Gear: Ping G430 max 10K driver Price $650 with Ping Alta cB shaft, Project X Red Smoke RDX or Mitsubishi Kai’ Li White shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet360 grip
Specifications: Face and body made of forged titanium with a carbon fiber crown. Hosel is adjustable. Available in lofts of 9, 10.5 or 12 degrees.
Available: Jan. 9
Who it’s for: Golfers looking to maximize forgiveness, stability and distance.
The skinny: In addition to having the largest crown in the company’s history, the G430 Max 10K also has a high moment of inertia that helps the club resist bending on off-center shots to promote longer and straighter drives.
Don’t be scared by the name 10K. Driver prices have crept upwards over the years. This 10K figure is not the price of the driver, but it could be a valuable addition for golfers who have trouble with consistency.
Since the mid-2010s Ping drivers have become synonymous with forgiveness and stability. Clubs like the G30 Max, G, and G400 Max help golfers who find it difficult to hit the center of the face, make straighter teeshots. The Phoenix-based company, Ping, boasts about its most stable driver, the G430 Max 10K.
The G430 Max 10K is also a Ping driver, and has the same 460 cubic-centimeter maximum volume. However, it’s larger from heel to toe, front to back.
Carbon fiber is used to create the crown, which wraps around the edges of the head and into the sides. Ping calls this design Carbonfly Wrap. It helps reduce the center of gravity and saves 5 grams from the top. Carbonfly Wrap was previously only available on the G430LST driver.
The driver has a variable thickness, forged titanium surface with a unique curve. Driver faces can curve both vertically and horizontally, even though you might not notice it. Ping increased the roll curve above the center of hitting area in the G430 Max 10K. This allows for a more even distribution of spin, so that low-hit tee-shots retain their spin while high-hit tee-shots don’t.
The G430 face is thinner to allow a greater area of the striking area to flex, protecting ball speed when mishits occur.
Weight saved by using a Carbonfly Wrap and a thin face was redistributed to a 28-gram sole weight. The weight is 3 grams more than that of the G430 Max, but because it is placed further back from the face it increases the moment inertia.
ShopPing G430 Max ten k driver
The G430 Max 10k was designed to be a large golf club. This allowed the designers to move mass away from the striking area. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
Together, Ping’s technologies within the G430 Max 10K create a moment of inertia from heel to toe of 5,860g-cm2, pushing up against the USGA maximum of 5,900g-cm2. The total MOI reaches 10,100gcm2 when you add the up-and down MOI. This is why 10K has been added to the name of the club. This is the highest MOI in Ping history. No driver has ever been made that resists twisting better on off-center shots. Golfers can expect straighter shots with less distance loss when mishits.
The G430 Max 10K’s forgiveness is sure to appeal to golfers looking to make straighter shots. However, Ping found that the G430 Max 10K had a launch angle of up to one degree higher and slightly less spin. This can result in more distance, both on the carry and overall. For golfers who swing slower, this could mean greater distance. Fitters can also use the adjustable shaft to try the club with a lower loft. This can produce a faster ball speed, and tighter distribution while still maintaining the launch angle needed by a golfer.
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Here are some close-up photos of the Ping G430 max 10K driver.
