jbandalo
Active member
Yup, that's what that's used for.
PING G425 Drivers and Irons
Yup, that's what that's used for.
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Well, today was driver fitting day and it turned out I was in for a bit of a surprise. After my initial experience with the Ping G425 drivers I honestly didn't even tell my fitter I wanted to give these a try. We started out by hitting a couple different brands and as I was hitting the TSi3 my fitter had gone and grabbed these two models to try.
We started out with the Max and after about 4 swings we both knew it wasn't right. Spin numbers were way too high and I just don't care for the sound. Cross that one off the list.
Next up he handed me the LST model. Now this one to me sounds much, much better. Still, I was skeptical. Surprisingly though that skepticism didn't last long. The fitter put in the Rogue White 70 shaft and we were seeing a very nice flight with a little fade mostly. I would get the occasional draw but never a hard draw. After tinkering with the settings a bit we came up with a heck of a setup for my swing. Suddenly as long as I didn't straight pull the shot it was impossible for me to miss left. That is exactly what I was looking for! I DESPISE hooking the ball and as hard as I tried the most left movement I could get was 8 feet right to left. Bingo.
Not only that but out of the drivers I hit today I was able to get the best clubhead speed, carry and total distance. I went from not even considering this club to it becoming my gamer for 2021. It was quite the surprise.
Here's a little data from the last portion of swings with it.
We started out with the Max and after about 4 swings we both knew it wasn't right. Spin numbers were way too high and I just don't care for the sound. Cross that one off the list.
Next up he handed me the LST model. Now this one to me sounds much, much better. Still, I was skeptical. Surprisingly though that skepticism didn't last long. The fitter put in the Rogue White 70 shaft and we were seeing a very nice flight with a little fade mostly. I would get the occasional draw but never a hard draw. After tinkering with the settings a bit we came up with a heck of a setup for my swing. Suddenly as long as I didn't straight pull the shot it was impossible for me to miss left. That is exactly what I was looking for! I DESPISE hooking the ball and as hard as I tried the most left movement I could get was 8 feet right to left. Bingo.
Not only that but out of the drivers I hit today I was able to get the best clubhead speed, carry and total distance. I went from not even considering this club to it becoming my gamer for 2021. It was quite the surprise.
Here's a little data from the last portion of swings with it.
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- 13,062
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- Southeast, South Dakota
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It was really a fun experience and my fitter was so knowledgeable and helpful. He really opened my eyes a bit to how beneficial that weight track is on drivers. I probably should have been tinkering with it a bit more over the past when my swing was off.
bombs
Well-known member
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I played with a guy today who was playing his first round with a brand new G425 SFT.
I have never taken much notice of driver sounds before but this club sounded seriously odd. It is unlike anything I have ever heard before, and if I was doing a blind test I wouldn't even guess it was a golf club.
I'm not what it sounds like when hitting the middle as the guy was really testing out the forgiveness, but it was as if this club wanted to announce to the group that he was consistently missing the middle.
I can't argue with the results though. He wasn't the longest, or the straightest, but all his drives were all playable fades.
I have never taken much notice of driver sounds before but this club sounded seriously odd. It is unlike anything I have ever heard before, and if I was doing a blind test I wouldn't even guess it was a golf club.
I'm not what it sounds like when hitting the middle as the guy was really testing out the forgiveness, but it was as if this club wanted to announce to the group that he was consistently missing the middle.
I can't argue with the results though. He wasn't the longest, or the straightest, but all his drives were all playable fades.
Golfmasta69
Active member
that's interesting.. i thought the SFT model promoted draws, unless perhaps he had it set for fade, or was still slicing the ball somewhat...
bombs
Well-known member
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I think it turned a massive slicer into a fader
Same here, I saw one yesterday. One thing I did notice though, the lie angle seemed VERY upright in the standard setting. Perhaps this is what guys are seeing and then thinking closed. Luckily ping has the flat hosel setting which could eliminate that.
A other thought for guys considering these - In addition to hot melt, Ping offers a digital lofting service to help ensure you get the accurate loft you want. I think I recall they only charge maybe $35 for the service. For some, the peace of mind can be worth it....
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Yep. I worked with Aaron Roth at 2nd Swing on Minnetonka. Aaron was seriously awesome to work with, I'd highly recommend him.
I feel like Club Champion would have been more in depth though. 2nd Swing changed their fittings and don't dive in as much as they used to.
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I know there's been talk about the headweight of these models and there is definitely some heft to them. I think that's one thing that I appreciate about this driver and is something I loved about the G400. It almost feels like I'm using a sledgehammer and letting the head do the work. That seems to be a good feature for my swing.
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I sure did. Here is the feedback I had on that one.
https://www.thehackersparadise.com/...rivers-and-fairway-woods.8927096/post-9795903
So I went for a fitting yesterday wanting to really like the ping driver. I swung the 425 max and the lst.
First impression is The 425 max has a large footprint and looks nice but it is LOUD - maybe it is becusse I am used to composite drivers from callaway over the years but it is a combo of a hollow aluminum bat and a tin can. It's not ear piercing so one could get used to it. But thst was mu first impression after messing around with a few shafts it was determined it just spun too much for me. Dispersion was decent but total yardage wasn't that great. Ball speed was around 130 average.
I then tried the lst and before I swung it he told me that it sounds alot more muted and he was right. It was more what I am used to hearing. Spin came down to high 2k but dispersion with this head, for me at least was snap hook city. Launch was very good at 13* but the dispersion wasn't the best. Same 130ish ball speed.
Afyer comparing this to the sim2 regular, epic max and epic speed, unfortunately the pings just weren't producing a better overall package than the epic speed and sim2. (epic speed and sim2 were getting me high 130 balls peed average and a few were low 140s)
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First impression is The 425 max has a large footprint and looks nice but it is LOUD - maybe it is becusse I am used to composite drivers from callaway over the years but it is a combo of a hollow aluminum bat and a tin can. It's not ear piercing so one could get used to it. But thst was mu first impression after messing around with a few shafts it was determined it just spun too much for me. Dispersion was decent but total yardage wasn't that great. Ball speed was around 130 average.
I then tried the lst and before I swung it he told me that it sounds alot more muted and he was right. It was more what I am used to hearing. Spin came down to high 2k but dispersion with this head, for me at least was snap hook city. Launch was very good at 13* but the dispersion wasn't the best. Same 130ish ball speed.
Afyer comparing this to the sim2 regular, epic max and epic speed, unfortunately the pings just weren't producing a better overall package than the epic speed and sim2. (epic speed and sim2 were getting me high 130 balls peed average and a few were low 140s)
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We went flat -1*.
- Staff
- #795
Yes.
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I'd recommend it and am really interested to see if you get similar results. A day later I'm still surprised this is what I ended up in.
- Staff
- #798
Any time I’ve ever ordered from them a driver (3-4 times) I pay for a hand picked head, it’s worth it. I always asked for 11.25 when I needed more loft.
erock9174
Well-known member
When you got the heads with more loft than stamped loft, did they seem to sit more closed ? I’ve always worried about that.
- Staff
- #800
Not to my eye. But I do believe a lot of times that is a paralysis by over analysis thing for many as the shape of the head dictates the look more than anything to the eye as far as neutral/closed, particularly the shaping of the toe.