Ping S56 irons

[Kurtomac]

I went to my golf shop where I was put on the shaft optimizer...recommended a PX 6.5 125g, X100, and the KBS X...I went back today to try out some clubs and hit the lie board...looks like I'm STD lie...I fully intended on purchasing a set of I15s until I brought both the I15 and S56 7 iron club heads out there...that S56 is a badass club and I like their weak lofted short irons!...feel is great and I dont think its any less forgiving than the I15...so now I just need to decide on the shaft. I hit a crap load of balls with different shafts including the KBS Tour Stiff 120g, X100, AWT X Flex, and the Project X 6.5. Sadly they didnt have a KBS X flex in the ping fitting cart they must have misplaced it. The KBS Stiff felt nice weight wise but after some hits it clearly felt whippy and wasnt enough stiffness for me. The X100 straightened out a lot of that and the right to left movement was much less although felt harsh...as did the AWT X flex...probably the worst feeling of the bunch I'd say. The Project X 6.5 gave me the most distance and really tightened up the dispersion of balls hit...I didnt expect the 6.5 to feel as good as it did...I like the feel of the weight in the club and one thing I dont like about my mizunos with the KBS tour X is that it feels a touch heavy for my liking. The KBS stiff was the best "feeling" club...that felt like butter but was just too flexible for me...should I go ahead and get the PX 6.5s 125g non flighted or try and hit a KBS X if they find shaft for the ping cart.
On pings website it shows the KBS and TTDG shafts being the stock shafts for the S56 irons...I would hope that there is no upcharge for a PX shaft being a KBS is normally a shaft that they charge extra for...does anybody know if theres a upcharge? Also on theyre KBS shaft specs actually all shafts on their site lists the shaft weight 5-6 grams less than their shaft catalog specs. The catalog specs match PX and KBS shaft weights per their websites. On the S56 Page it lists a KBS Tour X as 124 grams which falls more in line for something I'd like better vs the 130 and the PX 6.5 as 120g vs 125 grams per their catalog weight listing...should I bite the bullet and just get the PX 6.5s or try and hit a KBS X made for ping first? I didnt think the 6.5s felt too harsh or anything and clearly gave the best distance out of the shafts that I did try....
Thoughts

Side not I hit the Ping Ansers...nice clubs just not wanting to drop 1100 bones on a set of irons

[Kurtomac]

Called KBS and Ping...ping recommended a Stiff flex hardstepped once and KBS recommended a X flex soft stepped twice...I'll probably go with KBS's recommendation

[CPT]

I did try it on the range with a few buddies. After a few shots, I knew it wasn't for me.

Forget about all other ugly Pings.,
S-56 is just straight up bad-ass. It's the 4th generation of the S-Series (from S-59 downwards...). While many golfers might be laughing at the "blade" style of Ping irons----- hitting them is no joke. I was explained that the S-56 was a big improvement from the S-57 in term of everything; the design down to overall performances. While the set is not "forged", Ping has some special process in casting the S-56, making it very unique.

S-56 looks very intimidating. The set certainly screams "for a highly-skilled or pros". Each iron has a (very) thin top-line and sole with very minimal offset visible at address (almost none in shorter irons). Addressing a shot with a 4-iron and you're about to lose some confidence. The set I tried was equipped with KBS stock shafts, which supposed to be lighter and more forgiving. I couldn't say that I was forgiven, though...

Performance-wise, the club offered a very low ball flight. I thought it was because of the shafts, but it wasn't. S-56 was designed with higher center of gravity---making the balls go lower than former sets in the family. There wasn't much "off-center" for me to miss since the whole clubface was the "center". They are very small, if not a little bit bigger than the golf ball itself. Despite all my complaints, Ping claimed that S-56 provides more forgiveness than the older S-57.

The improvement in performance was something my buddies and I agreed. S-56 looks mean but provided a very soft feel with flush shots. The feeling wasn't as great as many forged clubs out there, but it was definitely better than any cast clubs I've hit in a while. There wasn't much of a "compact" feeling when I hit good shots, unlike other blades I've tried.

Overall, I like S-56 because of its unique characteristics. It's a cast-bladed irons unlike any others. As always, this is a Ping clubs, so they are very, very tough. They will hold up in most conditions and will easily sustains hard impact after impact. This set looked to me like it will survive even in the end of days.

[Bigtank]

I have been stuck on the s57's for a little while now. If they have improved them in the 56's then they have really done something. I started with the 59's and went to the 57's....looks like the 56's might be in the near future. Good to hear

[CPT]

  Bigtank said:

I have been stuck on the s57's for a little while now. If they have improved them in the 56's then they have really done something. I started with the 59's and went to the 57's....looks like the 56's might be in the near future. Good to hear

Hitting S-Series with Project X 6.5. I take my hat off.

I'm not a Ping fan, but I always like listening about equipments and I always find a chance to try them when I can., from some buddies, from demo carts, you name it..... S56 is somewhat similar to S57. The biggest different is of course, the change in color pattern at the back of the blades. S56 hide the color tab (tungsten weights) so the clubs look a little bit better. Overall, S56 still looks unique with its own "robot-like" features in the S-Series. S56 irons also have higher hosels than ones from S57. This brings the CG higher for lower ball flight by design. Black ferrules in S56 are a little bit shorter than the former set, to manipulate the look of higher hosels. I'm guessing that Ping didn't want to overhaul the look of the S57 because most good players don't like to change appearances too often. Other than the change in stock shafts (KBS), another big improvement in S56 is the change in grooves. The whole set is now "V-Groove" to comply with recent USGA Rules. As for different in backspin, I do not know since I hit them on the range only. I'm guessing naturally, you will be losing some spins switching to this set. Now, I'm not hitting this kind of clubs on a regular basis, but some of my buddies do. They said that the S56 was more forgiving than S57 and they felt like they could get the ball in the air easier. This must have something to do with changes in tungsten weighting. They also mentioned that they gained a few yards compared to S57. Shots shaping should be easier than ever, judging by the looks of the whole set.

[Kurtomac]

I was still unsure of my decision so I went back...we ended up finding the KBS X and it was too stiff for me and too heavy...everytime I put that PX 6.5 one of the 3 heads I took out there it gave me the most distance and best ball flight.
I took out the I15 and S56 and then the pro was like here try this too...the Ping Anser...man I wish he wouldnt have told me to take that out...that combined with the PX 6.5 offered me the best combo I've tried out there...the price tag dictates otherwise...I'm getting a few quotes together before i make my decisions...asked for a quote for the PX 6.5 in all of those heads...in the I15 and S56 it will be a shaft upcharge but not in the Anser as the PX are stock shafts for that clubs....the stock shafts for the S56 is KBS and DG and the stock I15 shaft is AWT

[Kurtomac]

If I can swing it the PX 6.5 and Ansers will be mine!...I narrowed it down to that shaft and just kept rotating out the club heads...that one felt the best and gave me the flight and shape i have been dreaming of...distance was the longest of the 3 but was stronger lofted than the S56s...I got a couple more golf things to sell...if I get rid of my irons, unused hybrids, and maybe my newport 2 I'll pull the trigger on this setup!

[motteler621]

I say dont let the money be an issue here, just save up a little if needed. I find when I go the cheaper route just because of the cost that I end up just wanting the other one later on. So I end up selling it and buying the one I thought was better. A few weeks down the line the extra money you put into them wont even be noticable

[Kurtomac]

word...the decisiion was tough...all were very close but i felt...feel aside...that the Ansers gave the best distance, shot trajectory, and ball movement expecially with that shaft as i hit probably 300+ balls in the 2 days between those 4 shafts and 3 heads