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What’s new? How much does it cost? And how does it perform? Hannah Holden brings you the low down on Ping’s new G430 Max driver
How does the most forgiving Ping G430 Max perform? Find out in our Ping G430 Max driver review.
Ping drivers are always very confidence-inspiring over the golf ball and this model is no different.
The styling makes this look smaller behind the golf ball than previous models.
The biggest change is the massive improvement in acoustics over the G425 model.
PROS
CONS
Ping drivers are always very confidence-inspiring over the golf ball and this model is no different. It has a bigger oversized shaping than we see from other brands but we are excepting of this as we know how it boosts performance.
I really like the new patterning on the back of the crown and the addition of small lines on the back of the head as I feel it frames the centre of the club and weirdly makes it look slightly smaller behind the golf ball.
The big thing I wanted to test here was the acoustics. Lots of people didn’t like how the G425 sounded it was pretty loud and tinny which wasn’t the best.
I couldn’t believe how much different the new Ping drivers sounds, and I’m not sure the difference came across as much on camera in my YouTube review as it did in real life.
I think this is a game changer for Ping this year as there is no longer an element of the driver that puts people off the rest of the performance.
I always love the consistency of Ping drivers but sometimes feel the bigger shaping means I don’t get as much club head speed or carry distance as I would like. So I was keen to see if this would change with in the new G430 model.
Initial shots felt like they were going further from the same club head speed, which is always a good sign. My average carry distance was 233.4 yards, which is the distance I would want to see from my driver, and my longest shots were getting out at just under 240 yards.
Clearly, the most consistent thing about this data though is the dispersion. Both the front-to-back and left-to-right dispersion is ridiculously small. I’m honestly not even really sure how I generated such consistent data.
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This was even with my trying to hit shots full out, and interestingly I actually felt like this flew the straightest when I was swinging my fastest. The only shot I hit decently off target was massively necky and the spin stayed at 2600 rpm, and it still hit the left side if the fairway.
I also really like the fact this is so neutral down the target line in terms of start line. You can see how the LST (in red) is more right bias and the SFT (in blue) is more draw bias.
In terms of ease of use, this felt exceptionally easy to launch and get down the fairway even with the 9° club head I tested.
Spinsistency is a huge story in this range and it was really interesting looking at the consistency of the data here. The spin rate only varied by 350 rpm across all my shots which is very consistent.
So how did it compare to the previous Ping G425 Max?
It turns out it was slightly longer. My club head speed was actually slightly slower with the G430 but I still managed to get more ball speed out of this driver. The extra 0.6mph of ball speed led to an extra 7.6 yards of carry distance.
I think a lot of this came down to the fact the G430 spun about 300 rpm less, which is definitely more optimal.
Overall I was so impressed with this driver in testing, I am really considering putting it into my golf bag!
Available: Now
RRP: £525
Right-handed lofts: 8°, 9°, 10°, 11°
Ping stock shafts: ALTA CB BLACK 55 / 65 / 70, PING TOUR 2.0 CHROME 65 / 75 / 85, PING TOUR 2.0 BLACK 65 / 75, ALTA QUICK 35 / 45
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Optional shafts (no upcharge): PROJECT X HZRDUS SMOKE RED RDX 50/60/70, MITSUBISHI KAI’LI WHITE 60/70,
More information: Ping Website
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