Ping g430 lst vs mizuno stg440

[Cbfodalo]

Been playing ping g430 lst for past year or so.. love it. But since I am mizuno fan boy I continually try to put a mizuno driver in the bag.  For whatever reason my swing tends to favor the smaller low spin low launch driver heads. Previously play mavrik sub zero then tried a few game improvement drivers but always end up back with 440 heads. 

Nothing at all wrong with ping, when I am on its just amazing. I have a hole bunch of shafts to chose from  might as well list them here 

Tense ck pro white 70s with boron tip.

Tense av white 65x

Tense ck white 70s ( current gamer with ping lst)

Aldila rogue white 70s

Aldila rogue white 60s

 I bought almost brand new miz stg 440 with lame shaft so immediately put the tense av white 65x in it for first bucket at range. 

Initial impressions where good. Very solid sounding in fact its a little muted and puts me off a bit coming from ping. Tried driver with both weights back to start and was hitting a lot of low hooks and some draws.  My normal miss is a high slice.  Great drives are mid fade out to 280-300.

Then I switched weights to fade bias one up front and one in back. Then both in back. To be honest I could not get this drive to fade much at all .  I did eventually hit a few bombs with slight draw, but just did not feel it.  My gut tells me to use a slightly less stought and maybe lighter shaft with miz.  Next range session gonna try the aldila white 60s and 70s. They are both mid launch low spin. If none of those work I will swap tips and try the tense ck pro white 70 s and the tense ck white 70s.  

I may need to change swing a little to get most out of mizuno, but at end of day, if I can get from 45% to 65% fairways hit I would sacrifice 20 yards in a heartbeat.  I say that, but knowing me, if I have the driver in my hand I am going for the bomb. Hence of late when par 4 is less thwn 400 I hit my 2 hybrid 14deg miz clk off tee. I avg around 220 with it.  The other day I was On a 450 par five dog left left out around 220 to make turn into wind 

 So my strategy was to hit a low draw with hybrid trying  to go up right side and turn to middle on turn.  I misfit a little and hit a High draw 227 over trees on left side and just hit left edge of fairway.  Then I hit two again from 240 or so out and hit bunker on left of green pin high. Dead straight just pulled a little left.  Now that 2 hybrid is almost a cheat club, the clk #2 16 deg set down to 14 deg with a tense white hybrid 90 s shaft 1.25" longer then stock. I just swing easy and when I make solid contact that think just goes and goes. I love it.  Everyone I play with tells me to just use it off tee, but I avg 278 off tee with driver, I hit 46% of faireays with some admittedly crazy bad slices and hooks when I get to stressed out.  I can feel the tension in my swing when it's off. Not to mention I recently switched from a super soft lamkin Sonar + mid size wrap to a std z grip cord align. That grip change is having an impact too.  Changing my release and getting some more snap hooks. . Too many variables right now so I am committed to picking  a shaft and sticking to it for rest of season. I tinker waay to much.

Either way I want the mizuno in bag, but it's got to earn a spot.  Right now I am at 14 clubs and have to decide each round weather I am bringing lw wedge or 4

iron.  Was thinking the miz might be more upright then ping and hence the left bias. Not sure but looking for some input from anyone who hit both driver heads with same shafts.

Edited June 3, 2024 by Cbfodalo
Typos

[Cbfodalo]

Played two more rounds with stg, not dialed in yet.  The tense white 65x seams to stiff I was hitting bombs but missing right. Put the aldlia rogue white 70s in it for next round. Right now the aldila rogue white 60s was better then tense, so I am hoping the aldila in 70s works. Then I am gonna take

Both it and the ping lst to range and warm up with some irons, then do ten balls with each club and meticulously log each result.  

I make a grid on a grid pad, 

I use a code with points for each shot result. 

T -top 0

H- hook -1

D- draw 3

S-STRAIGHT 2

F- FADE 3

SL -SLICE -1

P pop up 0

Then I add all up and come up with avg. 

I will hit at least 20 balls each, probable 30, any more then that and I will get tired. A typical round has no more then 14 potential drives,  alternating every 10 shots lets me dial in a little. I try to be objective and not eliminate terrible swings because sometimes those swings are due to confidence in driver. 

Negatives in slice and hooks because of how punishing those shots are. I weight fade and draw higher then straight because I realize that dead straight drives are  too rare to give more weight to and I know I usually regret the dead straight shot as I am normally trying to hit a fade or a draw depending on hole layout. If I really need to hit a dead straight drive I will grab my 2 or 5hy and try to drive one out to 200 -230 or so. 

With a free and fast driver swing, a good path and face angle will result in 260 to 280 yard drive with some little turn. I think hitting a 280 yard dead straight drive will end up in trouble based on my normal targets.  I do often reach out to 300 plus yards on occasion, but when I try to get it I usually mess up, when I am relaxed smooth and free the ball just seams to explode off both of these drivers.  No doubt the ping g430 lst feels hotter off face. In fact it reminds me of my old mavrik sub zero  in the way it feels off face.  The miz stg, just feels and sounds slower, but it does provide better feedback on mishits.  When the miz is hit in center it just feels and sounds awesome, hit it anywhere but middle and the sound and feel get progressively worse,  the shot is not appreciable worse then ping but the sound and feel is very indicative. 

Sort of like how my forged 923 irons provide immediate and sometimes painful feedback.  Interesting is the recent switch from lamkin sonar mid wrap to golf pride z-grip full cord is so surprising. I feel like i have much better control of club with zgrip and can feel and sometimes regret toe strikes a little more.  I suspect that over time I will improve my ball striking and these z-grips will be helping that.  Right now I am missing that soft feel a little bit....

 

[Cbfodalo]

Muzuno is getting one more round.  I f***** it up today by adding two addiotnal weights to draw side.  Every time I hit it, face closed to much I hit snap hook. Took two weights off mid round and next drive was piped with baby draw 290 right down middle.  So I am gonna give it one more round qith both adjustable weight in back on draw side and try to really swing free and fast.  If I do not perform better ping g430 lst is going back in bag. 

My brother is constantly telling me to hit 14deg 2hy off tee because I avg 230 and today I piped one into wind out to 257 middle of fairway right in front of green. 88 yards out.  I am going to play Driver selectively.  If hole is only 380 or less I am gonna hit 2, or if it has a hard turn left less thwn 250 out, no reason to hut driver. If it's a dog left right with room l, I will rock driver with bomb fade.  

[PaulY1177]

Sounds like you should stick with G430 and think less; if it ain’t easy to get along with and obvious as a fit, it ain’t the one! 
 

Edited June 13, 2024 by PaulY1177
Self edit

[WisconsinGolfer12]

I feel like the 430 LST is one of the best options for lowering spin in a compact club head, while keeping some forgiveness. I have personally struggled with dispersion on Mizuno drivers, and might consider just going back to the Ping if it was working

[Cbfodalo]

I am going with ping this week. I don't think there is anything wrong with miz, it's just not better then the ping.