Ping G400 vs. Callaway Epic Driver (Differences/Benefits)

 

There are lots of great drivers on the market, and it can be hard to choose which one is the best for your game.

Narrowing your choice down to the Ping G400 and the Callaway Epic Flash means that you have already done a great job.

Both of these clubs offer some tremendous benefits, and they have improved the game of many players.

Let’s take deeper look into the Ping G400 and Callaway Epic Flash to see which one is the best for your game.

 

Ping G400 vs. Callaway Epic Driver (Differences/Benefits)

 

Ping G400

 

The Ping G400 driver is not the latest release in their lineup of clubs, but it certainly is one of the best selling.

The G400 driver is built for a wide range of players, and it can help golfers get lots more ball speed than some other choices on the market.

 

1. Distance

 

The Ping G400 driver has a forged T9S+ face.

The face on this driver will flex slightly when a golfer makes contact, and it will give much higher ball speeds.

When you make contact with the G400, it will feel as though the ball jumps off the face of the club.

Another thing that is helping golfers gain higher ball speeds is the improved aerodynamic shape of the club.

The G400 is designed to get through the air about 15% faster than previous drivers.

The combination of the hot club face and this extra speed from improved aerodynamics has golfers seeing a large increase in distance.

 

2. Forgiveness

 

The center of gravity on the G400 is very low.

This allows the golfer to hit the ball higher in the air and still get lots of distance.

Players are noticing much tighter dispersion with the G400 in their hands.

In addition, the tungsten back weight gives a golfer a very high MOI (Moment of Inertia).

The high MOI helps to make a big difference when the center of the club face is missed slightly.

If you are used to losing twenty or thirty yards from a miss hit, the Ping G400 will help to bridge that gap.

 

3. Adjustability

 

The G400 driver does have an adjustable loft, but it won’t be as extreme as some other brands.

Many drivers are adjustable by two degrees.

The Ping G400 can only go up or down one degree.

This is still a great feature to have, but it makes it very important to choose the proper loft when you purchase the club.

 

4. Player Handicap

 

When it comes to a driver and player handicap, the essential piece of the puzzle is feel.

If a driver feels excellent, chances are lower handicap golfers will consider it to be a club they could work with.

If the driver allows some workability and not just pure forgiveness, this will again appeal to the lower handicapper.

The great thing about the majority of Ping drivers is that they are made for a wide range of golfers.

Most of the time, Ping only has one driver out at once, though it may be available in several different models.

The Ping G400 can work for low handicappers up to high handicappers as long as the proper decisions about shaft and loft are made.

 

Callaway Epic Flash Driver

 

The Callaway Epic Flash driver was an improvement on the Epic driver of a few years back.

The Epic Flash driver was the first club that used the brand new and high performing flash face technology.

If you want to see a golf ball jump off of a club head, the Epic Flash is the club to use.

Although this is not the latest release from Callaway, you will actually find that it works to your advantage.

The newer drivers are priced quite a bit higher than the Epic Flash, but they don’t offer all that much more benefit.

 

1. Distance

 

There are two main factors which contribute to the tremendous length golfers are seeing with the Epic Flash.

The first of these is the Jailbreak technology.

With the Jailbreak technology, you will notice that the Epic Flash has bars inside the club which act almost like a trampoline.

These bars help to support the club face, and when a golfer makes contact, they will give the ball that extra kick it needs.

The face of the club is the new Flash Face technology which is producing some of the highest ball speeds that golf has seen.

If you like to hit the ball a long way, you will love the Epic Flash driver.

The club head itself has more of a traditional design, and it does not look quite as “aerodynamic” as some of the newer models.

If you like a traditional looking club with a ton of performance, the Epic Flash is the way to go.

 

2. Forgiveness

 

The Callaway Epic Flash features the Triaxial Carbon Crown.

This has helped to save quite a bit of weight in the club head and make the club more forgiving for off-center hits.

The high MOI helps give golfers that extra jump off the club head even when their swing is slightly off.

Overall, Callaway will not call the Epic Flash their most forgiving driver.

If you are a very high handicap who needs something offset and draw biased, then the Epic Flash is probably not the right choice for you.

However, if you are a mid to low handicapper who needs extra distance and consistency off the tee, you will love what the Epic Flash has to offer.

 

3. Adjustability

 

The Callaway Epic Flash is a highly adjustable driver.

You can move weights and adjust the loft to your liking.

If you like adjustability, you will find it is very easy to set the Epic Flash to a place it feels like a custom fit for you.

 

4. Player Handicap

 

The ideal golfer for the Callaway Epic Flash is someone who is mid to low handicap.

If you are a fifteen handicap and below, you will love the performance benefits of this club.

If your handicap is closer to a thirty, you may want to look for something that is a bit more forgiving.

Although the Epic Flash can be set to be more draw bias and you can raise the loft, there are more forgiving drivers on the market than this one.

However, if you are a very low handicap golfer, you may want to look into the Epic Flash Sub Zero.

This is a driver that is slightly lower profile and a bit more workable.

The sub-zero line of the Callaway clubs is built for the players who are single-digit handicaps looking for feel and precision from their driver.

 

Ping G400 vs. Callaway Epic Driver—Comparison

 

Now that you have a better understanding of each of these clubs individually, let’s see how they compare.

 

1. Distance

 

The Callaway Epic Flash and the Ping G400 are both very long drivers.

If you are playing with a golf driver that is more than five years old, you will almost certainly see an increase in distance by switching to one of these clubs.

When you compare them side by side, you will notice very similar ball speeds and performance.

The Callaway Epic Flash tends to come out on top when you compare distances side by side.

Although the Ping G400 is plenty long enough, we noticed a few more yards of roll when hitting with the Epic Flash.

It is very likely a combination of that Jailbreak technology mixed with the Carbon Crown and the Flash Face.

This is a lot of distance technology for Ping to compete with.

However, we did notice that the dispersion rates were a little better on the G400.

 

2. Forgiveness

 

Where Callaway led the way with distance, we believe Ping leads the way with forgiveness.

The G400 is a very consistent driver which tends to offer golfers very low dispersion rates.

The lower your dispersion, the closer to each other all of your drives will land.

If you could put a bucket out in the fairway and hit all your drives into the bucket, your dispersion rates would be amazing.

The Epic Flash does a good job of keeping the ball in the fairway as long as you have it set to the right specifications for your game.

We just felt like the Ping was a predictable club from the tee box.

It’s hard to choose between distance and forgiveness.

The good news is that you will only be giving up a very small amount of distance if you go with the G400 over the Epic Flash.

 

3. Price

 

Since both the G400 and the Epic Flash are not the latest releases, the pricing is going to be much fairer.

It does seem as though the Epic Flash drivers are a little easier to find than the G400.

If your specs are pretty simple and you don’t think there will be a lot of custom changes you need made to the driver, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding one of these drivers.

Keep in mind that, if you are looking for a used Ping, you will probably not save yourself all that much money.

Ping drivers tend to hold their value quite well, and this can be a good thing if you plan on selling your driver at a later date.

Whichever driver you end up choosing, you will not overpay.

The technology is certainly worth the price at which these clubs are currently offered.

 

4. Player Handicap

 

Many golfers like to purchase a driver based on their handicap.

Although this can be an excellent guideline to follow, you should not let it limit you if you find a club that is a really good fit for your game.

Lower handicappers should consider the Epic Flash a bit more strongly than the G400.

The higher handicappers will enjoy the added forgiveness we noticed from the G400.

Since both of these drivers are adjustable, and they are both offered in a wide range of shafts, you could get them to work for almost any handicap.

Keep in mind that even low handicap golfers enjoy a bit extra distance and forgiveness from time to time.

The game is hard enough, so there is no reason to make it even harder.

 

Ping G400 vs. Callaway Epic Driver Video Performance Review

 

Conclusion

As you can see from our review, both of these drivers offer some really great technology.

The most important thing to consider when choosing a new driver is how your current driver compares to the new one.

If you try out a new club and it goes further, feels better, and looks great to you, that is the club you should use.

Spend more time comparing your old driver with your new one than two models put side by side.

In the end, the performance you get from either one of these two drivers is going to be very similar.