Ping S55 Vs Ping S56 Irons Comparison Overview

You would be hard-pressed to suss out the difference between the Ping S55 and Ping S56 irons if you were just looking at them.

When we got our hands on both these sets, we set their respective 7-irons side-by-side, looked down at them and could still barely tell the difference.

Right off the bat, you should know that both of these irons were designed for lower handicap players. But during our testing, we found something rather surprising about their performance…

Ping S55 Irons Overview

“The Ping S55 irons have a very traditional look: thin topline, virtually no offset and short blade lengths.”

The toe is also nice and high so these are really reminiscent of old school, 70’s era irons. However, one thing that really surprised us was that the CG on these irons was noticeably low. Thinning the ball with these irons was not nearly as detrimental as we were expecting.

Furthermore, the lower CG helped our higher handicap testers get the ball in the air easier. For our lower handicap testers, this meant workability not only from left-to-right; but up and down as well.

The Ping S55 irons are slightly stronger-lofted than the Ping S56 irons so you get a naturally lower trajectory. Heel-side mis-hits picked up a lot of spin; but high-toe misses and low-face strikes stayed surprisingly playable.

Ping S56 Irons Overview

“The Ping S56 irons launched higher than the S55’s and offered a bit more forgiveness.”

That sounds like a tepid statement but you have to remember that even the Ping S56 irons are compact, minimal offset irons. The Ping S56’s are even more forgiving than the S55’s yes; but they are still not for 15+ handicappers.

Our off-line divergence average was 12 yards with the S56’s compared to just 10 yards with the S55’s. Some of our faster swing speed testers were also losing a few yards with the Ping S56 irons because of the higher launch.

Still, the Ping S56 irons have a very stable feel at impact and produce a solid “click.” Again, we see surprising forgiveness in a workable iron.

“In our opinion, the Ping S55’s are the superior irons. They are more workable, more accurate and nearly as forgiving as the Ping S56 irons. We were honestly shocked at how forgiving irons of this size could be which is why we would recommend them for almost any sub 11 handicapper.”

Ping S55 Irons

Category: Player’s Performance Blades

Ping S56 Irons

Category: Player’s Cavity Back

Ping S55 – First Impressions

“The first thing we noticed about the Ping S55 irons was how nice they looked.”

Even in the bag, these irons look impressive. They will make you want to pick them up and take more swings which, in the end, may help you get more practice in and make you a better player. We also noticed that the leading edges of these irons were just slightly blunter than in the Ping S56 irons.

This was a nice little tweak to the design because it will help better players extract their balls from the rough with great precision. They look a bit boxy at address; but the minimal offset gives them a premium look that better players will fall in love with

Ping S56 – First Impressions

“The first thing we noticed was that the Ping S56’s hadd ferrules.”

This was something of note because a lot of irons that Ping was producing in that era didn’t have ferrules. So we could tell right off the bat that the Ping S56 irons were designed to look more appealing to skilled players who were used to bladed and minimally offset irons.

Once we started testing them, we noticed a high degree of workability. While they naturally want to pull left, it was very easy for our more experienced testers to work the ball left, right, up and down with these irons. Dispersion was also really nice as well: around 14 yards.

Ping S55 Selling Points:

Expanded custom tuning port
17-4 stainless steel construction
Cast design
Thermoplastic elastomer custom tuning port
High launch

Ping S56 Selling Points

Soft polymer tuning bar
More durable cast irons (as opposed to forged)
Cavity back design
Stabilizing bars
Low launch
Minimal offset

Who Are the Ping S55 Irons for?

“The Ping S55 irons are 100% for single-digit handicap players.”

There’s no questioning who these irons were made for. The short blades, compact heads and limited offset will absolutely appeal to scratch players. Compared to the Ping S56 irons, Ping also tweaked the loft just a bit to improve short game accuracy. The shorter irons and wedges have slightly stronger lofts than the Ping S56’s so you get a more controlled flight.

If you are the kind of player that likes to get in range on par-5’s in 2-3 swings, then the Ping S55 irons are definitely for you. They will give you the distance you need from the deck and the accuracy you crave around the pin. The Ping S55’s are a slight improvement over the Ping S56 irons; but there is enough of an improvement here to justify an upgrade if you are a skilled player.

The S Family of Irons

Of course, everyone will compare the Ping S55 irons to the popular Ping S56 irons because they look so similar. They also perform similarly. The Ping S56 irons are still amazing irons for low handicappers. They launch a bit higher overall and will give you plenty of control over the long irons.

However, if you feel that the Ping S55 irons are a bit too stiff, you will probably have an issue with the Ping S56’s because they feel even stiffer.

Distance: 96/100

Forgiveness: 95/100

Accuracy: 99/100

Control & Feel: 97/100

Overall Score: 97/100

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Who Are the Ping S56 Irons for?

“The Ping S56 irons would be a good choice if you are a 15 handicapper or lower.”

We honestly didn’t expect these irons to be so forgiving. Keep in mind though that they will take some time to get used to – especially if you are not used to looking down at player’s performance irons.

We can see high handicappers struggling mightily with these irons so they are really more for low to mid handicappers.