• Ping G30 Driver Loft Adjustment
• Ping G30 Iron Specs
• Ping G30 Iron Lofts Chart

List of Ping Drivers with 12 Degrees of Loft: Visit the official PING website to see their current range of drivers. Ping G; PING G10; PING G15; PING G20; PING G25; PING G30; Ping G400 SFT; Ping G SF Tec Driver 12° Taylormade Aeroburner 12. It would be difficult to miss a golfer using the Taylormade Aeroburner 12 driver. The PING G30 irons take the forgiveness of the G25 irons and add increased distance and higher launch so you can go after any pin. The undercut cavity produces a lower Center of Gravity in the G30's, increasing initial launch angles for more stopping power on the green. How To Adjust Ping G30 Driver Loft The loft of the club is very important as it is the angle of the face when it arrives at the ball and that is a primary factor impacting the launch conditions of the ball.

What Loft of Driver Should You Use

Don’t worry if you’re unsure which amount of loft for your driver you should use. Most beginner golfers have no idea, and even intermediate players rarely make the best choice either.

I’m here to make sense of all the numbers and help you make the best decision in choosing the best 12 degree driver for you.

Nearly all drivers will fall in the low range of degree loft. 7 to 20 degrees is the range most drivers will fall under as drivers require only a small amount of loft.

The aim of a golf drive is to keep the ball low and hit it as long as possible. The complete opposite to this approach is a wedge which is instead used to hit the ball really high in the air. Naturally, wedges and irons will have a much higher range of loft.

10.5 – 11 degrees is the most common club that golfers use for their driver. However not everyone is the same as others prefer clubs which fall above and below the average loft range.

The Importance of Loft Vs Swing Speed

The average club head speed for a male golfer is about 95 MPH (15 km). Most players who fall under this average should use a loft of 10.5 degrees. This is a good starting point and should allow you to enjoy a perfect combination between launch and distance for your swing speed.

However, the loft you need to choose for your driver will depend on how fast or slow your swing speed is.

The slower your club head speed is; the higher loft of club you should choose. This is because a golfer with a slower speed has much more to gain with a club that can launch the ball higher and more accurately.

On the other hand, if your club head speed is in the high range 110 to 115 MPH (177 to 185 km), you’ll benefit more from a lower loft like 7° to 10° degrees.

It’s important that you choose the best driver for your playing style. To make this easier for you to understand, please see the driver loft chart below:

Driver Loft Distance Chart

If you’d like to see a more detailed chart on distance vs golf clubs, read my complete guide on golf club distances here.

What is a 12 Degree Loft Driver

When it comes to golf club heads, each head is numbered differently according to its degree of loft. Generally the more loft a club has, the higher the ball will travel in the air. A lower amount of loft will cause the ball to fly at a lower height, create more roll and generally travel further.

This is why drivers in particular tend to fall under the lowest range of loft. The ultimate aim of a golf drive is to hit the ball as far as possible, so a lower amount of loft is ideal.

However this rule is not set in stone. Your own swinging technique plays an equal factor in how the ball is going to behave once you take your swing.

Some golfers find moving up on loft can actually create a more accurate flight path as well as gaining more distance.

The standard amount of loft for a driver is 10.5 degrees. However many players have found out just like I did, that moving up to 12 degrees could mark a significant improvement in your driving results.

Benefits of Using a 12 degree driver

Using a 12 degree driver as opposed to a lower amount of left can help many struggling golfers. The main benefits of using a 12° driver is the higher launch trajectory you’ll experience off the tee. The higher launch will help the ball clear trees and move with the wind easier. You’ll also notice a lesser degree of roll during landing when using a 12 degree driver.

I remember when I first began playing golf how everyone around me was using the standard 9.5 to 10.5 degree drivers. It never occurred to me that I should move up to higher loft driver in the 11 to 12 range.

Once I began using a 12 degree driver I noticed the change immediately. My drives certainly travelled higher, but the extra height also allowed me to enjoy long distances too. It’s no surprise that I have never gone back to the 10 degree driver to this day!

The Best 12 Degree Drivers to Use

All this discussion about the best loft to use is useless if you select a dud for a club. If you hit the golf course regularly, you’ll soon work out which clubs are going to have a long life span.

I’ve also played enough golf and communicated with enough other players to get a good idea on which clubs you should stay away from.

Fortunately there are quite a few solid choices when it comes to 12 degree drivers:

Ping 12 Degree Drivers

Perhaps the most popular of the 12 degree drivers is the range from Ping. I like these clubs as they offer the full spectrum of loft and have both clubs for the gentleman and ladies.

I found the ping 12 range to offer a higher degree of ball launch. The stock standard shaft also has a lower kick point making it much easier to swing then other clubs.

Most of PING’s range is designed with titanium club faces which results in a thinner size and better weight distribution. I found their thinner frame produces better sound, lowers overall weight and creates a sweet spot for the centre of gravity position.

List of Ping Drivers with 12 Degrees of Loft:

Visit the official PING website to see their current range of drivers

• Ping G
• PING G10
• PING G15
• PING G20
• PING G25
• PING G30
• Ping G400 SFT
• Ping G SF Tec Driver 12°

Taylormade Aeroburner 12

It would be difficult to miss a golfer using the Taylormade Aeroburner 12 driver. With its white colored head, 46 inch shaft, and stiff flex; this is a driver worth looking at.

Taylormade first introduced the Aeroburner in all white which helped it stand out from the crowd. However they late released a semi white and black model to appease a greater range of golfers.

In fact Taylormade went all out here and also added a mini version of the Aeroburner.

If you’re at all familiar with the JetSpeed model, you’ll be glad to know that the Aeroburner is a marked improvement. The speed pocket is twice the length of the JetSpeed as is designed to be wider and deeper.

With a sophisticated design like this, it was refreshing to see how forgiving this driver really is.

Please remember the Aeroburner 12 is made with a graphite shaft.

Overall, this is a top choice for any golfers who want an easy to use driver that looks great and performs well off the tee.

Titleist 917D2 12 Degree Driver

Titleist offers an excellent driver called the 917F2. This driver actually allows you to adjust the amount of loft! This is a great idea for golfers who either don’t know which loft is right for them or who would just like to adjust club specs in the future.

The 917D2 and 9172F2 are both designed are extremely forgiving and can really reach some long distances.

Although this is a new release and is not cheap, I did have a chance to try the club when I was out golfing in Florida.

I was amazed how the club has 16 different loft and lie settings designed within the club.

The CC is large enough that even beginners can strike the ball with ease. The 460cc head is nice size to use and makes testing loft settings that much easier.

If ordering from the Titleist website, they offer several shafts and grips to choose from. All items have varying amounts of colors, torque, weight and flex.

This may be a tad excessive for your very first club, but if you can afford it, you may not need another drive again.
Available Lofts: 8.5°, 9.5°, 10.5°, 12°

Difference Between a 9.5 and 12 degree Driver

The difference between a 9.5 and 12 degree driver is in the amount of loft each driver has. A 12 ° driver is a better choice for a beginner golfer as the higher degree of loft will help them hit the ball at a higher angle. 9.5° drivers are better suited for golfers with more experience and a faster swing speed.

The faster club head speed combined with less degrees of loft will allow fast swingers to reach even further distances using a 9.5° driver.

To make this choice simpler, you can always opt for a driver with an adjustable loft setting.

9.5 Vs 10.5°– Is a Higher Loft Better?

Unlike the 12 degree clubs, what you’re more likely to come across are the 9.5 and 10.5 loft drivers. Many golfers wonder which type is better and if there really is a difference between the two. Well I’ve tested both types and can say that the differences are marginal.

We are only talking about a 1 degree difference here. To notice a difference between the various lofts out there, you really need to compare 2 clubs that have at least a 1.5° difference between the two.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the 10.5° will work better for most people. Assuming both clubs have the exact same length shaft and all other factors are equal, you may find driver with more loft will hit the ball straighter.

Please remember none of this is set in stone. The end result will be dependent on your angle of attack, and your swing speed.

Golf is a sport that requires you test, adjust and readjust; but that’s half the fun of playing the game!

16 degree drivers

Things can get confusing when you see other drivers with a much higher loft like 16 degrees. I believe a loft of 16 degrees is much too high for any serious golfer to enjoy.

However golf club manufactures are producing clubs in the 16 to 18 degree category for a good reason.

A golfer who doesn’t know any better may find himself slicing a drive way too often. Out of frustration he will hear that he needs a drive with more loft.

Incorrectly, he will go shopping for a new driver and choose the club he sees with the highest degrees of loft.

I think this is why 16 degree drivers exist in the first place, because they are an easy sell.

I would always advise you to correct any issues in your swing before going out and buying a driver in the extra high loft range.

11 and 13 Degree Drivers

When it comes to the middle of the pack, 11, 12 and as much as 13 degrees of loft is what you’ll find for sale.

All clubs in this range are above the normal range of loft, but can definitely help your driving performance if you need it.

If you find your ball moving wayward, or you’re just not reaching optimal distance on your drives, these clubs are worth a try.

The loft you choose will depend on the club you’re currently using. To feel a large enough difference I recommend you choose a club that is 1.5 to 2.5° higher than the driver you’re using at the moment.

7 Degree Drivers

Before the year 2000, it was more common to see drivers designed with really low degrees of loft. Manufactures like Titleist would bring out drivers with 7 and 7.5 degrees of loft to accommodate the types of golf balls that were being produced for that time period.

Although not impossible, 7 degree drivers nowadays are much harder to find on the retail level. This is due to new golf balls being designed multi-layered. Balls that are multi layer spin less than the balls from the past; therefore they don’t perform well with such a low degree of loft.

Conclusion

The 12 degree driver is certainly not the most common loft to use for a driver. Golfers that have a slow club head speed under (100 MPH), may benefit using a driver in the 12 to 13° loft range. Beginners are advised to hit it high and into the winds directions to allow the ball to be hit accurately and further.

If you’re a fast swinger, hitting the ball low and fast with a lower loft driver will allow your ball to reach more yards than you could ever imagine.

If your budget allows for it, I do recommend you buy a driver with adjustable loft settings. This allows you to adjust the loft from low to high degrees at anytime you require.

I also recommend an adjustable driver as drivers tend to have a short lifespan of 5 to 7 years. I don’t see much point spending money on multiple drivers to enjoy different degrees of loft. You’ll save more money in the long run buying one driver that can do it all.

My #1 Tip to Help You Hit Your 12 Degree Driver Further

How great would it be to drive your ball further than you ever have before?
I found an excellent method that helped me hit my driver more than 21 yards further in less than 3 weeks of playing!

I recommend taking a look at this helpful course if you want to increase your driver distance just like I did.

I’m not a PING guy. It’s not that I have anything against the company, but there are so many choices out in the market that I’ve just never really given them proper consideration. It may be because some other companies shove their marketing in your face all the time, or PING’s pros don’t have the star power (Bubba excluded) of some of its competitors. Either way, I have never given them a fair shake, so when the opportunity arrived for me to review a set of PING G30 irons, I jumped at it.

As a high handicap player, I made a switch to a set of game improvement clubs last year and I haven’t looked back since. I like to hit high iron shots that land softly on the greens. I also like to know that when I miss the center of the clubface, I’ll still be able to get the ball somewhere near the vicinity of my target. I don’t get to spend as much time on the golf course as I’d like, so it’s nice to know that my inconsistent contact won’t hurt my score too much.

Cue the G30 irons. They are the latest offering in the G line of clubs. Like its predecessors, the G30 irons are game improvement clubs. This means they are designed to promote a higher launch angle, increase distance, and maximize forgiveness; everything I’m looking for in an iron. How do they perform in my hands? Read on, to find out.
Technology and Design
The G30 irons are cast from 17-4 stainless steel and features an undercut cavity and PING’s patented custom tuning port. These two elements help to shift the club’s center of gravity low and back to facilitate a higher launch. As with the case with all cavity-backed irons, the weight is redistributed around the perimeter of the club to increase MOI, which increases forgiveness. A soft elastomer badge is inserted in the cavity to improve sound and feel.

One of the newest features of the G30 irons that differentiate them from their predecessors is that they are progressively engineered. The 4 through 7 irons have slightly longer blade lengths, which help to further increase MOI in these clubs. The lofts of the long irons are slightly stronger than their G25 counterparts, but the lofts of the short irons and wedges remain the same. The face of the long irons is slightly thinner to generate faster ball speeds.

The G30 short irons, however, are actually designed to launch the ball a little bit lower and spin more. While the long irons are designed for maximum distance and forgiveness, the short irons focus more on consistency. The face of the short irons are actually slightly thicker so that the clubs have a softer feel.

One last difference between the G30 irons and previous models has to do with the sole of the club. By rounding out the leading edge and increasing the bounce of the clubs, PING has actually made the G30 more forgiving in terms of turf contact. The new sole design will help keep the club head from digging into the ground on a slightly fat hit.

Overall, PING has incorporated some technological changes to the G30 irons, but did so with the needs of the golfer in mind.

Esthetics
PING has never been afraid to cross the boundaries with its club design, and the G30 irons are no exception.

The first thing you’ll notice is the finish. Like its predecessor, the G25, the G30 has a dark gunmetal or charcoal finish, which I like quite a bit. It is good alternative to the traditional chrome finish that is offered in most other iron sets.

The other aspect of the G30 irons that I noticed immediately is how wide the sole is. I typically find wedges from an iron set to be more like high lofted irons, but the wedges on the G30s look like real wedges (except for the cavity, which we will get into later). The leading edge is rounded out and there is a little bit of relief ground out of the back of the sole. These clubs have more bounce than your typical iron, too, which is plainly visible.

As you would expect, the cavity is pretty deep on these clubs, and a lot of that has to do with the width of the sole. You can actually feel how thin the face is by squeezing it between two fingers. There is only a minor design element within the cavity, which is the PING logo and the G30 logo, and the elastomer insert. The insert has a metallic looking finish to it, but if you tap on it, you can clearly tell it is some kind of polymer.

From address, they look exactly as you’d expect from a game improvement club. The clubhead looks big, but not bulky. The large appearance is due to the thickness of the top and the length of the blade. PING did round out the top in an attempt to reduce the thick look, but if you are the type of golfer who does not like thick toplines, it still sticks out like a sore thumb. There is also a decent amount of offset. On the G30 irons, it ranges from just noticeable on the wedges, to fairly significant on the long irons. Once again, the number (or letter) of the club is conveniently stamped on the face, just past the area where the grooves are, so you will be able to tell at address if you have the right club or not.

What does bother me slightly is that the cavity is visible from address on the longer irons (4 and 5). This is due to the width of the sole sticking out farther back. It gives the long irons more of a hybrid-iron look to it. It may end up giving me confidence, seeing the forgiveness built into the club right from address, but I’m just not used to seeing the back of an iron at address.

Overall, I like the look of the G30 irons. They showcase their performance elements right on the outside. When you look down at these clubs, you can tell they’re going to be long and forgiving. The G30 irons will never get mistaken for a player’s club, and that’s quite alright by me.

Club Specifications

I used PING’s nFlight fitting program from their website and was fit into the blue color code irons with the aqua grips. I’ve done a few iron fittings in person before, and nobody has ever mentioned that I might need smaller than standard grips, which I found interesting. The smaller grips really do feel more comfortable in my hands.

The shaft is the stock CFS Distance steel shaft that PING offers. I received the entire set of G30 irons, from 4 iron to LW. Most stores will offer the set from 4 iron to UW for $799.99 retail, or about $100 per club with steel shafts. The clubs are slightly more expensive with graphite shafts.

The lofts on the 4 through 6 irons are actually a little bit weaker than my current clubs, while the 7 iron through the wedges have identical lofts. This made it an easy transition in my bag.

Performance
My first experience with the G30 irons was out on the range. I brought them and my current game improvement clubs for a side-by-side comparison test. They weren’t necessarily more forgiving than my other clubs, but definitely just as forgiving.

What did surprise me was their length. I saw about a 5 yard increase in carry distance through the set. While this may not seem like much, it’s important to realize that I was comparing them to similar cavity back clubs with thin, “springy” clubfaces. The company that made the clubs I owned had already touted the distance advantage of their clubs. If you factor in the fact that they are actually slightly stronger in lofts than the G30 irons, you can see why I was surprised to see an increase in distance.

True to PING’s marketing, I did launch the wedges lower than my current wedges. This makes them easier to control, which is exactly what you want from your scoring clubs. With my current clubs, I avoided taking full swing shots with my gap or sand wedges because they would fly so high. I can hit the G30 gap and sand wedges with full confidence.

After the full swing test with the wedges, I hit various pitch and chip shots. These are some of the primary functions of the wedge, after all, so if the G30 wedges are no good around the greens, I can’t play them. With the exception of the LW (because my LW has a different sole grind which makes it more versatile), these wedges performed just as well as mine. A lot of iron manufacturers create their iron set wedges too much like their irons; Ping’s wedges are actually pretty functional wedges, which is primarily due to the bounce. If you have wedges with special grinds or bounce, these may not work for you. I replaced all the wedges in my bag for the full swing benefits because I did not see any drawbacks on the short game (again, not the LW).

The low and mid irons performed just as well as my current set, with just the slight increase in distance mentioned above. What really shined for me was the 4 and 5 irons. I found them very forgiving and easy to hit. They’re almost like a hybrid-iron or driving iron. The ball comes off the face effortlessly and launched high. I didn’t feel like I had to swing harder or muscle them to get them airborne, which helps with contact. I don’t really notice the back of the club at address anymore, either. It’s still there; I just don’t pay any attention to it. I actually replaced my 4 hybrid with the G30 4 iron because I have a tendency to hook the hybrid, which I did not notice in the 4 iron.

Ping G30 Driver Loft Adjustment

You can work these clubs, too. I never understood the “game improvement clubs are harder to work than blades” argument. You want to hit a draw or a fade, you can with the G30 irons. If you work clubs by missing slightly towards the heel or toe, then you’re out of luck, because slight mishits aren’t going to see a lot of gear effect.

Ping G30 Iron Specs

After my successful trip to the range, I took the G30 irons to TST’s Annual Erie Outing. The experience on the course was similar to that of the range—I found the clubs to be very easy to hit. I had no problem hitting it from various lies and even found it pretty easy to hit low shots when I needed to, despite its high launching characteristics. The only times where the clubs didn’t do well was when my swing fell apart, but no club can save you from a really bad swing. As an interesting note, the 6 iron can serve as a putter in a pinch, but don’t expect to flop it unless you have some pretty good technique.

I took them out for another round afterwards played some pretty good (by my standards) golf. I took a little off all my shots to focus on quality of contact and the clubs really performed well. I didn’t lose much distance (if any) on slight mishits. I hit a few shots thin and didn’t see any yardage loss at all—they ended up exactly where I had intended to hit them, just with a lower trajectory. I even had one shot on hardpan over water that launched effortlessly onto the green.

It didn’t really occur to me until the round was over that I only hit one really fat shot. Even on that shot, I only lost about 25 yards, and I had to hit the ground about an inch before the ball to hit it fat. I attribute this to the bounce profile and rounded leading edge. Just like how bounce helps to increase the margin of error on a pitch shot by allowing you to hit the ground slightly before the ball and “glide” through the shot, it does the same on a full swing shot. By designing the irons with a rounded leading edge and more bounce, PING has made it harder to dig them into the turf, which gives them an additional element of forgiveness. If you have a really steep swing or just bottom the club out too far behind the ball, you are still going to hit it fat, but after three rounds of golf, I can reasonably say that they are harder to dig into the ground than my previous irons.

Ping G30 Iron Lofts Chart

Conclusion
I think PING hit an absolute homerun with these clubs. They’re loaded with performance enhancement, but manage to be a little more subdued looking than other game improvement clubs. They launch the ball high without ballooning, they’re easy to hit, and they’re long.

The more I hit them, the more I like them. They’re definitely a good option for a mid to high-handicap player, though I feel that even low-handicap players who are looking for some additional forgiveness can play the Ping G30 irons, too.

I really can’t say enough about these clubs. They’ve made me a PING guy.