of the club that way, and likely have data to back that up. They can sort of guarantee results with those shafts, they probably aren't as comfortable making any claims with a shaft they have not done extensive testing with.

 

FWIW, I spent a lot of time and money trying to find a better shaft for my G than the stock Alta, only to end up putting it back in and selling the others at a loss. The stock shafts are good, and designed in conjunction with the head, as a system of sorts. If you know a particular shaft works for you then you likely already have it and just need a Ping adapter and you're in business. If it turns out one of the latest (most expensive) upgrade options work for you, then its the price you have to pay for better drives. The cost is the cost, and business models aside, only you can decide if its worth it or not. I look at it this way, Ping sells you one driver (perhaps with an upgraded shaft at your cost) once every 18 months. While the tide may have been stemmed somewhat recently, other MFGRs will try to sell you 2-3 drivers in that same timeframe. Dollar for dollar you're still ahead with Ping's sales model.

Either way, I just hope it turns out the stock shaft or at the very least one of the low cost upgraded shafts works best for me on this one.

[Hedgehog]

If the normal G400 head is MOI 9263, how much is the MOI on the other models, LS/SF?

[D0ch0l1d4y]

The tour shaft is a really good shaft, for me at least. I have the Tour80x in my G, so I ordered the HZRDS yellow so I'll have two options. Something tells me i'll probably end up in the Tour80.

[ace036]

Anyone comment if they still offer the digital loft selection? If so, what's that usually cost?

 

All LST's are exact loft as stated on G400, per Ping rep... there will be no digital lofting options this year.

 

You can also order LST with hot melt in toe, heel or neutral for draw, fade or sound changes.

 

Finally, I spent some time on Trackman with G400 LST tonight... the thing is unreal. Played G30 LST, got beat by G LST. G LST got beat by Epic Sub Zero. Tonight G400 LST made a mockery of all of them! Legit 10 yards longer in the air plus 5 on the ground! My AoA is 5 up, swing speed right at 100, carrying 250 and more at times... according to Trackman 100% maxed out for my speed. Ball speed was in the high 140's... I've never been there.... standard for me is low 140's. Ping Tour shaft upgrade is great, but AD-BB beat it out for me. Not only is it longer, but considerably straighter and more consistent than Epic... Much easier to turn over. Excited to have it in the bag!

 

PS - Blown away by the sounds and feel improvements... night and day compared to older G's

 

 

Wow, seriously? No digital lofting options/requests allowed? That's a bummer.