Ping G400 Driver on the way

[inthecup]

Yes the center is better but with this driver a toe miss causes a push draw to the center of the fairway losing distance.  Very playable.  Gear effect is there to help you.

[billchao]

31 minutes ago, Apoc81 said:

Missing to the toe causes Gear Effect, which causes horrible mishits (though so does Heel misses). I'd prefer center high, or center low. 

Missing anywhere other than the sweetspot causes gear effect. That's why bulge and roll exists. Missing high reduces spin and low increases spin.

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Apoc81 said:

Missing to the toe causes Gear Effect, which causes horrible mishits (though so does Heel misses). I'd prefer center high, or center low. 

As @billchao said, missing high center causes vertical gear effect too.

There are a number of PGA Tour players who will miss slightly toe-side on purpose. It adds draw spin and the toe is moving a few MPH faster than the center of the face.

[Apoc81]

20 hours ago, iacas said:

As @billchao said, missing high center causes vertical gear effect too.

There are a number of PGA Tour players who will miss slightly toe-side on purpose. It adds draw spin and the toe is moving a few MPH faster than the center of the face.

I thought we were talking serious misses, not slightly heel or toe. 

[Mr. Desmond]

On 8/3/2017 at 0:59 AM, StefanUrkel said:

No difference between 2014 driver and that. Do a blind test

The G400 is different ... doubt if you even hit the G400.

I've hit the G400 on Trackman for about an hour each day for 3 days with my fitter. Can't decide on a shaft. As long as Epic but a bit more consistent and with better feel.

[inthecup]

After playing several rounds and hitting hundreds of balls on the monitor my conclusions are more cemented.

I typically have tee'd the ball very high, more than half the ball above driver head.  A recent swing change made a high on the face miss more prevalent.  High (too high) on the G400 face will cause the spin to drop below 1700 rpm which is too low in my experience.  I began to tee the ball lower and I greatly limited the high on the face miss.  My launch angle did not go down it is still around 17 degrees and my spin varies but is usually 2200 or less.  With my swing speed this is near optimal.  It is as near optimal as I am going to get with my level of consistency.

I also find the driver forgiving.  I have come out of a series of Ping Drivers.  I am used to looking down and seeing that shape.  I tried the Epic and Liked it a lot.  I did not like looking down and seeing the rounded and bulged appearance of the front top edge of the driver.  It make it difficult for me to feel comfortable with the aim.  No doubt a great driver, I hit some straight bombs with it.

[iacas]

@billchao and I are testing them out for a review.

I'm not a huge fan of the weight or length of the standard driver - it's 45 3/4" and 63g in the X. I'd prefer something in the low 70s, and 45" tops. Of course, I can grip down a little.

The shaft I feel leads to a little bit of craziness, which I'll define as "being prone to heel it." I lose a feel for where the driver is at the top of the swing a little more than I'd like, but…

That's all the negative I can say, and it's not even really about the clubhead itself. The driver is forgiving. It's long. It's relatively low spin (the LS Tec is lower). It's been great, and as much as I like the Epic, this one is giving it a really, really good run for its spot in my bag.

The look is great. I love the little bumps, and the dragonfly stuff looks good to me these days.

Solid sound. Great trajectory (I went with the 9° but bumped it down to the small "-" symbol), good spin rate, etc.

More to come.

[inthecup]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

@billchao and I are testing them out for a review.

I'm not a huge fan of the weight or length of the standard driver - it's 45 3/4" and 63g in the X. I'd prefer something in the low 70s, and 45" tops. Of course, I can grip down a little.

The shaft I feel leads to a little bit of craziness, which I'll define as "being prone to heel it." I lose a feel for where the driver is at the top of the swing a little more than I'd like, but…

That's all the negative I can say, and it's not even really about the clubhead itself. The driver is forgiving. It's long. It's relatively low spin (the LS Tec is lower). It's been great, and as much as I like the Epic, this one is giving it a really, really good run for its spot in my bag.

The look is great. I love the little bumps, and the dragonfly stuff looks good to me these days.

Solid sound. Great trajectory (I went with the 9° but bumped it down to the small "-" symbol), good spin rate, etc.

More to come.

My shaft, removed from the club is 43-3/4" I am not sure what the equates to as far a driver length but I agree.  After swinging a driver of this length a 45-3/4" driver feels like you are swinging a telephone pole.  For me any speed increases are offset by loss of control.  I am also playing it at the small - sign which I think equates to 8.4 degrees at the moment.

[billchao]

My initial thoughts mirror the ones @iacas wrote above.

I got the stock S shaft trimmed to a playing length of 44.5" which reduced its already too light for me weight. I probably should have gone for the X but even then it's still too light for me.

The clubhead itself is fantastic. It's definitely long and forgiving. I'm missing the sweet spot and still launching the ball with good trajectory and speed. I think I hit one popup and a duck hook so far but everything else has gone long with relatively good height. It's not super low spin where you miss it and get dead shots that just drop out of the sky.

I like the crown and the matte finish. Looks great. I love the sound. I thought I liked the sound on my BBA815 but the G400 blows it out of the water.

23 hours ago, inthecup said:

My shaft, removed from the club is 43-3/4" I am not sure what the equates to as far a driver length but I agree.  After swinging a driver of this length a 45-3/4" driver feels like you are swinging a telephone pole.

The stock playing length is 45.75" so if you didn't order it trimmed, that's what you have. The clubhead itself adds about 2" to the length.

[inthecup]

6 hours ago, billchao said:

My initial thoughts mirror the ones @iacas wrote above.

I got the stock S shaft trimmed to a playing length of 44.5" which reduced its already too light for me weight. I probably should have gone for the X but even then it's still too light for me.

The clubhead itself is fantastic. It's definitely long and forgiving. I'm missing the sweet spot and still launching the ball with good trajectory and speed. I think I hit one popup and a duck hook so far but everything else has gone long with relatively good height. It's not super low spin where you miss it and get dead shots that just drop out of the sky.

I like the crown and the matte finish. Looks great. I love the sound. I thought I liked the sound on my BBA815 but the G400 blows it out of the water.

The stock playing length is 45.75" so if you didn't order it trimmed, that's what you have. The clubhead itself adds about 2" to the length.

I am using the shaft from my prior Ping driver which was trimmed.  It is 1" shorter than my G25 driver.

[iacas]

7 hours ago, billchao said:

The stock playing length is 45.75" so if you didn't order it trimmed, that's what you have. The clubhead itself adds about 2" to the length.

That's not right.

My entire driver is 45.75". The shaft is a little shorter than that, depending on where you measure.

I may put my G driver shaft in the G400. It's a bit heavier. I'll have to check on that, but I believe it's heavier.

[billchao]

14 minutes ago, iacas said:

That's not right.

My entire driver is 45.75". The shaft is a little shorter than that, depending on where you measure.

Oh right the adapter goes inside of the head a bit. My bad @inthecup

[Mr. Desmond]

Haven't read the entire discussison, but The G400 with the Alta Shaft comes in at 45.75; the G400 with the Ping Tour 65 or 75 comes in at 45.25 in. according to the Ping Website. With the Tour 75, they tip it an inch. I think they are going for a swingweight of D3 in the G400.

From various sources for which I can't vouch -- I did have the Alta Shafts at my demo on a Trackman, and I understand Ping designed that shaft and is havng it manufactured by a non-OEM manufacturer. Ping is in charge of that shaft. The Ping Tour shaft in previous versions was described as made by UST - Chrome Elements designed to feel like a GD DI6, and generally gets great reviews.

I have the Epic 10.5, playing at 9.5 in a Tensei CK Blue 50 and have had the Ping G400 at 9 degrees for about 4 outside demo sessions in a TPT shaft (Swiss based company using robotics). I am getting it beat into me to launch the driver,  similar to what Erik and Mike show you in vids on TST.  I really like that Ping/TPT combo, but the shaft retails at $700 with a lifetime warranty. They are coming out with new models this year - interesting concept if you want to look at www.tptgolf.com That combo is very consistent, stable, smooth and the Ping seems to twist less in the hands than Epic on off-center hits. Distance is similar for me. I would go with the Ping for consistency.

We are fortunate to play in an era of great equipment.

[sofingaw]

On 8/18/2017 at 10:49 AM, Mr. Desmond said:

We are fortunate to play in an era of great equipment.

In the case of this club, I must agree 100%!

I got fitted for the G400 with the Alta S shaft. The results were simply mind blowing. 

Was previously playing a used G15 I got on eBay in 2012. I’ve hit a handful of decent drives with it, over the years, with my best being about 270, and straight (once). Averages were about 240-250 on my (rarely) well struck shots. Overall average had to be below 240 or 230 total. Especially recently, I have fought to keep it straight. I have had probably half a dozen rounds in a row that I have literally found one or zero fairways with this club. At the time I got it, the G15 was known as a very forgiving club. I must be pretty bad at this game! Maybe I should buy a 3 wood? Maybe I should buy a 2h and tee off with that? Maybe I should consider quitting!?

The G400 is in outer space in comparison. Believe me or not, I do not care. I hit the G400, and the G400 LST on a monitor at the store with X, S, and R flex Alta shafts, and the regular G400 with the S Alta was giving me consistent 240-250 carry, 270 total, and a tight dispersion. 

I had gained at least 30 yards carry, and straightened my drives out immediately. 

I took this thing to the course, worried that the monitor had me gassed up for nothing. Maybe the monitor at the store was rigged? I’ve heard of such things being done to sell clubs. 

It was insane. I hit several drives of 270-280, a 295, a 305, and a downhill 311. ALL in the fairway. 

I have never ever ever hit balls like that, range/simulator or on the course. 

And the scary part is, that it was basically effortless.

I was trying to swing easy so I didn’t whiff it or top it embarrassingly or damage my new club! I never once ‘went after it’.

Hell, I’m still kind of scared to!

I did hit one standard nasty slice, and I hooked two shots OB. I’m very bad, lol. It doesn’t swing itself, after all. 

But I even got a couple in the fairway or first cut that I felt like I heeled pretty badly, out to about 250-260. Just a baby fade down the left side and into play. On a mishit!

Any halfway decent swing produced a very good or outstanding result. 

I am simply floored by the performance of this club. I did not believe I could ever hit shots like those. Faith restored that I have a chance to play this game well at some point in the future. 

Edited July 10, 2018 by sofingaw

[Mr. Desmond]

I've played the G400 and the G400 Max - for about 4 months each. I prefer the feel and sound of the G400 - I've hit long drives with both and have been consistent with both -- the difference is that the G400 will go a little further to the right when you keep the face open - so I'm working on closing the face. Will probably have this duel until the end of the year...