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PING s55 Iron - Review Thread

SuperStroke
Jman said:
Taking these two out to compare today while also finishing up another iron review. Same shaft, same length. (i20 and s55 for those who can't tell)

DSC_0884-L.jpg


DSC_0885-L.jpg
Click to expand...

I can't believe the size difference there. The s55 makes that i20 look like something from the G series.
 
Nice summary there Dean. The 3 iron thing is interesting to me and something I've done here and there. I like that you're doing it for the sake of the review. One thing that I tend to struggle with though (and I think you'll be able to relate) is that the club already a bit shorter than what I might normally take off the tee, then you compound that with a mis-hit and you're way-way back from where you'd be on most days with a hybrid or fairway wood. 4/7 isn't bad though, but I get the sense that two of those were probably on the shorter side?
 
ddec said:
I can't believe the size difference there. The s55 makes that i20 look like something from the G series.
Click to expand...

Yep, big time. Much more difference there than many think.
 
Hawk said:
Nice summary there Dean. The 3 iron thing is interesting to me and something I've done here and there. I like that you're doing it for the sake of the review. One thing that I tend to struggle with though (and I think you'll be able to relate) is that the club already a bit shorter than what I might normally take off the tee, then you compound that with a mis-hit and you're way-way back from where you'd be on most days with a hybrid or fairway wood. 4/7 isn't bad though, but I get the sense that two of those were probably on the shorter side?
Click to expand...

Of the 4 fairways really only 1 was way back, but that was on a 420 yard hole. Really it's a hole that I rarely get to in 2 because its' all up hill so I end up normally playing it driver, layup to 100, and then go from there or driver and then get as close to the green as I can. On this occasion it was 3 iron, 6 iron, PW shot. The other 3 holes that I hit FW on weren't really long holes, more positional ones. The first one with a toe shot I was left with about 160 in, when normally it's a 130 yard shot. You are right though, even though some may not be driver holes for me all the time, they are normally a 3 or 5 wood off the tee. So taking a shorter club and mishitting it definitely sets you back more. I did find though that I hit every single iron in the bag during that round with that strategy off the tee.
 
It's a great way to get every club some use for sure. I like it ddec. Nice work buddy.
 
Jman said:
Taking these two out to compare today while also finishing up another iron review. Same shaft, same length. (i20 and s55 for those who can't tell)

DSC_0884-L.jpg


DSC_0885-L.jpg
Click to expand...
Wow James, there's quite a bit of difference there, thanks for the compare!
 
Had a quick range session today. Weather has been a bit brutal the past couple of days with rain. Decided that getting in some swings in the pouring rain was just fine for me. Lucky they have covering so I only get spritzed. I did have to hit off mats but they were pretty nice.

I hit about 40 balls, focused on the 3, 5 and 9 irons.

With the 3 I was again hitting some pretty high balls. I'm still amazed that it's actually a 3 iron that I'm hitting. Doesn't feel like it, nor does it have the low liner trajectory I'm used to. I noticed that the feel is still great no matter where I was hitting it on the face. Looking at the club face, I was definitely focused on middle to heel strikes. They really felt pretty much the same. The ones I did catch on the toe still felt ok, but did lose some distance. I've consistently had that feeling with the toe shots. They again stay on online for the most part, but come off with a lower trajectory and don't have a lot of distance.

The 5 and 9 kept the high trajectory theme going and I really can't say enough about how good the ball feels coming off the face. Just fantastic.
The wet mats didn't seem to close the club at all. This goes along with my experience of the rough not having an effect on the club face during my round
last weekend.

I'll get at least one, but probably two rounds in this weekend. Excited to see how these feel in the cool weather.
 
dhartmann34 said:
Had a quick range session today. Weather has been a bit brutal the past couple of days with rain. Decided that getting in some swings in the pouring rain was just fine for me. Lucky they have covering so I only get spritzed. I did have to hit off mats but they were pretty nice.

I hit about 40 balls, focused on the 3, 5 and 9 irons.

With the 3 I was again hitting some pretty high balls. I'm still amazed that it's actually a 3 iron that I'm hitting. Doesn't feel like it, nor does it have the low liner trajectory I'm used to. I noticed that the feel is still great no matter where I was hitting it on the face. Looking at the club face, I was definitely focused on middle to heel strikes. They really felt pretty much the same. The ones I did catch on the toe still felt ok, but did lose some distance. I've consistently had that feeling with the toe shots. They again stay on online for the most part, but come off with a lower trajectory and don't have a lot of distance.

The 5 and 9 kept the high trajectory theme going and I really can't say enough about how good the ball feels coming off the face. Just fantastic.
The wet mats didn't seem to close the club at all. This goes along with my experience of the rough not having an effect on the club face during my round
last weekend.

I'll get at least one, but probably two rounds in this weekend. Excited to see how these feel in the cool weather.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the continued comments! I actually played with your current set of i3+'s for years so am very interested to hear your comments regarding how the s55's stack up to these in the forgiveness realm...
 
dhartmann34 said:
Had a quick range session today. Weather has been a bit brutal the past couple of days with rain. Decided that getting in some swings in the pouring rain was just fine for me. Lucky they have covering so I only get spritzed. I did have to hit off mats but they were pretty nice.

I hit about 40 balls, focused on the 3, 5 and 9 irons.

With the 3 I was again hitting some pretty high balls. I'm still amazed that it's actually a 3 iron that I'm hitting. Doesn't feel like it, nor does it have the low liner trajectory I'm used to. I noticed that the feel is still great no matter where I was hitting it on the face. Looking at the club face, I was definitely focused on middle to heel strikes. They really felt pretty much the same. The ones I did catch on the toe still felt ok, but did lose some distance. I've consistently had that feeling with the toe shots. They again stay on online for the most part, but come off with a lower trajectory and don't have a lot of distance.

The 5 and 9 kept the high trajectory theme going and I really can't say enough about how good the ball feels coming off the face. Just fantastic.
The wet mats didn't seem to close the club at all. This goes along with my experience of the rough not having an effect on the club face during my round
last weekend.

I'll get at least one, but probably two rounds in this weekend. Excited to see how these feel in the cool weather.
Click to expand...
The feel you getting from toe hits, is it muted? Can you feel the club head turn back a bit? ALS, what has you ball flight with the 3i been like off the turf?
 
Tadashi70 said:
The feel you getting from toe hits, is it muted? Can you feel the club head turn back a bit? ALS, what has you ball flight with the 3i been like off the turf?
Click to expand...

I'll have a full update today, but I'm going jump in on Panda's question.

For me, off the toe there is a sound difference, little clickier. No twisting of the the head through impact but you know when you catch one toe side. Distance loss is to be expected there but with the tungsten weighting in the toe it does a solid job of maintaining line and limiting the distance loss. They're no i20 off the toe, but there is some forgiveness packed in there.
 
homesy68 said:
im sure if you put say the 7 irons together they would be quite close or am I wrong Jman cheers
Click to expand...

Sole is still noticeably different, as is the topline.
 
Jman said:
I'll have a full update today, but I'm going jump in on Panda's question.

For me, off the toe there is a sound difference, little clickier. No twisting of the the head through impact but you know when you catch one toe side. Distance loss is to be expected there but with the tungsten weighting in the toe it does a solid job of maintaining line and limiting the distance loss. They're no i20 off the toe, but there is some forgiveness packed in there.
Click to expand...

This is my miss so this is great to hear
 
Jman said:
I'll have a full update today, but I'm going jump in on Panda's question.

For me, off the toe there is a sound difference, little clickier. No twisting of the the head through impact but you know when you catch one toe side. Distance loss is to be expected there but with the tungsten weighting in the toe it does a solid job of maintaining line and limiting the distance loss. They're no i20 off the toe, but there is some forgiveness packed in there.
Click to expand...

In my limited time with them that's what I have seen as weel.

My clubs are packed up right now accompanying me to myrtle beach for the weekend. Some major testing will be done.
 
ddec said:
In my limited time with them that's what I have seen as weel.

My clubs are packed up right now accompanying me to myrtle beach for the weekend. Some major testing will be done.
Click to expand...

Enjoy it bro ! Crush those s55's
 
On Toe hits I can feel the turn just a bit, but the ball is going straight. It is a little muted, does not have crisp pop like a solid hit of course. The toe is much more forgiving than i would have thought.
I have not hit the 3iron off the deck yet, but the 4 iron for me has a nice trajectory. I am seeing the HIGH trajectory from the 8 iron down.

Tadashi70 said:
The feel you getting from toe hits, is it muted? Can you feel the club head turn back a bit? ALS, what has you ball flight with the 3i been like off the turf?
Click to expand...
 
LINKS TO PREVIOUS UPDATES:

As is standard practice for me in a forum review, I will place links to prior posts/reviews within this thread on these irons here, once the list becomes too long it will be placed into spoiler tags.


  • Initial Unboxing/Info: CLICK HERE
  • First Range Time: CLICK HERE
  • First Round: CLICK HERE
  • Second/Third/Fourth Rounds: CLICK HERE


So, I've been in the midst of multitasking and its been a little chaotic to be honest, but nothing I can't handle. So, since my last full update I've gotten two "partial" rounds playing two sets of irons in and one additional full round yesterday and have really gotten to get more comfortable with the s55's because of that.

BALL-FLIGHT/SHAFT:

I have a nasty habit that I've "self ingrained" with my swing of not finishing my swing all the way over my shoulder. Its something that in my current Morgan Cup preparation is fully in my radar of working on, so recently there has been a BIG focus on getting to the finish and the difference in flight I'm seeing is quite honestly astounding. I was initially seeing what I'd call a solid mid-flight with the s55/CFS combo but yesterday I really unlocked a true GORGEOUS mid-high/high flight with them. Penetrating flight even into the 12-15 MPH winds but the best part was the ability to hold the green even down into the 4i, not an issue at all. Still easily flightable dealing with the wind as well though, so that is DEFINITELY nice to see.

DISTANCE:

With more time with ANY iron set you naturally start to work out your distances and these are no different. The nice thing is that with the better ball flight the distance has increased as well and I am only off about 2-3 yards per club from what was "normal" for me with my previous sets. Its a perfect range for me as if you give me an 8i in my hands from 162ish I believe I can hit the green every time. There is definitely more here than I ever anticipated them having, as a "players" iron I expected a pretty large loss but it definitely seems the improved launch that PING focused on is there and the ballflight producing solid distance.

On misses, there is definitely distance loss, my miss is off the toe and I do take more of a hit with these from a distance perspective than I did the i20's but the flight still stays on line nicely. This is expected, a more demanding iron is not going to have the same forgiveness on misses as a more perimeter weighted and larger iron head, it just isn't. You know you miss with these, you feel the miss and you SEE the miss in the ball flight no matter if its toe/heel or high off the face.

SOUND/FEEL:

I keep coming back to one word with these, flush. On well struck shots its a sound that just sounds/feels RIGHT upon impact, it really does. No awkward overly clickiness and no dullness that doesn't give you any feedback, its smack in the middle. As I've mentioned before though you DEFINITELY know when you miss, the sounds are entirely different off the heel/toe as well as high off the face or low off the face, that sound imparts a distinct feel that lets you know what just happened but there never seems to be any accentuated twisting of the head on the missed, very stable whether its on the dot or off the mark with the swing.

This might be the most addicting part of these irons for me right now, when I compress a ball is SOUNDS compressed at impact, it lets you know that it was a solid move through impact. I love that kind of feedback.

LONG IRONS:

The 3i is kicking my butt, it really is. I love the look of the s55's through the set but the 3i is just in my head. I can handle it well enough off of the tee but off the deck I'm just not getting the ball airborn enough to try and hit into greens with it. This is something that is really bothering me as I love hitting long irons, but its also a reminder that these are more demanding irons than I have been playing and its not all unicorns and rainbows all the time, struggles happen and thats OK. I'll be keeping after this club though, I don't give up easily.

The 4-6i are however very effective so far off the deck and tee for me. The 4i has become a tee game stinger weapon for me and even better yesterday off the deck I was finally seeing a nice mid-high flight that definitely COULD hold a green should I choose to hit it into one, that is a big deal. The 5-6i are anywhere clubs right now, I have no hesitations pulling them from anywhere and am confident I can put a good strike on the ball, if I can get to feel this way all the time about the 4i and some of the time with the 3i then I'll be in business. Ball position is everything with these clubs though, its something I've hat to keep a keen eye on to not get sloppy with it otherwise I have a tendency to leak a little right.

MID/SHORT IRONS:

7-PW are the headhunters of this set. The money clubs, the green killers, the whatever other analogy you want to put here's. Knockdown? Got it. Flight it HIGH? Got it. Work it left or right? Beleieve it or not I've got that too and its been way more useful than I expected. I'm not afraid to hit ANY shot with these. From anywhere. That's big for me, and I have a theory on this...but that's coming at the end. The turf interaction here is also really good, I've been know to take beaver pelts and these are fine with that, I feel like I can be as aggressive as I need to be.

PARTING THOUGHTS:

Not the longest collection of thoughts I know, but effective for getting my bearings with what I'm seeing. Speaking of those bearings, I have a couple thoughts in my head on what these are doing on a personal game level and why.

I've played all sorts of irons in the last year and have always considered myself a good ballstriker, but, I truly believe that a players iron like these MAKE me focus more when I'm over the ball, I really do. I absolutely KNOW that that is 100% mental and I absolutely KNOW that many disagree with a thought like this completely in that one should always play the most forgiving club they can. But, to me that level of "most forgiving" varies form user to user and, for me, I need something with a more demanding look to it BUT with some built in toe forgiveness for my miss for me to not get satisfied over the ball. Now, I want it clear that I CAN play all levels of irons, I know I can, I just feel like some looks/setups make me focus more than others. Absolutely 100% mental, but this is a very mental game too.

Should be getting out again very soon, I've got the bug hitting these, just addicting right now.

AS ALWAYS, if you have any Q's, please please please put them up here for us to answer, after all, those questions help drive these forum testings as much as the users.
 
Jman said:
I've played all sorts of irons in the last year and have always considered myself a good ballstriker, but, I truly believe that a players iron like these MAKE me focus more when I'm over the ball, I really do. I absolutely KNOW that that is 100% mental and I absolutely KNOW that many disagree with a thought like this completely in that one should always play the most forgiving club they can. But, to me that level of "most forgiving" varies form user to user and, for me, I need something with a more demanding look to it BUT with some built in toe forgiveness for my miss for me to not get satisfied over the ball. Now, I want it clear that I CAN play all levels of irons, I know I can, I just feel like some looks/setups make me focus more than others. Absolutely 100% mental, but this is a very mental game too.
Click to expand...
I think this goes to what Fupresti was talking about earlier in the thread. I'm going through something similar moving from RocketBladez to DPCs. It is a hard to pinpoint thing. We are "supposed" to play the most forgiving clubs we can, but - at least for me - it isn't quite that simple. Perhaps the sum of our game is greater when we play a somewhat forgiving club that asks more of us.
 
Here's a question that I have a hard time phrasing - but how does the S55 feel through your swing say versus an SGI iron you may have played? I ask because while I generally like my G25s, I do have a tendency to leave the face open. It almost feels like the greater MOI, etc. is fighting the face closing. When I hit players clubs, I fight the lefts immediately because they feel like to me that they close down faster.

Jman said:
LINKS TO PREVIOUS UPDATES:

As is standard practice for me in a forum review, I will place links to prior posts/reviews within this thread on these irons here, once the list becomes too long it will be placed into spoiler tags.


  • Initial Unboxing/Info: CLICK HERE
  • First Range Time: CLICK HERE
  • First Round: CLICK HERE
  • Second/Third/Fourth Rounds: CLICK HERE


So, I've been in the midst of multitasking and its been a little chaotic to be honest, but nothing I can't handle. So, since my last full update I've gotten two "partial" rounds playing two sets of irons in and one additional full round yesterday and have really gotten to get more comfortable with the s55's because of that.

BALL-FLIGHT/SHAFT:

I have a nasty habit that I've "self ingrained" with my swing of not finishing my swing all the way over my shoulder. Its something that in my current Morgan Cup preparation is fully in my radar of working on, so recently there has been a BIG focus on getting to the finish and the difference in flight I'm seeing is quite honestly astounding. I was initially seeing what I'd call a solid mid-flight with the s55/CFS combo but yesterday I really unlocked a true GORGEOUS mid-high/high flight with them. Penetrating flight even into the 12-15 MPH winds but the best part was the ability to hold the green even down into the 4i, not an issue at all. Still easily flightable dealing with the wind as well though, so that is DEFINITELY nice to see.

DISTANCE:

With more time with ANY iron set you naturally start to work out your distances and these are no different. The nice thing is that with the better ball flight the distance has increased as well and I am only off about 2-3 yards per club from what was "normal" for me with my previous sets. Its a perfect range for me as if you give me an 8i in my hands from 162ish I believe I can hit the green every time. There is definitely more here than I ever anticipated them having, as a "players" iron I expected a pretty large loss but it definitely seems the improved launch that PING focused on is there and the ballflight producing solid distance.

On misses, there is definitely distance loss, my miss is off the toe and I do take more of a hit with these from a distance perspective than I did the i20's but the flight still stays on line nicely. This is expected, a more demanding iron is not going to have the same forgiveness on misses as a more perimeter weighted and larger iron head, it just isn't. You know you miss with these, you feel the miss and you SEE the miss in the ball flight no matter if its toe/heel or high off the face.

SOUND/FEEL:

I keep coming back to one word with these, flush. On well struck shots its a sound that just sounds/feels RIGHT upon impact, it really does. No awkward overly clickiness and no dullness that doesn't give you any feedback, its smack in the middle. As I've mentioned before though you DEFINITELY know when you miss, the sounds are entirely different off the heel/toe as well as high off the face or low off the face, that sound imparts a distinct feel that lets you know what just happened but there never seems to be any accentuated twisting of the head on the missed, very stable whether its on the dot or off the mark with the swing.

This might be the most addicting part of these irons for me right now, when I compress a ball is SOUNDS compressed at impact, it lets you know that it was a solid move through impact. I love that kind of feedback.

LONG IRONS:

The 3i is kicking my butt, it really is. I love the look of the s55's through the set but the 3i is just in my head. I can handle it well enough off of the tee but off the deck I'm just not getting the ball airborn enough to try and hit into greens with it. This is something that is really bothering me as I love hitting long irons, but its also a reminder that these are more demanding irons than I have been playing and its not all unicorns and rainbows all the time, struggles happen and thats OK. I'll be keeping after this club though, I don't give up easily.

The 4-6i are however very effective so far off the deck and tee for me. The 4i has become a tee game stinger weapon for me and even better yesterday off the deck I was finally seeing a nice mid-high flight that definitely COULD hold a green should I choose to hit it into one, that is a big deal. The 5-6i are anywhere clubs right now, I have no hesitations pulling them from anywhere and am confident I can put a good strike on the ball, if I can get to feel this way all the time about the 4i and some of the time with the 3i then I'll be in business. Ball position is everything with these clubs though, its something I've hat to keep a keen eye on to not get sloppy with it otherwise I have a tendency to leak a little right.

MID/SHORT IRONS:

7-PW are the headhunters of this set. The money clubs, the green killers, the whatever other analogy you want to put here's. Knockdown? Got it. Flight it HIGH? Got it. Work it left or right? Beleieve it or not I've got that too and its been way more useful than I expected. I'm not afraid to hit ANY shot with these. From anywhere. That's big for me, and I have a theory on this...but that's coming at the end. The turf interaction here is also really good, I've been know to take beaver pelts and these are fine with that, I feel like I can be as aggressive as I need to be.

PARTING THOUGHTS:

Not the longest collection of thoughts I know, but effective for getting my bearings with what I'm seeing. Speaking of those bearings, I have a couple thoughts in my head on what these are doing on a personal game level and why.

I've played all sorts of irons in the last year and have always considered myself a good ballstriker, but, I truly believe that a players iron like these MAKE me focus more when I'm over the ball, I really do. I absolutely KNOW that that is 100% mental and I absolutely KNOW that many disagree with a thought like this completely in that one should always play the most forgiving club they can. But, to me that level of "most forgiving" varies form user to user and, for me, I need something with a more demanding look to it BUT with some built in toe forgiveness for my miss for me to not get satisfied over the ball. Now, I want it clear that I CAN play all levels of irons, I know I can, I just feel like some looks/setups make me focus more than others. Absolutely 100% mental, but this is a very mental game too.

Should be getting out again very soon, I've got the bug hitting these, just addicting right now.

AS ALWAYS, if you have any Q's, please please please put them up here for us to answer, after all, those questions help drive these forum testings as much as the users.
Click to expand...
 
ddec said:
In my limited time with them that's what I have seen as weel.

My clubs are packed up right now accompanying me to myrtle beach for the weekend. Some major testing will be done.
Click to expand...

Have fun Dean, hope some familiar course will be in play
 
Jman, thanks for the thoughts. Sounds like your issues with the 3i stem mostly from elevation? If not lemme know, but if so can you compare flights to the i20 3i? Takes off low and stays low... Gets up a bit but drops off too fast... What exactly are you seeing?

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
Xavier said:
Thank you so much for the continued comments! I actually played with your current set of i3+'s for years so am very interested to hear your comments regarding how the s55's stack up to these in the forgiveness realm...
Click to expand...

Well I got another full round in today. I'm playing again tomorrow so I'll do a full post after that combining the two rounds....but I will tell you in terms of forgiveness, if you hit the ball off the center of the club all the way back towards the heel, there doesn't seem to be any distance loss or directional issues. The clubs fly HIGH. I'm not kidding. With this set I'm hitting my 3 iron like I would hit a 6 or 7 iron....It's amazing. Off the toe hits do lose distance....There's no doubt. Thin shots lose distance. But the mishits tend to stay online.... It's really a great set of clubs that gives me confidence with them in my hands. They are still tougher to hit, but they'll make you want to be a better player....especially when you hit it solid....Feels sooooooooo good! :)
 
Saw these today for the first time.

hit the W and 7 iron off mats they feel amazing.

these are the nicest looking irons ive ever saw.

was contemplating a reshaft of my 712 AP1s this spring. May hold off and see if i can game these.

My game needs a lot of work, i plan on playing a lot more this Spring and on as it will be my last year being an assistant basketball coach.

need to go to some outdoor demo days. Holding the clubs and seeing them at address has me in serious ponedr mode
 
gatorgolfer said:
Saw these today for the first time.

hit the W and 7 iron off mats they feel amazing.

these are the nicest looking irons ive ever saw.

was contemplating a reshaft of my 712 AP1s this spring. May hold off and see if i can game these.

My game needs a lot of work, i plan on playing a lot more this Spring and on as it will be my last year being an assistant basketball coach.

need to go to some outdoor demo days. Holding the clubs and seeing them at address has me in serious ponedr mode
Click to expand...

I love them. If you get to hit them you will be shocked at how forgiving they are


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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