Taylormade M4 Vs. Ping G400 Irons Comparison Overview

The formula for forgiving irons is pretty simple: the larger the heads are, the easier it will be for high handicappers to use them. So it’s very tempting to simply go with the largest irons you can find if you’re a high handicapper.

But is that always the best route to take? In some cases, yes. However golf is a complex game and your needs (even as a beginner) may be met better by an iron set that isn’t just big. Today we are helping you sort through a couple of very different iron options in the Ping G400’s and Taylormade M4 irons.

Taylormade M4 Irons Overview

The Taylormade M4 irons sport a large head profile, cavity back design and the famed Speed Pocket.

What does all of this add up to? Forgiveness and easy distance. These are beefy irons that will look great at address to beginners and high handicappers. However, what makes them forgiving is also what holds them back a little.

Our high handicap testers noted that they loved the easy distance and look at address of the M4 clubs; but that they were also a bit heavy and clunky. This made the longer irons harder to swing accurately for our high handicap testers who much preferred the mid irons in this set.

Ping G400 Irons Overview

The Ping G400 irons also have a cavity back design; but with a sleeker, more streamlined head profile.

The Ping G400 irons feature a top rail undercut and a 17-4 stainless steel face construction. This combo made them comparable to the M4 irons in terms of distance. They were also a bit easier to wield but ultimately, less forgiving than the M4 irons.

Apex height was almost identical between these two iron sets as well. Where the Ping G400 irons really shine though is their short game performance. Unfortunately, the M4 irons will do almost nothing for your short approaches outside of adequate launch.

The Ping G400’s on the other hand have a higher degree of spin control and are much more viable in tough lies thanks to their hydropearl finish.

In our opinion, the Ping G400’s will provide more overall value season after season. While they aren’t as forgiving as the M4 irons, they provide ample distance and at least adequate short game control – a boon for a wide variety of players. In this case at least, smaller is better.

Ping G400 Irons

Category – Game Improvement Irons

Taylormade M4 Irons

Category: Game Improvement Irons

Ping G400 First Impressions

We were a bit wary of the Ping G400’s at first because they didn’t have the size of traditional game-improvement irons.

While you are looking at a shorter distance from heel to toe with the Ping G400 irons, the COR-Eye technology ensures that if you make contact with the sweet spot, your ball is gonna go far. Almost immediately, our testers were nailing shots in the 160 yard range with the 5 iron in this set.

We also really liked the way these irons sounded – particularly the long irons. The cavity badge really works to enhance sound when you hit the sweet spots of these irons. It didn’t take us very long to get the hang of these irons and start sending missiles down the fairway.

Taylormade M4 Irons First Impressions

The Taylormade M4 irons have a clean, cavity back design with an extended sole in the rear which looks very comforting for beginners.

This feature also made them play very well in the rough. It is very easy to launch the ball high (and far) even from the rough. We were very pleased with the feel when we struck the ball right in the sweet spot.

However, the feel gets a little thin and the sound gets a little hollow unless you are dead-center on the sweet spot.

Ping G400 – Selling Points

Hydropearl finish
Co-molded, 3-piece cavity badge
Good stock shaft choices
Very easy to achieve adequate launch
They produce easy distance

Taylormade M4 Selling Points

Ribcor design
Speed Pocket
Thick sole
Plenty of offset
Premium shaft options
Strong loft

Who Are The Ping G400 Irons for?

The Ping G400 irons are certainly for players still in the high handicap range. However, after our testing we felt that the kind of player who would get the best use out of these irons is the player who is primed to make the leap into the mid handicap range as they offer better short game performance than you might expect from a game-improvement set of irons.

These are great irons for anyone who is just learning how to work the ball from side-to-side. They allow for such workability but flatten the learning curve at the same time with their mid-size heads.

The G Family of Irons

The G series of irons from Ping also includes the G425 which features variable face thickness architecture which makes it forgiving enough for mid handicappers. The G425 has more of a players performance iron profile though.

Like the G400 irons, the G425 irons have a 14-4 grade stainless steel face design. This material also helps to launch the ball high in the air and produces adequate distance for high to mid handicap players.

Then there are the Ping G710 which are exceptionally forgiving with a longer blade length than the G400’s. The G710’s also feature variable face thickness and a nice maraging steel face. The maraging steel is an incredibly thin yet strong type of steel that allows the faces of these irons to flex and rebound.

The Ping G710 irons would also be a great fit for anyone with slow to moderate swings speeds. Plus, the black finish looks really cool.

Distance: 97/100

Accuracy: 96/100

Forgiveness: 95/100

Feel and Control: 96/100

Overall Score: 96/100

Check Out More Reviews Here:

Who are the Taylormade M4 Irons for?

There’s no question that the Taylormade M4 irons would be great for anything struggling with distance on the fairway.

At the end of the day though, these irons do much more for beginners than play long. Beginners, who will often find themselves in the rough, will benefit from the beefy sole and strong lofts of these irons.

Even intermediate players who don’t quite have their swing speeds where they would like it to be would benefit from these irons. Even if you are mixing and matching and only using the longer Taylormade M4 irons, they could be great assets as purely distance irons.

The Taylormade M Family of Irons

The Taylormade M family of irons also includes the M2 irons. The first thing we noticed about the M2 irons compared to the Taylormade M4’s is that the M2’s don’t do as good a job at dampening harsh impact vibrations.

On full swings, the M2’s feedback gets muddied by unwanted vibration. The M2’s do have the same lofts as the M4 irons though so the flight trajectory is very similar with these two iron sets.

It should also be noted that the M2 irons don’t feature the same Ribcor design as the Taylormade M4 irons. The main difference this makes is lesser distance – or at least, harder distance.

In other words, you will have to have good accuracy and a fast swing speed to get the same kind of distance with the M2’s as you would with the Taylormade M4 irons. As such, the M2 irons are better in the bags of low handicappers.