With Ping recently dropping prices for its G25 line, rumours are abound at what is coming next from these guys. And since we’re in the business of rumours, we feel that we’d share with you what we’ve found, what we know and what is likely to be the next line up from Ping this season.
Ping’s release schedule is set to have a new release in the near future, and the price drop is a good indication that something is coming. Ping recently released a chart outlining there approach to innovation when it comes to lowering the center of gravity in the G line up and at the same time increasing their moment of inertia (MOI). If you didn’t know, the higher the MOI number, the less a club twists on off-center hits. The less it twists, the higher the amount of energy is transferred into the ball. We took the chart and extrapolated a bit to include the G30 line, and where we feel it would likely fit on this chart based on previous releases.
We would expect a slight improvement in both center of gravity and moment of inertia to continue this trend.
When looking around the web we also come across some patent photos that are likely actual designs of G30. We can say with any certainty that this will be the G30 designs, but Ping often does not show off patent designs unless they are going into production with them. The amount of detail into the physics of these designs it was makes me think these are likely the real deal.
The new design features, what Ping calls ‘turbulators’ on the crown. These have been proven to increase swing speeds into impact (although by miniscule amounts). We’ve already seen some patent drawings of both a driver and fairway wood with these markings. Below is the driver stats and patent pictures. Here’s a little bit more on what the patent documents have to say:
“A golf club head includes a crown surface extending between the face, the rear, the heel and the toe of the golf club head. A highest point on the surface of the crown defines an apex. The golf club head also includes a plurality of crown turbulators projecting from the surface of the crown. Each adjacent pair of crown turbulators is separate and spaced apart to define a space between the adjacent pair of crown turbulators, and each crown turbulator extends between the heel and the toe to define a width and extending between the face and the rear to define a length, which is substantially greater than the width. At least a portion of at least one crown turbulator is located between the face and the apex. The space between each adjacent pair of crown turbulators is substantially greater than the width of each of the adjacent pair of crown turbulators that define the space.”
Gotta hand it to Ping for being innovative, but I’m not quite sure if this design has the ingenuity to sell when competing against TaylorMade’s Mini SLDR and more adjustable clubs coming out this season. Furthermore, how many years can Ping continue the G line? Did you know they already have trademarked G30, I30, K30, G35, I35, K35, G40, I40, K40?
What do you think?