mikedean441
6X HOF
yeah, unfortunately my bad day was playing with JB, so he let me know how AWESOME my tee game is!
Ping Anser Driver Review - Forum Testing
yeah, unfortunately my bad day was playing with JB, so he let me know how AWESOME my tee game is!
I saw you stripe this one on the range a good bit, and you were really getting through the ball well and hitting it down there.
Plus, the tee shot you had on #1 you bombed it out there to 280.5 yards. That's an awesome drive dude.
mikedean441
6X HOF
yeah the range was the best I had hit it, had a few carry over to the course saturday, and even then my misses werent bad.
Sunday was just a hot mess of crappy drives, every which way, but I was too busy laughing to care.
Large Phil games this driver, he hit it well, I encouraged him to get on here and share his insight too
Ping Anser 9.5* Adjustable Driver update
Ping Anser 9.5* Adjustable Driver update
Date: 9-30-2012
Club Tested: Ping Anser 9.5* driver
Previous Club: Callaway RAZR Fit
Course Played: Downingtown Golf Club, Downingtown PA
Ball Used: Bridgestone e6
Sunday I grabbed a round while at work and got some good swing in with the Anser. I also took note of distances with the Anser using my Skycaddie GPS and did a few notes during the round to job the old memory. This course is one I only play while at work on the weekends that I have to babysit the office so the two or three times Ive played it Ive not done very well. There isnt a flat or "easy" green on the whole course and theyre quick too. I played the blue tees which at this course set up like this: 69.9/128 6209 yards. They only have a little one mat net to hit into so not much for warming up. I did hit a few balls into the net to warm up though and to be honest the swing felt very very good.
Hole #1 378 par 4. Took a very nice, smooth swing here but pulled it a bit left or I set up that way and hit the dreaded straight ball. 250 down the left side.
Hole #2 359 par 4. Another good swing this time I aim for the left edge and hit comes down right there. 240 leaves me a PW in and a birdie.
Hole #4 300 par 4. Short hole that really doesnt require driver. I hit it anyway. I launch this one so high it clips branches I didnt even see but it lands in the middle of the FW, 232 yards.
Hole #5 338 par 4. This one is straight down hill so I decide to hit 3W and for comparison I GPS it. Smash it over the bunker sitting around 250. 275 yards. Wtf?
Hole #6 382 par 4. Another very good swing here. Goes over the trees along the left side and baby fades into the middle of the FW at 245 yards.
Hole #7 369 par 4. My miss has been a quick snap hook and here it rears its ugly head. Wind is behind us and I get excited to bomb one. Lost ball in the trees here or it blended in with the short game practice hole that had yellow balls all over the place. Either way its a bad shot, lost ball and a penalty.
Hole #8 478 par 5. Frazzled from my bad shot I cut across this one and hit a low screaming slice that settles into the FW bunker going 220 yards or so. Even after blasting a 6 iron 170 out of the bunker I blow up from 100 and in on this hole.
Hole #9 345 par 4. Decide to hit the 3W again here, 250 yards over the corner leaves a wedge in. Again, wtf is up with my 3W? Making the driver jealous.
At the turn the couple playing with me peaces out, frustrated with my crazy driving skillz I guess. So now I sandwiched between a bunch of foursomes and have no where to go. Now Im all out of sorts and my chi is messed up.
Hole #11 431 par 4. I push this one I guess as it hangs out to the right and goes about 245. Its just off the fairway so its a playable miss for sure.
Hole #13 467 par 5. Short par 5 and the landing area looks small so I rock the 3W here. This one comes back into the 225 range and safe.
Hole #14 372 par 4. The snap hook comes back. Luckily this one is sitting in the next fairway over and I hit 5 iron over the trees and onto the green for par.
Hole #16 507 par 5. This one actually slices a little off the FW on the right rough, 250 yards.
Hole #18 536 par 5. Snap hook again. This one I cant find anywhere even thought there's a huge fairway over on the left and take another penalty.
Final thoughts and stats. Shot a 42/48 for a 90, hit only 3 FW's with the Anser on the day and had 6 GIR's. While I thought I had better numbers on the day things didnt look as good as I wrote this up. I really fell apart on the back 9, driving, putting everything got away from me. On the front my misses were very playable and my game much more consistant. But the back was another story. When I get short and quick with my swing my miss is as bad with the Anser as any other driver. I do find the sweet spot hits to be very rewarding and distance is as good as anything else Ive hit. Still unsure if the shaft is the right one for me though.
Ping Anser 9.5* Adjustable Driver update
Date: 9-30-2012
Club Tested: Ping Anser 9.5* driver
Previous Club: Callaway RAZR Fit
Course Played: Downingtown Golf Club, Downingtown PA
Ball Used: Bridgestone e6
Sunday I grabbed a round while at work and got some good swing in with the Anser. I also took note of distances with the Anser using my Skycaddie GPS and did a few notes during the round to job the old memory. This course is one I only play while at work on the weekends that I have to babysit the office so the two or three times Ive played it Ive not done very well. There isnt a flat or "easy" green on the whole course and theyre quick too. I played the blue tees which at this course set up like this: 69.9/128 6209 yards. They only have a little one mat net to hit into so not much for warming up. I did hit a few balls into the net to warm up though and to be honest the swing felt very very good.
Hole #1 378 par 4. Took a very nice, smooth swing here but pulled it a bit left or I set up that way and hit the dreaded straight ball. 250 down the left side.
Hole #2 359 par 4. Another good swing this time I aim for the left edge and hit comes down right there. 240 leaves me a PW in and a birdie.
Hole #4 300 par 4. Short hole that really doesnt require driver. I hit it anyway. I launch this one so high it clips branches I didnt even see but it lands in the middle of the FW, 232 yards.
Hole #5 338 par 4. This one is straight down hill so I decide to hit 3W and for comparison I GPS it. Smash it over the bunker sitting around 250. 275 yards. Wtf?
Hole #6 382 par 4. Another very good swing here. Goes over the trees along the left side and baby fades into the middle of the FW at 245 yards.
Hole #7 369 par 4. My miss has been a quick snap hook and here it rears its ugly head. Wind is behind us and I get excited to bomb one. Lost ball in the trees here or it blended in with the short game practice hole that had yellow balls all over the place. Either way its a bad shot, lost ball and a penalty.
Hole #8 478 par 5. Frazzled from my bad shot I cut across this one and hit a low screaming slice that settles into the FW bunker going 220 yards or so. Even after blasting a 6 iron 170 out of the bunker I blow up from 100 and in on this hole.
Hole #9 345 par 4. Decide to hit the 3W again here, 250 yards over the corner leaves a wedge in. Again, wtf is up with my 3W? Making the driver jealous.
At the turn the couple playing with me peaces out, frustrated with my crazy driving skillz I guess. So now I sandwiched between a bunch of foursomes and have no where to go. Now Im all out of sorts and my chi is messed up.
Hole #11 431 par 4. I push this one I guess as it hangs out to the right and goes about 245. Its just off the fairway so its a playable miss for sure.
Hole #13 467 par 5. Short par 5 and the landing area looks small so I rock the 3W here. This one comes back into the 225 range and safe.
Hole #14 372 par 4. The snap hook comes back. Luckily this one is sitting in the next fairway over and I hit 5 iron over the trees and onto the green for par.
Hole #16 507 par 5. This one actually slices a little off the FW on the right rough, 250 yards.
Hole #18 536 par 5. Snap hook again. This one I cant find anywhere even thought there's a huge fairway over on the left and take another penalty.
Final thoughts and stats. Shot a 42/48 for a 90, hit only 3 FW's with the Anser on the day and had 6 GIR's. While I thought I had better numbers on the day things didnt look as good as I wrote this up. I really fell apart on the back 9, driving, putting everything got away from me. On the front my misses were very playable and my game much more consistant. But the back was another story. When I get short and quick with my swing my miss is as bad with the Anser as any other driver. I do find the sweet spot hits to be very rewarding and distance is as good as anything else Ive hit. Still unsure if the shaft is the right one for me though.
Hanks
On the Fringe
90 is a good score there man...D-town!
Sounds like you just had some mojo/chi issues going on man...no worries. Great write up.
^^^^^^ I Tapped That.....On My iPad ^^^^^^
Sounds like you just had some mojo/chi issues going on man...no worries. Great write up.
^^^^^^ I Tapped That.....On My iPad ^^^^^^
Thanks man. Yeah things just unraveled a bit. I had some stupid 3 putts on the back too that hurt. But it's definitely my best score there by far.
GrantD
Formerly Known as DMB012
I think it has to be the shaft Kmac. I hope we can get a stiff to you soon. At least your misses were not penalizing to your round.
KMAC - is your 3 FIR similar to how you normally drive the ball on that course? I agree with Grant, hope a shaft change cures those wild drives. Glad you were able to squeeze in some golf while covering the office though.
I think I'd feel much better about the stiff TFC or another shaft.
GrantD
Formerly Known as DMB012
I think so to dude. I will let you know what happens after Friday and hopefully we can get my extra to you.
Probably better lol. Total on the day was 6 FIR but 3 were with the 3W so all said it was a much better day then the others here. I do feel like of I make a good turn and smooth overall swing this driver performs pretty well. Just can't over swing.
Jskittle
Taste the Rainbow!
Thanks for answering my questions! Y'all are doing a fantastic job!
Testing Date: 10/1/12
Location: IronHorse Golf Club
Weather: 70* Sunny, winds 10-15 mph (behind and from the right)
Purpose: Looking for consistency
Pinnacle practice range balls, good shape.
I was able to sneak away from work a bit early last night and spent 20 mins or so exclusively with the Anser. I wanted to focus on finding a go to ball position and tee height. Since I was worried about tweaking a few different items during my previous tests, it was kind of hard to nail down what really was working best. I really tried to simulate real tee shots as much as possible and used some practice targets as fake trees and fake fairways. I really tried to keep myself from just standing there and blasting balls without a real purpose for each shot too.
After about 5 swings, I found the most consistent shots came when I teed the ball up to the first red line on the Champ Fly Tee. This height was helping me find the middle of the face, which hopefully will eliminate some of the low impact shots I hit previously and also in my video below.
Once I found my tee height I began to tweak my ball position. Normally the ball is just on the middle side of my front foot (left foot for me as a RH golfer). Since I was seeing some low trajectories, I moved the ball back about an inch or 2 and started seeing some better results.
After the tee height was set and the ball position was tweaked, I was seeing some nice drives that were landed where I intended them to land and at the distance I expected. While I did still have some shots that ended up left of my target, they wouldve been very livable misses on most of the courses I play. This was very encouraging and I hope this trend continues during my next test session and my next round.
Since there's been so much chatter about the impact sound, I tried to record as many different impact locations as possible. As you will see in the video, I dont necessarily go through my preshot routine, but I was still using my normal swing tempo. I tried to keep the camera as close as possible so it could pick up the sound clearly. With the direction of the wind, I had to point the camera at my left foot at address, so I apologize for that in advance.
Location: IronHorse Golf Club
Weather: 70* Sunny, winds 10-15 mph (behind and from the right)
Purpose: Looking for consistency
Pinnacle practice range balls, good shape.
I was able to sneak away from work a bit early last night and spent 20 mins or so exclusively with the Anser. I wanted to focus on finding a go to ball position and tee height. Since I was worried about tweaking a few different items during my previous tests, it was kind of hard to nail down what really was working best. I really tried to simulate real tee shots as much as possible and used some practice targets as fake trees and fake fairways. I really tried to keep myself from just standing there and blasting balls without a real purpose for each shot too.
After about 5 swings, I found the most consistent shots came when I teed the ball up to the first red line on the Champ Fly Tee. This height was helping me find the middle of the face, which hopefully will eliminate some of the low impact shots I hit previously and also in my video below.
Once I found my tee height I began to tweak my ball position. Normally the ball is just on the middle side of my front foot (left foot for me as a RH golfer). Since I was seeing some low trajectories, I moved the ball back about an inch or 2 and started seeing some better results.
After the tee height was set and the ball position was tweaked, I was seeing some nice drives that were landed where I intended them to land and at the distance I expected. While I did still have some shots that ended up left of my target, they wouldve been very livable misses on most of the courses I play. This was very encouraging and I hope this trend continues during my next test session and my next round.
Since there's been so much chatter about the impact sound, I tried to record as many different impact locations as possible. As you will see in the video, I dont necessarily go through my preshot routine, but I was still using my normal swing tempo. I tried to keep the camera as close as possible so it could pick up the sound clearly. With the direction of the wind, I had to point the camera at my left foot at address, so I apologize for that in advance.
Catching up now and it sounds like everyone is still finding sucess with the Anser! Thanks for the feedback!
mikedean441
6X HOF
NO problem man, I told quite a few guys ni ATL how much Ive enjoyed this club thus far, and probably even moreso when I put some good swings on it!
mikedean441
6X HOF
18 hole Round with the Anser
Date: 9-23-2012
Location: Bentwater Golf Club, 6500 yards, White Tees 132 slope rating
Club Tested: Ping Anser driver 9.5* Diamana Ahina, set to neutral 9.5*
Previous Club: Nike VRS
Ball used: Titleist ProV1
Conditions: Upper 60's
This was round #2 of 2 in ATL. Lets just say it did not go as planned and by the time it was all said and done I had changed the driver to 10* closed.
I had a great range session with this club Saturday morning. While they werent the longest drives in the world, I felt as though I was hitting it pretty consistently so I was really looking forward to taking it to the course.....unfortunately that did not happen as planned.
After a decent tee ball on #1, I really struggled all day off of the tee. I ended up hitting driver on 11 holes and couldnt have hit more than 2 fairways at most with it. My miss was a slice which I hadnt really experienced to this magnitude to date with the driver. Most of the holes seemed to have tee boxes that setup to teh right side, so that certainly was not helping matters at all. Im really going to spend some time working on my alignment in the future and being able to better angle my body on the tee box. Usually when I have to aim anywhere besides directly in front of my, my temp gets thrown off and I snap hook right.
My other "miss" of the day was catching balls thin again. Happened more times than I would care for on the weekend. While I think im doing a better job of staying down on the ball with my irons, I think my "Pop up" tendancy has creeped over to the tee game. I had quite a few thin shots on the weekend and with the layout of this course, it really hurt my game.
It was definitely my most inconsistent ball striking day with this driver. Normally Ive been making good contact on the face and this is verified because of the dark finish on it, but today was just a day that had me all over the place.
Going to get out tonight and really focus on my temp, alignment and avoiding the outside/in swing path and see how things turn out for me.
Still loving the club, just a bump in the road
Date: 9-23-2012
Location: Bentwater Golf Club, 6500 yards, White Tees 132 slope rating
Club Tested: Ping Anser driver 9.5* Diamana Ahina, set to neutral 9.5*
Previous Club: Nike VRS
Ball used: Titleist ProV1
Conditions: Upper 60's
This was round #2 of 2 in ATL. Lets just say it did not go as planned and by the time it was all said and done I had changed the driver to 10* closed.
I had a great range session with this club Saturday morning. While they werent the longest drives in the world, I felt as though I was hitting it pretty consistently so I was really looking forward to taking it to the course.....unfortunately that did not happen as planned.
After a decent tee ball on #1, I really struggled all day off of the tee. I ended up hitting driver on 11 holes and couldnt have hit more than 2 fairways at most with it. My miss was a slice which I hadnt really experienced to this magnitude to date with the driver. Most of the holes seemed to have tee boxes that setup to teh right side, so that certainly was not helping matters at all. Im really going to spend some time working on my alignment in the future and being able to better angle my body on the tee box. Usually when I have to aim anywhere besides directly in front of my, my temp gets thrown off and I snap hook right.
My other "miss" of the day was catching balls thin again. Happened more times than I would care for on the weekend. While I think im doing a better job of staying down on the ball with my irons, I think my "Pop up" tendancy has creeped over to the tee game. I had quite a few thin shots on the weekend and with the layout of this course, it really hurt my game.
It was definitely my most inconsistent ball striking day with this driver. Normally Ive been making good contact on the face and this is verified because of the dark finish on it, but today was just a day that had me all over the place.
Going to get out tonight and really focus on my temp, alignment and avoiding the outside/in swing path and see how things turn out for me.
Still loving the club, just a bump in the road
mikedean441
6X HOF
Im blaming it on JB lol
Its been the case more times than not for me, I guess Im a range pro.
Looking forwrd to getting back out there tonight and seeing how things shape up
Valid rant dude. Buckjob messed up my Anser for the round I played with him too.
GrantD
Formerly Known as DMB012
I am looking forward to two driver testing opportunities this week.
1- I am going to get some numbers for both shafts. I am ready to nail down which shaft is the best for me and continue my testing with only that shaft. I know the one that comes out with the best numbers is going to be great. I have had similar results with both shafts, I just want to make sure I choose the best one.
2- I am teeing it up with SethO this Saturday. I am ready to have a head to head match up with the Classic. Seth has been crushing it lately and I want to see how the Anser does. I think it is going to be out there with him.
1- I am going to get some numbers for both shafts. I am ready to nail down which shaft is the best for me and continue my testing with only that shaft. I know the one that comes out with the best numbers is going to be great. I have had similar results with both shafts, I just want to make sure I choose the best one.
2- I am teeing it up with SethO this Saturday. I am ready to have a head to head match up with the Classic. Seth has been crushing it lately and I want to see how the Anser does. I think it is going to be out there with him.
mikedean441
6X HOF
unfortunately for me Large Phil was playing the same driver and only missed 2 fairways, so it "may" have been my fault
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #499
Very little. However it does make fitting easier.
Like JB says very little to help your actual game. Its better to get fit for the correct shaft in the first place which obviously will help. These can help ones game in theory because you can either open the face or close it depending on what type of ball flight you seek.