Comparing the Ping G400 to the Ping G

The Ping G and prior to it the G30 are great drivers, long and forgiving. Ping generally don't launch a new driver unless it's better then their old one. They claim that the G400 is the their fastest and longest ever.

We decided to put his to the test by comparing the G400 to the G. 

The G400 head is 445 cc smaller then the G's 460 and looks a little more compact at address. The strike also sounds a little bit more muted then the G.


We got 2 players to test the two drivers, a 9 degree G400 and a 9 degree G. Player A hit 18 drives with both clubs, Player B 12 and we used Trackman to record the results. Each player used the same shaft in the G and the G400, an Accra Tour Z 475 M5 flex, this way we could measure how much difference there was between the heads only. Each head was hit 3 times before altering to the other one and so on until all balls were hit. Titleist Pro V1 balls were used in the testing.

The tests were done on a nice August evening with a very slight breeze against and temperatures were around 17-18 degrees Celsius.


The results we wanted to compare were Club Head Speed, Ball Speed, Carry Distance, Overall Distance, Lateral Distance from Target, Launch Angle, Spin Rate and Height.

Results

 

	Carry (Yards)	Overall (Yards)	Club Head Speed/MPH	Ball Speed MPH	Side Distance Feet	Launch Angle	Spin Rate RPM	Height Feet
Player-A G	237.0	260.4	102.8	151.8	41.5	11.6	2559	87
G400	239.0	260.1	102.8	152.4	43.13	11.6	2843	92
Player B G	240.9	265.0	103.2	152.6	43.83	11.6	2526	87
G400	243.0	264.8	103.6	154.6	42.39	11.7	2627	92

Analysis

 

As we can see there's very little difference between the two drivers for both players. A slight increase in carry of around 2 yards for both. Overall distance, club head speed, accuracy and launch angles were very similar. There was a very slight increase in ball speed, more so for player B. The other differences were a slightly higher flight and slightly more spin, explaining a slightly longer carry both less run.

Conclusion

 

There really is very little difference from the G to the G400, the main difference is the slightly higher spin and height. This can suit some players, others may have to go for the lower spin head or less loft to compensate for this and both may lead to a small gain in distance.




Should you jump from the G to the G400? 

The answer is not really, you're not going to gain much if anything extra. Certainly nothing that will affect performance. The more compact head and muter sound are more attractive though!

If you're in the market for a new driver should you look at the G400?

Definitely, Ping are a great club maker and rarely make a bad one, the G400 is one of their best.


Comments and questions are always welcome.

2017 Driver versus 2005 Driver

A valid question is how much better is today's equipment in comparison to equipment from a few years ago?

The average distance on the PGA Tour has changed very little from 2004 until now. The longest average was 2011 and the shortest average was 2013 with just 3.7 yards between the longest and shortest. When I ask people what do they think the difference in this average might be the answers tend to be in the 20-30 yard mark. Is marketing leading to these answers?

Equipment companies are always promising more distance e.g. 17 more yards and release new drivers every year or every second year. The PGA Tour driving distances suggest that drivers haven't improved noticeably in 13 years. Let's check this out.

I used a Titleist 905S for a number of years. It was launched in 2004 and I used it until 2008 when I changed to a Titleist 909D3. I am now currently playing with a Titleist 917D3 launched in 2016. How much different is the 917D3 in comparison to the 905S?

I've compared this 905S driver against a 913D3 driver before. The results are here http://0to300golf.blogspot.ie/2013/09/2005-driver-vs-2013-driver.html

On Sunday April 2nd I compared both using a Trackman Launch Monitor.

I hit 18 drives with each club. Alternating from one to the other after 3 shots so not to get used to swinging just the one driver. The ball was teed at the same height for both drivers. The ball that was used was the Titleist Pro V1. It was a nice April's day, temperatures around 12 degrees Celsius and a slight breeze (around 5mph).

The main performance numbers that we looked are were club head speed, ball speed, carry, total distance, accuracy, launch angle and spin rates. Ultimately the main one to be interested in ball speed, as this is the ultimate decider in distance. Launch and spin can be manipulated through fitting to give optimal flights so the longest driver should be the result of the highest ball speed.

Here are the results.

Club	Clubhead Speed(mph)	Ball Speed	Launch Angle	Spin Rate	Carry (yards)	Total Distance	Height (feet)	Distance from target (ft)
917D3	102.9	149.4	13.2	2215	238.5	267.9	83.3	35.86
905S	101	148.3	12.6	2599	237.5	265.8	82.6	43.22

The specifications of each club are as follows

Titleist 913D3 - loft 9.5 degrees, Shaft Mitsubishi Diamana LTD Blue 70 S-Flex, length 45 inches, Shaft Frequency - 253 cpm, Total Weight - 325.8 grams, Swingweight - D2, head size 440 cc

Titleist 905S - loft 9.5 degrees, shaft Mitsubishi Diamana Blue 73 X-Flex, length 44 inches, Shaft Frequency - 275 cpm, Total Weight - 328.5 grams, Swingweight - D1, head size 400 cc

Clubs are quite similar with the main difference being a softer and longer shaft in the 917D3

The results are interesting.

Very little between the clubs with the 917 giving 1 yard more carry and 2.1 yards more overall distance as well as being slightly more accurate, 7.36 feet closer to the target on average. The 917 did perform better but not by a significant amount. An amount that wouldn't change golf scores by much.

The 917 did have a little more club head speed which could be attributed to the 1 inch longer shaft. But the ball speed from the 917 should be more then 1.1 mph faster due to the 1.9 mph club head difference and the 1 inch longer shaft might be leading to a bigger discrepancy in strike and as a result a lower then expected ball speed.

Also the shorter shaft in the 905S should lead to more accuracy but not in this case, possibly due to the stiffer shaft. 

Conclusion

 

Like the 2013 test there wasn't a great difference between the two drivers. It could be suggested that as there is a limit on the COR (coefficient of restitution) or springlike effect on drivers that most clubs manufactured since the limit was introduced are near this limit and are very similar in performance. 

If you have a driver that fits your game well, gives you a centered strike along with optimal launch conditions it's very unlikely that there's a new driver out there that will give you significantly more distance. But if you don't have a driver that fits your game gains of 15-25 yards are fairly common.

I would recommend you spend time finding a driver that fits your game and you feel comfortable with. This doesn't have to be the latest model, in fact any model from the last number of years could work exceptionally well. As second hand drivers are great value this means you don't have to spend a fortune on a new driver to get more distance, spend the money on getting good advice, this will save you in the long term.

If you have any questions, please comment.

Identifying Counterfeit Mizuno JPX 900 Forged Clubs

Recently a customer dropped in to get a set of golf club heads shafted. He bought the heads on the Internet, on first glance they looked OK but he also asked did I think they were genuine. A closer inspection it was clear they weren't genuine Mizuno JPX 900 Forged heads. But without knowing what to look for an unsuspecting customer could easily be fooled.

Let's investigate the heads closer to show why they aren't genuine, what you should look out for and why buying these heads are a total waste of money no matter what was paid for them.

Here's a photo of one of the fake heads. The other head is a genuine Mizuno head. You can see from this angle that there isn't much to distinguish the heads. I posted the photo on Instagram asking which was real and which was fake. Most thought the fake was real from this angle. Have a look yourself, which do you think is real?

The genuine head is on top with the fake below. From this angle the only sign of a fake is the paintwork is a little smudgy on the 900 compared to the top one.

From this side it's easier to distinguish the fake from the real. The fake is on the left, you can see the grooves are not as precise as the real head and the face is all the same colour on the fake.

Another sign is the serial number and the easiest one to check. Each Mizuno club has a serial number etched onto the hosel. The serial number is the date the clubs were assembled followed by a C for custom and S for stock. The fake head didn't have the serial number. Also Mizuno don't sell individual components. Mizuno clubs can't be bought head only.

Another sign was inside the hosel. Hard to see in the photos above but the genuine Mizuno heads have slight grooves inside the hosel to help when glueing the head. They are quite noticeable. The grooves on fake head were barely noticeable. Also the hosel was .370 parallel wide where Mizuno's have a .355 tapered tip hosel.

What about the signs which aren't visible to the naked eye. They would be weight, loft, lies and the metal the heads are made from.

We weighed the heads to see how much of a difference there would be between those and the genuine heads.

Iron	Weight (Fake) (g)	Weight (Genuine)
4	250.4	244
5	247	252.7
6	255.8	260
7	255.2	267
8	281.8	272.5
9	282.2	281.5
PW	281.7	286.5

As you go through a set the head weights get heavier from long iron to short iron. This is to keep the same swing weight through the set .i.e. as the shafts get shorter the heads get heavier to maintain the same balance. Most sets would have 7-8 grams between head weights.

We can see in the weights of the fake heads that they are all over the place, some lighter then the previous one, some much heavier and some the same. Note in particular the difference between the 7 iron and 8 iron, more the 26 grams! This means swing weights and balances of a built set would be inconsistent and one club would feel completely different to another.

Iron	Weight (Fake) (g)	Swingweight
4	250.4	D7
5	247	C9
6	255.8	D1
7	255.2	C7
8	281.8	D7.5
9	282.2	D4
PW	281.7	D0

Above is a table of the swingweights of the fake heads when they were assembled. Generally a set would have the same swing-weight throughout the set with D0-D2 being the favoured weight. We can see that these are wildly inconsistent. Imagine swinging the 7 and 8 iron, one would feel like a feather and the other like a sledgehammer!.

Lets look at the lofts and lies of the fake heads.

Iron	Loft (Fake)	Lie (Fake)	Loft (Genuine)	Lie (Genuine)
4	24	60	21	60
5	21.5	60	24	60.5
6	29	61.5	27	61
7	29	61.5	31	61.5
8	38	62	35	62
9	37	62.5	40	62.5
PW	46	62.5	45	63

We can see here the lofts are all over the place too. The 4 even has more loft then the 5, the 6 and the 7 are the same and the 8 has more loft then the 9! However on closer inspection and combing the lofts with the head weights we can see, the 4 iron is really a 5 iron, the 5 iron is really a 4 iron, the 6 and the 7 as well as the 8 and 9 are actually the same head.

The fakes are just a rush job with no quality control whatsoever. The person buying them ends up with a wedge that might perform like a wedge but none of the other clubs have specifications close to the genuine clubs. In other words a total waste of money.

Another thing we can't see is the metal the heads are made from. The Mizuno JPX 900 Forged are made from a boron infused steel to give a beautifully feeling club. We can't test what the fakes are made from but with the head weights being different from the genuine clubs we can safely assume they are not made from the same quality meal. Striking the ball with the fake clubs would not give the same fantastic feeling as a Mizuno club. There's a strong chance too that the fakes could break easily.

Conclusion

The fake clubs can be distinguished by the face, the grooves, the smudgy paintwork, the lack of a serial number and the sale being heads only. The lofts and head weights are inconsistent too.

Buying a set of fake heads like these will give you a dysfunctional set of golf clubs, the 4 marked as a 5, the 5 marked as a 4, the 6 and 7 are the same club, the 8 and 9 are the same club. The swingweights are wildly inconsistent, no club would feel the same way swinging. They are just a total waste of money.

If the price is too good to be true it usually is. Buy from trusted sellers who have a known policy on returns.  

Comments and questions are always welcome