VPSax
Golf Addict
What loft did you settle on?
Ping G30 LS Tec Driver - Review Thread
Aren't the stock shafts counter balanced to increase SS? If so, cutting the shaft down might matter a little more (or differently) than with other set ups.
I had a so so weekend with this driver in Kentucky. I only got to take two swings on the launch monitor, and saw ball speed in the upper 150s, spin in the low 2000s and carry of about 265 on both shots. Launch was plenty high at around 15 or 16 degrees. On course I saw mixed results. Some bombs, some duffs. My big miss on the weekend was a diving hook that seemed to not have enough spin to stay in the air. Contact on these bad drives tended to be high on the face and out on the toe which makes a lot of sense. When I took nice, smooth swings, the driver was a rocket launcher. Nice high draws well over 250 yards.
Other than that bad hooks, which is more a function of a terrible swing, the club is quite forgiving all over the face. Low on the face launches a bit lower, but it still gets plenty of air.
I'll be at the range or course a couple of times this week. Hopefully I can put a better swing on it than this weekend.
Other than that bad hooks, which is more a function of a terrible swing, the club is quite forgiving all over the face. Low on the face launches a bit lower, but it still gets plenty of air.
I'll be at the range or course a couple of times this week. Hopefully I can put a better swing on it than this weekend.
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- #130
That's a great question T4K. I think the best folks to answer that are probably Ping themselves.
Mango Smash
Active member
I kept it at the stock 10.5* set up. On the range I really loved the flight so I figured I will leave it alone there until I can get on a launch monitor and tinker with it.
Mango Smash
Active member
Background information: For those that don’t know me, my normal driver SS is about 115mph. I have this at the stock set up of 10.5* loft, standard length, and the TFC 419 X flex shaft.
Looks: I give this a definite A in the looks category. I have always liked smaller drivers, but this thing looks like a beast at address. The turbulators really frame the ball nicely. Maybe it is the fact that the head is so far away from me with the stock 45.75” playing length that it doesn’t look as big. The matte crown paired with the blue and brushed metal on the sole really makes this pop. If it weren’t for the stupid rake on the carts at my home course I would ride around with the headcover off all the time to show it off.
Feel in Hand: At first the shaft felt a touch soft, but after a few swings on the range I saw just how stable it was. No matter how hard I decided to go after the ball the shaft felt incredibly smooth and had plenty of pop through the hitting zone.
Sound: Like so many others have said, the driver is quite loud. Not Knuth loud, but noticeable. I was playing yesterday behind a twosome and they let me play through on the par 5 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] hole. I took one over the trees they were sitting by and right after I hit I could hear one of the say “Jesus Christ.” The range I use is open so the sound wasn’t killer hitting ball after ball. I got used to it pretty quickly and now it really doesn’t bother me. You can tell good strikes from poor by the pitch of the sound.
Feel at Impact: The feel is very lively. I intentionally hit one out near the toe and other than a bit of shaft twist, the feel didn’t change too much. You do get some vibration when you hit it really low on the face. The ball also may not get 10 feet off the ground, but it will go a long ways still.
Performance: This driver is by far the best I have owned to date. It really wants to go straight. I normally play a fade, but this just goes dead straight. I was hitting to some areas that I have never been to with this club. That par 5 where I took it over the trees is a 515 yard dog leg left. Normally I would hit the ball over the trees and my fade would bring it back and I would be on the right side of the fairway or in the rough with about 200-225 in to the green depending on how big the fade was. I took this over the trees and was just short of the left side fairway with only 160 left to the green. I am really excited to see how my numbers look on a launch monitor. I do get some roll so I can tell my spin is lower than most other drivers I have hit.
While on the range I did try out a another shaft I put together for this. I normally like a heavier shaft as I can feel the club in the swing a bit better. It was a Tour AD MD 8 in Tour X flex. I tipped the shaft ½” more than standard and cut it to the same length as the stock TFC shaft. Both feel incredibly smooth and stable through the swing. My launch is a touch lower and flight is flatter with the Tour AD. I also have an old school Speeder 757 Tour Spec X flex and a White Tie 8x3 Stiff to try out later on down the line.
Looks: I give this a definite A in the looks category. I have always liked smaller drivers, but this thing looks like a beast at address. The turbulators really frame the ball nicely. Maybe it is the fact that the head is so far away from me with the stock 45.75” playing length that it doesn’t look as big. The matte crown paired with the blue and brushed metal on the sole really makes this pop. If it weren’t for the stupid rake on the carts at my home course I would ride around with the headcover off all the time to show it off.
Feel in Hand: At first the shaft felt a touch soft, but after a few swings on the range I saw just how stable it was. No matter how hard I decided to go after the ball the shaft felt incredibly smooth and had plenty of pop through the hitting zone.
Sound: Like so many others have said, the driver is quite loud. Not Knuth loud, but noticeable. I was playing yesterday behind a twosome and they let me play through on the par 5 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] hole. I took one over the trees they were sitting by and right after I hit I could hear one of the say “Jesus Christ.” The range I use is open so the sound wasn’t killer hitting ball after ball. I got used to it pretty quickly and now it really doesn’t bother me. You can tell good strikes from poor by the pitch of the sound.
Feel at Impact: The feel is very lively. I intentionally hit one out near the toe and other than a bit of shaft twist, the feel didn’t change too much. You do get some vibration when you hit it really low on the face. The ball also may not get 10 feet off the ground, but it will go a long ways still.
Performance: This driver is by far the best I have owned to date. It really wants to go straight. I normally play a fade, but this just goes dead straight. I was hitting to some areas that I have never been to with this club. That par 5 where I took it over the trees is a 515 yard dog leg left. Normally I would hit the ball over the trees and my fade would bring it back and I would be on the right side of the fairway or in the rough with about 200-225 in to the green depending on how big the fade was. I took this over the trees and was just short of the left side fairway with only 160 left to the green. I am really excited to see how my numbers look on a launch monitor. I do get some roll so I can tell my spin is lower than most other drivers I have hit.
While on the range I did try out a another shaft I put together for this. I normally like a heavier shaft as I can feel the club in the swing a bit better. It was a Tour AD MD 8 in Tour X flex. I tipped the shaft ½” more than standard and cut it to the same length as the stock TFC shaft. Both feel incredibly smooth and stable through the swing. My launch is a touch lower and flight is flatter with the Tour AD. I also have an old school Speeder 757 Tour Spec X flex and a White Tie 8x3 Stiff to try out later on down the line.
Mango Smash
Active member
I did notice that striking just above center of the face netted best results for me. This is definitely one of the shallower drivers I have hit in the past few years, but I normally strike right around center to just above.
flog2424
Philippians 4:13
Sent Ping a tweet... Will let you all know if I get an answer
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flog2424
Philippians 4:13
Got an answer regarding chopping the shaft an inch from Ping:
@PingTour: @GisforUGA The shaft will play approximately ½ flex stiffer as well as make it 4-6 swing weights lighter. Hope that helps, Kyle!
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@PingTour: @GisforUGA The shaft will play approximately ½ flex stiffer as well as make it 4-6 swing weights lighter. Hope that helps, Kyle!
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Travis014
New member
Well - I liquidated some of my extras and scrounged up enough to take the plunge. I just bought a 9 degree LS with the Tour 65 shaft.
salisboss
RIP Jake 8/17/01-9/21/14
I would think if you add the weight back to head it will soften a bit back to flex.
Typhoon
Well-known member
Got to hit the LS as well as the original G30 this past weekend at our demo day. I went thinking about trading my SLDR driver that was brand new for a G30 driver... the friggin barrels upon barrels of closeout stuff was amazing....all drivers, FW's and hybrids. Funny thing was no wedges or putters. So that wasn't happening... plus I use demo days as a way to get fitted and then at the end of the year when its not a million dollars.
I did get fitted by the Ping rep for a G30 10.5 with the stock Shaft in X.
G30 driver...I really had my heart set on the G30 LSTec. I see why the pro's are not playing the LS and are sticking to the original G30...the sound. I even asked the fitter if I was just hearing things or did the LS sound more like a metallic boink noise and the G30 was more muted and she said I was correct. That being said, the sound off the LS is not a pretty sound...hated it....I'll stick with the original model. The stock stiff was waay to the right, horrible. the Tour 65 stiff was great...like night and day. Went to the X in the Tour 65 ( on the upper end of X as far as stiffness she said) and it was inconsistent. It was amazing the difference between the stock stiff and X...granted I swing over 110 mph, but if the fitter wasn't there I would have been scared off the stock model and stuck with the Tour.
My only gripe at demo days is the lack of some sort of launch monitor, a few companies have them there but usually only one while some others like Ping never bring one period. I'll hit the G30 and the LS with the Stock X on a monitor at some point and see if there is a difference...to the eye there was none, just the annoying sound.
I did get fitted by the Ping rep for a G30 10.5 with the stock Shaft in X.
G30 driver...I really had my heart set on the G30 LSTec. I see why the pro's are not playing the LS and are sticking to the original G30...the sound. I even asked the fitter if I was just hearing things or did the LS sound more like a metallic boink noise and the G30 was more muted and she said I was correct. That being said, the sound off the LS is not a pretty sound...hated it....I'll stick with the original model. The stock stiff was waay to the right, horrible. the Tour 65 stiff was great...like night and day. Went to the X in the Tour 65 ( on the upper end of X as far as stiffness she said) and it was inconsistent. It was amazing the difference between the stock stiff and X...granted I swing over 110 mph, but if the fitter wasn't there I would have been scared off the stock model and stuck with the Tour.
My only gripe at demo days is the lack of some sort of launch monitor, a few companies have them there but usually only one while some others like Ping never bring one period. I'll hit the G30 and the LS with the Stock X on a monitor at some point and see if there is a difference...to the eye there was none, just the annoying sound.
Mango Smash
Active member
You won't be disappointed. It is a phenomenal club. I keep hearing great things about the Tour 65 shaft. I may have to see if I can find one in X to try out. I hit one in the store with the stiff, but I was a little erratic with it. My LS with the TFC in X is much straighter.
Typhoon
Well-known member
Mango, our numbers are close...I just lanch the ball low so the 10.5 works better for me. The Tour 65X she was saying is the upper end of X...I was erratic with it, probably didn't load/unload good for me whereas the Stiff was great. I think that's the reason she had me try the stock TFC in X...probably fell just above the Tour 65S as far as stiffness but not like the Tour 65X. The Stock TFC stiff was awful. Could go with either the TFC X or the Tour 65S but I preferred the feel of the TFC X. The Tour series are not counterbalanced like the TFC shafts are.
Mango Smash
Active member
I normally hit driver low and everything else really high. An enigma at best. The TFC paired with the 10.5* head still probably spins quite a bit just by watching my flight. I want to put the 3 extra shafts up against the TFC on a launch monitor when I get a chance. The stock length does feel quite a bit long for me as well. The other 3 shafts I have are heavier as well. I would love to hit a Tour 65 Stiff tipped about an inch or so.
As far as the sound goes though I didn't notice much difference. But I hit the G30 indoors about a week before I hit my LS outside. Never hit or heard anyone hit both next to one another so I don't have the same experience as hitting them at a demo.
Typhoon
Well-known member
How are you going to find the Tour 65 tipped? That might be good too... would have liked to try something like that. I'm used to hitting overlength shafts so the TFC was fine, still liked the length of the Tour though. I started off hitting LS and didn't notice the sound, well I did but figured it was like most every other driver out there. Then I hit the original G30, was so enamored with the ballflight with the X that i didn't notice the difference in sound until I put it down and hit the LS again.... at that point I said to myself, " ugh, that sounds like crap in comparision".
But, I'll hit both heads on the launch monitor and see if there is a difference...I can get used to the sound if need be!
Just us eyeballing the flight, I couldn't see any difference in heads or shafts ( TFC X vs Tour 65 S)
Whats up with the Tec with you?
But, I'll hit both heads on the launch monitor and see if there is a difference...I can get used to the sound if need be!
Just us eyeballing the flight, I couldn't see any difference in heads or shafts ( TFC X vs Tour 65 S)
Whats up with the Tec with you?
Mango Smash
Active member
I am a really high spin player. When we did the THP live driver test in Tampa I was in the high 3k to low 4k in terms of spin. Partly due to all of the shafts being standard stiff flex. I almost always play X or low spin low launch stiff and tip it at least 1" or so. The LS Tec has been incredible with my limited testing so far. Hoping to hit it side by side with the G30 at edwin watts later this week. I was hitting the standard G30 really low, but you can't really tell indoors. To get the Tour 65 I would either have to try and order one direct from Ping or get one used pull the tip, tip it, and possibly put a bit of an extension in the butt depending on how long it would play.
You can find the Tour 65 shaft on the bay.
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- #145
Mango, I really don't think high 3k is "REALLY" high spin, and I'd be shocked if the Tour 65 would need to be tipped. I've always played with higher than average spin on my driver, and have had absolutely no issues controlling the spin rate on the Tour 65 stiff flex.
I don't know your game or your swing, but I think this is one of the few truly viable stock options for high'er' spin players out there, when paired with the tour 65.
Mango Smash
Active member
Thank you Sir. I know my AoA is negative and I really need to work on that. I used to hit driver much better until about 3 years ago when I changed my iron swing. Since then I have been hitting down on everything. I just got a great price on a black tie that I am going to put an adapter on when it gets in. One of my all time favorite shafts in terms of feel and performance for me.
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- Moderator
- #147
Interesting on the black tie. I can spin that shaft in X at about 6,500 to 7,000 RPMs with a mid spin driver head. The ultra stout majority makes it feel pretty rebar'ish in my hands, which is kind of funny considering it's a touch softer in the tip to accomplish what I think is a low/mid to mid spin shaft profile.
Again, to each their own. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the transition.
Black tie plus thus head should be interesting....
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Mango Smash
Active member
Definitely to each their own. I am hoping to get some LM numbers here in the next week or so. I have 5 shafts now for the LS including the stock TFC. I like the feel of the TFC a lot, but think it would give me better numbers if my swing were better. I saw that video the other day about changing ball position and set up to help eliminate the negative AoA. Going to try that out and see if I can get back to my old driver swing.
VPSax
Golf Addict
I hit the 9.5 degree at GG the other day while I was getting my wedges regripped. Spin was anywhere from 3300 to 4300. As I've never paid attention to spin rates before, I'm not sure if this is high or low.