I’ve now played five rounds of golf with the new Arccos Air and Arccos Smart Laser in conjunction with the updated app features, and I’ve definitely learned some things about my game. I’m going to use this as a monthly update blog to keep not only myself in check on my performance and things I may need to change in my game or gear, but also so you can read along and learn yourself. Let’s get to it.

What the data is telling me

As Arccos would have it, I need work between the tee box and green. I have it set to compare myself to a scratch golfer, and at the moment I’m losing over 4 strokes. Off the tee I’m seeing semi-decent performance (more on this later), and on the greens I’m losing less than a stroke. The bigger problems are on the approach and in my short game. If I’m being honest about the approach shots, they are mostly coming from bad tee performance, but there’s no real excuse for some of the short-game stats.

Missing greens from less than 25 yards is unacceptable. I’d love to blame my gear, but not in this case. I’m also missing too many greens from 100 to 150 yards, which to me might say a lot about shot selection since those are distances I go after with my wedges, not any irons. I have a tendency to try and get a little bit too cute with anything 150 yards and in, and I think this is a great way of realizing that I need to be more aggressive with my distance choices and club selection and less focused on “creating a shot,” which is usually what ends up getting me in trouble.

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The driver quandary

If you look at the data, Arccos isn’t that upset with my driver performance on the surface, but there’s a level to the data that can’t be seen. I’m making up for it because of how far I can hit my driver. It’s actually offsetting the penalties that I take with the driver off the tee, but to me it’s unacceptable to hit anything out of bounds.

It starts to show a more clear picture when I look not just at my driving stats, but my specific stats with the driver itself — going from gaining .8 strokes to losing .8 strokes; only hitting 43% of fairways and the dreaded two-way miss. That also hurts the confidence — I don’t really know where the ball is going to go. At the very least it would be nice to have a one-way miss. So far this season, stepping on the tee box with a driver has been a pretty bad feeling. Hopefully that changes soon with a new driver in my hands.

What I’m working on this month

First and foremost, the number of missed greens from less than 25 yards needs to be zero. There’s absolutely no excuse for that. That will be a big stat I look at for the next update. I am also going to abandon the driver. I’ve been using one that gives me the most ball speed, and that’s still true, but it just doesn’t work for my game. Even after lofting up and adding weight to the crown of the driver, I just can’t seem to get the driver to create the amount of spin I am comfortable with. So I’ll have to sacrifice some ball speed, but I’d rather lose yardage and figure this out.

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The positives from this month? So far I feel very comfortable with everything between my driver and my wedges, which shows in the data. My irons are really great, and I have more confidence in my G440 4-hybrid and my Qi4D 5-wood than almost any other club in the bag. Being able to feel free going into par-5s or off the tee on short par-4s has been a big boost.

I’ve got plenty of golf lined up this month both on and off-camera, so we’ll see what sort of progress we can make before June. Time to figure out how to get dialed in.

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If you ask different experts across the industry who makes the best hybrid, Ping won’t lack for votes. I’ve personally used a Ping hybrid since the G400 hit the market, and I have no desire to switch. There are other excellent hybrids on the market — PXG and Cobra specifically surprised me this year — but there’s just something about a Ping.

At the Ping Proving Grounds in Scottsdale, Ariz., I had a chance to hit my own personal hybrids (G440s 4- and 5-hybrid) and talk through them with Master Fitter James Lee and Travis Milleman, senior design manager. Here’s what I learned.

Shape

For me, the starting point that makes the hybrids so good is the shape. The Ping hybrids aren’t trying to be small, and they aren’t trying to “look like an iron.” They’re on the larger side, but with a shallower face profile, and they provide tons of confidence. It’s hard to set down the clubhead behind the ball and not feel good about the swing you need to put on it.

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Sound and feel

Another easy nod for the Ping hybrids is how they sound and feel off the face. The hybrids have never been cursed with the high pitched ringing noise that wasn’t solved in Ping drivers until the G430 line. They’ve always had a loud sound at impact with a bit of a firmer feel that rockets off the face, but it’s never accompanied by a high pitch. It’s a nice crack at impact with a short duration that satisfies even the pickiest of audible concerns.

Performance

As I noted above, I have been playing a Ping hybrid since I started playing golf. The first was a G400 that I bought used for less than $50. I quickly upgraded to a G410, then a G425, G430 and then a G440 at the start of 2025 when the new lineup was launched. I’m also eagerly awaiting the arrival of new woods from Ping early next year, assuming they stick with their normal 2-year cycle.

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For me, every iteration of Ping hybrids has improved in a key area. From G400 to G410, they sounded a bit better; from G410 to G425, ball flight was more consistent with the introduction of Spincistency Technology; and G430 saw a massive ball-speed difference over G425 — enough that many golfers had to go into higher lofted models to maintain the same gapping in the bag. When G440 came along, I didn’t notice a ton of difference in “launch-monitor performance,” but they made one huge change: a progressive face-angle across the lofts. This is massive, and a way that Ping is taking one more thoughtful step before releasing its products.

In the video above, which you can also watch on YouTube below, you hear Travis talking about the Ping team diving into Arccos player data when developing the latest lineup. The key point is that few players used a 2-hybrid and 5-hybrid in the same bag, so why were they designing them the same way? The 2-hybrid player is at higher speeds and longer distances, and they also want something that’s not going to go left. The 5-hybrid player typically struggles a bit more and needs help launching the ball up in the air and getting it to turn over.

With the introduction of the progressive face angle in the new G440 hybrids, Ping controlled those expectations. The 2-hybrid starts the most open and fade biased, leading all the way down to the 7-hybrid that is the most closed at address and helps to launch the ball high and mitigate a right miss. It’s a cool way to direct performance straight to the end user.

Team hybrid for life

In the recent surge of high-lofted fairway wood use, I’ve been a staunch supporter for more golfers trying out the hybrid, and I’ve recommended Ping to all of them. What’s not to like? Plenty of launch help at lofts where it’s more needed; tons of ball speed; an easier-to-control flight window; and more playability from bad lies. If you’re a player looking to replace an iron, potentially even all the way down to an 8-iron, these clubs are terrific options that make the game easier.

Are you team hybrid? You should be!

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Fresh off her 18th LPGA Tour win at the 2026 Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, Nelly Korda joined the Pat McAfee Show on Monday to discuss her recent major championship victory, her dominance in the game and even the evolution of her swing.

But the most valuable takeaway came when Korda revealed the key to her famously fluid swing.

When asked by McAfee about how her swing has changed since she started playing, Korda was quick to credit her swing coach, David Whelan, who she explained has played a critical role in shaping her current swing. Korda also placed emphasis on the early influence of her parents, saying it was a simple swing cue from her dad that has helped her maintain her smooth tempo throughout her career.

“[My parents] spent so many hours with me just working on tempo” Korda said, “that is the one thing they ingrained into my brain. My dad always referred to it as “coca-cola…”

What started as a simple childhood cue for building rhythm became the foundation of Korda’s entire swing. Her “coca-cola” mantra isn’t about literal timing, but about preventing any sense of rushing. By anchoring her tempo to that easy, two-beat cadence, she developed the sequencing needed to swing smoothly.

“That was the key,” she continued, “It was super simple but it was the key to having a very fluid swing.”

If you want to build this into your swing, start at half speed. Make a few practice swings focusing only on a steady rhythm, not mechanics. Once that feels natural, gradually add speed while maintaining your tempo.

You can use your transition as a checkpoint. If your swing feels jerky or rushed as you start your downswing, your tempo is probably off. Remember, good swings stay smooth through that change of direction.