In this video, Joel Tadman tests the three new Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal irons on the launch monitor and the course at Longcliffe Golf Club to see how they perform. Interestingly, Mizuno has added a new High Launch model this time around and so Joel does a little experiment to see if golfers with slower swing speeds will actually get more distance from an iron with weaker lofts. Watch to the end to find out if this is the case.
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00:00Now it's always an exciting time when Mizuno launches new irons, especially within that
00:04JPX franchise where they have models to suit every type of player. But for 2023 there's a
00:10brand new model that Mizuno say will help golfers with slower swing speeds hit it further. It sounds
00:16counterintuitive but it's really addressing the need for game-improved irons to provide a more
00:22playable and optimum ball fight. The trend I've seen with lofts getting stronger, even at my swing
00:28speed, I struggle to really flight the ball in these game-improvement, super game-improvement
00:32clubs and Mizuno say they've combated that with the launch of this new JPX range, specifically
00:38the JPX 923 hot metal high launch. As you can see I've got three hot metal irons here in front of
00:43me. It's a split launch this time so you're gonna have to wait until February next year for the TOR
00:48and the FORGE, which are the two models that admittedly would probably be more suited to my
00:51swing speed and my handicap. But I want to put these irons through their paces, the hot metal,
00:56the hot metal pro and the hot metal high launch in this JPX 923 range to see exactly what they're
01:02all about. But even more specifically, if I swing them slower can I get even more distance out of
01:08that hot metal high launch than I can the other two models? That's what we're here at Long Cliff
01:12Golf Club to find out. Now if you want to find out about the technology in each of these specific
01:17heads go to the Golf Monthly website, there's a story there you can read all about that. We're
01:20not going to cover that in this video but what we are going to talk about is the concept behind
01:25the changes that Mizuno have made with these irons versus the previous 921 range in that JPX
01:30franchise. So Mizuno, as we know, they have that shaft optimizer technology where in three swings
01:36they can identify what shaft a golfer needs for their irons and from all those different swings
01:41they've captured over 350,000 swings there were a couple of trends that really stood out and that
01:46has really helped shape and influence the design of these new irons. The first is the fact actually
01:51that golfer swing speeds are quite slow, average was about 82 miles an hour with a 7-iron and that
01:56has led to the introduction of this high launch model which we've covered already. But the second
02:00trend was that golfers tended to present quite a lot of shaft lean at impact and that's resulted
02:06in a change in the bounce and the camber to these clubs so you'll notice there's a lot more bounce
02:09and camber to these clubs to give you a little bit more forgiveness through the turf if you do
02:14tend to deal off the club into impact and get that leading edge quite sharp into the ball so it gives
02:19you a little bit more margin for error, Mizuno say, on your strike. So those are the two key trends
02:23that Mizuno have incorporated into this range. I'm going to hit some shots here into this beautiful
02:27par 4 down here, the 10th hole at Longcliffe Golf Club. I've got the launch monitor, the full swing
02:32kit launch monitor, going to capture some data, we're going to assess the ball flight, assess the feel,
02:37the sound, everything about these clubs and then we'll feedback afterwards. So without further ado
02:41let's hit some shots and see what they're all about.
02:43Oh, it's much higher!
03:06Right, so I've really enjoyed my testing session on the full swing kit launch monitor with
03:10the three new JPX 923 hot metal irons and I've also thrown in the JPX 921 hot metal iron as a
03:18comparison which we're going to touch on now. So I'll flash up the data on the screen, you can
03:23click pause and peruse it at your leisure, but there were some trends that I noticed during
03:27the testing from the data that we got. The first being that I love how the spin is pretty high for
03:32what is a game improvement iron range where we see loft spin stronger, spin coming down, the fact
03:38that these clubs are spinning close to 6,000 rpm, we saw with the prior generation and that's been
03:43continuing to this one, so that's going to help players keep the ball in the air for longer and
03:47get more stopping power into greens. So that's the first thing that I really observed across all
03:51three of the new irons. So coming on to numbers, it's worth pointing out that the hot metal and
03:55the hot metal pro in this 923 range is half a degree stronger than where we were in the 921,
04:00but looking at the numbers actually it wasn't necessarily getting anything more out of this
04:04new version. Both were carrying similar, in the hot metal starting with the hot metal iron,
04:09both were carrying around about that 170 range, but what I did notice was the ball flight was a
04:13little bit higher. So even though it's stronger in loft, actually the ball was launching a little
04:17bit higher and it was flying a little bit higher too. Notice that testing here on this hole at
04:21Longcliffe Golf Club, it was like one or two yards higher through the air which is a change that I
04:25like to see given those stronger lofts. Then we move on to the hot metal pro, actually this is
04:31the club I got the most out of, despite it being a slimmed down version of the hot metal, actually
04:35hit a little bit further than the hot metal. Definitely prefer the look of it, it's got a
04:39more compact look down at address, whereas the hot metal iron in the 921 and 923, very similar,
04:45really comforting sparring, a little bit of offset there, thicker top line, hot metal pro a little
04:50bit more slimmed down. So it definitely suits my eye as a lower handicap a little bit more.
04:54And then we move on to the hot metal high lodge. Now you might think, well this club is weaker in
05:00loft, it's two to three degrees weaker through the set than the hot metal. In the 7.9 it's 31
05:05degrees, so it's significantly weaker. And as a result the testing I did on launch monitor, my speed
05:11would suggest that it's not going to give me the distance compared to the other two models. So it's
05:15around about seven or eight yards shorter on average than the hot metal and the hot metal pro.
05:21But we know this club is not designed for a golfer like me, it's designed for slower swing
05:25speeds. And so now we're going to do a little experiment where I'm going to test this hot metal
05:30high lodge up against the hot metal, slow my swing speed down to 75 miles an hour, and see actually
05:37by doing that and switching into this new iron, do you get more distance? Because I think if you do,
05:43that's going to suit an awful lot of players looking for a club like this.
05:47Okay, so I'm going to start with the JPX 923 hot metal, going to hit three shots with each of that
05:52slower swing speed and see which one gives us the most distance.
06:07Okay, it's a good hit. Swing speed 79, but only carried 115 yards.
06:23Oh, slightly slower that one. 66.
06:34That's a good shot. 70.5, 121. Okay, let's move on to the hot metal. So we're looking
06:42like we're averaging around about 120 yards with the hot metal. Now we're going to try the high
06:50lodge. Oh, I might have been a little heavy. Swing speed's bang on, 75, 112 carry. I think
07:02I hit that a little bit chunky. That's a much cleaner strike. Higher flight, much noticeably
07:12higher flight on that one. So that's really interesting. Swing speed of 71, or 70.6,
07:18carry of 125. So that's the longest shot I've hit
07:22in this experiment so far, and not the fastest swing speed by any means.
07:30Again, noticeably higher flight, a good four or five yards higher. 71 swing speed,
07:38carry of 129 yards. So this experiment, this little experiment has proved to me, definitely,
07:43that I think slower swing speed golfers, mid-high handicap golfers who struggle to get the ball in
07:49the air are really going to enjoy what this hot metal high lodge has to offer. And they're actually
07:53going to get a bit more distance out of this because your ball flight is optimized for your
07:58swing speed. So while these three JPX 923 hot metal irons are probably not aimed at me, I've
08:06really enjoyed my time testing these. And there's three really key takeaways that I would offer to
08:11you in terms of how these irons perform and the user experience that you will expect. The first
08:16being these irons look absolutely fantastic. I don't think they move it on a great deal in terms
08:21of looks or performance versus where we were with the JPX 921. In fact, I think like for like
08:28models, you're not going to see huge gains. You might see a little bit more distance from that
08:32stronger loft and a slightly maybe higher ball flight as well from the technology they've packed
08:36into this club. But you're not going to see huge gains, I don't think, versus generation to
08:39generation. But the other thing that really stood out for me was the turf interaction. So it's hard
08:44to pinpoint exactly how it felt differently, but it definitely felt different. I think a little bit
08:50more give through the turf. So maybe you're not getting... I felt like my divots were a little bit
08:55shallower, a little bit smaller. And I think your margin for error is a little bit greater if you
09:01just catch the ground slightly heavy. So that's the other thing I would kind of observe from
09:05generation to generation. I think the feel is absolutely fantastic. These clubs feel hot, but
09:11they don't feel harsh or clicky. They actually feel relatively soft, but explosive at the same
09:16time. It's an interesting combination, but through the set, it's a very pleasing feel. And I think
09:20across all three of these hot metal clubs, if you're a mid to high handicapper, there's definitely
09:24going to be something for you. Even if you're maybe a single figure, high single figure golfer,
09:28I think you'll really enjoy what this Hot Metal Pro has to offer in terms of that visual package,
09:33nice and compact down behind the ball, but gives really good speed, good launch,
09:37and good distance as well. So lots of like about this new JPX 923 range. Hopefully you've enjoyed
09:42this video. If you do, click the like button down below and do comment on this video. We'd
09:46love to hear from you. Which iron are you most excited to try within this new hot metal franchise?
09:51If you're after those better player irons, you've got to wait till February. But I think this hot
09:55metal irons, from what we've seen so far, there's a lot to be excited about with this new JPX 923
10:00range. But that's all for me from Longcliffe Golf Club. I'll see you next time.