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Being a fan of golf games you must have noticed the small colored dot on the Ping irons just beside the ‘PING’ branding on the club head of the golf iron.
Some think that this small colored dot represents the type of club used but that’s not correct. In fact, you can find many color options in every iron, hybrid, driver, putter, etc. Now, the question is What do these different color dots mean?
Color dots represent the relative lie angle (that the heel of the golf club makes with the ground) and length of the shaft of the Ping iron.
Every Pro golfer gets his Ping static iron recommendation verified by a professional fitter with the help of the Ping Colour Code Chart. The combination is verified by taking two measurements into consideration— your height and your wrist-to-floor measurement(from the first crease of your wrist).
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The perfect combination of lie angle and the shaft length help you to improve your game very quickly.
History of Ping golf equipment manufacturer
In 1959, the Ping golf equipment manufacturer company was started as a garage business by Karsten Solheim. Solheim was the first who started designing customized golf irons. He introduced the Ping Colour Coding System in 1972, which distinguishes the lie angle of the club head with a colored dot engraved on the Clubhead.
What is the difference between dots on Ping irons?
Before we understand the difference between the different color dots let us first understand a crucial concept of the lie angle.
Lie Angle
The angle that the shaft makes at the sole of the club head or the ground is called the lie angle. A golfer has to customize his iron to have the appropriate lie angle with the help of a fitter. The perfect angle allows the golfer to make strong contact with the clubhead with the ball and obtain the perfect straight flight.
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Difference Between the Color Dots of Ping Golf Irons
Each colored ball on the clubhead represents a different combination of the line angle and the respective length of the shaft. A professional fitter will help you to select the appropriate color dot based on your measurements and other important readings.
| S.No | Colour | Lie Angle |
| 1. | Ping maroon dot | 5° Upright |
| 2. | Ping silver dot | 4°Upright |
| 3. | Ping white dot | 3°Upright |
| 4. | Ping green dot | 2°Upright |
| 5. | Ping blue dot | 1°Upright |
| 6. | Ping black dot | 0° |
| 7. | Ping red dot | 1°Flat |
| 8. | Ping orange dot | 2°Flat |
| 9. | Ping brown dot | 3°Flat |
| 10. | Ping gold dot | 4°Flat |
- Black is the standard and the most common Ping dot color.
- Blue, green, white, silver, and maroon are upright colors.
- Red, orange, brown, and gold are flat.
Problems Related to the Inappropriate Selection of the Colour Dot
Selecting the suitable color dot for the Ping iron is extremely crucial otherwise the golfer might have to face the problems such as— too upright or too flat an angle. Below is a brief explanation of these errors.
Too Upright Angle
Clearly, you can observe from the diagram that when the club sits too upright, the heel of the club first hits the ground before striking the ball that turns the clubhead slightly inward and the ball will go to the left after the stroke of the clubhead.
Too Flat Angle
When the lie angle is too flat, the toe of the club will hit the ground first, which opens up the face of the clubhead and the ball will go to the right after the stroke of the clubhead.
Just Right Lie Angle
When the lie angle is perfect the clubhead strikes the ball right from the midsection of the face and then will go straight allowing the golfer to get the perfect flight.
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Watch the following video for a better understanding of the concept
Lie angle and selection of the color of the golf iron
The Process of Custom Fitting Irons
The process of custom fitting irons involves the following steps:
Step 1: Interview
The first step of the custom fitting is the interview with a professional fitter. The fitter asks questions about the equipment, ball-flight tendency, likes, and dislikes about the current set, needs, and preferences of the golfer.
Step 2: Static Fitting
The second step in the custom fitting process is static fitting. The static fitting also involves two steps:
(i) Measurement of the height and distance of the wrist-to-ground of the golfer(from the first wrinkle of the wrist).
(ii) Calculating the static iron color code— the lie angle and the length of the shaft. As well as the hand dimensions of the golfer are also taken to calculate the static grip size.
You may be wondering, how does the fitter determine the ball color from the Ping Dot System/Chart? Let me explain to you, the method.
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Calculation of the Ping Colors
The Ping Dot Chart is the combination of the height of a person and the distance of his wrist from the ground(first crease of the wrist). You can see the different heights written horizontally at the top of the chart while the distance of the wrist-to-ground is written vertically.
To calculate the color of the ping the height of the golfer is taken from the top of the chart then the distance of the wrist-to-ground is located on the chart. Finally, the color band where both of the measurements appear to meet is chosen as the probable color of the dot.
Step 3: Dynamic Swing Test
The last step of the iron fitting process is the dynamic swing test. In this process, a special type of tape is pasted at the sole of the clubhead, and the golfer is asked to hit a few balls from an impact board. Every time when a club hits the board it leaves a mark on the tape. The fitter takes the readings from the tape to understand the setup, posture, swing effect, etc.
In case the tape receives the mark near the heel it is said to be too upright, on the other hand, if the mark is near the toe of the clubhead that is called too flat. The mark in the middle of the tape is considered just right. At last, the fitter makes a few adjustments to arrive at the best color code for the golfer.
Online Fitting
Ping has also launched an online fitting application. So now you can customize your fitting even at home. Here’s the link https://ping.com/en-us/fitting/webfit
Images credit: https://ping.com/
FAQ’S
What is the difference between dots on Ping irons?
To know the difference between dots in ping irons See the table above.
Can Ping irons lie be adjusted or repaired?
For some iron clubs, you can adjust the angle putting that in a lofting lie machine but if the club is made up of a hard material then you can't.
What are the latest Ping irons?
Ping G710 launched in February 2020.