Ping G400 Drivers

[Wooderson]

I'll admit I'm a ping fan and have been looking forward to this club for some time. I score around 88-95 on most days. Been a long time since I've measured my swing speed. Last I checked it was low 100's. I hit seven iron 155-160.

 

I've played a g25, g30, and g driver. My favorite driver of all time was a regular g 9° with a wishon black 85 in regular flex. That club was easy to swing and long. I added 2 grams of hot melt so it sounded good. Currently game a GBB with a kaili 70 stiff at 44.5.

 

The g400 is the real deal. Looks are good. I personally can't see the smaller size. At address I don't notice the crown gadgets. I was worried about the bumps at the back. Don't even notice them. I hit the regular and lst. Hit both with Alta stiff stock length and my older tour 65 regular that plays 44.5. With my high cap swing I was getting low pulls with the Alta but they would be playable and were long. Threw in the tour shaft and launch increased and the pulls reduced. After the first hit I knew I would be buying one. The sound is still powerful. Not a ping or Ting sound. More of a crack.

 

Hit the lst. I've never hit one. Didn't think I had the game, but I can say it is more forgiving than any other driver I have hit outside the other Pings. I had zero problems losing the ball to the right except for one bad swing. The face angle must match my swing line perfectly as it went straight, straight, straight.

 

I would like to know the total weight of the ping with Alta. It felt heavier than my GBB. I didn't hit on a monitor so I can't say that the ping was longer but the sound and the fact the g400 inspires so much confidence is enough for me to get one.

[ex0dus]

I have a question. Will the 445 cc head be as forgiving as the 460 cc head for a 18 handicap?

The answer is "it depends." The 445cc head will be easier to square up due to less mass. The CG is lower than even in the G Driver it's replacing. The effective MOI of the entire driver is said to be over 9200, making it easier to get airborne. The face is forged so the ball will come off faster than other non-forged faced drivers. So in theory yes. But you have to get fit. Our Pro got in the G400. He says they are the absolute truth. So for me, I'll be taking my Yonex shaft and dropping it into the G400, hopefully in August.

 

 

LOL don't you mean 5200?

 

No he meant 9200 which is the sum of the vertical and horizontal MOI. Callaway created the total MOI as a marketing ploy for the epic. It's completely irrelevant as vertical MOI is pretty much useless. With that being said the g400 is said to have the highest horizontal MOI measurement.

 

 

Thanks for clarifying. I believe the G had the highest MOI of any driver last year at just over 5000 so I am not surprised that the G400 maintains that distinction.

[lolo_head]

I have a question. Will the 445 cc head be as forgiving as the 460 cc head for a 18 handicap?

The answer is "it depends." The 445cc head will be easier to square up due to less mass. The CG is lower than even in the G Driver it's replacing. The effective MOI of the entire driver is said to be over 9200, making it easier to get airborne. The face is forged so the ball will come off faster than other non-forged faced drivers. So in theory yes. But you have to get fit. Our Pro got in the G400. He says they are the absolute truth. So for me, I'll be taking my Yonex shaft and dropping it into the G400, hopefully in August.

 

 

LOL don't you mean 5200?

 

No he meant 9200 which is the sum of the vertical and horizontal MOI. Callaway created the total MOI as a marketing ploy for the epic. It's completely irrelevant as vertical MOI is pretty much useless. With that being said the g400 is said to have the highest horizontal MOI measurement.

 

If that is the case, shame on Callaway. They just lost some points in my book.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

I have a question. Will the 445 cc head be as forgiving as the 460 cc head for a 18 handicap?

The answer is "it depends." The 445cc head will be easier to square up due to less mass. The CG is lower than even in the G Driver it's replacing. The effective MOI of the entire driver is said to be over 9200, making it easier to get airborne. The face is forged so the ball will come off faster than other non-forged faced drivers. So in theory yes. But you have to get fit. Our Pro got in the G400. He says they are the absolute truth. So for me, I'll be taking my Yonex shaft and dropping it into the G400, hopefully in August.

 

 

LOL don't you mean 5200?

 

No he meant 9200 which is the sum of the vertical and horizontal MOI. Callaway created the total MOI as a marketing ploy for the epic. It's completely irrelevant as vertical MOI is pretty much useless. With that being said the g400 is said to have the highest horizontal MOI measurement.

 

If that is the case, shame on Callaway. They just lost some points in my book.

lol, "just" lost some points? you mean the serial marketing of every new driver release being 17 yards longer you never had a problem with? atleast MOI is a legitmate talking point.

[BlkNGld]

you mean the serial marketing of every new driver release being 17 yards longer you never had a problem with? atleast MOI is a legitmate talking point.

 

You've got the wrong company. It wasn't Callaway that made that claim.

 

And the company that did, only did it once.

[lolo_head]

lol, "just" lost some points? you mean the serial marketing of every new driver release being 17 yards longer you never had a problem with? atleast MOI is a legitmate talking point.

 

Taking a concept that the customer/audience is not nuanced in (MOI) and skewing it (using total MOI when only horizontal MOI matters) is a bush league move, IMO.

 

I've been playing for 3 years now and it took me 3 months to realize that everything is supposedly "longer" than everyone else and anything else previous. All "longer" claims don't register with me anymore and stopped doing so 4 months into my playing career.

[MBBG]

Hit the standard 9* G400 today with the stock Alta stiff turned down 1*. They didn't have the LS or any tour shafts. It truly feels and sounds awesome using TP5.

 

Good ones were the same spin and distance as good ones with my M1 440 8.5, but less dropoff on bad ones and less curvature to shots in general. The Alta shaft lacks a little feel but it's not bad at all. Can't wait to get one outdoors to try on the course along with the Stretch.

[Mii]

Tried G400 with stock Alta CB and Ping Pro 65 shafts at local Golf Galaxy, it feels solid / straight with great impact sound. I see average of 5-10 yards carry gain, not much, though the ball flight and spin stayed fairly consistent. Would love to see if Ping can offer more custom shaft options.

 

Anyone knows the OEM shaft manufacture for Ping Pro 65/75? Is it Alta?

[bluerrpilot]

I think Aldila has been making their shafts for quite some time but not 100% sure

[sandy]

You are probably on the right track. The only reason I was ever given about woods being scrapped was the lofts were lower than designed. That was years ago pre internet rumor diarrhea. Now they only say the product is delayed. Serves no purpose to discuss reasons with customer or for that matter the retailer. Too many details I imagine would just start unfounded conclusions on sites like these.

 

One thing I've noticed over the years is ping will never sell a wood that digitally measures lower than the marked loft. Those heads are all scrapped. Never could get an answer if they send or save some of those for tour players

 

Never say never. My Ping G30 was custom WRX order digitally lofted to 9.5* and it was a stamped 10.5 head. However, All of my other digitally lofted ping clubs did have a lower stamped loft marked on the head than what I requested e.g. Requested 9.5 and got an 8* marked head.

 

Sorry I should have been clearer. They will never sell a head that is lower loft than their lowest marked club. 9 and 10.5 for example. No problem selling a 10.5 that measures down to 9.1 to 10.4. But will not sell a 8.9 or lower in the marked 9 degree heads. I was always looking for something lower than 8 or 7.5 when those were the low lofts. Never got and 8 or a 7.5, best was 8.2 and 7.7..

[WarEagleGolf]

Why did I order this? I hate waiting.

 

Anyway, slapped a xlr8 in it (my current gamer shaft) 5mph ball speed increase and so much more forgiving. After hitting ten each, then 3 and 3...guy just looked at me and said, so you're buying this right? Yes...yes I am. Luckily I have the fitted shaft already. The stock and tour shafts just aren't for me. Get the swing weight right and kapow...

 

The dispersion made my buddy( and normal playing partner) joke that he wouldn't be playing me for money as often. The forgiveness, is absurd with no loss in ball speed. Even off center carried almost the same, hit low bullets, hit fades, draws, etc. All around the same ball speed and total distance. Can't wait to get this on the course. All hit with prov1s.

 

Not sure how they did it, but they made a driver I hit really well...better. Not crazy gains, but you can't hit this thing bad if your swing is remotely consistent. Felt lighter, but swinfweight was negligible with same shaft.

[myspinonit]

I'm interested in hearing feed back from some higher handicappers with slower swing speeds. I have the G regular flex and average about 235 off of the tee. Went into GG yesterday to try out the same setup. Looks are nice and subtle for people who prefer no distractions . I prefer the bright blue shaft and blue crown of the G. Sound was amazing. Felt like I was crushing every shot. My results were around the same as my G driver. So the question here is are only higher swing speeds benefitting with the increased speed and distance of the G400? I am yet to see a review of anything other than the LST drivers and ones which upgraded shafts.

 

I'm an 18 cap, 80mph driver with more aggressive transition, 66 years old, strong for my age. I posted a reply earlier in the "Ping Driver - 2017" thread.

 

I hated the G with Alta shaft and tested it again inside a few months ago against my G25 stock reg. The fitter said to save my money as the G25 performs better for you with a good swing. My miss with it is if I get a bit OTT.

 

I did try the G400 last week. The stock reg shaft felt like a wobbly noodle for me with mostly low pulls. Tried it at a range. If I tried consciously to get more height it just spun and dropped short. Better dispersion and longer with my G25 with stock reg that I had with me to compare.

 

Tried the G400 a couple of days later indoors at another retailer (again with my G25 to compare) and still found the Reg Alpha CB a noodle, so the one I tried at another retailer wasn't an "off" shaft. The fitter tried me in a stock stiff Alpha CB in both the G40010.5 and G400 SFT 12*. Much better results. Better feel than my G25 and less spin generally, great control. Some slight distance improvement, but more in feel. Then we tried the Kuro Kage upgrade shaft in stiff in the 12* and in the 10.5. It felt a bit smoother to me than the stock stiff. Fitter said it was giving me slightly less spin too. Dispersion was generally good for me that day with my own driver and the demos, but it seemed the SFT set @-1 with KK stiff particularly went dead straight, every time, launch 14-15.

 

I hit a couple of what I felt were too low shots in the standard G400. However the fitter said i still got great roll-out on those and the spin is slightly lower for me in the standard G400, so it might be better overall. Too bad there doesn't seem to be a Kuro Kage regular around to try as i'm gun-shy on spending that kind of coin until I do.

 

At the end, after feeling grooved with the KK stiff, I hit maybe 10 with just my G25 stock reg, that I had been hitting from time to time anyway for comparison. The tees were higher than I would have liked for the testing, but at the end all I could do was hit my G25 very high on the face, dangerously close to the crown, (and I've never skymarked a driver). None of those shots even registered on the monitor. I may have just been tired by that point, or I may have had a different tempo going by then that didn't translate back to that driver. Another reason for me to wait to try the KK in reg (and hopefully on a range vs my G25) in case I was overswinging in the test.

 

FWIW.

 

(Edit: If it helps anyone how it might compare for them, I couldn't get the Callaway XR 16 Regular bend profile to work for me either, for the couple of months I had it. I felt I never knew where the head was or was able to control it. Finally in early Spring I had my coach look at me hitting the XR16 and my G25. He said that he didn't know how i could possibly hit the XR, that he would have to rework my swing complely...just go back to the G25. In fact I had transitioned back into a big OTT move with that club just trying to control it with a cast move, and I'm just now getting closer back to my normal straight or slight draw. )

[mws92]

I have a question. Will the 445 cc head be as forgiving as the 460 cc head for a 18 handicap?

The answer is "it depends." The 445cc head will be easier to square up due to less mass. The CG is lower than even in the G Driver it's replacing. The effective MOI of the entire driver is said to be over 9200, making it easier to get airborne. The face is forged so the ball will come off faster than other non-forged faced drivers. So in theory yes. But you have to get fit. Our Pro got in the G400. He says they are the absolute truth. So for me, I'll be taking my Yonex shaft and dropping it into the G400, hopefully in August.

 

 

LOL don't you mean 5200?

 

No he meant 9200 which is the sum of the vertical and horizontal MOI. Callaway created the total MOI as a marketing ploy for the epic. It's completely irrelevant as vertical MOI is pretty much useless. With that being said the g400 is said to have the highest horizontal MOI measurement.

 

How is vertical MOI useless? Proper spin from off center hits high and low are pretty important to performance.

[The_Perrycox]

I had the pleasure of trying out the LST this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I'd be able to keep the LST in play, but I guess my swing has gotten much better in the last year and a half and I don't need to rely on the draw bias of the SFT to hit em straight. The sound alone is enough to warrant a switch, but I'm going to have to bring my current gamer in to compare against all 3 versions. The LST was flying dead straight with a nice baby draw at the end. Spin seemed a bit too low for me, in the 1500-1800 range. At my swing speed avg of 98 MPH I'm afraid the ball may just fall out of the sky. I tried both the stock color shifting shaft as well as the Hzrdrus Yellow. The stock shaft felt like a whippy noodle to me, and I couldn't keep the ball from ballooning straight up. The Hzrdus felt amazing, but I'm not too sure of the upcharge for that shaft. Someone said $333 somewhere else, but that may be for something different. No way I can shell out nearly eight bones for a driver after tax!

 

I'll be bringing my G30 SFT with the Tour 65 Regular in for a more thorough side by side once the drivers are actually available to walk home with the same day. Driver is one of my strong suits and I really have zero need to replace mine. The sound of the G400 is so much better though, I'll buy one if the numbers match up.

[davo32683]

I had the pleasure of trying out the LST this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I'd be able to keep the LST in play, but I guess my swing has gotten much better in the last year and a half and I don't need to rely on the draw bias of the SFT to hit em straight. The sound alone is enough to warrant a switch, but I'm going to have to bring my current gamer in to compare against all 3 versions. The LST was flying dead straight with a nice baby draw at the end. Spin seemed a bit too low for me, in the 1500-1800 range. At my swing speed avg of 98 MPH I'm afraid the ball may just fall out of the sky. I tried both the stock color shifting shaft as well as the Hzrdrus Yellow. The stock shaft felt like a whippy noodle to me, and I couldn't keep the ball from ballooning straight up. The Hzrdus felt amazing, but I'm not too sure of the upcharge for that shaft. Someone said $333 somewhere else, but that may be for something different. No way I can shell out nearly eight bones for a driver after tax!

 

I'll be bringing my G30 SFT with the Tour 65 Regular in for a more thorough side by side once the drivers are actually available to walk home with the same day. Driver is one of my strong suits and I really have zero need to replace mine. The sound of the G400 is so much better though, I'll buy one if the numbers match up.

 

The HZRDUS is a $75 upgrade.

[snagy2000]

Hzrdus T1100 is probably the shaft they were speaking $300+.

[Wooderson]

I have a question. Will the 445 cc head be as forgiving as the 460 cc head for a 18 handicap?

The answer is "it depends." The 445cc head will be easier to square up due to less mass. The CG is lower than even in the G Driver it's replacing. The effective MOI of the entire driver is said to be over 9200, making it easier to get airborne. The face is forged so the ball will come off faster than other non-forged faced drivers. So in theory yes. But you have to get fit. Our Pro got in the G400. He says they are the absolute truth. So for me, I'll be taking my Yonex shaft and dropping it into the G400, hopefully in August.

 

 

LOL don't you mean 5200?

 

No he meant 9200 which is the sum of the vertical and horizontal MOI. Callaway created the total MOI as a marketing ploy for the epic. It's completely irrelevant as vertical MOI is pretty much useless. With that being said the g400 is said to have the highest horizontal MOI measurement.

 

How is vertical MOI useless? Proper spin from off center hits high and low are pretty important to performance.

The Roll design of the driver helps with vertical miss hits in regards to spin and launch. MOI helps with minimizing the loss of ball speed on off center hits. Hitting the ball high or low on the face will not twist the face vertically much. Hitting it off-center horizontally will twist it much more noticeably.

 

Tom has addressed this. I'll find it.

[jongalt55]

The HZRDUS is a $75 upgrade.

 

I was quoted $75 for the HZRDUS 75. They said the 65 remained a $300-something upcharge.

[Stetson]

Someone said you can purchase shafts only from PING. Anyone looked into the pricing on that HZDRUS or XTorsion if bought a la carte?

[davo32683]

I ordered the x torsion by itself. Ran me like $85 from my club

[The_Perrycox]

Well slap my arse and butter my biscuits, that's a much friendlier price for the Hzrdus Yellow. Now I really can't wait to test it again!

[Oknows]

Tried G400 with stock Alta CB and Ping Pro 65 shafts at local Golf Galaxy, it feels solid / straight with great impact sound. I see average of 5-10 yards carry gain, not much, though the ball flight and spin stayed fairly consistent. Would love to see if Ping can offer more custom shaft options.

 

Anyone knows the OEM shaft manufacture for Ping Pro 65/75? Is it Alta?

 

Pretty sure UST makes the tour shafts. Very similar to Elements Chrome.

[15th Club]

I hit a 9 degree G400 yesterday. The first thing I asked for was the Tour 65 in S flex. I was surprised at how heavy and stout that shaft felt in the G400. A very non-OEM feel. I think it is a very good shaft; I have hit other older Ping heads with that shaft and liked it. The G400 will, I think, make people re-think their usual favorite shafts.

 

So then I went to the stock Alta. Much more fun and easier to hit for me. I am not at all opposed to counter-balanced shafts, but I haven't been comfortable with all of them. (I keep hoping that I'll find a counter-balanced shaft that will allow me to put a heavier static weight shaft in driver, in the interest of helping me hit more fairways with driver.)

 

Anyway, the Alta was great! I think I'd put a piece of tape over the 55 so that I never thought about that number. Didn't feel like an ultra-lightweight at all. It did look, to the naked eye without Trackman, like it was very spinny. But the G400 head was very un-spinny.

 

Sound of the G400 head is just spectacular. The look is very good. I expect that the Ping tour staffs will take an immediate liking to this head.

 

Much fun at the driving range!

[sandy]

The first day they had 13 PGA players and 25 worldwide put the G400 in their bag, so sounds like they like it. The surprising stat is how many picked the LS version unlike the past where the standard was the most used..

[Kball10]

I finally had the opportunity to hit the G400 today at an Edwin Watts store. They did not have the x-torsion shaft and the tour shaft was only available in a stiff - which is too much for me. I got the best results with LST 8.5 head. I wanted to try 10 LST, but they did not have it. My spin was 1800-2000 with a carry distance of a little over 230 which is good for me. The regular G400 had a little better feel for me, but was spinning about 2500 rpm. The LST was reaching a lower peak height, but was carrying further and rolling out further. I am thinking the 10 LST might be better for me. The Alta shaft felt really good. They have a vendor reps doing fittings on Friday so I can going to stop by and try again.

 

The look, sound and feel of the club are really good.

 

Is the x-torsion a counter balanced shaft? If not they must be doing something to adjust the swing weight.

[Stetson]

X-Torsion is counter balanced

[Kball10]

X-Torsion is counter balanced

 

Thanks - I hope the rep has that shaft on Friday. I really think I will like it.

[boycer]

Played the standard 10.5 with alta stiff today in a a stroke play tournament. It was almost automatic. Hitting the fairway was almost a given. And for 2.5" of rain it seemed really long. I'm sold.

[crazyray]

ordered 2 drivers this week.

 

for myself, a Ping G400 LS 10, digitally lofted, Tensei Pro White 70 TX, 45", D4 swingweight. not in the ping b2b site yet.

 

for my buddy, Ping G400 9, Hzrdus Yellow, 45" D3. In system, order date 7/21... expected delivery 9/1.

 

for those wondering about lead times.

 

i know, mad late to the ordering party....

[Makuakane_Bear]

Scheduled a fitting this Saturday with my fitter for the G400. After my last experience comparing my gamer with the G400 LST, and getting approval from my wife, I am going all in to get optimized. I will report back what I end up getting fit into.