back weight off of Ping G425 Max!

[AlejandroM]

Hi everyone,  I wanted to ask what are the implications of taking the back weight of the Ping 425 max off? I did it because I like to swing lighter clubs and since it weights 26gr it trully felt much more lighter when I took it off but I wonder if its going to affect power, or control or accuracy. Could you be so kind as to give me your opinion on this?

I have tested the driver with and without the weight and it seems like it hasn´t affected accuracy but I wanted to ask if someone has taken it off also and what have been the results

 

thanks!

[Micah T]

Check this video out :

 

 

[AlejandroM]

12 hours ago, Micah T said:

Check this video out :

 

 

thanks!!!

[Shankdog]

So I had the screw holding the weight on my G425 Max break this past summer in the middle of a round.  I couldn’t hit that driver without the weight attached to save my life.

[AlejandroM]

6 hours ago, Shankdog said:

So I had the screw holding the weight on my G425 Max break this past summer in the middle of a round.  I couldn’t hit that driver without the weight attached to save my life.

Sorry didn`t quite get that. The screw broke and you found it hard to hit without the weight on?

Edited December 6, 2022 by AlejandroM

[Shankdog]

Yes.

[John S]

The weight is designed to serve 2 purposes-

1. by sliding the weight towards or away from the shaft you influence a draw or a cut bias.  If the weight is removed it will change this adjustment unless you are presently playing the club with the weight centered

2 The weight moves mass back in the head.  Typically this will add spin -  Weight forward toward the face will reduce spin.  By removing the weight you may find the spin increases and the ball flight changes ( typically higher launch).  Depending on the club head speed this could have a positive or negative impact on the overall distance.  The conventional wisdom today favors lower spin off the driver to increase distance and this holds strongly true for higher swing speeds. Not so much the case at lower speeds, the increased launch "MAY" lead to greater carry and therefore distance.   The best idea may be to go to a fitter or a range with a good launch monitor and check your spin and distance numbers with and without the weight in.   

Lastly, a fitter may recommend you leave the head design alone and reduce the weight with a lighter shaft or possibly a simple counterbalance in the grip end of the club.  This is a simple way to add weight in the butt end and reduce the swing weight in the head-  https://www.tourlockgolf.com/counterweight-installation/fitting-and-tips   Again, the only way to tell if you are gaining any benefit is to check the numbers/results 

[Hook DeLoft]

I tried this very thing with my 425 Max sometime this past year. When I caught one flush, I was hitting it 15 yards farther on the course. Unfortunately, I couldn’t control it. The misses were huge. As in out of bounds, deep in the woods huge. That doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. Try it and see.

[ChitownM2]

1 hour ago, John S said:

2 The weight moves mass back in the head.  Typically this will add spin -  Weight forward toward the face will reduce spin.  By removing the weight you may find the spin increases and the ball flight changes ( typically higher launch).  Depending on the club head speed this could have a positive or negative impact on the overall distance.  The conventional wisdom today favors lower spin off the driver to increase distance and this holds strongly true for higher swing speeds. Not so much the case at lower speeds, the increased launch "MAY" lead to greater carry and therefore distance.   The best idea may be to go to a fitter or a range with a good launch monitor and check your spin and distance numbers with and without the weight in.   

Removing the weight is going to shift the CG forward closer to the face which should reduce spin and launch angle not increase it.  The first sentence you wrote about the weight moving mass backwards is correct so removing it would shift the CG forward.

As for the OP, you are definitely going to lose some forgiveness as the MOI of the head will be substantially lower without that weight back there.  The biggest change however is going to be in the swingweight of the club as you have probably noticed.  General rule of thumb is that 2g equals one swingweight point but I'm not sure that the rule of thumb holds true when talking about a club at driver length and when the amount of weight in play is that massive.  Regardless, you're talking about a huge reduction in swingweight which is going to make the head harder to control for a lot of people.  You're also removing enough weight from the head that the shaft is probably going to play much stiffer than it did before.  

Overall, I think removing the weight entirely is probably a bad idea.  If you really want that lighter feeling head you're probably better off calling Ping and buying a lighter weight or looking at the aftermarket options combined with some type of counter balancing in the shaft.  You should be able to find a happy medium between what must be a crazy low swing weight right now ( C0 ? ) and the stock setting.

[John S]

19 minutes ago, ChitownM2 said:

Removing the weight is going to shift the CG forward closer to the face which should reduce spin and launch angle not increase it.  The first sentence you wrote about the weight moving mass backwards is correct so removing it would shift the CG forward.

As for the OP, you are definitely going to lose some forgiveness as the MOI of the head will be substantially lower without that weight back there.  The biggest change however is going to be in the swingweight of the club as you have probably noticed.  General rule of thumb is that 2g equals one swingweight point but I'm not sure that the rule of thumb holds true when talking about a club at driver length and when the amount of weight in play is that massive.  Regardless, you're talking about a huge reduction in swingweight which is going to make the head harder to control for a lot of people.  You're also removing enough weight from the head that the shaft is probably going to play much stiffer than it did before.  

Overall, I think removing the weight entirely is probably a bad idea.  If you really want that lighter feeling head you're probably better off calling Ping and buying a lighter weight or looking at the aftermarket options combined with some type of counter balancing in the shaft.  You should be able to find a happy medium between what must be a crazy low swing weight right now ( C0 ? ) and the stock setting.

 

19 minutes ago, ChitownM2 said:

Removing the weight is going to shift the CG forward closer to the face which should reduce spin and launch angle not increase it.  The first sentence you wrote about the weight moving mass backwards is correct so removing it would shift the CG forward.

As for the OP, you are definitely going to lose some forgiveness as the MOI of the head will be substantially lower without that weight back there.  The biggest change however is going to be in the swingweight of the club as you have probably noticed.  General rule of thumb is that 2g equals one swingweight point but I'm not sure that the rule of thumb holds true when talking about a club at driver length and when the amount of weight in play is that massive.  Regardless, you're talking about a huge reduction in swingweight which is going to make the head harder to control for a lot of people.  You're also removing enough weight from the head that the shaft is probably going to play much stiffer than it did before.  

Overall, I think removing the weight entirely is probably a bad idea.  If you really want that lighter feeling head you're probably better off calling Ping and buying a lighter weight or looking at the aftermarket options combined with some type of counter balancing in the shaft.  You should be able to find a happy medium between what must be a crazy low swing weight right now ( C0 ? ) and the stock setting.

I agree with the correction that removing the weight will move the CG forward-  I agree with the correction to my earlier comment.

19 minutes ago, ChitownM2 said:

Removing the weight is going to shift the CG forward closer to the face which should reduce spin and launch angle not increase it.  The first sentence you wrote about the weight moving mass backwards is correct so removing it would shift the CG forward.

As for the OP, you are definitely going to lose some forgiveness as the MOI of the head will be substantially lower without that weight back there.  The biggest change however is going to be in the swingweight of the club as you have probably noticed.  General rule of thumb is that 2g equals one swingweight point but I'm not sure that the rule of thumb holds true when talking about a club at driver length and when the amount of weight in play is that massive.  Regardless, you're talking about a huge reduction in swingweight which is going to make the head harder to control for a lot of people.  You're also removing enough weight from the head that the shaft is probably going to play much stiffer than it did before.  

Overall, I think removing the weight entirely is probably a bad idea.  If you really want that lighter feeling head you're probably better off calling Ping and buying a lighter weight or looking at the aftermarket options combined with some type of counter balancing in the shaft.  You should be able to find a happy medium between what must be a crazy low swing weight right now ( C0 ? ) and the stock setting.

The weight is designed to serve 2 purposes-

1. by sliding the weight towards or away from the shaft you influence a draw or a cut bias.  If the weight is removed it will change this adjustment unless you are presently playing the club with the weight centered

2 The weight moves mass back in the the head.  Typically this will add spin -  Weight forward towards the face will reduce spin.  By removing the weight you may find the spin increases and the ball flight changes ( typically higher launch).  Depending on club head speed this could have a positive or negative impact on the overall distance.  The conventional wisdom today favors lower spin off the driver to increase distance and this holds strongly true for higher swing speeds. Not so much the case at lower speeds, the increased launch "MAY" lead to greater carry and therefor distance.   Best idea may be to go to a fitter or a range with a good launch monitor, check you spin and distance numbers with and without the weight in.   

Lastly a fitter may recommend you leave the head design alone and reduce the weight with a lighter shaft or possibly a simple counterbalance in the grip end of the club.

[DukeStKing]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:48 AM, ChitownM2 said:

Removing the weight is going to shift the CG forward closer to the face which should reduce spin and launch angle not increase it.  The first sentence you wrote about the weight moving mass backwards is correct so removing it would shift the CG forward.

As for the OP, you are definitely going to lose some forgiveness as the MOI of the head will be substantially lower without that weight back there.  The biggest change however is going to be in the swingweight of the club as you have probably noticed.  General rule of thumb is that 2g equals one swingweight point but I'm not sure that the rule of thumb holds true when talking about a club at driver length and when the amount of weight in play is that massive.  Regardless, you're talking about a huge reduction in swingweight which is going to make the head harder to control for a lot of people.  You're also removing enough weight from the head that the shaft is probably going to play much stiffer than it did before.  

Overall, I think removing the weight entirely is probably a bad idea.  If you really want that lighter feeling head you're probably better off calling Ping and buying a lighter weight or looking at the aftermarket options combined with some type of counter balancing in the shaft.  You should be able to find a happy medium between what must be a crazy low swing weight right now ( C0 ? ) and the stock setting.

I would agree with this. I am deep into the Otto Phlex process with my G425 Max- I have a 45 gram shaft and replaced the 26 gram weight with a 20 gram weight- D0 swing weight. I’m loving it- very forgiving and so nice and easy and comfortable to swing something that light. Hits some bombs with it this late fall and early winter. Check out the thread @AlejandroM

[Micah T]

I tried a 6, 10, and 16 gram weight instead of the stock weight in my old g410 LST(23 gram I think) I found the lower weight I installed, the less ball speed I produced.