PING i525 Specs

[Honeybadger]

Over the winter I got a set of i525’s with the AWT 2.0 stiff shafts. I came from a set of Callaway Apex 19 combos with Nippon 850 Neo in stiff. I’ve played in windy conditions in Florida and windy and cold conditions in NJ (4 rounds). I’ve noticed a big drop off in distance with the Pings- I hit them much higher than the Callaways, but I wouldn’t consider the flight to be ballooning. For instance yesterday I hit an 9 iron that I thought was flush (felt it) into the wind to a slightly up hill green and my GPS said it traveled 110 yards- my usual distance with a 9 is 145. It could be the cold and the wind, but that doesn’t seem right.  I hit the 7 iron on a monitor (attached photo) and the spin rate is not crazy high (maybe a little low in fact).

Since I’m getting plenty of height (drop and stop on the greens) I was thinking of having the Pings bent to the power spec at PGASS.
 

Does anyone have any other advice or do you think that’s a good idea? 

[Golfdoctor]

The AWT will be stiffer and a lot heavier than the 850’s.  Both shafts are made by Nippon.  I play the i525 with stock graphite and never had a problem. 

[Honeybadger]

4 hours ago, Golfdoctor said:

The AWT will be stiffer and a lot heavier than the 850’s.  Both shafts are made by Nippon.  I play the i525 with stock graphite and never had a problem. 

That’s what surprises me about the ball flight with the AWT’s - I hit the ball much higher than with the 850 Neo’s. 

[Nessism]

Your two sets of clubs are quite different.  I don't think it's fair to blame the flight on the shafts, considering the two sets have different heads.

 

I'd give it more rounds before assuming too much.  

[Kevmonton]

Did you buy them used? If so did you check the lofts and lies? 

[Honeybadger]

53 minutes ago, Nessism said:

Your two sets of clubs are quite different.  I don't think it's fair to blame the flight on the shafts, considering the two sets have different heads.

 

I'd give it more rounds before assuming too much.  

By no means am I crediting the shafts with the higher flight- all things equal the AWT’s should produce a slightly lower flight. I’m surprised by the heads- not sure what about the construction of the Pings make them so high flying. I guess the Apex’s have a higher center of gravity, because the lofts are nearly identical. As you said, 4 rounds is still early. I should experiment with playing the ball back in my stance to see if I can flight them down on windy days. I have found them to be nicely workable in both directions. 

[Honeybadger]

On 4/7/2024 at 8:22 PM, Kevmonton said:

Did you buy them used? If so did you check the lofts and lies? 

Is PING the only one that can adjust these? I was told that if you bend them, they can revert back. That PING’s method of using a rubber mallet is the only way they won’t. That doesn’t seem right. This person also said the notch wasn’t for adjusting loft and lie, which I also don’t think is correct. 

[Nessism]

1 hour ago, Honeybadger said:

Is PING the only one that can adjust these? I was told that if you bend them, they can revert back. That PING’s method of using a rubber mallet is the only way they won’t. That doesn’t seem right. This person also said the notch wasn’t for adjusting loft and lie, which I also don’t think is correct. 

 

This topic has been discussed countless times here.  Who ever told you the heads will "revert back" should not be trusted.

[cfmgolf]

Did you happen to hit the Ping 9I on the same monitor?  Based upon the info for the 7I, everything looks good for a SS in the 82-85ish range.  With this, the 9I I would agree should be in the mid 140 range.  You hit your 7I a little farther than I do (160range) with the 525's and my 9I is in the 135 range.  It probably has more to do with the weight of the shafts more than anything.  I think the AWT's are quite a bit heavier than the 850's, and even more so in the shorter irons.  The heavier weight might be causing you to scoop it a bit (getting on a monitor with the ping and the apex and looking at the launch angle should show this).  The Pings should also launch a little higher due to their design than the APEX, but for the 7I in the 19-20* range looks to be a good window also.  The power spec lofts on the pings are 1.5* stronger than standard, and it looks like you have the speed for them, but might end up with gapping issues on the low end.  There are a few shops that might be able to bend them stronger, but Ping does recommend you send them back to them and have them done in house.  I know my local shop who I trust quite a bit recommends sending them to Ping directly.  

[Honeybadger]

2 hours ago, cfmgolf said:

Did you happen to hit the Ping 9I on the same monitor?  Based upon the info for the 7I, everything looks good for a SS in the 82-85ish range.  With this, the 9I I would agree should be in the mid 140 range.  You hit your 7I a little farther than I do (160range) with the 525's and my 9I is in the 135 range.  It probably has more to do with the weight of the shafts more than anything.  I think the AWT's are quite a bit heavier than the 850's, and even more so in the shorter irons.  The heavier weight might be causing you to scoop it a bit (getting on a monitor with the ping and the apex and looking at the launch angle should show this).  The Pings should also launch a little higher due to their design than the APEX, but for the 7I in the 19-20* range looks to be a good window also.  The power spec lofts on the pings are 1.5* stronger than standard, and it looks like you have the speed for them, but might end up with gapping issues on the low end.  There are a few shops that might be able to bend them stronger, but Ping does recommend you send them back to them and have them done in house.  I know my local shop who I trust quite a bit recommends sending them to Ping directly.  

Thank you very much for your thorough response- much appreciated. Since I bought them used I am going to check the loft on the 9 iron. But your “scooping with the heavier shafts in the short irons” is good advice too- I want to try to be more deliberate with my forward press to see if that makes a difference too. Once I get these distances figured out, I will be a very happy camper because left to right dispersion has been excellent with the i525’s. 
Thanks again. 

Edited April 10, 2024 by Honeybadger
Type-O

[mikedejong33]

I have been playing the I525's for the past year. I reread your posts above, and it does sound like you have hit these outdoors and not just indoors on the sim? When my irons came, it was winter and all I had was the sim. I had very weird distance gaps... 5 iron would go over 200 plus yards (which is long for me), 7 iron was 175 sometimes over 180 (again quite a bit longer for me, which is to be expected). But then my short irons seemed very short. The 9 iron would be 130 to 135, the wedge barely made 120 yards, and the UW was even shorter, in the 100 yard range (at least a club shorter than I would expect). I thought about adjusting them, but I was told by our Ping rep to wait until I hit them outside on the course, just to confirm. Once I was able to hit them outside on the course, all the yardages were closer to where I would expect them to be (about a club longer than my previous set of irons, which I was hoping for based on the specs, etc.). And now when I hit them indoors, I have normal yardages again, very strange. But there is something about the centre of gravity or something with these irons, and it took me a bit to "learn" how to hit them, if that makes sense. Once I did, I love them, they are long, high and very forgiving, while looking quite nice in the bag.

[Honeybadger]

4 hours ago, mikedejong33 said:

I have been playing the I525's for the past year. I reread your posts above, and it does sound like you have hit these outdoors and not just indoors on the sim? When my irons came, it was winter and all I had was the sim. I had very weird distance gaps... 5 iron would go over 200 plus yards (which is long for me), 7 iron was 175 sometimes over 180 (again quite a bit longer for me, which is to be expected). But then my short irons seemed very short. The 9 iron would be 130 to 135, the wedge barely made 120 yards, and the UW was even shorter, in the 100 yard range (at least a club shorter than I would expect). I thought about adjusting them, but I was told by our Ping rep to wait until I hit them outside on the course, just to confirm. Once I was able to hit them outside on the course, all the yardages were closer to where I would expect them to be (about a club longer than my previous set of irons, which I was hoping for based on the specs, etc.). And now when I hit them indoors, I have normal yardages again, very strange. But there is something about the centre of gravity or something with these irons, and it took me a bit to "learn" how to hit them, if that makes sense. Once I did, I love them, they are long, high and very forgiving, while looking quite nice in the bag.

Interesting. I’ve had numerous range sessions (but those are off mats) and 4 rounds in less than ideal weather- lots of wind in Florida and both wind and cold in NJ. This Saturday is supposed to be cool and windy, so I’ll be curious. 
When you say you “learned to hit them,” could you expand on that a bit? Thanks. 

[mikedejong33]

5 hours ago, Honeybadger said:

Interesting. I’ve had numerous range sessions (but those are off mats) and 4 rounds in less than ideal weather- lots of wind in Florida and both wind and cold in NJ. This Saturday is supposed to be cool and windy, so I’ll be curious. 
When you say you “learned to hit them,” could you expand on that a bit? Thanks. 

I have read that the center of gravity or sweet spot for these irons is higher on the face then normal. I could be completely wrong on that, but I think I read  that on here somewhere. So for me, picking them off of a matt does not work well. I have to concentrate on hitting down and through, compressing the ball more. Again, maybe I am completely off base, but hitting them off of grass is entirely different for me. I love these irons by the way, but I was more then a little worried when hitting them at first in the Sim. Those were my experiences anyway.

[Honeybadger]

22 minutes ago, mikedejong33 said:

I have read that the center of gravity or sweet spot for these irons is higher on the face then normal. I could be completely wrong on that, but I think I read  that on here somewhere. So for me, picking them off of a matt does not work well. I have to concentrate on hitting down and through, compressing the ball more. Again, maybe I am completely off base, but hitting them off of grass is entirely different for me. I love these irons by the way, but I was more than a little worried when hitting them at first in the Sim. Those were my experiences anyway.

That makes sense to me. I have a field across the street from my house and I practice my PW there. When I try to hit a draw, the stronger grip feels so much better than neutral and the contact is better and I feel that compression you’re talking about. (I was doing that with the 7 in the sim and I think that led to my more typical numbers/distances). Anyway, thanks for elaborating. 

[Honeybadger]

Update: Got the specs checked and they were all within 1* or less of standard. Finally played in warm, dry and non-windy conditions and my distances were normal. Still hitting a high ball, but no ballooning. I just needed to get used to the new irons. Really enjoying hitting the i525’s.