Is an upgrade from G30 irons to G700 or G400 worth it?

[Golf2Much]

Good morning golfers!

I am relatively new here and have appreciated the insight I've gotten from reviews, comments, etc.  I am roughly a 10 (+/-1) index golfer who play Ping G30 irons.   For various reasons, my game typically relies on driver, fairway wood (short) with good wedge play and putting to score.  I've recently gained some yardage off the tee bringing my irons more into play.  As a result, I'm contemplating an upgrade to my irons.  In reviewing irons options on eBay, I ran across sets of G700 and G400 that were reasonably priced.   Is the gain from these later Ping irons worth spending the money or is it better spent going all the way with G425s?   

Thanks,

Golf2much (the Southernmost MyGolfSpy fan in Key West)

[fixyurdivot]

Key West, FL, love it.  We use to go there when I was a yute growing up in Ft. Lauderdale.  Bon fires on the beach with fresh caught lobsters boiling in a pot of water, saltwater, and beer (us kids always thought that part was really cool).  

First off, welcome to MGS.  Second, in answer to your question, I think you will see some gains moving from the G30's into more recent offerings.  If you haven't done so, I would highly recommend an iron fitting.  As a prior skeptic to the whole club fitting thingy, I can now say without hesitation it is he best tool/investment in making the change in clubs. I was so surprised how various heads and shafts worked and, more importantly, didn't work for me (cannot stress this point enough).

My upgrade came from playing PE2's for 30+ years and first moved me into my current G410 with AWT 2.0 shafts.  I've documented this journey in several threads that you may find pertinent to your quest (Former PE2 Players, and Sticker Shock).  Long story short, due to my rather remote location, and my first fitters limited inventory on composite iron shafts (something I wanted for joint relief), I ended up with steel.  More recently, I took advantage of our winter location in AZ to get fitted again and have just ordered a set of Srixon ZX5's with MMT 80 shafts. Going into the fitting, I would not have guessed something would move me away from PING. It ended up a decision between the G425 or the ZX5 on that shaft.  

Go get fitted and let the fun begin!  Good luck!

[RickyBobby_PR]

The irons you list are good options and a nice upgrade from G30.

The concern with buying used is will the shaft in them work for your swing? 
 

imo if someone is going to spend money on clubs especially a person who is actively working on their game to get better they would also invest in getting fit to ensure they have the best setup for their game. So I would skip past the used clubs and go for a fitting and see if the g425 or some other option from ping os best for you. Or if interested find a place that carries multiple brands and find the best setup

[revkev]

From one Floridian to the next I would concur with my friends here.  Sounds like we have somewhat similar games although my handicap is a little bit lower.  But I'm a straight driver, good short game, iron play weakest guy, too.  I had a nice little run with G30's, good iron.  There is a significant difference between them and the G400 or the G700 - it seems to me that the G400 is a bit smaller footprint and there is less offset, the G700 a much larger footprint far more game improvement.  

If you haven't had a good iron fitting in a while, or ever, and the money isn't your sole issue, I would say get fit and be open to something other than the G425 if that's what the fitter recommends.  Even gamier irons now have more improvement in them than an older GI iron.  I'm in Wilson D7 forged which in theory are more of a players iron than the G30 and I find that they have much more game improvement than the G30's did.  

 

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.  Nice to have you on board.

[pouetvl]

I would recommend you to go get fitted as other members said before. It generally cost around 50$ and you will get tons of information regarding your swing that might help you out looking for another set. Will explain how my fitting went so it could help you out.

Shaft, have them try 4-5 different shaft if needed. For me, I am in between regular and stiff for my current swing speed, both could do the job, of course there is always a better option. we tried mainly 5 shaft, regular Awt2.0 and stiff Awt2.0, same with KBS tour regular and stiff and stiff elevate 95g, I ended up with elevate 95g, launch a bit higher for me, more lightweight than other stiff option out there and should be able to use them for a long time even if I increase my swing speed (2nd best option was a regular kbs I think)

Lie, have him check your lie angle, if you are standard or anything else, I am 2 upright at the moment, might change eventually to 1 upright.

Brand, it's all about feel, price, options, customers service honestly, I was fitted into ping for several reason, first one was that they had 2 upright head live for testing so I could see the difference in the result, Second reason was that if my lie change next year, I can send them back to ping for 30$ and they will fix them. Third and more important reason was the feel, I had a better feeling with ping than Sim 2 or cobra. 4th reason, a fitter try to sell you Ping, you know you still get good stuff.

SO if you go see a fitter and you end up standard shaft with standard lie, just upgrade to any brand more recent iron set and you will be good. If you need different lie or shaft, you still can look on the used market for that but will be harder to find a good deal.

 

 

[JDHolmes]

Simple answer is "yes" they are worth the upgrade, assuming you know what dot color you want.

I cant play them personally because of the wide bases. However, I play against a guy in tournament golf who has the 700's. He's won 6 of 9 tournaments this season.

700's have stronger lofts. He crushes the ball with them. I'm a Ping fanboi though at present no Ping iron sets just G400 and G410 drivers

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[steelhead]

Have played every G iron made. Currently have played some of the best golf of my life in South Florida. G425 has given me the feel that the G series has been missing (albeit, I play in 80 degree weather). I had the G710s and loved them but for me the G425s feel waaaay better. Now, fast forward to the ZX5s, I have been flirting with them for weeks and will not sell my G425s but am certain I will add the ZX5s. They feel incredible with same distance and same trajectory (83mph irons speed). Try the ZX5s if you want amazing feel, for me I am playing in some nervy events the next few months and NOTHING gives confidence under pressure like ANY G iron...IMHO.  

[IceHawk]

The G700's are more of a distance iron.  Anyway, the problem with e-bay is that you'll be getting a set that was fit for someone else, or one of the standard off the rack options.  As everyone else has said, go for a fitting.  You'll enjoy the experience and have a better understanding of what you're looking for.  It looks like you're using senior shafts in all of your clubs right now, but maybe that doesn't work quite as well for you in your irons when it comes to shot dispersion.  Take the time and see what works before rushing into something you may regret. 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

I would guess you've found the answer already in the above replies. Yes they would be a good investment and likely be a better iron and again like everyone above said it is a good idea to get fit. Do you know what color dot is on your current pings? If you do then great, if not check out the colored circle on the irons (likely black or blue) and that can help you with know if the other irons are immediately set up for you (minus shaft). That being said, even if they are different they can be sent to Ping to get the lie done to what you require (another reason why a fitting helps). The cost is normally just shipping to have them do this, however it often takes some time. The only other thing I would add is I went from a Blue Dot (a little upright) in my Ping i E1 irons and when I got my Ping i210's I was fit into Blue Dot as well, however after more time on the course and likely just evolution I had them bent to be what would be a Red Dot (slightly flat) to straighten out my ball flight. 

[tony@CIC]

I'll add to the consensus above. I came from G20's but ended up being fit into King SZ's with Recoils, the new Ping's just didn't work for me, neither did TItlelist, Callaway, etc. You might find a fitting opens up a lot of different avenues for you. 

BTW, love KW. We use to winter right outside of Marathon in Key Colony Beach. Great for fishing but golf was terrible - we either had to go to KW or Miami, so we ended up on the Gulf side just south of Tampa Bay. 

[BMart519]

Callaway APEX performed best for me in a fitting with the stock Elevate shafts, the PING G410 were a close second which I selected since they were $400-500 cheaper for the set or roughly 30%. I was fit into the G400 at a big box store the previous year and I still use a driving iron I built with the head from a G700 4 iron for ultra foregiveness and distance. I was surprised at how well the APEX work for me given they are a bit more of a player's iron and part of me always wonder how I would be playing with them now. A proper fitting can definitely surprise you with the results and you will likely learn about your swing and delivery which also has value. If you play courses with heavy rough, the G700 would likely be a challenge as the heads are huge.