Product Details
PING Mens G10 Titanium Drivers
Pros: Solid feeling, great sounding, longer and straighter in testing
Cons: Color of the stock shaft is boring. Goes to straight and some find difficult to work
Bottom Line: It was really tough for us to find negatives, the G10 has found a firm home in the testers bag. With solid performance, and feel, its biggest drawback may be the difficulty it presents to highly skilled players who love to work the ball. With a driver how much more could someone ask for?
|
|
|
GolfWRX Editors' Review
Ping G10 Driver Review
By Site Administrator
Ping golf clubs have become immensely popular among all skill levels of golfers.
Perhaps no other brand has had as rich a history of combining forgiveness and performance. When Karsten Soleheim introduced his innovative perimeter weighted designs, the golfing world was rocked to its core and golf club technology reached a new level. With the introduction of the Ping G2 driver in 2003, Ping made a tremendous move to improve the performance of their drivers while still satisfying players who desired a more traditional shape and feel. Now in 2007, the latest version of Ping’s all titanium driver, the G10 has been introduced to the market to sit along side its composite brother, the Rapture. Just how well does the G10 rate compared to some of the other drivers on the market?
Technology
Cosmetically there is very little separating the G10 from its predecessors, the G2 and G5 drivers. However, some major tweaks in construction and design have gone into the new G10 compared to the G5. One major area where Ping has worked to improver performance is in the club’s weight distribution. Selective areas of the club’s crown have been made with thinner material to allow Ping engineers greater discretionary weight to move down low and further back in the club. The overall effect is increased launch, lower spin, and higher moment of inertia – the trinity of golf club performance.
Additionally, Ping has also tweaked the overall geometry of the club so the face is deeper. A deeper face allows for a larger hitting area and greater ball speed on miss hits. The face of the club features variable thickness technology to maximize ball speed. But the G10 takes it one step further by combining the design of the sole, crown, and face to provide minimal energy loss. Ping also has a draw version of the G10 which features heel biased internal weighting and a hosel moved forward in relation to the face to help promote a right to left ball flight.
To complement the G10, Ping has also released an updated shaft, the TFC 129 which was designed to fit a wide variety of players and features progressively increasing weight decreasing torque to fit players from R, S, to X flex.
Aesthetics
Ping has come a long way in driver design since the old TiSI. The G10 fits in nicely alongside any other driver in the market with its perfect looks. The dark, glossy black paint is very pleasing. The deep face combined with the dark paint gives the club head a much smaller appearance than some of the other 460cc drivers on the market. The club has a short hosel and it combines with a very square face angle that better players naturally gravitate toward. The sole is a polished chrome finish with orange accents that will definitely stand out, but none of which is visible at all from address.
One aspect of the club which has divided users in the past centers around the crescent moon alignment aid that began in the G2. Many traditional players disliked the crescent alignment aid, enough so that many Ping drivers on Tour were painted without it. This has been addressed in the G10 in a very impressive way that might satisfy all players. The crescent alignment aid is still there, but Ping has made it incredibly faint. So faint that users who have avoided the G2 and G5 in the past will easily be able to ignore it, while it is still visible for those who prefer it. The orange color theme extends into the shaft which is a light copper color and has some subtle Ping graphics near the grip.
Performance
If I could only use one word to sum up the G10’s performance solid would be it. The feel, sound, and performance is simply as solid as any driver on the market. The sound at impact is a low, muted "whack" which I find very pleasing compared to the trend of high pitched sounds most drivers seem to make these days which feel more like hitting a golf ball with an aluminum can than a golf club. Also, many players will appreciate the lively feel the ball has off the face. Ask anyone who’s used a G10 and they’ll describe feeling as though the face of the club rebounds as the ball rockets off at impact. Even the most ardent traditionalists will be able to appreciate the G10’s feel. If you have the opportunity to demo a G10, I’d encourage you to do so, it is a driver that feels incredibly solid.
Fitting will be a very important consideration for anyone interested in the G10. I am not a golfer who struggles with controlling high launch spin; but even I found that the G10 launches very high for its loft. I would strongly suggest testing this club on a launch monitor before buying because it’s likely you may move into a degree less loft than other drivers on the market due to the club’s high launch. Although the club did seem to spin a bit more for me, it definitely did not balloon in the wind, the spin rate was more than acceptable. Some of this might be due to the softer tip shaft, but with Ping’s custom fitting program, it is very worthwhile to spend the time getting fit at a Ping retailer. Also, be aware that the club comes stock at 45.75" which is 3/4 of an inch longer than most other drivers on the market. Ping Golf’s WRX department has a fantastic selection of customizable shafts and grips so if there is a specific shaft or club spec that fits you, chances are very good you can get it through Ping’s WRX custom program.
The stock TFC-129 shaft is also worthy of mention. Stock shafts have received a reputation for being an overly soft and inconsistent. The TFC on the contrary is an excellent performing option, for people who fit into a soft tip bend profile. The shaft is smooth with a very perceptible kick, but it still retains quite a bit of control even on harder swings. It is a higher launching option and as a result should increase spin slightly as well. For those who desire a different bend profile, the stiff tip Grafalloy ProLaunch Red and UST Proforce V2 High Launch will also be available.
One of the most impressive features of the G10 is its forgiveness. Whether shots are struck towards the toe, or heel, they simply want to go straight. Even moderate miss hits do not lose much ball speed at all. However, this forgiveness means the G10 is not likely to be the best choice for players who love to shape their shots. I have found that the G10 just wants to go straight. Hit it on the heel and it’s more of a push than a cut, hit it towards the toe and it’s a slight pull rather than a draw. Common convention holds that a longer than normal club is typically much harder to control. However, due to the great ball speed and ample forgiveness, I don’t feel that the extra length hurt my game that much. Also, the increased ball speed could very well be due to the longer shaft. Either way, it all seems to combine together to work very well in the G10.
Conclusion
In the end, the question that seems to arise most often is whether the G10 is worth upgrading from their previous models. I can tell you for a fact that even though the G10 may seem to only have minor differences over previous models, the minor changes in weight distribution and construction have combined to form a driver that is a major improvement in ball speed and forgiveness. It was really tough for me to find negatives, the G10 has found a firm home in my bag. With solid performance, and feel, its biggest drawback may be the difficulty it presents to highly skilled players who love to work the ball. With a driver how much more could someone ask for?
Product Description
Utilizing finite element analysis and the latest in design software, PING engineers develop metal woods in a virtual world to ensure the highest level of performance before the clubs even reach the first tee.
PING Mens G10 Titanium Drivers feature:
- Lofts: 7.5° ? 9° ? 10.5° ? 12° ? 13.5°
- Graphite shafts available in Soft Regular, Regular, Stiff, or X-Stiff flex
- Available in left and right-hand
- Click Product Tour for more information
PING Drivers...Hear the Difference, Feel The Power!
"Technology is moving fast and we're finding ways to improve our products like never before," said John Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO. "The design and research tools available to our engineers are amazing. It's a lot of fun to be a golf club engineer right now. The G10 family and our other new products are evidence of our desire to continually push technology with the goal of helping golfers lower their scores and enjoy the game more."
G10 Driver & G10 Draw Driver
The 460cc G10 driver is engineered with a cast body and fully machined face from high-grade 6-4 titanium. The 460cc club head features a larger profile with a taller face and deeper crown that produces a higher moment-of-inertia for greater forgiveness and increased ball velocity.
Using finite element analysis driven by a Cray Supercomputer, company engineers optimized the crown, sole and face structure interaction to ensure maximum energy transfer to the ball. Thinner crown and face designs provided discretionary weight which was positioned inside the club head to lower the center of gravity for reduced spin and higher launch. PING's patented variable face thickness technology produces a thin, highly responsive hitting surface for increased ball velocity and greater consistency across the face.
Initial response from PING's worldwide tour staff has been positive, with several players switching to the new driver, including Chris DiMarco and U.S. Open Champion Angel Cabrera. The long-hitting Cabrera first used the G10 driver at the Barclay's Scottish Open where he led the field in driving distance.
"We've engineered a lot of little improvements into the G10 driver which added up to significant performance gains," said John K. Solheim, PING's Vice President of Engineering and the grandson of company founder Karsten Solheim. "Golfers of all skill levels will see improvement in distance, accuracy and consistency."
A G10 Draw version is available to promote a right-to-left ball flight. The internal weight pad is positioned farther back and closer to the heel to help club head rotation. Together with a hosel positioned .25" farther forward, the strategically placed weight pad helps provide golfers a custom-fit option to help correct a left-to-right ball flight.
Available TFC 129D shaft flexes: Soft R, R, S and X. Also offered in Grafalloy ProLaunch Red (R, S & X) and UST V2 High Launch 65 (R, S & X).
User Reviews
| Showing 3 of 15 user reviews |
Where to Purchase
