2018 Official Forum Member Review - PING G400 Drivers

[ole gray]

PING G400 LST – Official MGS Forum Review by downlowkey

 

Conclusion

 

The Ping G400 LST looks like a thoroughbred, sings like an angel, punches like a title holder and runs on rails. I actually just purchased a 8.5* LST head last week for additional testing (hoping to decrease spin and get the trajectory nosing over for a little more roll out on the turf). Nonetheless, by all appearances, my story with this driver is one of a lasting love affair.

 

Final Score: (98.5)

 

 

WOW just another  home run in the review department!   Totally enjoyed this read and it was smoother than butter on a hot ear of corn. 

[Sluggo42]

When you already game a G400, reading these reviews seems more fun. You do a lot of uh-huh'n, and yep, that's right.

I guess my question is, does anyone NOT bag the G400 after trying them out?

[PMookie]

When you already game a G400, reading these reviews seems more fun. You do a lot of uh-huh'n, and yep, that's right.

I guess my question is, does anyone NOT bag the G400 after trying them out?

I didn't. We tried, but it didn't beat-out what I was playing.

 

 

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[Sluggo42]

I didn't. We tried, but it didn't beat-out what I was playing.

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The KZG is a better fit for you?

Interesting...., but not totally unexpected-

I would doubt the Rogue lovers would stray either...

[StrokerAce]

....good point @sluggo42.  does anyone have anything bad to say about the G400 ???

 

from the results on tour so far it's hard to argue with!

[null]

When you already game a G400, reading these reviews seems more fun. You do a lot of uh-huh'n, and yep, that's right.

I guess my question is, does anyone NOT bag the G400 after trying them out?

None of the G400 models could beat out my F8+. Definitely a great club, but it's not crazy to think that some people might actually get as good or better performance with another driver that they find better sounding/feeling/looking.

[revkev]

There is no “perfect” club except the perfect club of course.

 

When you look at the most wanted testing I believe the top drivers will be a best choice for around 60 percent of the people in that category - a best choice! That means there are other best choices.

 

Of course even within a swing speed/type category there will there are different swings. I have yet to find a Cobra or Callaway driver that has worked close to best for me. It stands to reason that someone who games those drivers won't find what works best for me to be best for them.

 

Further we weren't fit beyond what Ping offers at no upcharge so it's hard to say what might happen with some fine tuning. Since my LM session was a fitting I've ordered an aftermarket shaft and now know which setting to set the driver on with that shaft once it's installed.

 

Even with all that I haven't seen any remarkable distance gains. Unreal in regards to accuracy and consistency but I'm in awe of the distance gains some others have found - why can't that happen for me?

 

Someday I suppose.

 

 

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[JTexGolfer]

There is no “perfect” club except the perfect club of course.

 

When you look at the most wanted testing I believe the top drivers will be a best choice for around 60 percent of the people in that category - a best choice! That means there are other best choices.

 

Of course even within a swing speed/type category there will there are different swings. I have yet to find a Cobra or Callaway driver that has worked close to best for me. It stands to reason that someone who games those drivers won't find what works best for me to be best for them.

 

Further we weren't fit beyond what Ping offers at no upcharge so it's hard to say what might happen with some fine tuning. Since my LM session was a fitting I've ordered an aftermarket shaft and now know which setting to set the driver on with that shaft once it's installed.

 

Even with all that I haven't seen any remarkable distance gains. Unreal in regards to accuracy and consistency but I'm in awe of the distance gains some others have found - why can't that happen for me?

 

Someday I suppose.

 

 

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Mine absolutely transformed from pretty good to holy cow this is awesome with a shaft only fitting. Finding the right shaft for your swing is a great experience. That said Ping has a very good catalog of shafts.

[Jon Brittan]

Even with all that I haven't seen any remarkable distance gains. Unreal in regards to accuracy and consistency but I'm in awe of the distance gains some others have found - why can't that happen for me?

 

Someday I suppose.

I think my results on the distance front may be misleading. They're less likely the result of the club being that much "hotter" than anything else and everything to do with how easy it is to hit well.

What you're all seeing in terms of accuracy also allows me to swing freely and with confidence.

 

I'm 38 years old, 6' and very athletic with a long sporting pedigree. I only started playing two years ago, but had taken a year out of work so was in a position where I could cram in golf.

 

My distance with most clubs was somewhere between a good average to quite long, but driver was a problem club for me.

Every so often I could smash one out to the range I thought I should be able to, but often I was hitting driver because I wanted to, but I could hit a 3 wood with ease to the same distance.

 

I don't think I've "gained" distance with the G400 so much as finally been able to access the range that should have been there but other clubs were inhibiting.

 

I felt with every other club that I could swing freely, but I always felt tense with driver in hand. Now I feel comfortable with this club instead I'm hitting far further and it feels easier.

 

I imagine you were closer to optimal and this club has just tuned you in, where I was miles off my potential previously.

[Sluggo42]

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Rev, I actually lost a little yardage from my Epic, so you're not alone. But, I really like being in the fairway and swinging an iron at the green next shot. Even when I miss, it's not WAY out there, and I usually have a decent shot in...

[PMookie]

The KZG is a better fit for you?

Interesting...., but not totally unexpected-

I would doubt the Rogue lovers would stray either...

Yeah, ball speed was 5mph faster on average with my KZG, and the spin was too high with the G400 with the head at the lowest setting, and using the Hzrdus T1100 shaft in X. Dispersion was very similar. Crazy. I'm going to try again at my next lesson and see what the G400 can do with a TPT shaft.

 

 

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[Sluggo42]

Yeah, ball speed was 5mph faster on average with my KZG, and the spin was too high with the G400 with the head at the lowest setting, and using the Hzrdus T1100 shaft in X. Dispersion was very similar. Crazy. I'm going to try again at my next lesson and see what the G400 can do with a TPT shaft.

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Is this with the LST or the max?

5mph faster ball speed on average? Wow- that's a lot. I've got to believe the shaft has everything to do with that...

 

Looking forward to hearing if you can close that gap with a different shaft.

Cheers!

[PMookie]

Is this with the LST or the max?

5mph faster ball speed on average? Wow- that's a lot. I've got to believe the shaft has everything to do with that...

 

Looking forward to hearing if you can close that gap with a different shaft.

Cheers!

Shaft isn't going to get that much ball speed off the face... It's not swing speed difference. I got 7 mph, avg, over the Epic Sub Zero during my original fitting... That's the club head difference, ball coming off the face. Swing speeds were very similar. The Fuji Atmos Black TS X was also put in the G400 (LST and regular G400) and the differences in ball speed was, again, 5 mph. Same shaft. 2 heads.... Very different heads. One is short front o back, has a very tall face, weight nearer the face, the other long from to back, short face, greater perimeter weighting, weight away from the face. These affect ball speed.

 

 

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[Sluggo42]

Shaft isn't going to get that much ball speed off the face... It's not swing speed difference. I got 7 mph, avg, over the Epic Sub Zero during my original fitting... That's the club head difference, ball coming off the face. Swing speeds were very similar. The Fuji Atmos Black TS X was also put in the G400 (LST and regular G400) and the differences in ball speed was, again, 5 mph. Same shaft. 2 heads.... Very different heads. One is short front o back, has a very tall face, weight nearer the face, the other long from to back, short face, greater perimeter weighting, weight away from the face. These affect ball speed.

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Wouldn't that 5-7 mph ball speed result in longer drives (if spin is consistent)?

If that's true, why isn't KZG dominating the tour, or the long drive contests, or basically a household word amongst all golfers worldwide?

And forgive my ignorance about ball speed off the face, as I really don't know how it all works out comparatively between club heads.

That just sounds like a lot to my uneducated brain...

 

Cheers!

[PMookie]

Wouldn't that 5-7 mph ball speed result in longer drives (if spin is consistent)?

If that's true, why isn't KZG dominating the tour, or the long drive contests, or basically a household word amongst all golfers worldwide?

And forgive my ignorance about ball speed off the face, as I really don't know how it all works out comparatively between club heads.

That just sounds like a lot to my uneducated brain...

 

Cheers!

Yep. Exactly. How does a driver dominate the Tours??? Guys are paid to play them. KZG is a small boutique brand. They don't pay anyone to play their stuff and they have very few fitters across the US.... If you believe Tour players play clubs because it's results over dollars, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona for you!

Why isn't PRGR, or Honma (until recently) known outside of Japan? Krank and Geek outside of the Long Drive Tours? Why aren't more Tour Edge Exotics or Edel clubs on Tour (they don't pay folks to play their stuff). Do yourself a favor and go to fitters that fit for more than the Top 5 spenders of marketing dollars around the world, because as the fitter at Club Champion said, “Lets face it, equipment on Tour isn't about performance, it's about money. And to a larger degree, sales of clubs to the general public is the same: it's about ADVERTISING dollars!”

Think Snell golf balls, Vice, even the Kirkland from Costco... If you ain't payin' ‘em, they ain't playin' ‘em!

 

 

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[yungkory]

Rev, I actually lost a little yardage from my Epic, so you're not alone. But, I really like being in the fairway and swinging an iron at the green next shot. Even when I miss, it's not WAY out there, and I usually have a decent shot in...

 

Same exact experience regarding losing distance over Epic. I don't get the random bomb balls anymore, but I also play less from the trees, and lose less $3 golf balls

[StrokerAce]

Yep. Exactly. How does a driver dominate the Tours??? Guys are paid to play them. KZG is a small boutique brand. They don't pay anyone to play their stuff and they have very few fitters across the US.... If you believe Tour players play clubs because it's results over dollars, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona for you!

Why isn't PRGR, or Honma (until recently) known outside of Japan? Krank and Geek outside of the Long Drive Tours? Why aren't more Tour Edge Exotics or Edel clubs on Tour (they don't pay folks to play their stuff). Do yourself a favor and go to fitters that fit for more than the Top 5 spenders of marketing dollars around the world, because as the fitter at Club Champion said, “Lets face it, equipment on Tour isn't about performance, it's about money. And to a larger degree, sales of clubs to the general public is the same: it's about ADVERTISING dollars!”

Think Snell golf balls, Vice, even the Kirkland from Costco... If you ain't payin' ‘em, they ain't playin' ‘em!

 

 

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wish I could double-like this, or hug this post cause truer words have never been spoken....I'll throw Wishon in there too!

 

I *really* need to get my hands on some KZG gear. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

From a fitting I did last week what I saw from the g400 compares to rogue, m4 and f8 was club head speed picked up 6+ mph for me. This was a nice little shock.

Carry on both g400 and m4 were similar (within 5 yds) but g400 was far more accurate then any of the others tested.

Rogue and I didn't get along very well. Had a really hard time keeping it straight and simply just didn't work well for me.

F8 dispersion was good left to right and front to back but was significantly shorter then both m4 and g400.

All in all I was very happy I went on because I had been dying to get in and see some numbers on all the drivers and was really hoping the F8 would be the one, but there was no real competition the G400 was easily the clear winner. I was amazed at how straight it was and loves the how powerful it felt at impact and how well balanced it felt.

Note all drivers were in stock stiff shafts.

 

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[StrokerAce]

---  so all you guys gaining accuracy, what do you think the reason behind it is ??

 

I thought Taylormade had the whole twist face thing to keep the ball in play?  what is it about the g400 that makes it more accurate?

[GolfSpy_APH]

--- so all you guys gaining accuracy, what do you think the reason behind it is ??

 

I thought Taylormade had the whole twist face thing to keep the ball in play? what is it about the g400 that makes it more accurate?

I'm sure others will add on, but it has really high moi and despite being a small head on the standard version is still far more forgiving then a lot of others out there.

Ping has made a lot of very forgiving drivers and continues to improve on that market each and every year.

Twist face for me didn't work amazing, well enough but truth be told I didn't see much difference in forgiveness between it and my fly z+. However apparently cobra has been doing something similar to twist face, just not marketing it?

That being said I know a work colleague who swears by it. As is said all the time here, best thing you can do is go out and hit them yourself and demo/get fit and see what works best for you.

 

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[revkev]

--- so all you guys gaining accuracy, what do you think the reason behind it is ??

 

I thought Taylormade had the whole twist face thing to keep the ball in play? what is it about the g400 that makes it more accurate?

The MOI on the LST is huge - plus they've found a way to expand forgiveness out throughout the face. The thing that amazes me is that there is enough feedback for me to know when and where I missed on the club face and yet the ball is still out there pretty good.

 

I've been messing with the loft setting for my stage two write up. Now that it's done I will get it set to -.6 with the new shaft in and the proper length. I suspect that I will gain confidence because of the forgiveness and familiarity. That will lead to greater distance.

 

 

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[ole gray]

I swear on my Grand Dads stuffed coonhound that two of the guys I played with today are buying a G400 Max.   I let them hit mine a few times and their eyes lit up like a mule in a corn eating contest.     Seriously one of my buddies is heading over to Dicks now to pick one up and another guy who is 79 years old is getting one too!

[GolfSpy MPR]

I swear on my Grand Dads stuffed coonhound that two of the guys I played with today are buying a G400 Max. I let them hit mine a few times and their eyes lit up like a mule in a corn eating contest. Seriously one of my buddies is heading over to Dicks now to pick one up and another guy who is 79 years old is getting one too!

Do you have a database that generates similes for you? No one on this forum makes me laugh at more random lines than yours. Good stuff!

[ole gray]

Do you have a database that generates similes for you? No one on this forum makes me laugh at more random lines than yours. Good stuff!

 

 

haha Thanks buddy!   Laughter lightens the load and makes the day go by smoother than butter on a hot pancake. 

[yungkory]

Do you have a database that generates similes for you? No one on this forum makes me laugh at more random lines than yours. Good stuff!

 

between OG and downlowkey I learn so many things about the English language

[cksurfdude]

between OG and downlowkey I learn so many things about the English language

...but the wrong things...

[cksurfdude]

In all seriousness this thread is FANTASTIC - Thx reviewers! - and I'm really amazed at how blown away (literally!) so many people are with these drivers!

[AH1980MN]

between OG and downlowkey I learn so many things about the English language

That's not even English anymore- it's OGlish/Lowkeylish!

[romeopapazulu]

haha Thanks buddy! Laughter lightens the load and makes the day go by smoother than butter on a hot pancake.

I literally blew ice cream out of my nose at this one. It hurt like....like....dang it I've got no olgresm's in the bank.

 

Edit: frozen butter doesn't go on smooth on anything. Worst things in life:

1. Lawn sprinkler work in the spring.

2. Ripping off old grip tape.

3. Frozen butter patties that shred toast.

[revkev]

Okay my custom shaft is in and I'm playing tomorrow. Interestingly my fitter wants me at 45 1/4”. He's fit me at 45” in the past but said we tested at 451/4” and I hammered the sweet spot - 1.49 smash factor - so that's where this one is at down .6 degrees, 80 grams.

 

Totally counter intuitive but I had the same type of fit with the R11s at the Tour Performance CTR.

 

I will check back in after some time with it.

 

 

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