Ping G Irons

You must understand that Ping gave the golf world perimeter weighting, first invented in their putters, moved on into their irons, woods and drivers. Ping do not keep changing their products and has a longer life span than others. They make meaningful additions to their clubs for more consistency in play, more forgiveness so you don't have to fight with your clubs. The last time I played Ping was years ago with their G15 and with them I registered my best score ever over a nine hole and eighteen hole score. Some folks may not like Ping as the iron head can look somewhat chunky (though not extreme) in those days (see below photo for G15). These are basically in the Game Improvement segment.

A key feature of the Ping G is the COR-Eye technology. The COR is Coefficient Of Restitution or in other words a measure of the efficiency of transfer of momentum when two bodies collide. If you were to throw a ball onto a brick wall at 100 mph and the ball bounces back at 75 mph then the COR is 75/100 = 0.75. Ping's COR-Eye can be seen as the circle on the back of the club head and it helps make the club face 32% thinner than the previous G30 model. Hyper 17-4 stainless steel gives the head strength. It means 17-4 steel is used in a heat treatment for 6 hours at temperatures of up to some 1040 degrees Celsius so that they are 40% stronger. There is actually an adhesive behind the badge to create sound and feel for feedback to get you a premium feel. 

The sole is quite generous, enough to give anyone great confidence to strike well. The trailing edge is cambered to enhance turf interaction. 

The hosel is surprising "unPing". It appears with less offset and Ping players know that Ping hosel usually do not have a ferrule ( the black ring cap that joined the shaft as you can see here).

Ping's intention is to simplify your game and gives you straight line but yet allows you to compose some curves through fades and draws. The broad enough sole easily helps you sweep the ball off its feet like one would your bride and gets  up into the air in a real hurry. 

Below, you can see the real beauty like no Ping G series ever was with the classic Ping cleft near the heel of the club head. Clever usage of chrome gives a satin look and adds appeal to it plus making the top line looks thinner than it is.

The contoured top makes it look thinner. An optical illusion.  It actually looks  good at address. It is the only G that looks closest to a Players' iron. Thinner looking top line and again clever designing hides the sole well - it is invisible at address. It has a little offset to help with forgiveness. This may be the nicest feeling G series irons rolled out by Ping as it produces a firm and nice sensation on impact on impact. Hit it on the sweet spot and it feels like bouncing off a trampoline and it takes away your fear of tall trees as it goes high. The high shots are a design goal and I have tried and tested it where I have cleared tall trees with them. Iron shots are meant to go high with soft parachute dropped landings onto greens so that the ball does not roll farther away.

The Ping G comes with a new Nippon Lite AWT (Ascending Weight Technology) steel shaft. This means the shaft gets lighter as you move from short irons to long irons to help you get accuracy with short irons and distance for the long irons. Those that come in Japan/Asian specs has shafts of only 85 g. (Nippon steel shafts).

The strip you see here at the trailing edge of the cavity is Ping's traditional Custom Tuning Port (CTP). CTP is basically a weight pad to make COG (Centre Of Gravity) even deeper by 0.38mm so that it improves MOI or resistance to twisting of the club head. Many do not know that during your swing, your entire club's shaft and club head are twisting and that is why some times you could get bad shots. Combined with the COR-Eye, it provides forgiveness across the face. 

These clubs are built for straight and long shots (it has stronger loft than the Ping i-Iron). They go high too - up up and away like Superman.

You buy the G because it is the easiest iron to hit in its category. The thing about its forgiveness and ease of use is that you may totally forget to practise. Just aim and get there with precision. No club can truly get you out of trouble but this one will keep you out of trouble. It is very predictable, consistent and plenty long. If you often hit your iron shots low, then this is surely for  you and will gain you a few more yards. 

Hit it any where across the face and you get a reassuring thunk. On the sweet spot it feels like a click. Remember what I said about perimeter weighting? It soothes all you sored and poor hits. It does not pretend to be a Player's or TP club but it does extremely well what it was built to do and crashes through the turf with gusto. 

Ping G series irons of the past tended to look very sturdy albeit with an industrial and hardworking look. It is strictly speaking the most forgiving irons in its class. Once again, point and shoot. If you play with these irons, you are on a  journey with a mission of forgiveness and mercy. Don't you want some easy to hit clubs? 

There is no secret to making any golf clubs go farther. Increased the lofts and extend the length. Ping accomplished it by making their G go freakish long, goes up high so that they land soft. It is difficult to ignore the Ping G irons. Ping is about forgiveness and mercy. They have added distance now and made them look as good as their Player's i-Irons.

I cannot say that I shall now play fantastic golf because I will still have to put in good a swing in the first place. What I could say and vouch for is that since I have been golfing less, ageing and naturally losing speed, energy and power, these sticks are helping me to maintain the same consistency whenever I play. Well, hopefully. Anything that can help my game, including this octopus hanger to air and dry my caps and gloves. Haha.

There will be even more forgiving irons than the Ping G but those are not GI irons but SGI or Super Game Improvement category and these are too chunky with very thick top lines and soles while the other type is the full hybrid where every club is built like a hybrid with the full weight of wood or metal behind to give you artificial distances. 

If you wish to improve your iron play which is the bread and butter of golf, to achieve consistency and to enjoy golf, look no further. There is not a better all rounder. This is the G Force! As Ping's slogan says "Play Your Best".

Golf as in life, play as if lies.