TaylorMade Stealth HD Iron Review
Our verdict on this unorthodox game improvement iron said to deliver a high, draw-biased ball flight consistently
Transcript
00:00 Now it's fair to say that TaylorMade is a company
00:02 well known for thinking outside the box
00:04 and creating new products, but it's fair to say
00:06 we weren't expecting something this drastic
00:08 with its latest iron design for 2023.
00:11 It's the TaylorMade Stealth HD iron
00:14 and it comes into the range in addition
00:16 to last year's Stealth irons,
00:17 offer golfers even more launch and draw bites
00:20 to help them if they struggle with weak shots
00:22 that finish out to the right.
00:24 And it's a very unorthodox approach, you can see it here.
00:27 It's an incredibly shallow face,
00:29 especially in the long irons, really wide sole,
00:32 a completely unconventional approach
00:34 to golfers hitting longer, more accurate shots.
00:37 But the big question is, does it work?
00:39 That's what we're gonna try and find out in this video.
00:41 We're gonna test it on a launch monitor
00:42 up against the Stealth iron to understand exactly
00:45 what the differences are in the performance
00:47 and which type of golfer might benefit
00:50 from switching to an iron like this.
00:52 Okay, so what has TaylorMade done
00:53 with the design of this new Stealth HD iron?
00:55 Well, I've got the Stealth HD 7 iron
00:57 and the Stealth 7 iron from last year.
01:00 And as you can see, the face on the new Stealth HD iron
01:03 is a lot shallower.
01:04 And the whole idea behind that is to drive the CG lower
01:08 to give you more help in launching the ball a lot higher.
01:11 It's a pretty radical approach to iron design
01:14 in terms of achieving that.
01:15 So as I mentioned, it's a very shallow face.
01:17 It's almost as wide as it is tall.
01:19 It's a very unorthodox design and look
01:22 that you would often associate with chippers
01:24 or chipping clubs around the green,
01:25 those specific clubs to help golfers
01:27 who've got the yips around the green.
01:29 It's got a very rounded front edge and a very wide sole,
01:32 which actually plays a little bit narrower than it looks
01:34 because of this step-down design here at the back.
01:36 But all in all, at address, it's an unconventional look.
01:39 There's a lot of loft on show, very wide, bags of offset.
01:43 And the other thing that you'll notice at address
01:45 is that it does sit significantly toe up,
01:47 which is always gonna promote a right to left ball flight
01:50 for a right-hander or get the ball turning over
01:52 from right to left.
01:52 So very, very different to where we were with the Stealth iron
01:56 worth pointing out that the Stealth HD
01:58 does get a bit more traditional as the irons get shorter,
02:01 as the loft increases, it looks a little bit more traditional
02:03 but those longer irons in particular,
02:05 kind of from seven iron down, are drastically different
02:08 from any other kind of conventional iron
02:10 that you'd be used to looking down on
02:12 in that game improvement space.
02:13 So I think, you know, we've done a lot of talking
02:15 about how this iron looks.
02:16 Let's hit some shots on the launch monitor
02:19 to see exactly how the performance compares
02:21 between the two, but also how the iron performs
02:24 when we slow our swing speed down.
02:25 We know this iron is not designed
02:27 for a three-index player like me.
02:29 It's designed for high handicappers
02:31 who tend to have slower swing speeds.
02:32 So how does this iron perform
02:34 when we slow our swing speed down versus Stealth?
02:36 Because we know brands offering stronger and stronger lofts
02:39 in their game improvement irons
02:40 doesn't necessarily help those who are kind of force limited,
02:43 who physically don't have the speed to flight the ball.
02:46 Often something that's more traditionally in loft
02:49 and built to help the ball launch higher,
02:51 you'll get more carry distance out of that
02:53 versus a stronger lofted game improvement iron.
02:55 So it doesn't necessarily mean that stronger lofts
02:57 equal more distance for every type of player.
02:59 But let's hit some shots with both these irons
03:01 compared to the two, and then we'll slow our swing speed down
03:04 to see what difference that makes.
03:06 (upbeat music)
03:08 Right, so I've hit five shots with each of these irons.
03:19 Worth pointing out, before we go into the data,
03:21 that the Stealth HD iron has a seven-iron loft of 30 degrees.
03:25 So two degrees weaker than the TaylorMade Stealth.
03:27 We've got the numbers here, starting with the Stealth iron.
03:30 You can see this club is carrying nearly 172 yards
03:35 and spinning at kind of 5,400 RPM.
03:38 But if we switch to the Stealth HD,
03:41 unsurprisingly, it is quite a lot shorter.
03:44 It's around about nine yards shorter on average,
03:46 and it's spinning up a lot more,
03:48 launching a little bit higher,
03:49 not as quick off the face because of that weaker loft.
03:51 But I think there's some trends here.
03:53 You can see, clearly, the Stealth HD
03:55 is doing its job of flying the ball a lot higher.
03:58 That's the white ball flight on the left.
04:00 And speaking of shot pattern, we can see over here,
04:02 the shot pattern is more to the left
04:04 than we were with Stealth.
04:06 But what I'd say is not as far to the left
04:08 as I was expecting.
04:09 Looking down on that face with the toe pointing up,
04:11 I was expecting the shots to start and curve
04:14 a lot more left than they actually did.
04:15 So I was surprised about that.
04:17 And actually, you can see how the dispersion pattern
04:19 is pretty consistent.
04:19 Other than that one I turned over quite significantly,
04:22 the other shots were pretty solid
04:24 and quite close to the target line.
04:25 So it's definitely a very user-friendly, forgiving iron.
04:28 Obviously, the Stealth is obviously
04:30 a very forgiving iron as well.
04:31 But I was surprised at actually how straight
04:34 the shots with the Stealth HD were,
04:36 because in practice, I'm hitting them on the range outdoors,
04:39 the shots were turning over quite a lot more to the left.
04:41 So perhaps take it with a pinch of salt,
04:44 but maybe it doesn't have as much left bias in as I thought,
04:47 but is delivering more draw bias
04:50 than the original Stealth iron.
04:51 So it's clear delivery on its promise
04:54 of higher launch and a more draw bias ball flight.
04:56 But the big question is, how does it perform,
04:59 or how does it compare when we slow our swing speed down?
05:01 Would a slower swing speed golfer actually benefit
05:04 or get more performance out of an HD iron
05:06 versus the original Stealth?
05:07 That's what we're gonna try and do now in a live scenario.
05:10 So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna slow my swing speed down,
05:12 hit a shot with each that's well struck,
05:14 and hopefully we'll see variances in carry distance.
05:17 They actually might kind of reverse themselves,
05:18 and maybe even the Stealth HD iron
05:20 could go a little bit further.
05:21 Okay, so we've seen from the data
05:23 on full tilt hitting these seven irons,
05:25 my swing speed is around about 85, 86 miles an hour.
05:28 We're now gonna see how the carry distance compares
05:31 when we slow our swings right down.
05:33 So starting with the Stealth HD,
05:35 gonna try and slow it right down to about 65 miles an hour
05:38 and see what difference the carry distance has,
05:41 given the differences in the construction of these heads.
05:44 So starting with the Stealth HD.
05:48 (gunshot)
05:50 Right, nearly bang on there.
05:55 Club speed of 64 miles an hour,
05:58 and a carry distance of 118 yards.
06:00 You can see we're a little bit left.
06:02 Shut the face a bit, which might affect the carry slightly,
06:05 but let's see what the Stealth iron does at similar speed.
06:09 (gunshot)
06:14 Ooh, I think I swung that a bit too hard.
06:18 65, so slightly quicker,
06:21 and only four yards longer on average carry.
06:24 So you can see when you slow your swing speed down,
06:26 the difference between the two irons really does narrow,
06:28 and actually the distance is probably quite comparable
06:32 between the two club heads,
06:33 so therefore when you have a slower swing speed,
06:35 the choice becomes more difficult.
06:36 You've got the choice of something a bit lower spinning,
06:39 or something a bit higher spinning
06:40 and higher launching with the Stealth HD.
06:42 I think actually slower swingers
06:44 would probably benefit from switching
06:46 to something a bit more user-friendly like that HD iron.
06:49 It's a bit larger, gonna get the ball up in the air
06:51 a little bit easier,
06:52 and you've probably gonna lose as much distance
06:55 as you might think.
06:56 Okay, so hopefully this comparison test
06:58 give you a flavor about what this Stealth HD iron is about
07:01 and how it performs versus
07:03 a more conventional game improvement iron,
07:05 and yes, it is a drastic departure visually
07:07 from where most game improvement irons are,
07:10 but if you can get past the looks
07:11 we've seen from this test,
07:12 it does deliver that extra performance of more height
07:16 and more draw bias to your iron shots,
07:17 and if your swing speed is slightly slower,
07:20 you're really gonna enjoy the performance benefits
07:22 that this club offers.
07:23 It's very user-friendly,
07:24 forgiving through the turf with that wide sole,
07:26 and if you also struggle with a miss to the right,
07:29 this is definitely gonna help correct that.
07:30 So there are a lot of benefits or positives
07:32 to talk about with this Stealth HD iron.
07:34 I think the looks will divide opinion,
07:36 and for some it might be a step too far,
07:38 but if you can get past the way they look
07:40 or you want to look down an iron
07:41 that's more confidence-inspiring,
07:43 like a hybrid style design,
07:45 you're gonna enjoy what the Stealth HD iron has to offer.
07:48 For a lot of golfers, it won't be as long
07:50 or as powerful as the original Stealth iron,
07:52 but for that golfer that struggles to flight the ball,
07:55 there's an awful lot to like about this Stealth HD iron.
07:57 So hopefully you enjoyed this video
07:59 and it's given you a really good idea
08:00 about what this Stealth HD iron has to offer.
08:02 But that's all from me from Kings Golf Studio.
08:05 Do click the like button if you like this video
08:07 and subscribe to our channel,
08:08 but I'll see you next time.
08:09 (upbeat music)
08:12 (upbeat music)
08:15 (upbeat music)