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The new Ping irons...I have a question.

• jbowles824 67 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 9:46 AM

  ncviz,

  You want to make the putting tougher??? Are you kidding me? I have holes on a regular basis that I 3 putt from 6 ft!! I think that is a load of garbage. I have 4 putted from 10 ft. I think that is garbage too. Don't tell me to practice, I have. I do have some trouble controlling the new clubs, but a learning curve is to be expected. My problem is not the clubs or the swing meter. The wind should not affect a putt the way it does and there is no way under heaven that you could put me on a green on the ocean course in REAL LIFE and I three putt from 6 feet. Give me a break. Everyone knows that the putting for the most part is screwed up. So please, don't talk about making the putting harder, it is not harder now, it is almost to the point of being unfair.

• tibbets 1,043 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 9:48 AM

  On a side note, I just received my Ping G10 hybrid club from last months tournament.

  Wow!  Can't wait to get out there and smack a few!

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 10:24 AM

  I too am dissapointed so far.  I was expecting much straighter perfect hits.  I'm still having perfect hits that are launching up to 20 degrees offline at impact which seems to be no different than the tour starters.  We all know that's not the club's fault, but all in all I thought the improvement would more noticable than it has been.  I've been scratching my head here lately wondering what exactly my $14 is doing for me.

  G10's were good enough to win the Masters, but their virtual counterparts seem to pale in comparison.

• ncviz 527 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 10:26 AM

  jb,

  In regarding to putting, I think right at this moment it is fair. Don't know I would say it's easy but it's more easy than hard certainly, jmo. People ask me all the time how did I get good, or how is someone else so good, it's putting, just like in the real game. People wonder how Tibbets is so good. He is the best putter on the site that's why. There is some issues with variances and wind right now. But the wind can be read just like a break. It just comes down to a learning curve. I stunk at putting when I started just like everyone else does.

  Saying all that, this was more about the current state of the new irons, not the putters, so I wouldn't want to digress into a putter discussion. Feel free to start new thread on putting if you are so inclined.

  I can report that I did buy a new ping putter recently and have improved my game tremendously on the greens, this is real life courses, no ping putters on this site yet :(. Lord, all this ping talk, bet those Ping reps are loving this ;).

• Weirsy 84 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 3:19 PM

  Just to start off... I have not bought any new clubs and I'm an amateur. I think going forward if we are going to progress to professional clubs, the swing meter needs to change. The stiffer shafts are only beneficial with a higher swing speed. The workability comes with a smaller sweet spot. I think the swing meter needs to change to incorporate all these new elements for a more realistic game. The meter should dictate the club speed, not the club. The further you go back, the faster the swing. Use the speed appropriate for the shaft. The hitting zone needs a zone to shape the shot. Draw and fade closer to the perfect mark, hook and slice further away, snap hook and shank even further. The ability to find the sweet spot comes with practice, so perhaps you start off with a small sweet spot and after practice and hitting the sweet spot, that spot can become larger simulating the ease of a professional to consistently hit the spot. The clubs need to offer much more for the money than what is currently offered, especially if I'm already under par with the originals. For a real life example, I went from using a Crappy Tire set to a set of Forged Mizuno's. I gained 2+ in club length (7 iron was now a 9... and yes I know the lofts can be different). I can shape these more easily, but a mishit is very noticeable. So...... long story short. Give me a reason to buy WGT !

   

• backspin63 67 Posts

  Wed, Apr 15 2009 4:36 PM

  I play taylor made in real life.. when will taylormade irons be available?

• Kaslo 428 Posts

  Thu, Apr 16 2009 9:25 AM

  Good read. One small point I would like to add is the Pro's are hitting 9 iron 140 yards. As one of you pointed out a mishit on a 5 iron will effect the ball more than a mishit on a 9 iron.

• mrboo 211 Posts

  Thu, Apr 16 2009 5:28 PM

  Well I decided to buy the new irons. they suck as I figured they would. No difference in spin rate. Only good thing is the swing meter is so fast that I actually find it easier to get a perfect or near perfect hit. Others were slow and I had too much time to think and lose focus I guess lol. Something needs to be done about the spin though, that's the only reason I bought them and there is NO difference from what I can tell.

• mrboo 211 Posts

  Thu, Apr 16 2009 6:43 PM

  Completely disregard what I said about the swing meter in my previous post. These clubs suck. period. The WGT tour starters are 50000 times better than these POS things. I think Ping would be very disappointed to see that their item on WGT is totally worthless, what a disgrace to the Ping name. The swing zone is tiny, the meter is lightning fast, there is no forgiveness, the spin doesn't work. If you mishit even a tiny bit it's completely shanked, and this is very possible with such a fast swing rate. Once again I'm sure the folks are sitting back and laughing at another easy $7.00 earned. What a bunch of Fkin Sh!t. Fix it WGT, this is BS. If anything the swing meter should be SLOWER on these, which in turn makes them more accurate! Tah Dah! And the meter on the WGT clubs should be faster, making them less accurate! Tah Dah! OMFG that was hard to figure out! Lesser club, for more money. I just don't get it. 

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Thu, Apr 16 2009 11:04 PM

  Boo's on the mark here regarding swing meter speed.  I also believe that would be the more sensible way to approach it.  It is like that elsewhere in online golf land.  The low end free merchandise typically has the quicker meter and is much less forgiving on mishits.

  WGT, you're doing your best to emulate real life which I completely understand.  In this instance however, a gamers approach may be best suited to balance the trade offs.

  Something to consider.