G430 max versus TSR lineup

[bjno1300]

Like to hear your thoughts on the max versus the titleist as I sit here and read all the comments unable to hit balls for few more weeks. Thanks guys 

[dalillama47]

Hit a few of the drivers today.  TSr2 and G430 Max were  a couple I hit.  I was pretty sure I was going to get the TSr, but after today I can't say it's a definite .  Tough to tell where balls were landing as the range is covered with snow.  Titleist may have been traveling a little further, but if so, not by much.  Ping most definitely had less dispersion.  Thought I might be crazy, but the sound and feel of the Ping was better and more explosive.  My buddie who works inside the shop and is a Titleist  staffer, I had him come out and take some swings and he was floored by how good basically everything was about the G430.  I can't wait to hit it and get some numbers from a monitor.

[davbrucas]

I play the G430LST. I have the TSR2 as well. They both have the same ventus shaft. The Titleist is 5-10yds longer on center hits but shorter on toe/heel hits at my 112-114 swing speed. My buddy has 125mph swing speed and the Titleist seems to be a bit longer at that swing speed. I am more accurate with the Ping. It is not a short club by any stretch. I had two tee shots over 340yds in Vegas 2wks ago. 

[mantan]

I hit all the new heads at a fitting session at a local custom club shop. For testing we used the Ventus Red that he felt was the best fit for my swing based on baseline swings.

 

The G430 and the TSR2 were getting the best results for me. The TSR was slightly longer and had a slightly higher ballspeed (1-2 mph).  The PING G430 was very consistent. The dispersion was amazing. It sounds great/feels great.  I would have been happy with either one, but the PING was just another level. 

 

I've played 2 rounds with it and the stellar results on the LM carried over to the course.

[Hat Trick]

I've hit both inside on a sim a couple of times with trackman.  Can't decide... I have always been a Titleist guy, but the G430 Max was just easy to swing vs. TSR2.  My numbers were very similar.  I guess I'll wait until the weather changes up here in the northeast so I can hit them both outside.  But if I was ordering today, I think I would go Ping.

[VanTheMan0519]

I tested launch numbers from a November Titleist led fitting of a tsr4. 
 

Tested the G430 LST and the Titleist was better in all categories especially ball speed. 
 

My driver prior was a G425 Max. 
 

The new Pings feel heavy to me for some reason. 

[Dr.Potat]

My fitting this year came down to the Ping G430 Max and Titleist TSR2. The TSR2 was a bit longer, but the dispersion was much tighter with the G430 as well as the consistency of ball speed and spin. 
 

The rest came down to personal preference - I found that I preferred the feel of the Ping at impact (TSR2 was much firmer for me) and the sound, I liked both. 
 

The consistency won me over this year with the Ping, so that is the route I went. 

[mosesgolf]

I've hit the G430 MAX, LST, TSR2&3.  The Ping's are so much better for forgiveness.  Its not even close. Distances are about the same.  The difference comes in the toe misses.   The Ping drivers usually keeps you in fairway.   The Titleists are nose dive hooks.  Max is the ultimate fairway finder.  

[cfmgolf]

I will echo what most of the previous posts are saying.  I tried the TSR3 and TRS2 against the G430Max extensively over the past 3 weeks.  SS in the mid 90's, with a very consistent toe side impact.  It ended up that the TSR3 was a little to low in spin and the TSR2 was just a little to high in spin.  The G430 really hit a sweet spot for me, and the dispersion was great.  The TSR3 when center hit was a little quicker (about 2 MPH ball speed) but when I wandered a little to far toe side, the TSR3 didn't like it at all.  Where the Ping i was able to at least keep it on the rough vs. OB on the ones that were quite a bit toe side.  The TSR2 overall just a little to much spin for me.  I have played the G410 for the past few years, and initial impressions of the TSR line was fantastic ball speeds, just the toe miss on the TSR's was uncontrollable for me while the Ping 430 was still quite good.

[aquapig]

16 minutes ago, cfmgolf said:

I will echo what most of the previous posts are saying.  I tried the TSR3 and TRS2 against the G430Max extensively over the past 3 weeks.  SS in the mid 90's, with a very consistent toe side impact.  It ended up that the TSR3 was a little to low in spin and the TSR2 was just a little to high in spin.  The G430 really hit a sweet spot for me, and the dispersion was great.  The TSR3 when center hit was a little quicker (about 2 MPH ball speed) but when I wandered a little to far toe side, the TSR3 didn't like it at all.  Where the Ping i was able to at least keep it on the rough vs. OB on the ones that were quite a bit toe side.  The TSR2 overall just a little to much spin for me.  I have played the G410 for the past few years, and initial impressions of the TSR line was fantastic ball speeds, just the toe miss on the TSR's was uncontrollable for me while the Ping 430 was still quite good.

What were your spin numbers on the TSR3 and TSR2?

[Landy]

Has anyone thrown the 430 LST into this mix?

[cfmgolf]

39 minutes ago, aquapig said:

What were your spin numbers on the TSR3 and TSR2?

The TSR3 on center strikes was in the 2200 range and toe strikes fell below 1800.  TSR2 were in the 3000+ range on center strikes, and toe in the 2300 range.  Again with a SS in the 94-97 range these were to low / high.  The misses on the 3 were to low and the center strikes on the 2 were to high.  The 430 settled on center was in the 2300-2600 range and toe was 2000 - 2100 which kept it in play.  Tested the Titleist with the HZRDUS red 50gram 6.0 and the Ping with the Tour 2.0 chrome 65R.  Also tried other shafts with the 2 and 3 and kept getting the same results.  The 2 and 3 we also tried both the 9* and 10.5* head and then made other adjustments to the settings to try and get them to work - for me, as much as I really liked the results of the center hits, the toe strike results made them just not work for me.  Pretty much think of the 3 for me as feast or famine.  Either a bomb down the middle or a reload 🙂

[Strategery]

I've hit the G430 Max and Titleist TSR1, TSR2, TSR3 all in one session. I was hitting the ball fair, not a great, so overall a good test of forgiveness with some bombs.

 

Agree with others on the G430 Max forgiveness/dispersion. It was ridiculous how straight this thing is. I've never seen anything like it. Looked good and sounded much better than the G425 Max. However, it felt quite heavy and was 12 yds shorter carry for me on avg than the TSR2, which I loved. I wish I could have tinkered with the G430 Max adjustable weight (see the TXG video on this subject). Maybe I'll find an outdoor fitting to retest in the spring.

 

I could not hit the TSR3 reliably. Spin was too low and mishits were awful.

 

I went with the TSR2 10deg, Tensei AV Blue 55 S. I don't love the shaft, but the others were worse for me.

[tleader]

Very similar in my experience. TSR2 had 1-2 mph ball speed advantage, G430 Max was so forgiving, stable and the deviation was minuscule.  G430 Max was the winner for me, will take predictability and fairways over a couple yards. 

[Pykie]

I'm in the market for a head upgrade from my TM M2 so exciting to read some of these reviews.

 

Looking at the G430 MAX with my current Graphite Design Tour AD BB 7X in the M2.

[NZ315]

I second that what are comparison of the 430lst vs the TSR3??
Currently have the TSR3 and it works great. I do notice the drop in distance with off hits. But when you catch it the TSR3 really moves out there. I really like this driver and don’t want to change it.
Haven’t had the chance to hit the 430lst and I am nervous to try it out. I don’t feel like shelling out another $600 for a new driver. 
But said that before. 

[over7par]

1 hour ago, NZ315 said:

I second that what are comparison of the 430lst vs the TSR3??
Currently have the TSR3 and it works great. I do notice the drop in distance with off hits. But when you catch it the TSR3 really moves out there. I really like this driver and don’t want to change it.
Haven’t had the chance to hit the 430lst and I am nervous to try it out. I don’t feel like shelling out another $600 for a new driver. 
But said that before. 

So I went for a driver fitting a few weeks back and hit three drivers: my gamer Titleist TSR3 9°, the Ping G430 LST, and the Paradym Triple Diamond. Before I get too in depth, the Callaway beat the other two by 12 yards on average, but I believe that was because of a lighter shaft, because when we plugged in the same weight shaft I carry in the TSR3, everything dropped back down to TSR3 distance. So I'm putting a pin in that for now. I've gotten in my Paradym and took it Saturday for a Trackman session vs my TSR3 and saw absolutely nothing in it that warranted a switch. If anything, I felt like my TSR3 was more comfortable, because I prefer almost everything about it. Doesn't mean the Paradym is bad. It's actually quite good, I've just been a Titleist driver player since the 917, so I'm comfortable with them.

 

Getting to the G430 LST, the day of my fitting I hit my driver first. Then went to TSR2 for some more launch and I was spinning it off the planet. TSR4 wasn't good for me at all. G430 LST was the next driver I hit with the same shaft I have in my driver and it definitely didn't go as far as TSR3, but it wasn't far off and it just went STRAIGHT. Fitter ended up putting in the Ping Tour 2.0 Black in for me and got me a little more distance (still not as long as the TSR3), but again, the thing just went straight. And they've 100% improved the sound/feel in this iteration. I'd decided I was getting one at that point until Paradym blew myself and the fitter away with the distance. It was seriously 12 yards extra on average. My longest one was 7 yards farther than the TSR3's longest.

 

But after this weekend, I feel like I'm back to square one. I'm just not overly impressed with the Paradym. I'm comfortable with my TSR3 and honestly, I don't really miss a bunch of fairways. I do think I'm going to source a Ventus Blue 5S to go in to see if I can get some extra speed with the stability of the Ventus, but I've also been so extremely impressed with all of Ping's other new offerings that I think I'm going to get my Paradym back to my club guy and swap it for a G430 LST with the Ping Tour 2.0 Black and see what they do on the golf course.

 

To your post though, for me, I don't think it's necessarily worth $600 extra performance over the TSR3. But in true WRX fashion, I have to see. Lol.

[Rosco1216]

I am very surprised by the guys saying the tsr2 dispersion wasn’t very good compared to the max. I haven’t hit the g430 max but was in the 425max last year. I was in the tsr3 in the fall and then noticed the tsr2 has the same speed, with similar launch and spin but find the tsr2 dispersion extremely tight. Slightly less loft and a little melt and the tsr2 is about as good as it gets for high speed guys wanting to maintain top end distance but just want the ball to go straight. 

[NZ315]

24 minutes ago, over7par said:

So I went for a driver fitting a few weeks back and hit three drivers: my gamer Titleist TSR3 9°, the Ping G430 LST, and the Paradym Triple Diamond. Before I get too in depth, the Callaway beat the other two by 12 yards on average, but I believe that was because of a lighter shaft, because when we plugged in the same weight shaft I carry in the TSR3, everything dropped back down to TSR3 distance. So I'm putting a pin in that for now. I've gotten in my Paradym and took it Saturday for a Trackman session vs my TSR3 and saw absolutely nothing in it that warranted a switch. If anything, I felt like my TSR3 was more comfortable, because I prefer almost everything about it. Doesn't mean the Paradym is bad. It's actually quite good, I've just been a Titleist driver player since the 917, so I'm comfortable with them.

 

Getting to the G430 LST, the day of my fitting I hit my driver first. Then went to TSR2 for some more launch and I was spinning it off the planet. TSR4 wasn't good for me at all. G430 LST was the next driver I hit with the same shaft I have in my driver and it definitely didn't go as far as TSR3, but it wasn't far off and it just went STRAIGHT. Fitter ended up putting in the Ping Tour 2.0 Black in for me and got me a little more distance (still not as long as the TSR3), but again, the thing just went straight. And they've 100% improved the sound/feel in this iteration. I'd decided I was getting one at that point until Paradym blew myself and the fitter away with the distance. It was seriously 12 yards extra on average. My longest one was 7 yards farther than the TSR3's longest.

 

But after this weekend, I feel like I'm back to square one. I'm just not overly impressed with the Paradym. I'm comfortable with my TSR3 and honestly, I don't really miss a bunch of fairways. I do think I'm going to source a Ventus Blue 5S to go in to see if I can get some extra speed with the stability of the Ventus, but I've also been so extremely impressed with all of Ping's other new offerings that I think I'm going to get my Paradym back to my club guy and swap it for a G430 LST with the Ping Tour 2.0 Black and see what they do on the golf course.

 

To your post though, for me, I don't think it's necessarily worth $600 extra performance over the TSR3. But in true WRX fashion, I have to see. Lol.

Love your last statement and being honest that might happen. Probably gonna hold off at least until I can golf outside.

[TayTaySlam]

Great thread keep them coming wrx

[puresurfr]

Ive tried the TSR3 and TSR2 ad the TSi3 and the Ping G430LST.  The TSR2 was the most forgiving out of these and also the highest spin.  The TSi3 was every bit as good as the TSR3, ive heard that the TSR 3m will be longer on a perfect hit but i rarely hit those so i didn't notice the difference.  The TSR3 is lower launch and spin the the TSR2 and less forgiving by a tiny bit.  The Ping 430LST is currently in my bg, it is the lowest spin, and launches a touch lower than the TSR3, it is also longer than the TSR2 but not as forgiving.  I found the Ping 430LST to be longer than the TSR2 and maybe a touch shorter than the TSR3.  All the new drivers seem to be very similar in performance. The differences now appear to be in tradeoff, u will have to give up a bit of accuracy for a bit of performance and vice versa.  

 

*The unicorn is the super forgiving club that is super long and super accurate and sounds perfect and looks perfect and treats u exactly the same on your worst day and your best day.  And when u find that magical driver, u will try to find a shaft to make it go even further and when u accomplish that, it will be time to hunt for the tour or updated version.

[Cincy_Ken]

Thanks for all the comments; these are two drivers I'm considering.  I've been a Ping driver for a long time but hit the TSR2 at a demo day and loved it.  I've got a TSi2 3 wood so I'm comfortable with Titleist products too.  My question is are G430 and TSR2 both big step ups from the previous models?  I've not hit the G430 yet so I need to do that but I see TSI2 going for $450 so if that's comparable I might go with the prior model.

[T Creer]

Ping G430 LST was my choice. The Paradym and TSR2/3 were 1-2 MPH higher ball-speed but they missed the fairway way more than the Ping.

If you play where you can spay it everywhere and still play it, Titleist might be your club. If your willing to give up 3-5 yards distance for accuracy, get the Ping. 

[mantan]

3 hours ago, Cincy_Ken said:

Thanks for all the comments; these are two drivers I'm considering.  I've been a Ping driver for a long time but hit the TSR2 at a demo day and loved it.  I've got a TSi2 3 wood so I'm comfortable with Titleist products too.  My question is are G430 and TSR2 both big step ups from the previous models?  I've not hit the G430 yet so I need to do that but I see TSI2 going for $450 so if that's comparable I might go with the prior model.

 

The 430 is much better than the 425 IMO. It sounds MUCH better.  I couldn't get out of the 425 fast enough.  

 

I came very close to buying a TSi2 after a fitting day at my home course. IMO the TSR is a modest improvement.

[DoubleDawg22]

I officially have the Ping G430 LST 9* w/ TR Red 6X in my possession. TSr3 9* w/Ventus Black 6X is my current gamer. Excited to test on the launch monitor in the coming days/weeks. 
 

Without having hit the ping yet I will say - as a traditional shaped driver player (like TSr4 is my preferred style) -and open Team Titleist person, the shape isn’t going to wow me (relative to TSr) but for some reason looking at the 430 at address I feel like it is going to crush it. Time will tell w/actual data but valuable intangible is the expectation you get looking down at a club. 

[Rosco1216]

13 hours ago, mantan said:

 

The 430 is much better than the 425 IMO. It sounds MUCH better.  I couldn't get out of the 425 fast enough.  

 

I came very close to buying a TSi2 after a fitting day at my home course. IMO the TSR is a modest improvement.

The consensus has been that the tsr4 and tsr2 are much improved over their predecessors. Tsr4 being much more controllable and with moveable weight. The tsr2 in overall shape and lower spin. Tsr3 very comparable to tsi3, modest improvement.

[Landy]

Amazing feedback here.

I was a huge fan of the G400 Max, but now playing the LTDx.  Torn between the new AJ, TSR2 and the 430Max.

Since I'm not a long ball hitter(90-92mph) every yard counts.  I am very straight so looking to squeeze every bit the driver has.  But this feedback has me ready to buy each driver and exchange it on every hole! 🤦‍♂️

[Tiger_Stud]

How come that the G430 produces a bit less ball speed according to most of you guys? Is it just because it's a bit heavier head? If yes, could you get comparable ball speeds by changing the back weight or would a lighter weight mess with the forgivness that it is so praised for?

[T Creer]

I tried my Ping G410 without the weight at an outdoor launch monitor. I gained club-head speed, but the the launch height was cut in half and no spin.

Not sure if going to a slightly lighter weight would work, but I didn't want to invest in the purchase.

BTW--my driver swingweight is D6 @ 46".

 

[AmateurAmateur]

6 hours ago, Tiger_Stud said:

How come that the G430 produces a bit less ball speed according to most of you guys? Is it just because it's a bit heavier head? If yes, could you get comparable ball speeds by changing the back weight or would a lighter weight mess with the forgivness that it is so praised for?

Yes. Ping heads are heavier which is why all their stock shafts are counterbalanced. You could put a lighter weight in the back, but the less weight you put the lower spin/less forgiveness it will have. 

 

I hit my g410 in December after 2 months of not hitting balls. Clubhead speed around 114, distance around 310. 
Hit the TSR3, swing speed jumped up to 120 (lighter head than ping) distance around 330, but everything felt like a toe strike even when it wasn’t. Just felt like a toe bomb. 
The G430LST: (which will be my 2023 gamer) had comparable numbers to the 410 but much more stable. My on course speed mid summer is about 117, because I get decent distance with it and can still hit fairways. With the G430 in my fitting I found my clubhead speed was pushing up to 120 without me even realising it or actively giving it any extra effort, because it was much more stable and accurate so I could put a bit more juice into it without sacrificing accuracy. Clear winner.