Equipment

Ping G410 Plus driver: Shifting the gears of adjustability

Published

5 years ago

Jan 21, 2019

Ping has always been a company comfortable in a leadership role in terms of research and custom fitting. Indeed, the company lead the custom fitting revolution before most golfers had any idea of what a lie angle was.

Ping makes the effort to lead again with the new Ping G410: Ping’s first driver with a moving adjustable weight. It would be false to claim they are the first OEM to offer a driver that has adjustable weight, but like anything Ping, they are doing it their own way and offering a unique take to help golfers play their best.

ping-g410-face

What the new G410 offers that no Ping drivers has offered before is

A 16g adjustable weight with three distinct positions, to allow for greater direction control. This need came right from the tour since more than two-thirds of Ping’s Tour staff had their drivers custom fit for CG by using hot melt.
A new counter balance weight plug under the grip raises the balance point to allow for more mass (leading to greater MOI) in the head while maintaining swing weight.

Some of the other features of the new 2019 G410 driver include:

Five-way hosel adjustment to allow plus/minus 1.5* of loft adjustment and up to 3* flat
Ti 9s+ forged face for maximum ball speeds
Improved turbulators
Hidden Dragonfly technology inside to support the ultra thin light weight crown

To put into perspective what Ping is bringing to the table with their new driver, we have to think about how a driver is modified through custom fitting. The challenge presented to the design team was: how can the company bring moveable CG fitting to every golfer while also improving MOI and add ball speed? This is where all of the previous technology advances, along with the 16g of moveable mass positioned to the furtherest reaches of the perimeter to allow for a tour level fitting experience.

Each of the three settings on the G410 moves the CG 1/10th of an inch, which doesn’t sound like much but for the average player that equates to 10 yards of additional directional control equally a total of 20 yards of movement from side to side. 20 yards can be the difference between fairway and rough, or rough and a punch out.

Ping G410 SFT

Like with previous drivers from Ping, there will also be a Ping 410 SFT version withe the same hosel adjustment options but it will have no custom moveable weight. This is because Ping has once again improved on the previous 400 SFT and placed 50 percent more heel weight in the the new G410 Plus.

Ultimately, the Ping G410 SFT (Straight Flight Technology) is essentially a slice-correcting/draw driver.

Solheim, again: “There is still a large segment of golfers who will play better with a driver completely optimized for performance with the benefit of maximum fade correction. When we pioneered Straight Flight Technology several years ago, we wanted to provide a ‘slice-fixing’ driver without adding huge offset or just closing the face.”

Ping G410 Availability & Specs

Ping G410 Plus with come in the following lofts: 9, 10.5, 12

Ping G410 SFT (Straight Flight Technology) loft option: 10.5

Standard length will be 45 3/4″ with the Alta CB Red 55 & ;45 1/4″ for PING tour & aftermarket shafts

No-upcharge shaft options are the PING Alta CB, PING Tour 65, 75, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 60, & the Project X Evenflow Black 75

The retail price will be $540

RELATED: 2019 Ping G410 Driver – Plus and SFT photos

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Equipment

Michael Block spotted with full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons at Valhalla

Published

5 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

On Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, Block had a full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons in the bag.

Block is the first player of many on the PGA TOUR to bag a set of the mysterious “Proto” irons. Rory McIlroy first switched into a “Proto” 4-iron at the Valero Texas Open, and Collin Morikawa followed suit at the 2024 RBC Heritage. Block isn’t using just the 4-iron, though, he’s using a full set to go along with a TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron.

Speaking with GolfWRX.com on Monday at the PGA Championship, Block revealed the full backstory.

“I hit a couple super “Proto” irons when I was at the Kingdom (TaylorMade’s fitting facility in Southern California) a couple months ago, and it was a 9-iron that didn’t have any badges or anything on it,” Block said. “I had no idea what it was … It was very similar to what I was using back then, you know, my old MCs, and very similar from the top. I hit it and absolutely loved it. For me to even think about switching irons from the last 11-12 years is crazy.

“I got this set about two weeks ago, and I’m working my way into them. I hit them more solid; it comes off the face more solid. Much higher. I think they’re still slightly too upright for me, so they’re being bent a degree flatter, because they’re going a little too high for me and drawing a little too much. When that starts to happen, I start to drop the club under and compensate too much, so I’m getting them flattened slightly, and I’m going to test them on the range again, and hopefully have them in play on Thursday…

“They go further, and they go higher … that combination is kind of a no-brainer. If I can take a 5-iron from 204 rather than a 4-iron, it’s good on me. It’s going to help me out for sure, especially at a major with the pin locations. Having that height coming in, that descent angle is going to be huge.”

With such new irons in the bag, after using the same irons for over a decade, surely you’d think there will be a bit of a learning curve. Block, however, is finding immediate comfort with the new “Proto” irons.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.

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Whats in the Bag

WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2014 PGA Championship

Published

7 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Rory McIlroy outlasted Phil Mickelson at the 2014 PGA Championship. It’s even harder to believe McIlroy hasn’t hoisted a major trophy since his 2014 victory at Valhalla.

After a slow start to his final round, McIlroy tallied an eagle and two birdies on the back nine and his fourth major championship. Take a look at the clubs he played a decade ago in Kentucky.

Driver: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 70X

3-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

5-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (19 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

Irons: Nike VR Pro Blade (4-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0

Wedges: Nike VR Forged (46, 52, 56, 60 degrees) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Putter: Nike Method 006 Buy here.

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Nike RZN Black

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

WITB Time Machine is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.

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