Ping G430 In Depth Review

Before We Begin

Hello everyone! This is Seki Kotaro once again and I have been asked by GOLF Partner to bring you a in depth review and evaluation of the new Ping G430 drivers.

As always, we will be comparing it to the previous models so that you have something to reference.
We will be reviewing the MAX, the SFT (which makes solid contact), and the LST (which has a low spin rate).

Before we try hitting with the G430 MAX, we will first attempt a swing with the previous model - the G425; The G425 was a big hit when it was released!

This is a club I used many times myself as a pro and feel very familiar with it, let's give it a go!

First Thoughts

The sound upon impact is loud and has a very metallic sound, almost like hitting a metal barrel.

I remember from the days I played in the smaller American tours, Americans don't really care about the feeling of a club, rather, they found that how it performed was more important.
The shape, way it feels, the sound, the grip, these features were not something they were very particular about.

This club in particular, I feel, is a representation of this; the club performs very well and is only focused on being effective.
The Japanese people on the other hand, prefer clubs that not only hit well, but are also works of art, like Japanese swords!

What about the G410?

Before we proceed to the G430, we also have the G410 PLUS that we would like to test, which was released before the G425 models.

Did you know that PRO LPGA player Hinako Shibuno still uses the G410 PLUS? She loves it, along with many others, who call this club the best club of our time.

The way it rests on the ground is typical of an American club, the face turns right when you set it down.

Japanese golfers often slice to the right, so its common to hear them say that they don't like how this sits on the ground, and you can see them turn the face to the left when setting up.
Let's try it out!

When comparing the G410 and the G425, the G425 sits and catches the ball better.
This is important, as a lot of American amatuer players tend to hit the ball to the left, whereas a lot of Japanese amatuer players hit slices.

Even for pros, this driver doesn't catch the ball too much, and will consistently hit straight.
The G425 will catch the ball better, which makes me believe that they might have been thinking of the Japanese market as it feels more suitable for Japanese players.

The data shows that the G410 doesn't catch the ball too much when compared to the G425, so for those who hit hooks like myself, I find the G410 more reliable.

Let's try the new G430 MAX!

Now, let's try the new G430 MAX model!
Upon first inspection, I can see that they added some yellow lines, making the design pop!

When waggling, it feels as though this ALTA J CB shaft is a bit more flexible when compared to the older G models.
Both the G410 and G425 use the same ALTA J CB shaft, but as stated, the new shaft on the G430 feels a bit more flexible.

Let's try it out!

The sound on impact is softer!

I hit the ball a little close to the toe, and the biggest difference I felt when I addressed the ball is that the clubface is very round.
The horizontal curvature is called the bulge, and the vertical curvature is called the roll; Both are much more curved compared to the previous models, so even when you hit the ball with the toe or heel, the ball comes back to the center.
Even at a 10.5 degree loft angle, you can still see the clubface well due to the curvature of the roll.

This club will make a big difference in your driving accuracy!
If you hit the ball with the toe, it will be a draw, and if you hit with the heel, it will fade.
If you hit the ball at the top of the clubface, you'll get low spin and if you hit the bottom, it will have high spin.

It is a very forgiving club and I can tell just by setting up.

New tech for new clubs!

The new technology used for the new G430 is called "spinsistency", which is the new design of the curvature of the face's bulge and roll that is supposed to help with alignment and provide more distance.
With this, it normalizes the standard deviation of the spin, so no matter where you hit on the face, you get the right amount of spin.

For instance, if you hit straight up, you won't get much distance and if you hit a topped shot, the ball usually loses speed and drops.
With this club, if you make a topped shot, because the roll is so round, the gear effect will give it more spin and lift the ball up.
When you hit the ball too far up, it'll still go pretty high but will spin low and give you more distance.

I would like to now test this theory!

Let's start by hitting the top of the ball.

Even off center, the sound of impact is nice! Both the sound and the feel are the same. Just now, I hit about half a ball length below the center, and it still catches the ball well.

Let's try once more!

I messed up and hit the heel instead, and normally, the ball would fly off to the left and travel 200 yards at most, but thanks to the "spinsistency", it went left a little but spun right and went 220 yards.
Even if you hit a bad shot, you can still try to make par on the second shot.

Let's try another.

I hit that pretty low, but it didn't feel any different and got some good distance.
The shaft is really flexible and bends during the downswing which snaps back right before impact; The ball pushes on it until it snaps back and sends the ball flying.

We can see and feel that the ball stays on the face for a long time at impact , so it feels like the clubhead is gripping the ball longer than the G425, which means you can worry less about the launch angle.
The ball comes back to the center no matter where you hit on the face, so you can rest assured the ball will go far.

When I golf in the morning or afternoon, I lay up a couple times, around 2-3 holes in one round in a day.
If I were to use this driver, I would only have to lay up once, if it's a really difficult hole. This driver makes me feel safe!

When COR or initial velocity go up, you get more distance, but even more than that, this club gives you stability.
Even if you screw up the shot, you'll still make it onto the fairway.

I believe you'll swing harder because of how safe you feel with this driver.

The new G430 SFT

Now, onto the G430 SFT, which catches the ball even better!
But before that, we will test the previous model, the G425 SFT!

The clubface seems to turn more to the left than the MAX and people who slice the ball will like this driver!
It says it's the same loft as the MAX but when compared to the MAX, it feels like it's facing more to the left, with more loft.
I can tell just by holding it that the ball will go high.

Let's try it!

If you swing it like the MAX, there's more spin to the left and for people who slice a lot (around 20-30 yards) the ball will go straight.
The head speed feels about 2m/s slower than the MAX!

Now let's try the G430 SFT!

At first glance, the SFT clubhead feels wider than the MAX, but not as thick as the MAX.

The center of gravity is further away from the middle, so when you waggle it, it feels so flexible that it's hard to believe that it's the same shaft.
The shaft used for the SFT is the new ALTA J CB BLACK shaft and the counter-balanced golf shaft has more weight closer to the grip, so it bends more from the middle to the center.

PING's stock shafts have always been really good shafts and this shaft is really good as well.

Flexible shafts give more distance and catch the ball well but lower the smash factor.

Each manufacture has their own unique spot on where they decide where the shaft will bend, but this shaft feels flexible throughout!
Which means that the direction of the clubface during the downswing and the position of the face are all easy to discern.
So even though the shaft is really flexible, you can still control the clubface and increase the smash factor.

Let's see how it does!

When compared to the G425, the impact feels really light and the ball feels extremely light upon impact.
This means that on impact, the clubhead doesn't lose speed and that the follow through is really good/

I'd say the ideal head speed for this is about 40-42 m/s.
For people who can't hit very high or struggle to make solid contact, will appreciate this driver.
Just like the MAX the bulge and roll will keep the ball going straight even if you hit with the toe or heel.
This is a great driver!

The SFT now has weights!

Did you know? This is the first time that the SFT has used adjustable weights, which are usually fixed on the heel.
The weights are adjustable in two different positions, the DRAW position and DRAW+ position.
When in the DRAW+ position, the club will catch the ball better, and we would like to test this.

Compared to the MAX, with the weight in the DRAW position, the SFT spins about 300 to 500 rpm more to the left and I would say that the shot we just hit went 10-20 yards to the left.
In other words, with this club, shots won't curve to the right and even more so when the weight is set in the DRAW+ position!

Let's test this theory.

The flexibility is completely different.
Even with such a small change, the center of gravity shifts and the way the shaft bends during the down swing is different.
With the way it bends, it catches the ball better, so I would recommend this for people who slice over 30 yards.
The difference when shifting the weight is very clear!

After trying the G425 SFT and G430 SFT, when putting the G430 in the DRAW position, it feels the same as the G425.
When put in the DRAW position, the ball goes higher than the G425 SFT, and when set to DRAW+, the G430 SFT catches the ball better than the G425 SFT.

What about the G430 LST?

Now onto the last model, the G430 LST.
But before than, we will try the F425 LST!

The shaft, known as PING TOUR, weighs in the 60 gram range and is highly popular!
This is a really great stock shaft and was so popular that they've been using it for many years.
It has the physical vapor deposition coating like steel shafts, which makes it look great!

Let's try it out!

As i hook a lot, the LST is more suitable to me compared the MAX and SFT, where I have to control my swing so that the ball doesn't go too far left or catch the ball too much.
For the LST, I can swing without worrying about those things and still make good shots.

Next, we will try the G410 LST with the same PING TOUR shaft (the model before the G425), which was a huge hit.
Immediately, I can tell the head turns right as soon as I set it down.
This is something that I prefer and like, but for people who hit slices, this probably isn't for you.
As stated earlier, I hit hooks quite a lot and I believe others who hit hooks often will love it as well.
It makes you want to swing with all your strength!

Pros and high-level players tend to hit to the left, so I really think this is a great club for them.
You can swing really hard and it does not veer to the left.

Now, let's try the PING G430 LST!

There are two different shafts available for the G430 LST, the PING TOUR 2.0 Chrome and PING TOUR 2.0 Black.
The one we will try out first is the chrome.

It looks so cool!
Upon setting up, I can see a seam on the crown which is matte.
This is their first carbon crown since the release of the 2006 Rapture Driver.

For the G430 LST, they use what is called "carbonfly wrap" technology, which uses carbon to cover the head from tow to the heel.

It is also very thin, coming in at 0.71 mm, which also made this club 6 grams lighter.

Recently, clubs have reduce surplus weight, but cutting 6 grams is impressive.

The way the clubhead sits is normal and anyone can setup this club without feeling uncomfortable.
When compared to the MAX and SFT, the back face is more compact, which aids in hitting better with the clubface.

Let's try it out now!

It has a nice and tight sound, balls feels really light too!
It feels great not having to worry too much about my swing; I can swing as hard as i want and the ball doesn't travel to the left.
I feel as though the club encourages you to swing even harder!
Normally, I restrict myself from hitting over 80% of my strength, but with the G430 LST, I feel as though I can put 100% or even 120% of my power!

It was a push shot, but the ball flew like a fade shot.

The head of the LST is 440 cc which is a little smaller than the other clubs, but when taking a look, you can't really tell that it's that small.
In fact, when the club head is small and compact, it's easier to use for experienced players.

We will now try the PING TOUR 2.0 BLACK shaft, which is stiffer and has the 9.0 degree head.
The weight and stiffness are quite different when compared to the CHROME.
When waggling, I can immediately tell that it's not that flexible, and that I would need to swing hard to get it to bend.

For people who hit at high head speeds, the clubhead won't get out of control.

That felt so good!

I tried to catch the ball to see it would prevent the ball from going to the left, and that fade shot landed right in the middle of the fairway, although I swung really hard!
It's quite reassuring that it doesn't drift to the left!

The best headspeed for this club would be at least 42 m/s or more, and there's no upper limit to the maximum speed.

My usual spin rate is about 2500 to 2600 rpm and was about 2300 rpm.
I believe you can bring out the best performance from this club if you hit around 44-45 m/s.

I've tried two more shots that didn't feel that great to me but the club reassure the player that even if they mess up the shot, the ball won't veer off center.
Both shots that I took just now (that weren't that great) still recorded great numbers, as stated earlier, this club encourages you to put everything you can into it!

Our final thoughts

We've finished testing all three models!
All three G430 models are excellent, I'd say that they're the world's best at hitting straight.

These models cover a wide range of players and most players will be able to make good shots.

We suggest trying all three models before making your purchase!
You can also alternate clubheads with the different shafts to your liking.

Our final words are that these are fantastic drivers and I guarantee its quality!