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PING i15-what I thought and where I might be headed

SuperStroke
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Kimeran

Play for fun, not anger
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Sep 30, 2009
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~15-17
Hey guys, a while back I was asking about thoughts on the i15 and there were not very many who could help me with my question as very few had tried it.

First of all: the Driver Shootout was right, this thing is GORGEOUS in person and I think that the club head was just the right size as some drivers these days look just too big for my likes.

Another thing that I found was the feel of this driver was superb. It had a very soft feel that was also providing good feedback. However, this feedback is a little softer than what I am used to. Keep in mind that I have been playing my grandfathers 15 or so year old driver which is a Callaway Warbird. But the i15 provided proper feedback that I considered to be favorable.

Another thing I noticed is that when you try and swing too hard with this driver the fault of doing so is VERY apparent and the face is not as forgiving as others and can lead ball to go every which way....

Overall I would say that this is a very good driver though. I can see why they say that it is for the "better" player as you have to hit the sweet spot for good ball flight. In the end I would also say that this driver is on my list as a possible candidate for a new driver alongside the R9 Supertri.
 
I hit it alongside the Fast 10, G15, Superfast TP, FT Tour, and Diablo Edge and thought it was as good or better then any of them.

The feel, look at address, and Axivcore did it for me. It was a cannon as well, for me it was longer then the G15. I didn't find it that unforgiving, about the same as the FT Tour for me.

I was surprised how high it launched in 9.5* though, I had to hit an 8* with the Axiv Red to get a good medium launch.
 
chilly said:
I hit it alongside the Fast 10, G15, Superfast TP, FT Tour, and Diablo Edge and thought it was as good or better then any of them.

The feel, look at address, and Axivcore did it for me. It was a cannon as well, for me it was longer then the G15. I didn't find it that unforgiving, about the same as the FT Tour for me.

I was surprised how high it launched in 9.5* though, I had to hit an 8* with the Axiv Red to get a good medium launch.
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Were you hitting it with a monitor? If so, what were the number comparisons? THe reason I ask, is I hit basically the exact same drivers you did the other day with the launch monitor and for me it was totally different.

There was not a bad one in teh bunch I must say, but I would not compare the forgiveness of this one to any of them. The slightest miss for me caused a slice on this and not on a single other driver in the group. Very similar to that of our DSO testers thoughts. I also could not play a consistent draw with this driver under any circumstances. The weighting and the angle just killed it for me. While I could with just about every other one in the group.

No question it is a good driver. They all are for the most part, but I just did not see any length improvement with this one. Especially over the G15 which is a rocket. But the i15 was one of hte shorter drivers overall for distance for me. Partially because of control. When you are measuring the distance, were you comparing all shots averaged, or the one or two that hit perfect? Curious, because when I was trying it, out of every 5 I would hit, one would be way to open at impact.
 
I love the i15 because it is so light. Just a great all around driver. if something happens to my Dymo, that one is next in line.
 
I have had one for about two months now and love it. 9.5 degrees with Accra Axiv XC 65 stiff (m4). Lowest spinning combo I've ever owned. Knocked my spin down from 3500 or so rpms to 2800 - 3000. I tried Nike, TM, and Callaway. The Ping was the best of the bunch and you can't beat the "stealth" looks!
 
Ping was nice enough to supply us with drivers for the FL Golf outing. I am really looking forward to get everybody's feedback on the club. So many love it in the forum.
 
I am very interested in hearing what others say as well. today I may try it next to the Supertri to compare distance but judging from what I was hitting the other day they seemed to be pretty much equal for me. However, I liked the control I had over the ball more with the i15.

The thing that I found to be the most suprising thing i found about the i15 was that even though it is supposed to have a face that is open 2* i think....but the face still looks closed at setup. It was perfect for how I work the ball as I simply open the clubface or close it at setup to get the desired fade and draw.
 
I was getting fitted and it was one of my top 3. Coming from a G10, I was very comfortable with the shape and setup.

I hit a small draw on most driver shots. I actually got a soft fade with the I15. Distance was fantastic (spin was great) when I hit it correctly.

The problems were when I didn't. It was harsh on mishits, which speaks more to my ability. For me, I'm not consistent enough with driver to play that club. Golf is a game of misses, right? I need gentle misses ;)
 
JB said:
Were you hitting it with a monitor? If so, what were the number comparisons? THe reason I ask, is I hit basically the exact same drivers you did the other day with the launch monitor and for me it was totally different.

There was not a bad one in teh bunch I must say, but I would not compare the forgiveness of this one to any of them. The slightest miss for me caused a slice on this and not on a single other driver in the group. Very similar to that of our DSO testers thoughts. I also could not play a consistent draw with this driver under any circumstances. The weighting and the angle just killed it for me. While I could with just about every other one in the group.

No question it is a good driver. They all are for the most part, but I just did not see any length improvement with this one. Especially over the G15 which is a rocket. But the i15 was one of hte shorter drivers overall for distance for me. Partially because of control. When you are measuring the distance, were you comparing all shots averaged, or the one or two that hit perfect? Curious, because when I was trying it, out of every 5 I would hit, one would be way to open at impact.
Click to expand...

Sort of, I hit the FT Tour and Superfast TP on the rep's trackman (110ss, 3300-3500spin, 11-12* launch for FT Tour 111mph, 3100rpm, 13 launch for Superfast) Our range has a line of trees right around 250yds, so I had specific trees picked as a defined landmark so I knew distance to carry based on Trackmand data. I realize this isn't truly scientific, but I had Trackman figures to some known landmarks so I felt pretty good about "eyeballing" the i15 drives. First four swings with the i15 carried the "good" shots from the FT Tour by a few yards, and were right there with the best recorded shot (265ish carry, 283yd total). I'm not talking 15yds, but definitely longer, and with the 8* i15 had almost identical trajectory.

I actually hit the Superfast longer on well hit balls, but I liked the i15 because I hit it more consistently. The shaft felt very stable for me, so I never lost it right. I've hit the i15 a bunch of times in big box store simulators as well, I realize they're not accurate, but I think they give a decent "relative" measurement of clubs against each other. I consistently picked up yardage and accuracty with the i15 over other drivers. It's the combo of balance and feel of the shaft for me, I feel like it fits me perfectly and I tend to find the center of the club more often. My miss is off the toe, and I don't see much dropoff with the i15. Also, I haven't found anything that compares with the feel of a well hit ball with the i15, feels like a pured 7iron with my MP 52s...it's almost like you feel the ball compress when hit.

My miss is a slice so it doesn't make sense that I like the i15, but I also play a 9015D with Harrison Saga and haven't found the misses to be any worse with these open clubs then my "standard" Hibore XLs or '08 Tour Burner.

In fact, I ordered an 8* Axivcore Red in Stiff today, my first new driver.
 
So glad it is working out for you. That is the best part.
 
We'll see, hopefully it won't just be a range hero and will translate to the course.
 
Kimeran said:
Hey guys, a while back I was asking about thoughts on the i15 and there were not very many who could help me with my question as very few had tried it.

First of all: the Driver Shootout was right, this thing is GORGEOUS in person and I think that the club head was just the right size as some drivers these days look just too big for my likes.

Another thing that I found was the feel of this driver was superb. It had a very soft feel that was also providing good feedback. However, this feedback is a little softer than what I am used to. Keep in mind that I have been playing my grandfathers 15 or so year old driver which is a Callaway Warbird. But the i15 provided proper feedback that I considered to be favorable.

Another thing I noticed is that when you try and swing too hard with this driver the fault of doing so is VERY apparent and the face is not as forgiving as others and can lead ball to go every which way....

Overall I would say that this is a very good driver though. I can see why they say that it is for the "better" player as you have to hit the sweet spot for good ball flight. In the end I would also say that this driver is on my list as a possible candidate for a new driver alongside the R9 Supertri.
Click to expand...

i play the i15 with an oban devotion 75 and love love love it. the feel of this driver is unlike any other driver i have ever played. i am a pretty consistent ball striker which allows me to enjoy the open face . i also love the appearance with the all black and the traditional shape, unlike todays space ships. kind of like you know already, you have to be precise with your swing because if you get ahead of it and dont have the hands to catch up then your ball with go sky rocketting to the right. people split down the middle on the length of this driver. in my opinion its right up their with the deepest drivers in the business. having the right shaft and loft is very important in that process anyway. if you are into a solid driver that will allow you to work the ball and control your trajectory all while giving you just a bit of forgiveness, this is your stick.
 
I tried out some more drivers yesturday and I compared the i15, G15, and R9 supertri right next to eachother. I was actually really suprised how I threw the R9 out of the mix towards the very beggining. I really like the G15 but i preferred the feel and control I had with the i15. The only thing that was different is I was using the 8* i15 instead of the 9.5* i15 i did the other day.

I am not sure why but i seemed to hit the 9.5* better and was able to control the fade on it more to the point of being able to fade it, draw it, or hit it straight down the pipe. However, with the 8* I almost always had a fade going on.

I am going to have to keep trying more out as I would still really like to try out the Cleveland DST Launcher and Adams Superfast 10

oh, and the FTiz but that isnt high on my list of things to try.
 
now that everyone is back from the outing what was everyone's thoughts on the i15
 
I had the same thoughts as I had before. I kept trying it to change my mind, but it just did not work for me.
 
interesting. I see that you are now playing the Diablo Edge, is that hat you prefer now?
 
Kimeran said:
interesting. I see that you are now playing the Diablo Edge, is that hat you prefer now?
Click to expand...

I still love my R9, and about 8 other drivers that I tried at the demo. The i15 just does not suit my game. It lacks serious forgiveness for those that miss to the right (RH golfers).
 
Ok, well I was trying the R9 supertri, i15, and G15 next to eachother this last week and the G15 was a rocket but I was missing that one right. The curious thing is that the i15 was perfect, I was put just a nice fade on every shot since I USUALLY miss left....I think I need to keep trying drivers out at this time though as the R9 had this odd rattling inside the head that concerned me when I was trying it.
 
kimeran, i only saw a couple of the guys hitting the i15 and it honestly wasn't the topic of a lot of conversations. i know that biggsy and his buddy chuck said it felt great but i also know that neither one of them took it to the course with them. i'm a lefty or i would've tried it. hopefully some of the other guys will give you some feedback.
 
Kimeran said:
Ok, well I was trying the R9 supertri, i15, and G15 next to eachother this last week and the G15 was a rocket but I was missing that one right. The curious thing is that the i15 was perfect, I was put just a nice fade on every shot since I USUALLY miss left....I think I need to keep trying drivers out at this time though as the R9 had this odd rattling inside the head that concerned me when I was trying it.
Click to expand...

That is surprising, since the i15 is weighted to open and has onset I believe. The G15 is weighted to closed and is offset. Hmmmm. Different clubs work for different people I guess.
 
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