Valuable changes highlight PING G410 hybrid performance

PING enjoyed tremendous success across its G400 line, but arguably the most lauded of those products were the G400 hybrids, which enjoyed significant play on professional tours around the world and could be found in the bags of recreational players of wide-ranging ability levels.

That being the case, when it came time to design and create the new G410 hybrids, PING engineers knew that they had their work cut out for them to come up with something that performed even better.

Oftentimes, when a company has had a high level of success with a product, a new iteration sees limited changes. After all, as the saying goes … if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

PING, however, made some pretty significant modifications when it came to the G410 hybrids, and it firmly believes that the end result is a product that not only performs better but one that offers players more personalization and fitting options.

A primary goal for PING engineers in designing the G410 hybrids was to continue to push the envelope in terms of ball speed, which they viewed as crucial in light of the fact that golfers are enjoying more and more distance with their irons these days.

“One of the byproducts of advancing our iron distance technology is that it forces us to make our hybrids go a little further and for us to be really considerate about gapping and making sure from a fitting standpoint you can really set up your bag to have your hybrids gap really well with your irons,” said Marty Jertson, PING Vice President of Fitting and Performance.

The ball speed increases that have been found in testing for G410 when compared to G400 are driven by a thinner clubface that also been textured to reduce spin and promote added distance.

“The face, just like our G410 fairway woods, is powered by maraging C300 (steel), so very fast, very flexible,” Jertson said. “These hybrids are right at the CT and COR limits, so they’re packing plenty of heat.”

Also noteworthy is that while increased ball speed gives players more distance it also makes it easier to launch the ball higher, which is one of the performance attributes that drives golfers to opt for hybrids in their bag instead of traditional long irons.

“Hybrids, compared to irons, produce more backspin and with that comes more lift and more stopping power,” Jertson explained. “And the more ball speed you can produce in a hybrid-style of club is going to produce more max height.”

Also new for the G410 hybrids is that they feature a larger profile when compared to G400, which was done to create added stability at impact and improved forgiveness on off-center strikes.

“Pretty fun with the G410 is that we’ve been able to boost the heel-toe inertia by over six percent, which for us is a massive leap that we’re very excited to be able to pass to the marketplace,” Jertson said.

Along with the new, larger footprint, one of the key innovations that helps promote higher MOI is the use of a fixed, high-density weight that has been positioned at the back of the sole.

“Going to a metal back weight helps us boost the inertia,” Jertson said. “You can see it’s right near the border, much like the design technique we’ve used on our G410 driver. It's right to the edge, and we've gone to a higher-density material to improve the efficiency.”

The biggest change, however, for the G410 hybrids is that they now feature an adjustable loft sleeve, which is a first for PING when it comes to a hybrid.

PING calls its new adjustable hosel Trajectory Tuning 2.0, and it was incorporated into the hybrid design for several reasons.

“There are a lot of benefits to bringing the trajectory tuning in. It unlocks a lot of things,” said Jertson. “It allows you to try shafts a little easier when going through the fitting process. But also, now that irons have different distances and trajectories, we wanted to unlock the ability to fine tune the loft to really gap these (hybrids) well with your irons, which is going to be another key benefit.”

Also a consideration with the new adjustable hosel, which features eight settings in all, was to make the G410 hybrids more appealing to better players, many of whom have a specific issue with hybrids in general.

“For the better player, hybrids have always had the stigma that they go left,” Jertson explained. “One thing we’ve done for our Tour players is we’ve been able to bend them flatter, and you’ve been able to do that a little bit in the past with us. But now we’re going to make that a lot easier. The better player now can put the trajectory tuning in a flat position and it will bias the trajectory more to the right or eliminate some of that left miss.”

Additionally, to further help create the shot shape that certain players are looking for, there are subtle design modifications that have been incorporated throughout the G410 hybrid lineup to influence performance.

“We custom engineer each head design based on the user,” Jertson said. “So the two and three (hybrids) have weighting built into them that makes them a little less draw biased. As we go into the higher lofts, they turn over and square up a little bit easier.”

PING is also offering several different loft options in the G410 line to ensure that players can fill any gaps that they have in their bag.

Available models range from the 2-hybrid at 17 degrees of loft in the standard setting to the 6-hybrid, which has 30 degrees of loft in its standard setting. And the new adjustable loft sleeve allows that range to be expanded even further.

Meanwhile, the stock shaft option for the G410 hybrids is the mid-to-high launching PING Alta CB 70 Red, but PING has other no upcharge options available as well for players who are looking for a different profile.