Ping Irons (Colour Code Talk)

[Dent]

I have some S58's now and they are Orange Dot (bent to that from standard) I now need to get them bent to my specs. I went to my local golf store to ask about the bending, the guy simply went to the ping website, measured my wrist-to-floor, and told me I need Red Dot for the lie angle. I was confused, there should be more to it than that.

Don't they have to look at my swing at all? They then said If I came in they would bend them 1 degree upright to get them to red dot.

I play standard irons now and feel fine with them, how much difference is 1 degree? Red dot is 1 degree flat from Standard and I'm wondering how much difference it will make it my shot shape.

Should I ask them when I go to put me on a lie board?

[Stacey_E]

A lot of golf stores are scared to death to bend a cast club more than a degree or two at a time. They are afraid they will break them and have to replace them. The standard answer I ALWAYS get is to go a degree or 2 at a time and "see how they play". And no doubt there is way more to it than using a chart. A chart is a good place to start, but it doesn't take into account your dynamic position at impact. Lie boards are OK but after a few swings you will compensate to the lie of the club at address.

I'd say get them to bend it as much as they will toward where you want them, give them 5 or 10 rounds and take them back if you are still not there.

[Dent]

A lot of golf stores are scared to death to bend a cast club more than a degree or two at a time. They are afraid they will break them and have to replace them. The standard answer I ALWAYS get is to go a degree or 2 at a time and "see how they play". And no doubt there is way more to it than using a chart. A chart is a good place to start, but it doesn't take into account your dynamic position at impact. Lie boards are OK but after a few swings you will compensate to the lie of the club at address.

Thats the tough part, I need to get it dead on first try. For them to Bend the lofts and the lie angle is going to cost me $80. I fear when I take em back they will charge me again.

I don't trust that Ping Online fitter to tell me what colour code I am. What does a lie board do?

[Stacey_E]

Basically it is a rubber board that marks the sole of your club in conjunction with impact stickers on the sole. If you have heel heavy contact then the club is too upright causing the face to close and the ball to go left. If you have toe heavy contact then the club is too flat causing the face to open and the ball to go right. You notice the effect more in the shorter irons and wedges. Some claim you can actually do this by hitting off turf mats and seeing where those green fibers mark your club the most. Ideally you want the clubs sole to be marked up in the dead center. The kicker to this is that after 5,10 (I really don't know how many) swings, you automatically start to compensate for the lie the club is set at.

Check out the Titleist website and look under their iron fitting section. It will explain it better still.

Maybe with a little flattery like "your the pro and proabably know what's best" you could come to a gentlemens' agreement to come back and have them readjusted for free if the tweek isn't quite enough.

[907golfer12]

The more upright the irons are, compared to the lie you need, the more you will hit a draw.

[Harry Longshanks]

Dent-

PING will adjust the lie angle for a minimal charge (as of last November, it was $18 per set) plus return shipping. That's the catch in your situation (your situation being Canada). In the U.S., PING charges $14 for the return shipping. PING estimates 5-10 days plus shipping time.

If you haven't yet, you should go to the PING site and email them. They have always gotten back to me very quickly, even for trivial questions. (Not to mention it is a real person responding and they have always actually read my email - unlike so many companies where I get a response in which it is clear that the person/computer saw a couple of key words and sent a F.A.Q. response that didn't answer my question.)

I have also heard that attempts to simply bend the lie angle are unsuccessful, as the metal has a "memory" and migrates back to the original angle. This was sort of confirmed by a little video I saw of the PING factory where the PING person talks about how they adjust lie angles with a mallet to "shock" the memory out of the metal.

EDIT: Found the video. The info on the "metal memory" starts around the 7 minute mark, but the whole video is interesting.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?t...nnel=335994212

[misty_mountainhop]

I have also heard that attempts to simply bend the lie angle are unsuccessful, as the metal has a "memory" and migrates back to the original angle. This was sort of confirmed by a little video I saw of the PING factory where the PING person talks about how they adjust lie angles with a mallet to "shock" the memory out of the metal.

Interesting video - thanks. Nice to get a look at the manufacturing process.

[CosmosMpower]

Is it 18 bucks a set even for old clubs? I have a set of eye 2's black dot and I'm not sure if I play standard or not. My local golf galaxy said they can't bend Ping, I'd need to send it in to them.

[Dent]

Wow only $18? I'm sure shipping will come out to around $35-40 for me though because that's how much I always pay shipping clubs.

I could always just get it done right here and now. What makes Ping's bending better than my local golf shops?

[CG031]

Dent,

Have you hit the new irons yet? How do you like them?

I know I should've, I don't need the talk, but the MP-57's are the best clubs in my bag and I never got "fitted" for them. Just knew my swing speed was for a R flex and the rest is standard and I don't find any problems.

[Nick_Abendroth]

There are two fitting systems that i know of. the Ping fitting Way and the Callaway fitting way. The ping way solely just measures on height from finger tip to floor and mainly only adjust loft and lie ping would rathe bend a club 4* then lengthen it, i believe a gold color is 4* upright... the callaway fitting way is impact tape and swinging, with callaway only really wanting to bend a club 2* at the most. i believe that if you shorten or lengthen a club a 1/2" it actually equals to a degree of lie... you should try and get fitted by a club fitter... and yes you should definitely have ping bend the clubs.

[Dent]

Dent,

Havent hit them yet no. I'll let you know when I do

I'm sure I wouldn't have a problem if they were black dot, but because they are Orange, they seem to be way off my specs. So Now that I have to adjust them anyways, I might as well get them fit for me.

[Harry Longshanks]

There are two fitting systems that i know of. the Ping fitting Way and the Callaway fitting way. The ping way solely just measures on height from finger tip to floor and mainly only adjust loft and lie ping would rathe bend a club 4* then lengthen it, i believe a gold color is 4* upright... the callaway fitting way is impact tape and swinging, with callaway only really wanting to bend a club 2* at the most. i believe that if you shorten or lengthen a club a 1/2" it actually equals to a degree of lie... you should try and get fitted by a club fitter... and yes you should definitely have ping bend the clubs.

Uh, that's not accurate. PING fitters start with a static measurements - wrist to floor length, hand size, etc.* Then they have you swing demo clubs based on those measurements using impact tape and lie boards (and they are currently introducing the nFlight computerized/launch monitor system). Based on those results, they narrow down your options. But the static measurements are just a place to start. And I have no idea what you mean by "PING would rather bend a club 4* than lengthen it". PING (and every other company's) fitters would rather get you in the club that fits you correctly. And Callaway has clubs with lie angles greater than +/- 2*. But no club fitter likes bending an existing club more than 2* if they don't have to. And lengthening a club doesn't automatically change the lie angle. An angle is an angle. It doesn't change simply because one of the rays increases in length. Rather, manufacturers adjust the lie angle for longer clubs. Generally, manufacturers increase the lie angle 1* upright for every 1/2" length over standard. *And so do other manufacturers if you ask them to. Other manufacturers just aren't as methodical about it, whereas PING trains its fitters to go through a specific process. In a demo day setting, what this means is that the PING rep will start with static measurements before asking you which club you want to try. In contrast, Callaway, TM, etc will ask you which club you want to try, then just grab one out of the bag. Then you have to come back to them and ask for a fitting. (Sometimes you have to be pretty pushy.) However, this is starting to change with the recognition in the industry that a properly fit club is of paramount importance. PING was just way way ahead of the times.

[Harry Longshanks]

Wow only $18? I'm sure shipping will come out to around $35-40 for me though because that's how much I always pay shipping clubs.

Dent-

If you have a shop you trust and they guarantee their work, you can certainly stick with local - if for no other reason than you will get a faster turn around time. But $80 seems really steep for a simple lie angle adjustment. Why would I send them to PING? Because I know PING would stand behind their product and work. If something happened in the process, I know PING would replace the club. I also trust their measurements, as they have a reputation for superior quality control.

[Dent]

Dent-

Agreed, I just don't know the costs of shipping to Ping, and really have waited long enough for these clubs that I can't bare to wait another week.

It is actually $70 because I forgot I only have 7 clubs. This also includes the fitting to adjust the lofts of the clubs as well.

[DDBowdoin]

dent... if you dont mind me asking who bent your clubs? I know for a fact that Ping clubs are some of the hardest clubs to bend... at my shop we used to hang on the lie machine, the ping irons would bend, and as soon as we released clubs they would pop back to their original position.

we used to HAVE to send them back to the manufacturer and our shop guys ran his shit mcguyver (aweful spelling I know!) style, could take something simple and make a piece of art out of it

I'm just curious?

[Dent]

Ping Originally bent the clubs to Orange Dot. The guy at the shop sounded like he was sure he could do it.

Now I feel just to be safe I should send them in. I find it such a huge hassle though to Get fitted at the golf shop, and even though I could do it right there, have to go home, package em up, and send em off for another week to get bent to my specs.

[DDBowdoin]

yeah dent... I wouldnt trust that clubmaker! I've seen and tried to bend Pings (a broad range of models as well) when I was working in a shop and I've never seen a Ping be bent by a local shop. You need some serious leverage!

well... it sucks to have to go through the process but thats the one downfall with Ping! Any other iron I would feel comfortable bending (at most two degrees with a cast) but I cant get those bloody pings to stay in place