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L59 Ping Irons - How long to acclimate to them?

• TeslaNole 8 Posts

  Sat, Jul 4 2020 10:47 PM

  Hello everyone,

  First post here... I started playing WGT a little over two months ago, and am now at the Tour Pro tier, with an average just over 67.3, so I guess the Master tier should, in theory, be just around the corner. I reached Level 59 a couple of nights ago (am now at Level 60) and, per almost all the recommendations I have read, went ahead and bought the Level 59 Ping i500 irons after the free two hour demo.

  My first club purchases came a few weeks prior to that, with the 56/60/64 degree Vokey wedges (high 20s/low 30s level), and those have proven incredibly useful. Full swing, full power shots with them are just fantastic, and I am also learning to punch, pitch and flop pretty effectively with them. When I hit Level 55, I bought the TM SIM driver at that level, and have been extremely happy with it as well, though at times the distance gets the better of me and I overhit it.

  So far, however, I am struggling with these L59 Ping irons. I play exclusively on mobile (iPad) and so hitting the ding can be somewhat challenging; that said, they're only slightly faster (4 vs 4.5) than the Starters, which I had managed pretty well in the past, so I don't think I am missing the ding significantly more often or by greater amounts than I was before. They also have slightly less forgiveness (2.5 vs. 3) than the Starters, but my non-dinged shots with the Pings are much less predictable than they were with the Starters. Sometimes shots will come up way short, others will fly super long, and still others will veer off to the side - and I am usually not missing the ding by much at all. Do you really have to hit flat on the ding for these clubs to work as advertised? I have found the PW to be pretty dang effective, and would buy that club by itself if that were possible, but I am so far having a really hard time adjusting to the numbered irons.

  I have tried several different balls with these - the Starters, the WGT GI-2S, the L34 Callaway ERC Soft Slow Meter, and now the Srixion L11 ball. The L34 Callaways were probably the best - the slower meter did help, but I still wasn't wild about the results I was getting, and those are a bit pricey considering the amount I like to play. (We have taken the quarantine quite seriously, so this is a fun and useful way to pass the time.)

  Any suggestions as to how long I should stick it out getting used to these clubs, or other steps I should take to help me better acclimate to them? I know that I need to be patient, but it's quite irritating to see my game regress with gear I actually spent good money on; I am not someone who typically spends much time at all gaming, period, much less pays for in-game upgrades, so my frustration is mounting! I actually am giving some thought to trading them in and going to the L54 Ben Hogan clubs, which I demoed a few weeks ago and liked pretty well. I would also entertain any other club suggestions that more experienced players might have. I know that the consensus is that high-loft irons eventually become imperative, but if I can't control them, I do wonder if this set is just not for me.

  Thanks for any feedback!

   

• PaulTon 10,731 Posts

  Sun, Jul 5 2020 8:22 AM

  The wind (all directions) effects high trajectory irons a lot more and I mean a LOT more than starter clubs.

  Bear that in mind when adjusting your shot for wind and see how you go.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sun, Jul 5 2020 9:04 AM

  TeslaNole:

  Any suggestions as to how long I should stick it out getting used to these clubs, or other steps I should take to help me better acclimate to them?

  Stick it out for as long as takes because you're learning a new loft. I'm pretty sure your previous set had Med/High lofts and that is substantially different than the High lofted ones you have now. All the good clubs have High lofts so now is the time to learn the difference.

  Med/High irons come into greens on a lower trajectory where they want to roll. Back spin mitigates this to a degree but you have to play a different approach game with them.

  The High lofted irons you have now don't do that, they come into greens from a higher point in the sky and tend to drop straighter down with less forward momentum, landing softer on the greens.This is what makes them good clubs, they're easier to control after they land.

  Your best bet is to learn the carry of each club. Carry is air time and you want to know where it will land before it starts rolling and then you use spin to control what happens from there. Spin also affects that carry so your best best is to learn them without spin first. Then you'll appreciate how to use the spin.

  You made a good move, get past the confusion and stay with the learning curve, you won't be sorry.  ;-)

   

  P.S., I used those very same irons when they were called G10s, with the TourSD ball, all the way up to Legend. The 33 Callaway works great with them, no need to spend copious amounts on high priced balls.

• TeslaNole 8 Posts

  Sun, Jul 5 2020 12:58 PM

  Thank you both for the kind replies! I played again earlier, on a course with more moderate wind, and saw much better results. So I suppose that I am just going ri have to adjust to the difference of higher lofted clubs under windy conditions.

  Thanks again! I will keep at it!

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Sun, Jul 5 2020 5:12 PM

  TeslaNole:

  So I suppose that I am just going ri have to adjust to the difference of higher lofted clubs under windy conditions.

  One caution-never miss the ding on the down wind side, you'll always see the worst. Those clubs play well by missing into the wind to offset it.   :-)

• TeslaNole 8 Posts

  Tue, Jul 7 2020 10:08 AM

  Thanks again to both of you for the advice. I managed a 63 last night in the monthly Wolf Creek tournament - easily my best score yet on a par 72 course. So I think your suggestions to stick with it and learn how the wind impacts high-loft shots are sinking in.

   

  Thanks again!

• Ka9shk 33 Posts

  Tue, Jul 7 2020 10:30 AM

  YankeeJim:

  TeslaNole:

  So I suppose that I am just going ri have to adjust to the difference of higher lofted clubs under windy conditions.

  One caution-never miss the ding on the down wind side, you'll always see the worst. Those clubs play well by missing into the wind to offset it.   :-)

  can you elaborate this more? I have L59 Ping irons. I bought these today. earlier I had L7 cobra irons. 

   

  And I feel like the small irons are cutting the wind as in not even taking them into consideration even and I need to add 5 more in every shot with any iron too.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Wed, Jul 8 2020 5:28 AM

  Ka9shk:

  can you elaborate this more? I have L59 Ping irons. I bought these today. earlier I had L7 cobra irons. 

  If a wind is blowing left to right and you miss the ding early you're in effect hooking or pulling the shot, i.e., into the direction of the wind. You're hitting against the direction of the wind and will get a decent result.

  However, in that same wind if you miss the ding late-basically slicing the shot-you will get full and instant wind influence and the shot takes off to the right, regardless of where you aimed. It's like right off the tee the wind grabs the ball. 

  Because you now have clubs that hit the ball higher it's going to be in the air longer and the wind will have more time to affect the flight. Med/High irons tend to plow through the wind, closer to the ground, and the wind influence isn't as much.

• el3n1 4,502 Posts

  Wed, Jul 8 2020 8:03 AM

  TeslaNole:

  Any suggestions as to how long I should stick it out getting used to these clubs, or other steps I should take to help me better acclimate to them?

  Take the time to map them... meaning with your preferred ball go to either Kiawah H1 or Bethpage H10 in practice mode low winds preferable cross wind that will less likely effect yardage adjust for any slight elevation changes and hit shots both off the tee and from the fairway and write down the distances. 

  On mobile I chart fewer numbers (flat, 1/2 BS, and FBS than for PC) because I don't get overly competitive with coin games and play cheap or promo balls because the boosted apparel allows you to play a cheaper ball.  So, in this small sample chart for mapping I made 2 sets of Tee and Fairway because I use sponsor apparel so my mapping notes for mobile will differ from when I play without apparel with a different ball.

  Mapping Pitch shots, Flop shots punch shots for your wedges can help as well... the below is a scaled down version of what could easily be more involved.  

  After you do that you can toy with the adjustments of Wind Effect on yardage and adjust to your clubs and ball combo.  Understanding and learning this is what and where the better players start to separate themselves from those who don't do so. 

  If you don't learn how better clubs / ball combo's play you won't be able to buy a better set without doing the same type of work... Actually, the better the clubs and the better the ball... the more nuances you will find in playing in various wind conditions then wondering why shots are either short or long -- especially if you didn't put in the time to learn how your clubs play.

  

• Jeff052551 35 Posts

  Wed, Jul 8 2020 1:17 PM

  Took me 3 to 4 weeks to get them totally dialed in. Helps to map them. About the time I got the Pings I started using the Max balls with 5 meter speed. Definitely need slow meter balls. Learning high loft irons is a MUST. Just hang in there, there is a learning curve and doing side wind calculation is necessary.