Drivers that push size and shape to the extreme for maximum forgiveness have one key drawback: they don’t have enough mass left to let you adjust the centre of gravity. Conversely, drivers with adjustable weights don’t leave enough mass to pursue forgiveness. No, say Ping’s engineers, who design some of golf’s most stable drivers. Their latest models boast the company’s highest moment of inertia, which quantifies the club’s stability on off-centre hits, and a 26-gram moveable weight (on the Max version) that’s 63 percent higher than its predecessor, the G410 Plus. How? By reducing the structure of the all-titanium body, particularly up top. Using an internal web of ribs, the crown gets as thin as three pieces of paper stacked on top of each other, lowering the CG compared to past Ping drivers. That’s especially true in the low-spin LST version, which helps faster players produce a flatter trajectory. Meanwhile, slicers will benefit from 23 grams slugged in the heel on the SFT model, which also is lighter to make it easier to control.
LOFTS 9, 10.5, 12 (max); 10.5 (sft); 9, 10.5 (lst); adjustable
“The ribs on top draw your eye to the ball, and I love the feel and pleasing click at impact. The adjustability let me dial in my ideal launch and spin rate.”
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