PING G430 MAX Animal Style

[ShortSticks]

Has anyone gone with two weights (Animal Style) on a PING G430 MAX. I just got the weights (15g and 7g) off ebay and had to put one on the grinder to get them to fit, but there is snow on the ground so I won't be able to test it out for a while. Just wanted to see if anyone has tried this and what was your experience like.

[bigdriveandy]

🙈

[TonyRo]

I have done the same. I have experimented with slightly shorter than stock drivers and in order to keep the swing weight the same I have used two lighter weights instead. Might also be a useful technique for someone that wants to just slightly alter their shape. 

But also now I really want to repaint my driver to get rid of the yellow. Are there any good guides out there on this? 

[ShortSticks]

Mine came with the 25g weight and was D5 stock. I got a 22g weight to get it down to D3 but in the center position was still a little draw bias and when I put it in the fade position it could at times feel too much. So I figured I would split the difference with a 15g in the fade position and the 7g in the draw side. Should play more neutral now I am hoping.

 

As for the yellow, I just used a red sharpie to take care of that. I might paint it black later on for a more permanent solution but for now it is good enough for me and no more puke yellow.

[jeffrey r]

3 minutes ago, ShortSticks said:

Mine came with the 25g weight and was D5 stock. I got a 22g weight to get it down to D3 but in the center position was still a little draw bias and when I put it in the fade position it could at times feel too much. So I figured I would split the difference with a 15g in the fade position and the 7g in the draw side. Should play more neutral now I am hoping.

 

As for the yellow, I just used a red sharpie to take care of that. I might paint it black later on for a more permanent solution but for now it is good enough for me and no more puke yellow.

 

I like it. Let us know how it goes when you can.

 

I play the G430 LST (and Max), and every time I go with the Fade weight or the Draw weight, the results are just too exaggerated in either direction. So, I always end up right back in the middle, which sometimes results in a slightly less than optimal shot shape, but is the best compromise. Your method could work quite nicely.

[Puttersaurus Rex]

38 minutes ago, TonyRo said:

I have done the same. I have experimented with slightly shorter than stock drivers and in order to keep the swing weight the same I have used two lighter weights instead. Might also be a useful technique for someone that wants to just slightly alter their shape. 

But also now I really want to repaint my driver to get rid of the yellow. Are there any good guides out there on this? 

Continental Golf, or a DIY vinyl wrap if you want something that can be removed back to stock.

[Kenny Lee Puckett]

huh....so is the driver now draw, or fade biased?!?

 

🤪👍

 

 

[ShortSticks]

32 minutes ago, jeffrey r said:

 

I like it. Let us know how it goes when you can.

 

I play the G430 LST (and Max), and every time I go with the Fade weight or the Draw weight, the results are just too exaggerated in either direction. So, I always end up right back in the middle, which sometimes results in a slightly less than optimal shot shape, but is the best compromise. Your method could work quite nicely.

Exactly. I like to tinker (especially in the winter) with my gear so I thought this may be the best solution to get it to more of a neutral bias.

 

I will follow up in this thread once I can get it outside and hit some balls.

[ShortSticks]

6 minutes ago, Kenny Lee Puckett said:

huh....so is the driver now draw, or fade biased?!?

 

🤪👍

 

 

Slightly Fade bias, 15g in toe (fade) 7g in heel (draw). I am hoping for a more neutral bias as I feel the stock (middle) is still a little draw bias.

Edited January 18 by ShortSticks

[Cliffy2020]

SWEET!  I did the same thing with my G410LST years ago and it worked great.  
 

ALSO:  Love the idea of getting rid of the puke yellow.  Looks way better red.  You can buy acrylic paint pens of Amazon and DIY it instead of sending it off to Continental (although they do GREAT work)

[jvincent]

I have two weights in my G430LST. 22g + 5g for now.

[03trdblack]

I'm going to speculate that this setup offers no real difference in performance than just having a regular 22g-23g weight in that center back port.  8g moved a few MM towards the toe on a clubhead that is that heavy and that high inertia won't really do much if anything to the CG of the head.

 

I'll also add the headcover is already hard enough to get on over one weight and I couldn't imagine how much two weights would grab going into the cover. 

 

 

Edited January 18 by 03trdblack

[TreqJosh]

3 hours ago, Kenny Lee Puckett said:

huh....so is the driver now draw, or fade biased?!?

 

🤪👍

 

 

Yes

[TonyRo]

2 hours ago, 03trdblack said:

I'll also add the headcover is already hard enough to get on over one weight and I couldn't imagine how much two weights would grab going into the cover. 

Speaking as a guy who has suffered here - this is correct. 😄 

[Kyfra]

I probably won't try the two weights but just took a black sharpie to mine and love the results

[dayvei214]

22 hours ago, jeffrey r said:

 

I like it. Let us know how it goes when you can.

 

I play the G430 LST (and Max), and every time I go with the Fade weight or the Draw weight, the results are just too exaggerated in either direction. So, I always end up right back in the middle, which sometimes results in a slightly less than optimal shot shape, but is the best compromise. Your method could work quite nicely.

I would try balancing that with loft and lie

[Volnut]

I did something similar with the 410. Worked great til I cracked it (no fault of the weight). 

 

You won't know til you try! 

[jeffrey r]

1 hour ago, dayvei214 said:

I would try balancing that with loft and lie

 

Yep, I am dialed in fine. A sliding weight could work well to fine tune, but with my 430 LST and the Tour Chrome, standard setting with weight in the middle works just fine. I've tried every loft/lie setting to be sure. 

[ShortSticks]

Update: Got a round in this weekend with decent results. After 4 weeks off my swing was a little rusty so I am not going to put too much on the results. Going "Animal Style" seems to have straightened out most of the toe hits and also changed the sound a little. I had 4 or 5 really good long, straight ones, and a few clunkers. Will need more time with this set up before I draw any conclusions, but so far I like what I saw.

[KillebrewKub]

I think I saw a post recently that postulated that doing something like that to a g430 (maybe it was just the 10k max) could increase the MOI to over 10k under the right circumstances/weight layout. Whether that affects conforming status or not idk but it’s a cool idea and certainly looks forgiving af. Love the color tweak btw

Edited February 5 by KillebrewKub

[ShortSticks]

Update 2: After a few more weeks of switching between AS (Animal Style) and a standard 22g weight I am leaning to AS as a more balanced set up. When in the standard setting (22g in middle) you can feel the gear effect on toe hits and I get more left hits, but when in AS setting the toe hits feel more solid with less gear effect and left misses. It also feels very solid all across the face and has a more dense feel at impact. I believe the MOI is up in this setting, but I have no proof of this, just a feeling. I still need more rounds to get a better feel for the different set ups, but as of now I am leaning to the Animal Style.

 

P.S. Played a couple weeks ago with a friend that has the 10K. After a few holes he asked to hit my driver, when he handed it back he just said "WOW".

[rlb4]

10 minutes ago, ShortSticks said:

Update 2: After a few more weeks of switching between AS (Animal Style) and a standard 22g weight I am leaning to AS as a more balanced set up. When in the standard setting (22g in middle) you can feel the gear effect on toe hits and I get more left hits, but when in AS setting the toe hits feel more solid with less gear effect and left misses. It also feels very solid all across the face and has a more dense feel at impact. I believe the MOI is up in this setting, but I have no proof of this, just a feeling. I still need more rounds to get a better feel for the different set ups, but as of now I am leaning to the Animal Style.

 

P.S. Played a couple weeks ago with a friend that has the 10K. After a few holes he asked to hit my driver, when he handed it back he just said "WOW".

Do you notice a difference in launch/height, spin and distance?

[ShortSticks]

30 minutes ago, rlb4 said:

Do you notice a difference in launch/height, spin and distance?

Hard to say with just on course testing. I have not got each set up on a launch monitor or anything, just a different set up each weekend I play, so not exactly an A/B comparison.

 

Maybe a little lower with the Animal Style set up so that might be lower spin too, but hard to say for sure. I have had a few more bombs also with the AS set up, but that could be the course/weather/conditions also.

[ShortSticks]

Update 3: Well after a couple more rounds I am sold on the "Animal Style" weight set-up. It just makes this driver feel so solid. My toe miss has less curvature and stays in play more often while feeling more stable. Center hits feel powerful and dense and fly straight as a arrow. It also seems to have eliminated the left bias I was feeling in the stock set up and it feels much more neutral to me now. It swings better and more balanced making it easier to deliver square to the target. When I put the stock weight in the fade setting it always felt like too much but this set-up feels just right.

 

I think going "Animal Style" will be my set-up the rest of the year.

[simshawk]

What are the specs/setup of your driver?  Thinking about doing a similar setup and would like to get the correct back weights.

[Avidswampthing66]

On 1/18/2024 at 8:41 AM, ShortSticks said:

Has anyone gone with two weights (Animal Style) on a PING G430 MAX. I just got the weights (15g and 7g) off ebay and had to put one on the grinder to get them to fit, but there is snow on the ground so I won't be able to test it out for a while. Just wanted to see if anyone has tried this and what was your experience like.

WRX POST OF THE DAY!  This man is a legend.

[ShortSticks]

13 hours ago, simshawk said:

What are the specs/setup of your driver?  Thinking about doing a similar setup and would like to get the correct back weights.

PING G430 MAX - HZRDUS Smoke Red 60 stiff (45.25") 

Hosel - Flat Neutral

Swingwiehgt - D3

Weights - 15g + 7g = 22g total

 

* NOTE - If your going "Animal Style" (2 weights) you will need a grinder or sander or something to take the corner of one of the weights down to fit as two weight do not fit normally. In this pic you can see where the weight in the draw position  (bottom right) has the back corner ground down so that it won't hit the weight in the fade position. Its is not much but without that mod the two weight will not fit.

[erock9174]

Just a heads up. If you buy a G425 weight and use it with the stock g430 weight both with fit without grinding. 
 

I actually threw the g425 25g weight onto my 430 with the 26g weight. Talking about stable and high launching.
 

Only downside is this made the head around 225g, 231g ish with the adapter. So the swing weight was in the E5 range. Called it the  Sledgehammer. I got away from it for fear of breaking the shaft. But it was fun to mess around with 

[simshawk]

Thanks. I’ll have a similar setup other than I play my Driver around 44”. 

[nosedive32]

Interesting information here as it's something I've considered doing with my 430 LST. 

 

I generally play with the weight in the heel but I can occasionally get some hooking too much with toe strikes. 

 

If I ever play it in the toe it's too hard for me to consistently draw it and I can hit some big double cross misses right.

 

Center position I can get a little erratic both ways.

 

Ive considered 2 lighter weights favoring the heel more than the toe.

 

Do they have lighter weight options for the 425 easily available? Do two 425 weights also fit a 430 LST without adjusting?

 

If so what weight balance would best match up to the stock weight of a 430 lst?