Whereas PING tends to be slightly extra no-nonsense than a few of its opponents, there’s nonetheless lots to the story of the brand new G440 household of drivers.
In some respects, the brand new drivers are precisely what you’d anticipate from PING. It’s additionally honest to say there are some largely nice surprises.
There’s a number of necessary and fascinating stuff to dig into however as a result of I discover it’s typically greatest to ease into issues, let’s begin with the cosmetics.
Paint (and associated stuff)
The headline is that, after dabbling in oranges, reds and yellows, blue has returned to the G lineup.
I like that.
The our bodies of PING G440 drivers are charcoal grey with blue accents. I’ll by no means not love the G400 collection due to that first LST however, for my cash, these are the best-looking PING drivers shortly.
Not technically paint however you’ll additionally discover the total lineup now provides Carbonfly Wrap crowns. Essentially, the crown is one piece of our weight-savings story however the paint-based half is that PING has toned down the looks of the carbon fiber.
There’s all the time a little bit of a balancing act with these things. Most corporations need to provide you with a visible cue that they’re utilizing carbon fiber however it may be overdone. This time round, the carbon sample is a little more delicate.
Much less delicate are aerodynamic-enhancing Turbulators that adorn (or litter, relying in your perspective) the crown. For a few of you, I do know that’s a deal-breaker however I feel it’s a type of issues that bothers folks for a couple of swings and you then don’t discover anymore.
Regardless, they’re a part of the G440 package deal, although it’s solely attainable that as PING continues to evolve its driver shapes, the day may come the place they’re not needed.
Efficiency
An excellent little bit of driver efficiency is the results of issues that occur below the hood however, to an extent, the improved efficiency of the G440 driver lineup begins with up to date shapes.
As PING continues to gather information from quite a lot of sources, it’s beginning to hone in on what it calls “participant archetypes.” Functionally, it’s about defining varied forms of golfers after which designing each ingredient of the clubhead to satisfy these wants.
There’s lots to that. It covers every part from form to weight to face topology, heart of gravity location and extra.
With that marinating behind your mind, let’s bounce into some specifics.
PING G440 Drivers – Three up to date fashions
With the launch of the G440 driver lineup, PING is providing updates to a few of its 4 fashions.
PING G440 LST
The LST (low spin tech) stays the smallest of PING’s driver fashions. It’s a 450cc, pear-shaped (or PING pear-shaped anyway) head. The G440 LST is barely extra compact than the earlier (G430) LST.
The G440 LST is offered in 9 and 10.5 levels.
PING G440 MAX
PING’s most mainstream providing is barely extra compact than the earlier mannequin. I feel it’s honest to say that the existence of the MAX 10K gave PING the liberty to nudge the MAX ever so barely away from the acute finish of the forgiveness chart.
In my estimation, the G440 MAX is extra of a real middle-of-the-bell-curve providing than its predecessors.
The “massive image” plan is to create extra separation between fashions. With that, the intent for the MAX is to have it sit comfortably between LST and MAX 10K as a substitute of what I suppose you may name a “MAX Nearly 10K.”
A footnote to this a part of our story is that the G440 MAX has barely decrease MOI than its 430 counterpart. Frankly, it’s the smallest of costs to pay for the added pace, particularly when the 10K nonetheless within the lineup.
The PING G440 MAX is offered in 9, 10.5 and 12 levels.
PING G440 SFT
With MAX taking up extra of a midsized handle profile, SFT now’s the massive one within the lineup (although it’s not MAX 10K massive).
Probably the most notable factor about new G440 SFT is that PING has FINALLY determined to supply its slice killer in a nine-degree head.
It’s one thing fitters have been asking for and PING believes it is sensible for the present technology of recent golfers. Many are sooner swingers who combat a slice. Frankly, this one looks like a simple choice.
The PING G440 SFT is offered in 9 and 10.5 levels.
PING G430 MAX 10K lives on
For now, the G430 MAX 10K continues as PING’s highest MOI providing. The shift of the G430 MAX nearer to the LST hints at a everlasting place within the lineup and, whereas only a guess, this could possibly be the beginning of a sample the place the 10K/most MOI providing launches within the off-year for the remainder of the franchise.
Large weight financial savings
Most driver tales are rooted in mass financial savings. This one isn’t any completely different. In growing the G440, PING engineers had been in a position to shave and save weight from three key areas.
Carbonfly Wrap Crown
Carbon crowns aren’t solely new to PING. PING featured its Carbonfly Wrap crown on the G430 LST and once more on the G430 MAX 10K.
With G440, Carbonfly Wrap now’s a part of your entire lineup. With the crown and every part wanted to assist and maintain it in place, PING says it saved three grams over titanium. That doesn’t’ sound like a giant quantity however in membership design world, there isn’t anyone who wouldn’t love three grams to play with.
Free hosel design
Certainly one of G440’s largest design replace is discovered on the within of the membership with what PING calls a “free hosel design.” Free hosel is much like what COBRA has finished up to now and it includes eradicating a superb little bit of what I suppose one may describe as the center part of the metallic that helps the hosel adapter contained in the membership.
I imply, it’s supported on the highest and on the underside. Do you even want a center?
Apparently not.
Eradicating that materials freed up 4 grams of weight and since the fabric was successfully certain to the face and heel part of driver, eradicating it leads to sooner ball speeds in that space of the clubface. Whether or not you need to describe that as hotter within the heel or just extra normalized throughout the face, it’s a win for golfers.
As with every change to form or construction, the free hosel design created acoustic challenges. Portray with broad strokes, PING labored onerous to create higher sound all through the lineup and whereas I can’t say it’s the very best ever, I actually didn’t discover something off-putting when hitting G440 on the vary at PING headquarters.
New adapters
With supporting materials faraway from the pinnacle, PING wished to verify its shaft adapters would maintain as much as the elevated stresses. To that finish, it redesigned its ideas with a brand new tapered cone form. It additionally made the heads on the adapter screws a bit smaller to save lots of slightly extra weight.
At worst, it’s precautionary and even perhaps a little bit of over-engineering however the factor I’m guessing you’ll care most about is that your present PING adapters will work with the brand new drivers. Likewise, the brand new adapters will work in your present PING heads.
Up to date face design
I’m undecided how a lot a supplies story issues to you however PING is sticking with its acquainted T9S+. It has used the fabric for fairly some time and regardless of searching for options, it hasn’t discovered something higher.
If you happen to stare on the G440 drivers lengthy sufficient, you could discover a shallower general face top. Decreasing face top by .6 inches allowed PING to to skinny the face by .005.-.006 inches.
A thinner face is a sooner face. It’s additionally a lighter face to the tune of two grams value of financial savings.
As a part of the redesign, PING shifted the face-to-sole transition decrease, so it shouldn’t look a lot if any shallower.
Below the hood, PING modified its Variable Face Thickness (VFT) topology, shifting it barely to the toe. You’re nonetheless getting “spinsitency” (PING-speak face curvature designed to make spin as constant as attainable).
It’s an underappreciated ingredient of the forgiveness story.
What does this get you?
Between Carbonfly Wrap crown, a lighter face and the free hosel design, PING freed up 9 grams of weight. Once more, it seems like a small quantity (two sheets of paper weigh 9 grams) however for membership engineers, it’s drool-worthy.
It’s large.
PING largely used the burden financial savings to create the bottom facilities of gravity in G lineup historical past. Relying on the mannequin, heart of gravity areas are roughly between two and a couple of 1/2 millimeters decrease.
Once more, these small numbers make a big effect: sooner balls speeds and decrease spin charges.
In fact, it wouldn’t be a correct weight-savings story if a few of that additional mass wasn’t allotted to the backweight.
And so, right here goes.
On the G440 Max, PING elevated the mass of the backweight from 25 grams to 29.
On the G440 LST, the backweight jumps from 22 to 29 grams.
Whereas there’s an MOI profit to including extra weight to the again of the clubhead, there’s a bit extra to this a part of the story.
Extra environment friendly adjustability
I’m undecided what number of of you’ve got observed however with every launch, the scale of PING’s rear weight monitor and, with it, the journey distance between positions has decreased. By utilizing heavier weights, PING is ready to create the identical quantity of CG motion (and by extension, shot-shape correction) with much less motion.
In an fascinating twist of kinds, by leveraging heavier weights, PING was in a position to save weight from supporting buildings with out compromising efficiency.
Hey, what in regards to the SFT? (You is perhaps questioning)
On the SFT (shock), PING did nothing. I do know, it’s bizarre to think about membership engineers saving weight after which doing nothing with it but it surely’s a part of a becoming story that depends on the idea of Whole System Weight.
Whole what?
With the discharge of G440 driver household, PING is leaning into the concept of complete system weight (the mix of head, shaft and grip). It’s an idea rooted within the notion that there’s a correlation between your swing pace and the best system weight of your driver. And, yeah, system weight begins with head weight.
Taking a look at golfer information (a superb bit from The Stack System database), PING has sought to optimize every design primarily based on the goal participant’s swing pace.
With what, PING believes golfers who swing 115 mph or sooner carry out greatest when driver head weights are no less than 205 grams. It’s why the G400 LST has a goal weight of 205 grams.
Golfers within the 105-115 mph vary do greatest with head weights between 203-208 grams. Goal head weight on the G440 MAX is 203 grams.
The SFT has a goal head weight of 199 grams, very best for golfers swinging between 90 and 105 mph.
The HL construct has a goal head weight of 196 grams for golfers within the 75-90 mph vary.
And if you happen to occur to swing slower than 75 mph, the G LE is simply 190 grams.
To be clear, these are tough targets. No person expects that everyone who buys (and advantages from) a G440 LST goes to swing 115 mph. It’s a place to begin but it surely’s value pointing that the backweights enable PING fitters to simply tune headweight as a part of the becoming course of.
Placing some numbers on it
To moderately quantify the advantages of the brand new G440 line, PING ran a participant take a look at the place it fitted golfers into each G430 MAX and G440 MAX.
With the G440 MAX, golfers noticed common good points of .8 mph in clubhead pace, one mph in ball pace, .2-degrees greater launch and 150 rpm much less spin.
Trying downrange, the G440 MAX produced 31 % much less shot bend, was 17 % much less offline and in the end supplied 5 % tighter dispersion.
It’s value reiterating that these outcomes are fitted driver versus fitted driver and it’s no less than fascinating that golfers had been fitted into, on common, .7 levels much less loft with the brand new fashions.
Membership and ball pace good points are all the time good but it surely’s the straighter flight and tighter dispersion that I discover most compelling.
PING attributes the straighter flight to improved CG areas, the brand new face form and associated buildings and, after all, MOI.
If you happen to take something away from that it must be that whereas excessive MOI contributes to straight flight, it’s simply considered one of many items that contribute to higher accuracy (and fewer balls OB).
Different stuff value understanding
Whereas we’ve lined many of the necessary stuff, there are a couple of extra issues value understanding.
Longer inventory shaft lengths
Throughout the G440 driver lineup, PING has elevated the inventory size of its shafts. With ALTA shafts, the inventory size is 46 inches. With PING Tour and aftermarket shaft choices, the inventory construct size is 45.5.
With the new fashions being extra forgiving directionally, PING felt it may leverage elevated shaft size to create extra distance.
MOI is generally what you’d anticipate from PING
Even with diminished MOI within the MAX, MOI values throughout the lineup stay excessive. PING claims 9,500 mixed MOI with the MAX, simply shy of 9,100 with the LST and eight,500 with the SFT.
Whereas that’s decrease than some may anticipate, I’d recommend everybody take a extra complete view of forgiveness. MOI is a chunk of that but when a driver can preserve a man who in any other case slices the ball off the planet within the fairway, I’d say that’s fairly forgiving.
And, once more, the G430 MAX 10K and its 10,100 mixed MOI will stick with it.
There’s nonetheless an HL possibility
PING will once more provide a light-weight HL model of its MAX driver. As talked about, the HL head is seven grams lighter than the inventory MAX. Further complete system weight financial savings come from lighter shafts and a lighter counterbalance weight throughout the Alta CB inventory shaft.
I must also point out that, due to the diminished weight, the whole MOI of the HL construct is decrease than the usual MAX.
Specs, Pricing, Availability
PING will once more provide a variety of inventory/no-upcharge shafts for G440.
Retail value for the PING G440 driver household is $599.99. In retailer January 30.
For extra info, go to PING.com.
Avoid wasting cash
In preparation for the launch of G440, the PING G430 MAX, SFT and LST have been discounted to $399.
The submit The PING G440 Drivers Surprised Me. Here’s Why. appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
