So I was at Golfsmith yesterday looking at clubs (ciao, my name is Dave and I’m a club-ho) I tried a Ping G5 with a steel shaft and it felt fantastic. Though, it was a steel shaft. I’ve gone graphite because when I’ve tried other steel shaft clubs, I’ve felt the “Zing” up the shaft into my arm. With the G5, I felt no “Zing”.

My question is two parts.

a. how much of it is due to the “Custom Tuning Port” circular thermoplastic insert behind the face and

b. how much of it could be attributed to the “Cushin” vibration damping inside the shaft…which the salesperson didn’t know if it was on the club.

It seems that Tuning Port is on nearly all of their clubs.
‘ve got tennis elbow and when I hit a golf ball with a steel shaft, the vibrations would travel up my arm and really bother me into the next day. Again, when I hit the Ping demos with a steel shaft, I don’t feel the vibes as much.

I’m trying to map out how much of it is due to the Cushin inserts in the steel shaft and how much is due to the “Tuned Port” behind the head.

Dave Bean

ANSWER:

‘m a certified ping fitter and it’s really a small bit of both. Ping really doesn’t push the “cushin” insert nearly as much as they used to. With the port you mentioned, that softens the feel quite a bit.

Whether the cushin insert was in the shaft or not I can’t tell you. Outside of the factor that the shaft band will have it written all over it, it’s hard to miss.

The cushin insert does make a steel shaft feel more like a graphite shaft, but it’s obviously subdue steel and you can get the zingers, just not as frequently.

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