1st round yesterday with the 5w. Went ok. 1 bomb off the tee, 1 wide right off the tee (got lucky, still made par), and one low bullet from the rough that went 230.

The flight off the tee is fun. My technique off the deck needs work to get some height. Encouraged that there is no left miss.

Sound is bad. Like an instrument that's out of tune. Buddies had a good time razzing me on the range over the sound haha.
 
Does the sound change when you’re on the course hitting premium balls?
 
Does the sound change when you’re on the course hitting premium balls?
Maybe? Its less amplified than it is in a covered range stall, but the sound itself isn't what I would call "good".
 
Maybe? Its less amplified than it is in a covered range stall, but the sound itself isn't what I would call "good".

The sound pierces your ears at a higher pitch than the Max.
 
I hit the 3 wood today and can agree that the fairways are quite noisy. I know sound doesn't bother some people but I just don't understand how Ping releases clubs that can have such noticeable sound issues.

Performance wise it was a very nice club. I saw a consistent fade and good ball speed numbers. The shallow face is awesome off the turf but I'm not sure I'd like it off the tee long term. Combine that with the sound and it made me glad I went with another option.
 
I hit a 425 Max that had hot melt in it today. Definitely a drastic improvement in sound.
 
I hit a 425 Max that had hot melt in it today. Definitely a drastic improvement in sound.
Did it feel like it made the head too heavy? Those heads are already pretty hefty, I'd be afraid of adding much more weight.
 
Did it feel like it made the head too heavy? Those heads are already pretty hefty, I'd be afraid of adding much more weight.
No. Not at all. Had a counterbalanced shaft in it. Was expecting it to feel heavier than it did honestly.
 
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No. Not at all. Had a counterbalanced shaft in it. Was expecting it to feel heavier than it did honestly.
How would you compare it to the Epic Max or Epic Max LS if you have hit either . Thats what i would end up demoing. All three seem to have some real positives and look good and right now these are the three i am considering. But i will wait because i really want to do a head to head outside and that wont be for a while around here.
 
How would you compare it to the Epic Max or Epic Max LS if you have hit either . Thats what i would end up demoing. All three seem to have some real positives and look good and right now these are the three i am considering. But i will wait because i really want to do a head to head outside and that wont be for a while around here.
I haven’t had any opportunity for a head to head. Definitely will though when I can be outside and actually watch the ball flight.
 
i finally got a chance to hit the g425 max today. the employee at pgatss gave me the alida rogue white 130msi 70 stiff to hit in it, 10.5 neutral with weight neutral.

first impression was that he had lofted it up. why? because it sat so closed at address. i looked at the adapter. nope, standard. yeah, not into the closed look.

i hit 10-15 shots. the best were good. spin in the 2k to 2,200 range. ball speed in the mid 140s. carry high 250, i think one or two were over 260. but i really struggled to find any consistency. it could have been a number of things, but ultimately i never found a groove.

i did like the spin profile a lot. that's something i need. but i missed left way more than i hit it straight or right.

and now for the elephant in the room: sound. i liked it. i found the sound to be way better than 400 max, not as aluminum-y. if anything, the sound was almost too consistent with different strikes, so i wasn't always sure where i missed on the face.

maybe a 10.5 lofted down would open the face enough, but based on looks at address alone i wouldn't be interested in this driver.

I certainly agree on your sound assessment 100%. This is all about perspective here, coming from a G400 Max it is definitely more muted and less metal sounding, loud I guess especially in comparison to composite heads. IMHO of course.
 
i finally got a chance to hit the g425 max today. the employee at pgatss gave me the alida rogue white 130msi 70 stiff to hit in it, 10.5 neutral with weight neutral.

first impression was that he had lofted it up. why? because it sat so closed at address. i looked at the adapter. nope, standard. yeah, not into the closed look.

i hit 10-15 shots. the best were good. spin in the 2k to 2,200 range. ball speed in the mid 140s. carry high 250, i think one or two were over 260. but i really struggled to find any consistency. it could have been a number of things, but ultimately i never found a groove.

i did like the spin profile a lot. that's something i need. but i missed left way more than i hit it straight or right.

and now for the elephant in the room: sound. i liked it. i found the sound to be way better than 400 max, not as aluminum-y. if anything, the sound was almost too consistent with different strikes, so i wasn't always sure where i missed on the face.

maybe a 10.5 lofted down would open the face enough, but based on looks at address alone i wouldn't be interested in this driver.

Nice - it is a great driver, needing a tiny bit of hot melt. Spin is better if you need lower spin. The 400 Max hits my numbers well at 9 deg. I probably need a 425 at 10.5 to hit 2300-2600.

It's a nice driver but just did not do enough for me over the G400 Max to justify the same purchase. I'd rather get a different driver ... as in the Epic.

As to sound, I was hitting from a large open garage to an outdoor range where sound was more accurate than an inside bay. I was hitting Max, then 425 in rotation. The 425 to my ears has a higher pitch. Too bad they did not replicate the sound of the G400 (no max).

I finished up my lesson and Rod Pampling was waiting. He had the 425 but was hesitant about the sound. I think he was trying out fairways - 425 v. Epic.
 
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not sure if this is the right thread, but i tested the 425 max fairway today. the shape is a little more triangular than i expected, but nothing distracting. to my eye it did sit a little closed.

i hit the 5w in the stock stiff setting. honestly i liked the sound a lot. i didn't find it loud or thin, just very powerful and solid. the performance was also really good. there was a little draw in it, more than i would prefer, but maybe opening the face could offset that. ultimately it lost because the shape wasn't perfect to my eye, and the ball speed was consistently 2-3 mph slower than the stz i hit it against.

still, the 425 max was a fairway i could game in a heartbeat, with a more robust fitting it could very well keep up with other fairways that suit me. just lagged behind enough today to not get my dollars.
 
I got a chance to swing my new G425 Max driver on the range today. Oh my sweet Lord that thing is loud! There's no question why they named it PING! Only hit 6 shots with it and cannot honestly say I was pleased. But, limited sample size and it's been 2 weeks or so since I played. So, I'll give it time yet. I played in a Senior 2-man scramble afterward and I didn't want to risk ruining my partner's day. Put the Max back in my car and played with my Mizuno ST190 which I hit reasonably well.
 
Update time. Before beginning, I should point out that the specs on the Ping G425 Max driver with the stock shaft are exactly the same as the shaft in my Mizuno ST190.

I was fortunate enough to get in a round this morning. I was hesitant to subject my playing partners to the sound of the Ping, so I played the front with my Mizuno ST190. Unfortunately, I was not striking the ball well off the tee. The guys convinced me to switch drivers at the turn, and since it was a social round I said okay. I realize I only hit the G425 Max 7 times on the back nine, but I thought the results were interesting.

The first 5 tee shots with it were heavy draws (almost on the verge of hooks). It was noticeable enough that I considered moving the weight to the fade position. However, on the last 2 tee boxes of the day, I realized I had not been extending fully through the shots. So I let that be my only swing thought on the last 2 drives. Both were beautiful, down-the-middle baby draws (the exact shot shape I hope for) with reasonable length (for me). I realized that when I caught the ball on the sweet spot, the sound was not as noticeable and bad as before.

Is the 425 longer than my ST190? Perhaps, on well struck shots, but it's really hard to say after just 7 tee shots. Is it more forgiving? Perhaps. The first 5 heavy draws were still fairway shots. None of them found the rough. I cannot say the same for when I hit the ST190 poorly. Is it a better driver for me than my ST190? Far too soon to say. All I can say is that (1) I'm excited to work with my 425 Max, and (2) my ST190 will remain on standby; I will not get rid of it because it's been far too good for my game.
 
I hit about 450 balls with the 425 Max over the last 4 days with the Tensi AV Raw 65g stiff shaft. My impressions compared to my 410 LST with CK Orange 60 gram stiff shaft that I gamed the last 2 seasons. I also hit half at 10.5* and the other half at 9.5*.

Every Club/shaft combo reacts different to everyone’s swing, but my impressions.

1. 425 max is much more forgiving than anything I ever hit.
2. 425 spins more than the 410LST, but was easier to launch. My mishits always seemed to turn back towards the fairway (in neutral setting) and balls that I thought I hooked bad, found the left side of the fairway.
3. It seems that in the 10.5 neutral setting, the ball wants to draw 5-7 yards, not a hard draw, but very soft compared to the 410. Am thinking it’s draw biased.
4. When put a hard swing on it and got my swing speed 110+, the club/shaft stayed with me and put out some good numbers, 300 yards total distance.
5. Seemed when I didn’t catch it square, it was out towards the toe, but the ball came back to the fairway nicely.
6. When I put the weight in the fade setting, the ball stayed on a very straight line.
7. Was a math major and am very much a numbers guy. Here are the results of the 450 shots averaged out. The 2 tests I did outside, I used a launch monitor and the 2 times I was inside, I used the same launch monitor and the True Golf simulator numbers, which were almost identical.
8. I recorded data for each and every swing, good and bad. Outside used decent range balls in about 40 and 52 degrees.

Average Swing speed: 107
Average backspin: 3142
Average launch: 13.9
Average carry: 264
Average total distance: 282
Ball speed on the average was about 158mph (didn’t record all the time)

I would like to get the spin numbers down a little, so going to try out the Tensi X-stiff AV raw orange and a lower spinning ball. My fitter suggested that originally, but was a little intimidated by the X-stiff at my age. I also used last years Pro V1x as well when hit inside.

And yes, it is loud, but so is my wife in bed and I don’t complain about that 😂😎
 
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And yes, it is loud, but so is my wife in bed and I don’t complain about that 😂😎

Hopefully you don’t have three other golfers Around during that, but hey everybody is different.😂
 
Got the 425 Max on the course and the sound is Certainly better/more muted than the G400 max, most noticeable on center strikes. The only loudness I heard was on really really bad misses on the face and thankfully I only had 2-3 of those trying to over swing. Again, perspective is key here from someone coming from other Ping drivers, but i will admit I do prefer the crack (wooden baseball bat hitting a home run) sound better or a little less metallic sounding. I hit 7/13 fairways and only 2 of the 6 missed were unplayable which is on me and my bad duck hook miss I suffer from time to time. This driver exudes confidence for me and I feel so comfortable looking down at it on the tee box, this is the magic Ping drivers produce for me (last 2 releases anyway) and it is this mental boost in my game that makes it so rewarding.
 
So I see a lot about the G425 forgiveness across the face and I seem to be living on the top half of the face on my recent drivers, including the G410 Plus. How is the G425 high center? Or it the forgiveness mostly across the face side to side?

I've always felt the G410 has felt hard on my high face misses. I hit my G425 3w at the range tonight in 40* weather and the face on it felt soft to me when it was well struck. If the G425 feels anything close to the 3w feel I was getting I might have to pull the trigger. I've not hit the G425 driver yet but might try to go demo it tomorrow.
 
Will be hitting these at a demo day on 3/20. I can’t wait to hear the sound of the driver. I usually don’t get put off by sound, but these have me intrigued to see if I can tolerate. Also interested in the irons. I got along with the G15s several iterations ago and want to see how this stacks up.
 
So I see a lot about the G425 forgiveness across the face and I seem to be living on the top half of the face on my recent drivers, including the G410 Plus. How is the G425 high center? Or it the forgiveness mostly across the face side to side?

I've always felt the G410 has felt hard on my high face misses. I hit my G425 3w at the range tonight in 40* weather and the face on it felt soft to me when it was well struck. If the G425 feels anything close to the 3w feel I was getting I might have to pull the trigger. I've not hit the G425 driver yet but might try to go demo it tomorrow.

My G425 Max feels soft on when well struck for sure. A little high toe produces amazing distances and perfect trajectory. To me it honestly sounds pretty close to the G400 drivers. Certainly more muted than the Max, I actually like it.
 
My G425 Max feels soft on when well struck for sure. A little high toe produces amazing distances and perfect trajectory. To me it honestly sounds pretty close to the G400 drivers. Certainly more muted than the Max, I actually like it.
Thanks the hardness I feel on the high hits on my G410 might be a perception thing with the higher pitch of the club. I know some people complain about the sound of things but I found the sound of the G425 3w to be very pleasing when I got it right in the center. I'm hoping to see similar in the G425 when I demo it.
 
Liking the initial reviews and thoughts on 425 drivers.. I'm hoping my 400 max cooperates to start the new season otherwise I'm off to give it some competition
 
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