I have been playing golf for 4 months and am looking to upgrade my driver. Been thinking about getting the ping 425 max. Sounds like it may help with my tendency to slice the ball. Although, I have improved drastically from the beginning. Any comments or suggestions?
I am planning on getting fitted in the next couple weeks.
Thanks .
I would suggest that you take a lesson with your driver first. Lesson-$60, New Driver-$350+.
A few techniques can cure your slice before a new club will if you use the same old techniques.
Several things cause a slice-ball placement too far forward, swing arc of outside in, open club face at impact, and hitting down on the ball which induces spin which in your case would cause the ball to move to the right. I am sure other more qualified golfers may be along to offer their advice.
When I developed a problem with a slice late in life, I tried all the tricks I new and finally went to get a lesson from an assistant pro. He saw the problem I could not see and we fixed it in one lesson. Too many golfers avoid lessons for one reason or another. You have to be a good listener, you have to have good physical control of your body movements to implement the swing changes and then you have to practice the technique correctly to build muscle memory to repeat the swing that you want.
Good luck.
The G425 Max is an excellent club. It is generally on sale everywhere for $399 because the replacement G430 is supposed to be released in January. The Max is a good compromise club, but if you are really looking for a driver which reduces a slice, you should try to G425 SFT which is slightly tweaked specifically to offset slices.
Thanks for responding. I have a question, I can not wrap my head around hitting the ball inside out. To me that would send it to the right. Can anyone explain the dynamics of how this works? I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Thanks for info on club. Man I thought I had read the max was for fixing the slice. Thanks again.Originally Posted by Dmy-rt188p
I often think I am rushin the whole deal. I have improved my driving a lot since I started. I can go out and hit several 250 yd shots in a row then out of nowhere I start going right. Most likely not paying attention to all of my mechanics while I am talking sh*t about my previous drives. LOL
And you are correct, a lesson or 2 would not hurt!
There seems to be an unlimited number of "mistakes" which cause a ball to slice and just as many "cures" to fix them. Not swinging inside out is just one of them, but perhaps the most common. Just try to enjoy your time and not beat yourself up.
As for the different models of G425s, there are some YouTube videos and Ping's website explains the differences. However, there is no magic club that always hits straight.
Ball flight physics, here we go. The two main things that affect the curvature of the ball flight are swing path and face angle at impact. IF your face is open to the swing path, ball will curve to the right, if face is closed to swing path, ball will curve left. So, lets say your swing path is 2 degrees right, but face is closed in relation to swing path, ball will start right of target and draw to the left due to spin on the ball. The cause of a slice is the face is open in relation to the swing path. In laymens terms, a closed club face is pointing left of swing path, an open face is pointing right of swing path.
If you swing to the right, and club face is square to swing path, you will hit a push. The ball starts right of target, but flies straight on that line. You see this with PGA players when thay are attempting a draw, but do not get the club face closed...right side of fairway he we come.
When I first started I sliced with the driver very badly. I took lessons. First thing we worked on was to get the club face sqaure or closed at impact. I still had on outside in swing, but the face was square to swing path, so I hit what is called a pull shot. Ball starts left of target, but flies straight on that line, no curve. Not ideal, but better than slicing. After that, we started working on swing path, was not an easy habit for me to break, but we finally got the inside out swing.
Last edited by 200xp; 12-08-2022 at 01:43 PM.
What we cannot obtain from intelligence, we can learn from experience.
Good info thank you. I have very little to zero patience so this is a constant struggle fighting the ball flight off the driver. I just came in from hitting a bucket of balls out back. The driver was all over the place,sliced a few,pulled a few and drove some 220 yards right down the middle. Picked up my 1998 cobra sz 3 wood and popped 5 in a row 230 yards straight as could be. I just get aggravated with this learning curve. I will get it figured out! I appreciate everyone's input! I just have to get the swing plane down,I feel the face of the club is square at contact but who knows. Everything I have learned so far has been from reading Hank Haney's book. I still don't have a grasp on the hitting inside out deal.
Last edited by west point bass; 12-08-2022 at 04:24 PM.
I had a set of clubs off Amazon I played with this past year to see if I liked the game, course I feel in love with it. I went about a month ago for a fitting/lesson. 5 minutes in the guy says for my budget he wants me in a set of G425 irons and Max driver. 5 minutes later I have my slice fixed. 5 more minutes later and I'm hitting a 7 iron which I normally hit 140, I'm then hitting it 179. He hands me a Max driver, first swing I hit it about 255 in the air. Turn to the guy and drop a giant F bomb. Told him I've never hit a drive like that and he smiled and said get used to it. Played my first round with them a couple weeks ago and holy cow what a difference and that driver was awesome! Long story short I think it's an amazing driver I have several friends using it and it's changed my game in one round like you can't believe.
There are a lot of things that influence swing path. From set up to intent. Intent is the most missed part of the golf swing and its often not taught by teachers.
Thanks everyone for your input. Hopefully I can get fitted next week.
I'm personally waiting on the new Ping G430 to be released before I get a driver, but I've heard awesome reviews on the G425.
As far as fixing your slice, all the above information is good. More often than not, I draw the ball now - sometimes more than I'd like to. Fixing a slice took awhile for me, but a lot of it has to do with your shaft weight and swing speed. If you have a relatively high swing speed then a heavier shaft will offset the speed and the clubhead will be more square when you come down, and vice versa. The main thing I see with guys slicing the ball is they are playing the ball too far back in their stance and therefore hitting down on the ball. This is what you want for your iron shots, but not a driver. Line up the ball with the inside of your front foot, which will allow you to hit up on the ball instead of down. You want your driver clubhead to hit the ball on the very first part of the "upswing". An easy fix would also be to close your stance a little bit. Once you get lined up, pull your right foot back a few inches (assuming you're right handed). This will force your body to turn over quicker on the downswing and the club face will be more perpendicular to the ground when it hits the ball vs. offset to the right.
Last edited by Meadows; 12-21-2022 at 11:04 AM.
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I've tried moving the right foot back and it didn't help. I am at a loss with this whole thing.
One thing you and I have in common is the lack of patience. I was where you are at one time, slicing the driver. It was very frustrating for me due to the fact is was the only club I sliced. Every other club in the bag I either hit straight or a baby draw. When I took lessons he took a video of my driver swing versus my iron swing and the difference was visible. In an effort to crush the driver I was starting the down swing with my upper body, which, due to the fact my lower body could not clear, was inducing a left of the target swing. At least that it is how the instructor explained it to me. I would encourage you to video a few driver swings. As I learned, what you feel versus what is actually happening can be entirely different.
What he had me practice was half swings, but just before the back swing was complete, fire the lower body. So, your upper body is still turning away from target and your lower body has commenced the turn towards the target. This allows the hips to clear and makes it way easier to swing from the inside. There were two positives to this, one the lower body was leading the swing and two, it creates tremendous torque. It took some practice as bad swing habits are hard to break, but I finally got it.
That was my experience and hopefully it can help you. If not, take a lesson or two or three. All the reputable instructors use GC Quads or Trackmans, they know exactly what your swing and impact looks like via the data.
What we cannot obtain from intelligence, we can learn from experience.
The problem isn't your swing, it's your intent. You are trying to hit a stationary object on the ground instead of trying to send an object to the target.
Hit 40 balls today,same ol same ol. I'm don't hitting balls until I can find someone to explain what I am doing wrong. May just throw the clubs in the trash and start going thru my reels getting them ready for spring. Just getting tired of the aggravation!
I can't tell you how many times I've said that I'm obsessed by golf, but love fishing. I've recommended to many people who want to take up golf to try fishing instead. I try not to curse on the course because of a bad shot. As a pro once said to a hacker, "you're not good enough to be mad about a bad shot". A perfect game is unachieveable, so embrace the challenge and try not to let a bad shot spoil a good walk.
Hang in there, I know your frustration....lessons are your friend....enjoy the Holidays.
What we cannot obtain from intelligence, we can learn from experience.
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