Ping G410 Plus Driver

Ping G410 Plus Driver Review - Joel Tadman tests the new Ping G410 driver up against the G400 Max model to see how the performance compares

Ping G410 Plus Driver Review

The Ping G410 Plus driver represents a significant milestone for Ping. It has long resisted the implementation of moveable weight as it came with a sacrifice of forgiveness due to pulling the CG closer to the face. You can read more about the technology here.

But the G410 Plus cleverly positions the weight at the very back of the driver, maintaining low CG while also adjusting shot shape.

The overall offering is curious. The G400 Max driver remains available in 2019, providing golfers a less-expensive, non-adjustable (sole weight anyway) forgiving option and a G410 LST is to arrive in early summer so we’re told.

Looks-wise, G410 Plus has a much smaller footprint than G400 Max despite only being 5cc smaller in volume, closer to that of the G400.

The Turbulators on the crown have been made thicker, catching your eye even more, while the rear of the crown has a ‘creased hood’ look that is infinitely slicker than the DragonFly effect on the G400 models.

We tested the G410 Plus driver in its neutral setting in 8° with the Tour 65 stiff shaft up against the G400 Max at Foresight Sports using the GCQuad launch monitor.

We tested against the G400 Max rather than the standard G400 as this allowed us to do like for like static loft (our G400 sample was 10.5°) and also because we found the G400 Max to be the best of all the G400 models in previous testing.

We also used the new Titleist Pro V1x golf ball for both for the first time, which may skew the results when comparing the data against reviews of other 2019 driver models from other brands.

After setting some base numbers with G400 Max, we then moved onto the G410 Plus. You’ll notice we saw a jump in average ball speed of 2.4mph, but our club speed also increased by 1.2mph on average.

Despite all the strikes coming seemingly out of the toe for both drivers, performance was impressive. Launch angle with G410 Plus increased slightly over G400 Max, spin came down by around 200 rpm and the peak height stayed high for both at 43 yards.

In total, we saw an increase in carry distance of 11 yards to 291 on average. There’s a strong chance we were getting more in the groove as we went through the testing (we tested G410 Plus second) but the G410 Plus certainly seemed to be more efficient at translating club speed into ball speed; the Smash Factor was slightly higher at 1.47 v 1.46 with G400 Max.

The sound and feel of both the drivers was very similar, which is no bad thing as the feel of G400 Max was very pleasing – stable, solid and powerful without overpowering the ears.

The numbers suggest we weren’t as accurate with G410 Plus, nor did we have a consistent miss we could negate via the draw or fade setting. But when you’re carrying it 11 yards longer, it’s only natural for dispersion to widen and this could possibly be corrected through a fitting.

What’s interesting is that these impressive ball speeds are coming with a shaft length of 45.25 inches, with most other drivers coming in at 45.5 inches which would certainly contribute to increased clubhead speed.

The use of a new premium ball certainly plays its part, but the G410 Plus certainly seems to be a worthy upgrade to the popular G400 franchise. It was certainly pushing extremely close to a five-star rating.