Ping G5

[chrisyoung]

Hi, I have a 12 handicap and play on a fast running links course over here in Northern Ireland and would like a mid ball flight due to the wind we get!!. My swing speed is slow and easy, in the 92-95mph range. I had the 10.5 G5 driver fitted with the Aldila nv regular shaft. I hit the ball pretty well with this, 195-200 yard carry, but always felt that the shaft was a bit too strong for me. Due to reading the benefits of increased loft, I changed to the 12 degree G5 with the PingTFC100D regular shaft. My drives are more consistent now but are a bit too high and overall distance is much shorter than my previous set up. My problem is whether to stick with the 12 degree driver but go with a stronger shaft or go for less loft, 10.5, and stick with the softer TFC100D shaft? Any advice would be appreciated. No proper fitting centres here either.

Chris Young

 

[SammmeBee]

What do you want length or consistency......?

 

[chrisyoung]

With my slow swing speed I know I will not launch it miles but the club change has made me even shorter. Bit of both would be good!!

 

[Cernunnos]

chisyoung I wouldn't call 92-95mph swingspeed low, certainly in the amateur stakes. Its slow compared to a pro certainly. So I'd really expect you to be getting a few more yards of carry with your drives than you are, though at the moment this time of year, perhaps it is right.

As to what to suggest for you & the obviously windy conditions of an Irish links course. Hmmm, I'd have thought that the amount of backspin a 12 degree head is going to provide is going to be your enemy & not your friend in these high winds.

Whatever you choose I'd say keep the ball low & under the wind I really do think especially over the winter medium or low loft is the thing. Sacrafice a few yards of carry & allow for extra roll, that is unless your course has loads of ditches & streams running through it, then maybe a drop & stop club maybe worth the while, as this is the likely outcome of 12 degree head & softer shaft. Choosing a shaft with a high kickpoint will certainly bring the ballflight & backspin down. I don't really think any more loft than 10.5 degrees is worthwhile at the swingspeeds you quote.

BTW, if you have no fitting centre over there, how exactly have you had your swingspeed measured ?

 

[thecraw]

I think you would benefit from a regular shafted ProForce V2 shaft which has a higher kick point meaning a lower trajectory.

Also worth looking into a Grafalloy Pro red. They both give a good ball flight. In fact I would probably go for a Proforce Red. I loved this shaft on my old driver.

You can pick one up fitted for about £50. Thats what I would recommend if you like the G5 driver. I have a 12 degree Ping Rapture which I got custom fitted for and I love it.

Hope that helps.

 

[chrisyoung]

Thanks for the shaft advice. Would you advise keeping the 12 degree or go for 10.5? I have an area for practice which measures exactly 200 yards and measure my driver carry regularly so know this is correct. Got swingspeed measured on a monitor in a large golf shop but the staff were clueless about what the numbers meant or how to use them!!

 

[thecraw]

I always used 9 degree or 10 degree and would have laughed at you for telling me that I would get better results from a 12 degree driver as thats for woman!(no I'm not being sexist just letting you all know what my attitude was like before I tried one!) How bloody wrong can you be!

I got quite a shock when I got told I was more consistant and 7 yards longer using a 12 degree lofted driver, so much so I wasnt convinced that I had done the right thing when I went ahead and ordered the 12 degree Rapture.

Once I got the club through and had used it for a couple of rounds I instantly knew that the experts at Ping are in their job for a reason. I dont hit the ball high for a 12 degree and I am so bloomin consistant with this club that I have not even looked at another driver in 2 years!

I cant comment on what you should do but if you like the club stick with it. The two shafts I recommended are higher kick points and will reduce the hight in the ball flight. If thats your aim then it may be worth a shot before shelling out £150-£200 on a new bit of timber.

 

[chrisyoung]

I do really like the Ping g5, club shape and set up. Will stick with the 12 degree as it is really easy to hit but I just hit it far too high. Getting the right shaft will now be my problem. Thanks again

 

[Cernunnos]

For driver there are basically a few figures on the launch monitor to look at, one is your spin, both backspin & the sidespin. The Backspin needs to be enough to counteract too much sidespin occcuring, but not so much backspin that you actually end up reducing your length with the club. The next & probably the most imprtant to look at & will go some way to effecting the others is the launch angle. For driver the magic number for launch degrees for optimum length is 14 degrees. A lot more than this & not only will it be drop & stop, but the backspin can go so far as forshortening rather than ledngthening carry the ball will get. Less than 14 degrees launch off the face & not only will the ball go low & probably less on carry, but will run out more. But again dependant upon the spin off the face, the higher the degrees loft on the face of your driver the more spin & stop the ball is likely to have. Though there are exceptions to the rule, for some realon the likes of Yonex don't seem to add too much backspin to the ball to be detrimental even at 12 degrees.

To be honest it doesn't take rocket science to decifer what launch monitors are telling you, just a bit of experience & common sense. No need to look at carry figures on the launch monitor as this will depend on how its been set up, but everything else will be straight forward enough.

See if they will let you in there on the launch monitor with a selection of clubs for an hour or so. Get the Launch angle to about 14 degrees. And as I said enough backspin to allow the sidespin to come down to an acceptable figure. This is bassically your dispersion. Oh & if your remember to, take along your own choice of balls to use on the monitor as each different type of ball will affect the outcome on the screen.

Hope this helps.

 

[USER1999]

I have never been a great one for roll, I would rather go for carry. Grass has way more friction than air, so there is no way it will roll as far as it can carry.

On the other hand, I don't play in the high winds you can get in links, and the turf is firmer than parkland too.

 

[Cernunnos]

Murph, like yourself Murph I much prefer as much carry as I can get, though drop & stop if you are not careful can turn into drop & backup as I found out last year when using a TM Quad.

Over winter & in high winds keeping the ballflight low to get length without being blown back at you or off in a hundred different directions, is preferable. the benefit or flipside of this is the ball is likely to release or bound on more. Handy on hard fairways as long as there are no hazards & in high winds.

Links golf needs a different mentality murph to inland parkland golf where carry is not always the be-all-&-end-all. And over winter trying to play our usual target golf is not necessarily the best way of trying to play. Hit that high flying high spinning wedge in gale force winds & you are as like to be playing the next shot from behind where you just played from, when all that was needed was a knocked down low running 9 or 8 iron. Same idea with Drivers & driver lofts.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My advice would be to get to a large stockist and try as many head and shaft combinations as possible and see what works for you. If possible get onto a range so you can see the flight for yourself rather than rely on a machine.

My other advice although not really the best time of year to be looking is to check out the website of all the big manufacturers and look for demo days where you can get expert advice and try things out.

 

[chrisyoung]

Part of my problem is NO demo days in Northern Ireland, limited stock and hard to travel to the larger stores with no practise facilities. Original question, more loft/stronger shaft OR less loft/ softer shaft= more distance?

 

[RGuk]

My swing speed is slow and easy, in the 92-95mph range. I had the 10.5 G5 driver fitted with the Aldila nv regular shaft. I hit the ball pretty well with this, 195-200 yard carry, but always felt that the shaft was a bit too strong for me. Due to reading the benefits of increased loft, I changed to the 12 degree G5 with the PingTFC100D regular shaft. My drives are more consistent now but are a bit too high and overall distance is much shorter than my previous set up.

Hi Chris, I could have written this post myself. Same swing speed. I have a Callaway 10 with NV55R orange and Ping G5 12 with NV65R green. Oh, and I play off 12.

Unless you can find a different shaft which gives you the best of both worlds, it's Hobson's choice. Mostly, I stick with the one that offers the best distance, which is the lower loft club by the smallest of margins. I gave up trying to find a better concoction months ago. I could go to AG/DG (wherever) and try the latest and best, but t.b.h. I've had enough drivers and different spec shafts over the years to know the FOR ME, it's not likely I'm going to find a miracle cure and suddenly gain 10-20 yards.....the last 6 or 7 have all gone the same height and distance give or take. I had a 9 degree Burner...that was low but wild!!!!

 

[chrisyoung]

Thanks for that. Still not sure, but was out today in really windy conditions. 12 degree into the wind, hit really well, you would be better with a 5 iron!! ok, with the wind, it goes a mile but into the wind it just feels like you are skying the ball.

 

[Cernunnos]

Into the wind 12 degrees will be way too much loft. tbqh, in high winds most teaching pros will recommend we leave the woods in the bag on those windy days anyway.

 

[thecraw]

When it comes to drivers the loft of the club has a surprisingly little effect on the ball flight. The flight of the ball is determined by the launch angle of the club and ball at impact. Yes a 12 degree will go marginaly higher than a 9 degree but just because its 12 degrees doesnt mean that it wont go as far and in alot of cases it goes further.

Torque and kick point as well as the weight of the shaft all play a huge role in determining the flight, launch and distance of a drive.

The only way that the poster can guarentee to have the correct set up is to go and get custom fitted. Whether that be with Ping, Mizuno, TM or whoever. We can all recommend different things and shafts but for some people to come out and say 12 degrees is way too much loft is just ill informed and quite frankly nonsense.

 

[Cernunnos]

When it comes to drivers the loft of the club has a surprisingly little effect on the ball flight. The flight of the ball is determined by the launch angle of the club and ball at impact. Yes a 12 degree will go marginaly higher than a 9 degree but just because its 12 degrees doesnt mean that it wont go as far and in alot of cases it goes further.

Torque and kick point as well as the weight of the shaft all play a huge role in determining the flight, launch and distance of a drive.

The only way that the poster can guarentee to have the correct set up is to go and get custom fitted. Whether that be with Ping, Mizuno, TM or whoever. We can all recommend different things and shafts but for some people to come out and say 12 degrees is way too much loft is just ill informed and quite frankly nonsense.

If you look back into the thread you'll notice I've actually gone into all these valid points including & especially launch angle.

Though one thing I didn't go into in any geat detail earlier was the fact it is possible via how you address & come through the ball to control the ball flight how its possible with an easier swing etc to use your clubs effectively in the wind, all things I'm sure the O.P. ought really to be aware of & I'd have thought would be starting to do. Though I seem to get the feeling this might not be all together the case at times.

I went into kickpoints of shafts too & the importants of these. But as little difference as a few degrees of face angle can make in a slight wind, in high winds any angle change is important, but as I also stated on a really windy day woods are best left in the bag unless you have the confidence to use them into & with & across the wind.

High loft into the wind is going to get forshortend, & more forshortend than trying to get something down under the wind to avoid that wind sheer whether driver, wood or iron, but careful choice at the right time of club & ball position tempo will make a difference. So don't go telling me I'm wrong, missguided illinformed or any such nonsense, as I've had my fair share of playing in windy conditions & how best to avoid the problems. Go play somewhere like Nefyn in gale force winds & horizontal rain & then tell me I'm wrong, as I know when a 4 & 5 iron is going to get past any high or medium lofted driver & probably no further than the low one too for that matter.

Goodnight.!

 

[thecraw]

You are ill-informed you quite clearly state that 12 degrees is too high a loft.

Nonsense, if thats the case why do manufactures make them in 12 degree models? Basically its because once people are custom fitted on launch monitors that loft suits their game better and gives them a better ball flight and distance.

I am a four handicap and use a 12 degree lofted Ping Rapture which was custom fitted for my swing, I incidently hit this consistantly lower than my mate who plays off of one and uses a 9 degree FT5.

By simply fitting a 12 degree driver with an 85g shaft instead of a 65g shaft you will lower the ball flight, again by changing shafts from a low kick point to a mid or high kick point you will lower the ball flight.

I am not having a go at your knowlege or understanding of the equipment, I am merely pointing out that you state that into the wind 12 degrees is too much which is bull. That is misleading to the OP as quite frankly it may not be the case given once they get custom fitted or put on a launch monitor. As I say I hit the ball lower with my 12 degree driver than my mate with a 9 degree, even into the wind.

I'm also a regular links player as well so know what its like to play into a hoolie!

 

[chrisyoung]

I appreciate everybody,s comments. As I can,t find a place to get fitted, or any demo days, I am getting even more confused. Was thinking of putting a different shaft in the 12 degree or even going for the 10.5 with the NVS regular shaft. Need to make the right choice as money is tight.