Let’s start in the hybrids, because if I started with driver, you wouldn’t read past that! The big story here comes in the form of the new Shock Wave Sole. Basically, it looks like an accordion on the bottom of the club, which officially marks the first time playing with an accordion can be considered cool. The real benefit of this new technology is the fact that it allows the entire face to contract and expand on impact. When this happens, more of the energy generated during the swing is actually transferred to the ball. More energy, more speed; more speed, more distance. Easy enough, right?!
The JPX-850 fairway woods offer the same Shock Wave Sole as the hybrids offering the same benefits of more ball speed across the entire face. In addition, the Shock Wave Sole ensures that any shot struck low on the face will have higher ball speed. Of course, with a fairway wood, that is pretty common miss, so that benefit should not be overlooked. Unlike the hybrids, the fairway woods are adjustable. The 3, 5 and 7 wood all offer a 4 degree range of loft adjustability, which makes fine tuning them to your trajectory and loft gaps very convenient. Check out this video explaining the technology in the hybrids and fairway woods:
Okay, thanks for sticking around for the driver! Your patience will be rewarded as there is some really impressive stuff happening with the driver. First, it looks really good! The crown of the driver is decked out in the bright Mizuno blue. The 440 cc head sits very square and the matte black face frames the ball beautifully.
But looks aren’t everything, right? It’s what inside that counts? In this case, it’s still what is on the outside that counts. Mizuno has taken an innovative approach to adjustability. The driver comes with closed ports on the heel and toe and a track from back to front on the sole. There are two 8 gram, tungsten weights that can be moved to any number of locations. They can be put in the heel, toe, or in one of three settings on the sole. The unique part of that is they don’t need to be in any of those, if you don’t want them to be. Typically, if there is an open weight port, you need to have a weight in it. In this case, they are closed ports so you can put the weights in any combination of the 5 available spaces and you are still conforming to the USGA rules.
So, why all ports and 2 weights? Unlike the other adjustable driver, having the option to move the weights around creates the opportunity for 4 different “neutral” settings. You can have a higher launching or lower launching neutral flight, or a higher spinning or lower spinning neutral flight. You can then also create shot shape tendencies with the heel and toe options. And of course, you can get creative and come up with all kinds of combination in between those.
When you combine all of those features: good looks, brilliant adjustability and a hosel that allows for 8 different loft/lie settings, you get a driver that is certainly worth testing against your gamer! See additional information about the 2015 Mizuno product lines here.
Stay tuned for details about pre-ordering and being fit for the new JPX-850 in your local GolfTEC center. Contact a coach for details about a GolfTEC TECfit today.