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PING G430 Drivers

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Hawk

Hawk

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Possibly the worst kept secret among all of 2023’s new golf equipment, PING is officially introducing their G430 line of drivers. The company’s messaging around the G430 appears to fall in line with industry trends, focusing primarily on speed and distance without “sacrificing its industry-leading forgiveness”. Debuting on TOUR last fall, PING’s John K. Solheim states their professional staff has seen gains of “2 to 4 mph”, with almost 30 players putting the driver into play the first week.

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In a world where innovation happens every year seemingly it seems Ping is just lacking. I'm sure they work great though and I hope they fixed the sound
 
LST will probably not win any launch monitor beauty contests, but it's going to be very good on the golf course as usual with Ping.
 
I'm not sure what to say on this one. Better speed, maybe. Haven't had many swings. Better sound, yes. I actually think they look worse. I liked the 425 colors and they added some more to the more going on than most when you look at it.

I like that they finally addressed the sound. And the adjustability is great as always. I think it's improved, but it feels like taking a step forward the same as everyone else does, but you started 2 steps behind.

They're popular here. I'm sure those people will be excited for these.
 
I played the original G SFT Driver. It was a good Driver for me. For that reason, I will give the G 430 SFT consideration.

I don’t care about sound or looks; I care about where the ball goes.
 
But does it sound like a bean can on the end of a stick??
 
OK, so I was a PING fanboy for YEARS, and a massive defender of them here on the forum.

But...

WTF.

YEARS of claiming Carbon has no benefits, and now you go that way? And what, at the cost of somehow making them look worse visually (personal opinion).

I am also disappointed that they just seem to continue to say "We're PING, our fans will buy it" with these recent releases. That was true once, but the next generation considers PING an old person brand more than a top of the line one, and that is not a place the brand wants to end up, just ask Adam's how that went.
 
OldandStiff said:
I'm not sure what to say on this one. Better speed, maybe. Haven't had many swings. Better sound, yes. I actually think they look worse. I liked the 425 colors and they added some more to the more going on than most when you look at it.

I like that they finally addressed the sound. And the adjustability is great as always. I think it's improved, but it feels like taking a step forward the same as everyone else does, but you started 2 steps behind.

They're popular here. I'm sure those people will be excited for these.
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these look awful to me. from all the dumb stuff on the crown, to the bile-colored word and graphic vomit all over every square inch of the head, this just seems like the worst aesthetics of any release in quite some time. reminds me of the car homer simpson designed.

is it really that impressive to improve on sound when your starting point is the 425 sound?

the 400 series was amazing for me and many golfers. it really feels like every release after has been moving in the wrong direction. when there are faster, better looking and better sounding drivers for the same and even lower price points, it blows my mind that ping is still relevant.
 
I'll go with the "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" approach
 
Jman said:
OK, so I was a PING fanboy for YEARS, and a massive defender of them here on the forum.

But...

WTF.

YEARS of claiming Carbon has no benefits, and now you go that way? And what, at the cost of somehow making them look worse visually (personal opinion).

I am also disappointed that they just seem to continue to say "We're PING, our fans will buy it" with these recent releases. That was true once, but the next generation considers PING an old person brand more than a top of the line one, and that is not a place the brand wants to end up, just ask Adam's how that went.
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All the over 60’s I play with absolutely love PING. It’s their go-to brand and there are G425’s aplenty. I rarely see PING equipment amongst my age group (33). That says something.
 
Lions81 said:
I'll go with the "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" approach
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That’s not the way of the internet Thumper! Spew some bile! Ping G430 paintwork-coloured bile!
 
They have a full bag out here, but there's no 9* LST in the whole lot. Maybe a rep or someone has it with them. That's probably going to move this even further down my list though.
 
McLovin said:
these look awful to me. from all the dumb stuff on the crown, to the bile-colored word and graphic vomit all over every square inch of the head, this just seems like the worst aesthetics of any release in quite some time. reminds me of the car homer simpson designed.

is it really that impressive to improve on sound when your starting point is the 425 sound?

the 400 series was amazing for me and many golfers. it really feels like every release after has been moving in the wrong direction. when there are faster, better looking and better sounding drivers for the same and even lower price points, it blows my mind that ping is still relevant.
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I mean they play well. Like I said Ping drivers are popular here with a certain democraphic. I see and know (and hear) a lot of them that play then. I've noticed a trend with them that kind of mirrors winter work for most though. They might chase speed early, but as summer gets rolling they start to care more about straight and steady. And end up back in the Gs.
 
I'm a fan.
1) My miss is high on the toe and I think Ping did even better with this spot in not losing yards and being very playable from that 'miss' hit.
2) I did see a drop in spin from the G425 LST so my experience lines up with Ping in that there is more a difference between the LST and Max with spin rates.
3) My biggest take away is that the dispersion is even tighter this year, that to me is incredible. Being in MN, I havent been on a course yet with it so we shall see what real world testing is like. But according to the quad numbers I sure like it.
 
Thanks for reading all. Wish I could have gone a bit deeper on this one. It seems quite a transition for the company, but there just wasn’t a ton of info for us to work through.
 
DaveGolfer15 said:
All the over 60’s I play with absolutely love PING. It’s their go-to brand and there are G425’s aplenty. I rarely see PING equipment amongst my age group (33). That says something.
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And I can confirm as a HS golf coach, there are even less in that demographic. It is amazing the change I have seen there in the past 8 years.
 
I'll definitely be testing the LST. They are getting a lot of love in the early youtube videos out.
 
Jman said:
And I can confirm as a HS golf coach, there are even less in that demographic. It is amazing the change I have seen there in the past 8 years.
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Dont want to derail the thread but do you think this is based on performance or marketing? I mean Cally and TM marketing is pretty top notch with all that they do on youtube and tiktok
 
The YouTube says the sound is improved! I like Ping drivers -- they have balanced performance and forgiveness very well -- and look forward to taking some swings. My Rogue ST 3D LS is unlikely to leave the bag this year, but this one might tempt me. I would enjoy bagging a Ping driver again.
 
I was a big fan of my G425 LST and gamed it longer than I do most drivers. I was really looking forward to this release but boy that LST is not good looking. It would have to be a heck of a performer to get any consideration.
 
With Cobra focusing more on aerodynamics this year, it’s really interesting to me to see how different “improved” aerodynamics can look. PING still using turbulators all these later, while it seems Cobra’s approach is more about streamlined shaping.
 
After my success with trying many brands and clubs over the years, Ping gear continues to put up my best scores for me so the G430 line will get a look. Only downside is my pocket book. I spent alot over the past 2 years adopting the 425 driver, 5w, hybrid and irons. So I can't go all in on them like I would like to. I like the neon yellow accents (favorite color) so the driver will likely get a look.

It's a shame that Ping does not do much on this forum in terms of sponsorship. Not sure if that is a Ping thing, a THP thing or a mutual thing. But I think if more people here on the forums had their gear in hand and did testing and reported back it would garner much more excitement and brand favoring as their gear works and works well for the masses.

As for the " We're PING, our fans will buy it" - I have never once heard that stated in the industry that Ping thinks like this. Nor in watching their employees during various interviews have I heard them state this. I think it's more of their makeup being a group led by engineers and they let the product to their speaking and generally are not into the hype machine. Loud and obnoxious doesn't work for every company. I kinda akin them to the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry of the industry. Not flashy, but damn it my Accord gets me to work everyday safe and sound :)
 
anyone know if the demos are in stores today?
 
I haven't hit many Ping drivers but I do like the G425 9w I have a lot. These will definitely be on my radar in my search for a new driver.
 
Nice write up @Hawk but man. after seeing what Callaway and some others have brought, this is... well a huge huh. I have zero desire to even test this out. It looks bad, it will probably sound bad and I can't imagine spending that much on something that looks like it is part of the Alien golf box sets.
 
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