PING G400 Max Driver - THP Review Thread
I went back and reread the post and found the data from GC2. I can’t seem to find a left-handed demo anywhere. Looks like I have to live vicariously through you .
Last edited:
Very interested in this. I’m currently playing the std G400 model.
How do you like the IZ shaft? Was thinking about grabbing one of those.
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #154
The newborn twins took priority yesterday, so I'll have to get in here and update today.
I enjoy it, I'll bump the Graphite Design thread later and we can take that convo there for sure.
I am frankly amazed that we are getting as much information from you as we are, with all the youngsters at home. We love your reviews, but your priorities are in the right place.
gatoreric
Member
Got my first round and a little range time in with G400 Max. I am very well pleased already. 10/14 fairways was great. If i got 6-7 it was a good day before. Distance was very similar to my old setup, but I feel distance gains are coming. My old driver was a G20 with a 44' shaft. It took me a good portion of the round to adjust to an extra 1.75 inches of length. I was not swinging near wide enough to make great contact. So, accordingly, I was all over the face of the Max driver. I guess I was going to give it the full test of most forgiving driver on the market. It lived up to the hype. I missed it low on the face, left/right, and had one toe high that still carried a solid number and hit fairway. Once I adjusted to the longer shaft the distances started to increase from my old driver. I love how it sets up the ball. Little lower profile to my eye than a G driver and a much better sound too. It is also just very easy to hit and creates some confidence for me.
- Thread starter
- Staff
- #157
A little delayed, but, more thoughts, I have. 
I'm done talking about the sound, I think its been mentioned enough now and anyone who goes out and hits the standard version next to the Max will hear it. That said, its still a powerful feeling head at impact. I put a slower swinger (88 MPH max) on it this past Sunday and the first comment out of his mouth was the sensation at impact, its got some hollow, but its also got some "pop" using his terminology.
The story for me remains the directional retention. The G400 is damn good there, but based on what I'm seeing this is better. My directional manipulation is a little more subdued than the G400, and I think that is exactly what you would want to see out of the 460cc Max. Bad strike are always going to be bad, but the high toe is a monster here as it is with the G400, and more than that low strikes have been shockingly good at maintaining length.
I'm still not prepared to say this is a higher spin head than the other models because I continue to see a 200-400 RPM differential between the two. I will say it is the higher launching head, which is saying something because the G400 is a launcher in its own right. Because I know some love numbers, I did go get some more the other day, this time with both heads set to standard, and paired this time with the Graphite Design AD-IZ 6.
G400:
Launch - 12.4
Spin - 2630 RPM
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
G400 Max:
Launch - 13.1
Spin - 2920
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
Was fun to see the ball speeds balance out on average because on a personal level it lets me know the swing balanced on both sessions pretty well with both heads. As for the launch, as I said, advantage Max. On spin, again this session fell in between that 200-400 RPM swing, and though I still in no way say that 2900 is high spin, it is definitely not the fit that the G400 is for me, BUT, reviews aren't about what fits me, too many youtubers get hung up on that, its does the head do what it says? Yes. It does. Its one of the more forgiving heads out there bar none. It offers really good launch. It spins in a realm that I believe will appeal to most of the golfers who will look at the 460cc Max over the G400, so it works there too.
Its another solid driver. Another solid option in the market FULL of them, and it also really does round out the G400 lineup impressively well.
I'm done talking about the sound, I think its been mentioned enough now and anyone who goes out and hits the standard version next to the Max will hear it. That said, its still a powerful feeling head at impact. I put a slower swinger (88 MPH max) on it this past Sunday and the first comment out of his mouth was the sensation at impact, its got some hollow, but its also got some "pop" using his terminology.
The story for me remains the directional retention. The G400 is damn good there, but based on what I'm seeing this is better. My directional manipulation is a little more subdued than the G400, and I think that is exactly what you would want to see out of the 460cc Max. Bad strike are always going to be bad, but the high toe is a monster here as it is with the G400, and more than that low strikes have been shockingly good at maintaining length.
I'm still not prepared to say this is a higher spin head than the other models because I continue to see a 200-400 RPM differential between the two. I will say it is the higher launching head, which is saying something because the G400 is a launcher in its own right. Because I know some love numbers, I did go get some more the other day, this time with both heads set to standard, and paired this time with the Graphite Design AD-IZ 6.
G400:
Launch - 12.4
Spin - 2630 RPM
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
G400 Max:
Launch - 13.1
Spin - 2920
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
Was fun to see the ball speeds balance out on average because on a personal level it lets me know the swing balanced on both sessions pretty well with both heads. As for the launch, as I said, advantage Max. On spin, again this session fell in between that 200-400 RPM swing, and though I still in no way say that 2900 is high spin, it is definitely not the fit that the G400 is for me, BUT, reviews aren't about what fits me, too many youtubers get hung up on that, its does the head do what it says? Yes. It does. Its one of the more forgiving heads out there bar none. It offers really good launch. It spins in a realm that I believe will appeal to most of the golfers who will look at the 460cc Max over the G400, so it works there too.
Its another solid driver. Another solid option in the market FULL of them, and it also really does round out the G400 lineup impressively well.
Good info Jman!!!!! That is very little spin difference.
Grand Stranded
Keep grinding… you never know
I took mine out for the 4th time today since I got it last week. I already mentioned how I felt comfortable out of the gate with it, but today was my best yet with it. Gone were any feelings of having to adjust even slightly to a new club in my hands. My confidence was so high, I decided to de-loft it back down to the 9* standard setting. I wanted to give it a try, just to see how much it would differ from the 10* I had set it on before I first hit it. Well, it worked even better it seemed. Still a great trajectory, but a bit more roll out. I'm not going to say it's a better club then the Epic, that would be silly. We all seem to hit one club better then another, and obviously what might not work for me, could be great for someone else. (Duh, LOL). I will say though, This club is performing much, much better then I ever imagined it would/could. I am for the first time in a long time, amazed by what a club is doing for me as opposed to the one it replaced.
Finally had a chance to give this driver a workout and the results surprised me even more than the hype about the Max. This thing just wants to go straight, period. I don't think that I'm good at analyzing why a driver performs the way it does or why it doesn't, all I know is that this thing works! The aim with the turbulators is easy and accurate. Could be another reason why it goes straight because my alignment might be better aimed, IDK. The shaft seems OK to me. Maybe I might try a AM shaft with less spin, but really don't want to sacrifice too much. I'll post some numbers when I get them compiled.
Really, really liked this offering from Ping. So easy to hit. Ball speeds were very good for me (tied with the Rogue). The stock shaft worked for me nicely.
The sound didn't bother me at all, the guys watching me hit commented there was a big difference between it and the Rogue but I honestly wasn't paying attention. This is a fun club.
The sound didn't bother me at all, the guys watching me hit commented there was a big difference between it and the Rogue but I honestly wasn't paying attention. This is a fun club.
mikedean441
6X HOF
A little delayed, but, more thoughts, I have.
I'm done talking about the sound, I think its been mentioned enough now and anyone who goes out and hits the standard version next to the Max will hear it. That said, its still a powerful feeling head at impact. I put a slower swinger (88 MPH max) on it this past Sunday and the first comment out of his mouth was the sensation at impact, its got some hollow, but its also got some "pop" using his terminology.
The story for me remains the directional retention. The G400 is damn good there, but based on what I'm seeing this is better. My directional manipulation is a little more subdued than the G400, and I think that is exactly what you would want to see out of the 460cc Max. Bad strike are always going to be bad, but the high toe is a monster here as it is with the G400, and more than that low strikes have been shockingly good at maintaining length.
I'm still not prepared to say this is a higher spin head than the other models because I continue to see a 200-400 RPM differential between the two. I will say it is the higher launching head, which is saying something because the G400 is a launcher in its own right. Because I know some love numbers, I did go get some more the other day, this time with both heads set to standard, and paired this time with the Graphite Design AD-IZ 6.
G400:
Launch - 12.4
Spin - 2630 RPM
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
G400 Max:
Launch - 13.1
Spin - 2920
Ball Speed - 161 MPH
Was fun to see the ball speeds balance out on average because on a personal level it lets me know the swing balanced on both sessions pretty well with both heads. As for the launch, as I said, advantage Max. On spin, again this session fell in between that 200-400 RPM swing, and though I still in no way say that 2900 is high spin, it is definitely not the fit that the G400 is for me, BUT, reviews aren't about what fits me, too many youtubers get hung up on that, its does the head do what it says? Yes. It does. Its one of the more forgiving heads out there bar none. It offers really good launch. It spins in a realm that I believe will appeal to most of the golfers who will look at the 460cc Max over the G400, so it works there too.
Its another solid driver. Another solid option in the market FULL of them, and it also really does round out the G400 lineup impressively well.
Just seeing this, more launch and more spin while not sacrificing ball speed on an already bomber is REAL solid. Thanks for posting the data.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Did they happen to mention what the differences were that they saw while you were hitting?
Only thing I heard from the other guys watching was that it was a bit louder and higher pitched, but I think the Rogue is a bit muted by most standards. Wasn't off putting to me at all fwiw.
In terms of ball flight, what the store employee mentioned was they were both in the same windows for launch & spin (I'm pretty sure the Max was 9 degree and Rogue was 10.5 though). The differentiator for me was that I thought my miss left was a tiny bit more severe on the Ping than Rogue. I fear that miss. That said dispersion may have been only slightly better on the Ping (left a couple open on the Rogue).
If you have a right miss, I think the Ping Max is a damn good option.
This thing is definitely a fairway finder for me.
Coming off some kind of mean intestinal bug, I played 18 tonight at sim league and hit 8/14 fairways. For the four nines I have played with the Max, I have hit 4,4,4, and 4 fairways. I've pegged my sim league average with the old driver as working out to between 4 and 5 fairways hit per 18. That pretty much agrees with my Grint stats for the last ten outdoor rounds of 30% (4.2/14). That is a big change for me, and I had more of the over the top swing than I had last week. Even so, my drives were 5-10 yards longer than what I typically saw with my GBB/cruddy swing combo.
The GBB was the best driver I'd ever played, until this one, and it continues to stagger me how much better the results are with the Max.
Coming off some kind of mean intestinal bug, I played 18 tonight at sim league and hit 8/14 fairways. For the four nines I have played with the Max, I have hit 4,4,4, and 4 fairways. I've pegged my sim league average with the old driver as working out to between 4 and 5 fairways hit per 18. That pretty much agrees with my Grint stats for the last ten outdoor rounds of 30% (4.2/14). That is a big change for me, and I had more of the over the top swing than I had last week. Even so, my drives were 5-10 yards longer than what I typically saw with my GBB/cruddy swing combo.
The GBB was the best driver I'd ever played, until this one, and it continues to stagger me how much better the results are with the Max.
Last edited:
2Bad4u
KABOOM BABY!
I've owned many sets of Ping irons over the years but I haven't owned a Ping driver for about 20 years. This one will get me on a LM to see if what it does for me.
We played the sim version of Bay Hill tonight. I consider it a tight layout. We had a smaller group, so we got to play all 18, and I hit 9/14 fairways with the Max. Amazing.
tucsondivots
Fairways and Greens
I am not keeping official stats, but the G400 Max driver is stupid fun to hit, goes straight nearly every time and is as long as the XXIO 9 it replaced.
2Bad4u
KABOOM BABY!
That's very good news for the G400 Max. That's because I've always loved the distance the XXIO 9 driver consistently provided me. Unfortunately one sad day I just couldn't find the fairway any longer. For some unknown reason I just couldn't align myself and the club head to the target line and everything was going right. Lost total confidence in the club after that and the honeymoon was sadly over.
2Bad4u
KABOOM BABY!
As my post immediately above yours suggests I can struggle aligning the driver's club head to my intended start line. Can you please comment on how well (or not) the G400 Max's sets up prior to swing?
My Cobra F7 driver (and fairway woods) are very easy for ME to setup straight and square to the target line but I would still like a little more distance and forgiveness with the driver. Who doesn't want a little more distance and forgiveness.
mikedean441
6X HOF
Looking forward to the collaboration of thoughts...and REALLY looking forward to hitting this one eventually
1 vote for 441 giving a secondary review. Any chance the club can make a trip up to Ohio? Curious how it works for him.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2010
- Messages
- 11,480
- Reaction score
- 19,152
- Handicap
- PBR
Is there anything the Max does better than the other version released earlier? I know it's bigger and supposedly more forgiving, just curious the difference is that noticeable.