Ping G425 LST, MAX and SFT Fairway Woods Review

The Ping G425 fairway woods have a new, more powerful face wrap and an ovoid shape to deliver more consistent spin and distance.

Ping have been known for making some of the games most forgiving fairway woods since they introduced the Ping G2 way back in 2004.

For 2021, Ping’s engineers wanted to build on that forgiveness platform, and they’ve come up with two new technologies that boost ball speed and improve spin consistency from shot to shot. The result is more consistent carry distances, even on off-centre strikes.    

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As with their G425 drivers, Ping take a three-model approach to fairways. The G425 MAX is aimed at a wide audience of golfers, where the LST is a lower spinning option for high swing speed players, and the SFT is an easy to launch draw-bias option which tends to fit mid to lower swing speeds well.  

WATCH: Best 2022 Fairway Wood video

What’s new with the Ping G425 fairway woods?

Face Wrap

There’s been a lot of talk around cup-face technology in drivers, fairway woods and irons for years, but 2021 is the first year, thanks to material advances, that Ping feel the idea delivers a significant enough benefit to warrant inclusion for Ping players.

Ping say by wrapping the face around to meet the sole and crown there’s no welded seam on the face (like past Ping models) which leads to extra face flex and more uniform deflection. More face flex means more ball speed.

Ping say the face in each of the G425 fairway models now flexes 100% of it’s own thickness, which from their test sessions has delivered an extra 1.5mph of ball speed.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about the Ping G425 irons

Shaped for Spinsistency

The days of woods having a uniform curve across and up the face (known as roll and bulge) are well and truly gone. 

Engineers used to talk about roll and bulge offering a ‘gear effect’ that would help bring off-centre hits back online, but more advanced analysis nowadays has shown that shots hit low on the face would spin more (costing distance) while shots hit high on the face would spin less, which could cause them to nose-dive out of the air if the spin level was too low. 

Ping’s solution (a little like TaylorMade’s Twist Face tech) is to make the face more ovoid in shape (from sole to crown), rather than a traditional circle with a consistent radius.

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It means the lower part of the face has less loft, so shots spins less and go further, yet higher up the face there’s more loft (which means more spin) so shots stay in the air for longer. The idea means extra spin and distance consistency, no matter where on the face you hit it, hence the name ‘Spinsistency’.

The result is less difference in launch, spin and carry distance between low, middle and high face impacts.         

At a glance: Ping G425 Max Fairway Wood

RRP: £299

Lofts: 3 – 14.5°/ 5 – 17.5° / 7 – 20.5° / 9 – 23.5°

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB or Ping Tour

No upcharge upgrade shafts: Mitusbishi Tensei Orange, Aldila Rogue

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Ping say this model will be the most forgiving option for the majority of golfers and they it’s reckon 4.5 yards longer than the previous G410 fairway wood, thanks to the new Face Wrap and Spinsistency tech.

Verdict: Ping G425 Max Fairway Wood

We talk a lot about the forgiveness of Ping drivers and irons, but the fairways are just as easy to use. We’ve been big Ping fairway fans for years and the new G425 Max is every bit as good as its predecessors.

Compared to the competition, there’s a flatter sole, lower profile head and less face height, which overall gives a really friendly, confidence-inspiring appearance. After getting used to Ping’s crown turbulators over the years, we thought removing them to incorporate the new face wrap tech might look a bit odd. In fact, the G425 is clean and slick.

We spent lots of time trawling through our Fairway Wood Test data to see if Ping’s ‘spinsistency’ face story really stacks up. In Neil’s preferred Mitsubishi Tensei Orange shaft, the G425 was fourth best at protecting spin difference between shots, but more importantly it was also just 0.2% back from the lowest carry drop off; exactly the sort of additional consistency Ping rave about.

RELATED: Tested – Which Ping iron is right for me?

At a glance: Ping G425 SFT Fairway Wood

RRP: £299

Lofts: 3 – 16° / 5 – 19° / 7 – 22° 

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB Slate

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet

The SFT is slightly more lofted than the MAX and LST, which helps golfers launch shots high enough to maximise carry distance, particularly when hit from the ground.

There’s plenty of weight in the heel to invoke a draw bias and help reduce or eliminate a slice.

The head looks a little squashed, so they’re wider from front to back and there’s a more pan-shaped appearance, which can inspire confidence in golfers who don’t always feel comfortable with a fairway wood in hand. 

Expect 6 yards more draw bias than the previous G410 SFT fairway wood, 20 yards more draw bias than the G425 Max fairway and three yards extra carry distance over the G410 SFT.

Got a question about the Ping G425 Fairway Wood? Ask us on Twitter.

At a glance: Ping G425 LST Fairway Wood

RRP: £299

Lofts: 3 – 14.5°

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB or Ping Tour

No upcharge upgrade shafts: Mitusbishi Tensei Orange, Aldila Rogue

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Only available in one loft, the LST has a more compact head size than both the MAX and SFT.

It’s aimed at players with fast swing speeds who want to reduce spin. 

Expect 200 RPM less spin than the previous G410 LST fairway wood on average, but Ping say the new Spinsistency face is so efficient it gives 450 RPM less spin on low face impacts than the previous model.  

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Where did the Turbulators go?

Aerodynamic crown Turbulators have been a feature of Ping drivers, fairway woods and hybrids since the G30 in 2014.

On the drivers, Ping included Turbulators for enhanced aerodynamics and speed, but only really featured them on the fairways and hybrids because they wanted consistency across the whole range and for a possible benefit in terms of how they framed the ball at address. Ping never made any claims about Turbulators enhancing the actual performance of fairway woods and hybrids.  

For the G425, Ping decided instead to introduce a new 3-dot crown alignment aid to draw the same type of focus on the impact zone.      

Don’t forget to dial in

Adjustable hosels for fairway woods and hybrids have come and gone for some brands but Ping believe adjustability, not just for loft but lie angle too, is a very important part of fitting golfers correctly.

It means the G425 fairways come with hosels that can be adjusted by up to +/- 1.5° for loft and up to 3° in lie angle. 

How do the G425 Fairway Wood shaft options compare?

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Review written by: Simon Daddow   

Job title: Today’s Golfer – Equipment Editor

Ping G425 Max Fairway Wood

RRP: £299

Lofts: 3 - 14.5°/ 5 - 17.5° / 7 - 20.5° / 9 - 23.5°

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB or Ping Tour

No upcharge upgrade shafts: Mitusbishi Tensei Orange, Aldila Rogue

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Ping G425 LST Fairway Wood

RRP: £299

Lofts: 3 - 14.5°

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB or Ping Tour

No upcharge upgrade shafts: Mitusbishi Tensei Orange, Aldila Rogue

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Ping G425 SFT Fairway Wood

RRP:£299

Lofts: 3 - 16° / 5 - 19° / 7 - 22°

Stock shafts: Ping Alta CB Slate

Adjustable hosel: Yes (+/-1.5° loft adjustment and upto a 3° flat lie)

Stock grip: Arccos GP Lite 360 Tour Velvet