Still gaming G400 Max?

[SMAC43]

This thing keeps finding its way back in my bag. I’m a 5/6 HC I carry the ball about 260-270. Is there anything more forgiving that still keeps spin relatively low? smash factor seems consistently higher then anything else I’ve tried.  Sure...you dont get the occasional low spin bomb like you do from a TM sim but short of that, what’s come out in the past few yrs that rivals it?  Maybe the Tsi or the new g425 max? Only downside for me is it’s a little large looking down at address so doesn’t feel like it’s fast...

[new2g0lf]

When I'm struggling with my regular driver, the G400 MAX gets put back into the bag.  It's saved many rounds for me, not sure if it's mental or magic but it finds fairways.  

[rainkingjr]

Only club I found that competes is the Tour Edge EXS220.

[DreamGolf88]

Still game mine... I put in a tensei pro orange and it's a fairway machine. 

[sharkiesj]

I love my G400Max. Only club in my bag that I REALLY do love.  All the others that are in there know that they’re only in there on borrowed time. 

[MtlJeff]

I still use mine occasionally but the Mavrik Max has become my primary driver. I find it better in most ways. Though i can hit a draw slightly easier with the G400 Max

 

When my swing is grooved the Mavrik is better for me because i hit it straight

[5baytjd]

I went for a fitting of the G410 Plus and tried all the different shaft combo and weight settings, and nothing could unseat my G400 Max gamer.  10.5* Alta CB 55 R.  Old fart - low 90's SS

 

Same thing with the PXG 0811 XF GEN2 (the fitter also had me try the PROTO as well), both with varied shaft combinations. Neither of those could better what I was getting from my G400 Max gamer - so it is still in the bag and finding fairways for me.

 

Intrigued by the reviews of the TSi2 and G425 Max, but it's NOT in my golf budget to drop 5 bills on something I'll use 14 times per round.  I'll likely wait at least a couple more years until those are into the ~$300 range on the bay.  I watch the pricing on my spec of the G400 Max on the bay, and there was a new one that recently went for $350.  So they are still well loved.

[muniman]

The only way I  will replace my G400 Max is if the G425 Max is that much better.

[cgasucks]

The G400 Max has one of the highest MOI out of all the drivers made in the past 5 years.

Edited December 24, 2020 by cgasucks

[Nixhex524]

Driver is a thorn in my side, has been for a while.  I have tried A LOT of different drivers over the years and have recently fallen back on the Max.  I then was chosen to be a part of the TSi driver testing here and I was really excited as the Max sound could be better in all honesty and I prefer a nice clean crown.  That said, I can not dial the TSi2 in as easy as the G400 Max and I was fit for the Titleist.  The TSi2 is longer when I put a good swing on it, noticeably....  But the G400 Max is the easiest to dial in no matter what shaft I try in it, within reason.  Ball speed on Trackman was a couple MPH slower than the TSi2 but the amount of rounds I have 6+ fairways with it beats anything else I have put in the bag.  

 

I am currently looking at a couple other options but not getting rid of this Max regardless.  This game is so much more fun when not playing out of the junk.

[Celeras]

Hoping to remove it from the bag next month! G425 max finally beats it MOI.. if I can get the ball speed back (G400 was always slightly lower for me) its an easy decision!

 

We'll see though, you never know how a fitting is going to go.

[SMAC43]

I stuffed the head with some poly foam and it really muted the sound nicely. Now I get a nice thwack without the hollow sounding ping. It definitely adds some weight so it’s good if you have any inclination to shortening the shaft length a little (or put a lighter weight in the back)

[cardoustie]

Left The Max ... went back ... 425 on radar 

[dmeeksDC]

Like the Max but was more fond of the standard G400 w/Ping Tour. Was plenty fast and forgiving in the slightly smaller profile and better sound than the Max IMO, though 3-4 g of hotmelt solves that in the MAX. I will check out the 425 line — look great in photos — but I’m currently playing a B21 9 degree that I liked right away in a demo and it has been delivering strong results. 

[Qegurezi]

The G425 Max is noticeably lower spinning, also hugely forgiving and a bit better sounding and feeling (for me). It's going to be a big hit for Ping and i don't think the LST will be far behind. 

[mgoblue83]

Loved my Max but recently cracked the club head and Ping is OUT of replacement 9 degree G400Max heads. They offered me a 10.5 degree G400Max or a 9 degree G410Plus. I ended up taking the plus and paying a restocking fee to the shop to trade it for a G410LST. Can say without a doubt that the G410LST has more pop and hits a flatter ball. I picked up 15-20 yards making the switch. Part of that might be that I've gained a lot of speed since I originally purchased the G400Max and was probably spinning it too much. On a side note I'm using the Ping Tour 65x that came with the G410LST and it's a fantastic shaft. I played an aftermarket HZRDUS in the G400Max but so far don't see the need to retip it or purchase another shaft.

[crazygolfnut]

I still play my G400 Max and see no reason to give it up.  I have never been a very good driver of the ball.  With a slow swing speed and use pull, hook or push the ball when I was trying to hit it hard.  I was fit for the G400 Max and most of those bad things went away.  Believe it or not, I gained about 15 to 20 yards.  I think most of the reason is that I now hit the fairway which means the ball will roll more than when it lands in the rough.  Who knew? 🤣

[Joe Jordan]

57 minutes ago, crazygolfnut said:

I still play my G400 Max and see no reason to give it up.  I have never been a very good driver of the ball.  With a slow swing speed and use pull, hook or push the ball when I was trying to hit it hard.  I was fit for the G400 Max and most of those bad things went away.  Believe it or not, I gained about 15 to 20 yards.  I think most of the reason is that I now hit the fairway which means the ball will roll more than when it lands in the rough.  Who knew? 🤣

This is awesome, what shaft do you have in there?

[crazygolfnut]

41 minutes ago, Joe Jordan said:

This is awesome, what shaft do you have in there?

I was fit by the Ping rep and use the standard off the shelf PING Alta CB 55 in regular.  Head is 9 deg with no adjustment.  

[muniman]

3 hours ago, Qegurezi said:

The G425 Max is noticeably lower spinning, also hugely forgiving and a bit better sounding and feeling (for me). It's going to be a big hit for Ping and i don't think the LST will be far behind. 

So do you think that a person would benefit lofting up with the new G425 Max, or would the loft adjustments be enough to dial it in flight-wise?

Edited December 24, 2020 by muniman

[Qegurezi]

3 hours ago, muniman said:

So do you think that a person would benefit lofting up with the new G425 Max, or would the loft adjustments be enough to dial it in flight-wise?

It would be very very dependent on the individuals situation i reckon. People get pretty finicky over such matters. One guy will think the FA has closed too much dialing up while another might not.  Tolerances as well, one guy might have a 400 that is the lower lofted side of the norm and pick up a 425 that is on the higher lofted side or the norm. 

 

There is to every chance a guy really dialed in with the 400 will find the 425 configured the exactly same  too low spinning. 

 

I really look forward to you guys getting them in hand and seeing what the majority think. 

[Nessism]

I love my 400 Max and haven't even considered changing.  It's super forgiving of toe strikes, which is my (consistent) miss.  People that talk about how certain heads are "lower spin" than the 400 Max are talking a language that I don't understand.  Shot performance to me depends on contact (swing) performance, and I'm not at the point of worrying about a few hundred rpm's when my swing is fully capable of shooting the ball into an adjacent fairway.  Mind you, while I'm aging and don't score like I used too I can still hit the ball farther than the average player and I can break 80 on occasion.  Bottom line is that the max is a great club and you better be a damn good player if you are going to complain about it.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

Late to the party, and finally found a decent deal on a max.  

 

Whichever driver nets me the most fairways will stay in the bag.  Will test g400, mavrik max, and Srixon 585.  Mavrik max already better than epic, and fusion for me.

[ALIF]

Still playing it. Will demo G425 Max this spring. Wouldn’t mine the 12 degree head turned down to 10.5. Will be interesting as I now play the G400 Max 10.5 turned down to 9.5. If the new version is a little lower spinning that would be great b/c I could use the higher lofted head to get “better” launch conditions theoretically. Always fun to test new stuff. 

[e-man]

Love the Max. Went from a g30 10.5 with the stock reg flex shaft and switched to a g400 max 10.5 stock stiff flex.  I like the sound of the max.  It’s a little higher pitched than the standard 400 but it’s more of a metallic thwack.  I hated the sound of the g30 and put 3g of yarn in there to mute it.  

[5baytjd]

3 hours ago, Nessism said:

I love my 400 Max and haven't even considered changing.  It's super forgiving of toe strikes, which is my (consistent) miss.  People that talk about how certain heads are "lower spin" than the 400 Max are talking a language that I don't understand.  Shot performance to me depends on contact (swing) performance, and I'm not at the point of worrying about a few hundred rpm's when my swing is fully capable of shooting the ball into an adjacent fairway.  Mind you, while I'm aging and don't score like I used too I can still hit the ball farther than the average player and I can break 80 on occasion.  Bottom line is that the max is a great club and you better be a damn good player if you are going to complain about it.

Well if the miss is consistent, then position the ball toward the heel in your setup; or get the shaft extended by a half inch.

[5baytjd]

43 minutes ago, e-man said:

Love the Max. Went from a g30 10.5 with the stock reg flex shaft and switched to a g400 max 10.5 stock stiff flex.  I like the sound of the max.  It’s a little higher pitched than the standard 400 but it’s more of a metallic thwack.  I hated the sound of the g30 and put 3g of yarn in there to mute it.  

I had never heard of using yarn for sound attenuation before today.

[e-man]

10 minutes ago, 5baytjd said:

I had never heard of using yarn for sound attenuation before today.

Yeah, it works great.  When I had the g25, I stuffed it with polyfill.  You just remove the removable weight and can access the inside of the club head from there.  The g25 had a pretty big hole under the weight but the g30 does not.  It’s basically a screw hole.  So you need to feed the yarn in very slowly and with some type of utensil.  It’s tedious and can take some time but totally worth it.  I apply a dab of superglue to the underside of the weight and tack the end of the yarn to it before I screw the weight back in so I can easily remove the yarn if I need/want to. 

[e-man]

By the way, I’m not sure the yarn is “legal” because technically it can and will shift around a bit inside the club head.  That doesn’t really matter to me though.  I’m not playing in tournaments. 

[wcdixon]

Love all this praise and enthusiasm for the G400 Max - but it's getting tougher and tougher to find a good used one out there...G410's more available. What does G400 Max have that the G410 Plus doesn't have or didn't keep?