In this video, Joel Tadman tests out the Edel SMS iron, which is one of very few irons in existence that feature adjustable weights. Edel claims that positioning the weights in the correct position for your swing and strike, golfers should experience improved distance and accuracy but we wanted to put this theory to the test. So Joel takes the irons onto a par three at Burghley Park Golf Club with his Full Swing Kit launch monitor and moved the weights around to see what effect it really had.
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00:00 We're all familiar with adjustable drivers
00:02 and how they can optimize your launch conditions
00:04 for every swing, but what about transferring that
00:07 to other clubs in your bag?
00:09 So far, we haven't really seen it a great deal.
00:11 PXG have dabbled a little bit with their precision weighting
00:13 but there's a new kid on the block
00:15 in the category of adjustable irons
00:17 and it's from Edelgolf.
00:19 This is their new SMS iron.
00:21 SMS stands for Swing Match System.
00:23 We've seen it with their wedges
00:24 and now they've transferred it into their irons.
00:26 And I'm really curious to see exactly
00:28 what adjustable weighting in irons can do for my dispersion
00:31 because I do struggle with my accuracy on my iron shots
00:34 and Edel say that this concept
00:36 should enhance your club face control.
00:38 It should, they say, also give you a little bit more distance
00:41 if you get the weight in the right place.
00:43 So I'm curious to find out exactly if that works or not.
00:46 We're at the beautiful ninth hole here
00:48 at Burley Park Golf Club.
00:49 I'm gonna hit some shots on the launch monitor
00:51 to give me some numbers and also obviously assess
00:53 the ball flight that we get in those three positions.
00:55 So let's get onto the tee, hit some shots
00:58 and see how it performs.
00:59 So before I hit some shots,
01:00 my first impressions with this Edel SMS iron.
01:03 Oh, that's actually a really nice looking club.
01:05 It's a little bit bulky, kind of front to back.
01:07 It's relatively thick.
01:08 Obviously got to house those three different weights
01:10 so that's understandable.
01:11 But this is a player's distance iron
01:12 and it's actually hollow in construction
01:14 so it's filled with foam inside the head.
01:16 Dampen the vibrations, give you a softer feel.
01:19 But it's a forged head, it looks really nice
01:22 and it has a seven iron loft of 32 degrees.
01:24 So relatively traditional
01:25 in that player's distance iron category.
01:28 I'm gonna hit some shots here.
01:29 Got a flag 170 yards away into the wind
01:32 so it's probably gonna be a little bit too tough for us
01:34 to get shots all the way back to the flag
01:36 on a day like today.
01:37 But what we're really looking at
01:38 is the distance we're getting
01:40 on the full swing kit launch monitor
01:42 which I've got set up down here.
01:43 And then also obviously observing the ball flight
01:45 in those three different weight positions.
01:46 So I've got the weight in the middle first of all.
01:48 Let's hit some shots.
01:49 Got Titleist Pro1 X golf balls.
01:52 Hit three balls with each
01:53 and we'll see how the performance compares
01:55 in those three different weight positions.
01:57 (upbeat music)
01:59 It's not a bad one to start.
02:06 Slight draw there with the weight in the middle.
02:08 First impressions down at address actually
02:10 it's quite a nice looking club.
02:11 It's relatively compact
02:13 but that kind of still manages
02:15 to frame the ball really well.
02:17 There's a hint of offset there.
02:18 Top line's quite thick
02:19 compared to most players' distance irons.
02:21 Not everyone will like that
02:22 but actually it kind of strikes a good balance
02:24 of being quite inviting to hit
02:26 without looking too chunky overall.
02:28 So I'd say looks wise it ticks the boxes.
02:31 From a feel perspective
02:32 that first shot doesn't feel as springy off the face
02:35 as a lot of players' distance irons.
02:37 Actually felt quite hard and harsh.
02:39 So maybe from a feel perspective
02:41 the foam isn't quite doing the job
02:42 it's supposed to be doing.
02:43 Doesn't feel overly soft.
02:45 We're going to hit a few more balls.
02:47 As I said, three with each in those weight positions
02:49 and then we'll compare the performance.
02:52 (upbeat music)
02:55 Okay, so I've finished my exhaustive testing
03:12 of this Edel SMS iron
03:14 and there's a few findings
03:15 that I'd like to share with you in this verdict.
03:16 The first being that actually
03:18 as I went through the testing
03:19 and started to hit more solid shots
03:21 the feel of this club really improved.
03:22 So yes, it does feel a little bit hard
03:24 but actually it feels quite solid off the face
03:27 and I actually really enjoyed the feel
03:28 by the end of the testing session.
03:30 That said, it didn't quite give me the ball speed
03:32 or distance that I was maybe expecting
03:34 from an iron of this size and of this loft.
03:37 So for comparison I did on another day test this iron
03:40 up against the new Mizuno Pro 223
03:42 which has the same seven iron loft
03:44 as this one at 32 degrees.
03:45 And that club was going around about five yards longer
03:48 on average and it is slightly smaller.
03:50 So that comes to show that maybe you are sacrificing
03:53 a little bit of distance with this club
03:55 designed with adjustable weighting
03:57 versus a more traditional club of the same loft.
04:00 But that said, it was interesting for me
04:02 to see the different performance characteristics
04:04 through the weight setting.
04:05 So the first observation would be that actually
04:08 even though Edel say you might get a bit more distance
04:10 in your optimal setting,
04:11 for me looking at the full swing kit
04:13 launch monitor numbers
04:13 which I'll flash up on the screen now,
04:15 the distances in each of the settings
04:17 were pretty much exactly the same.
04:19 I was bang on about 160 yards in all three settings.
04:22 So I didn't really see an adjustment in the distance there.
04:25 So one key takeaway would be actually
04:26 how much the spin changed
04:28 in three of those different weight settings.
04:29 So starting with the heavier weight in the heel position,
04:32 the spin was quite high around six, seven.
04:35 And then moving into the middle
04:36 it came down to about six, four I think.
04:38 And then it came down even further
04:39 with the heavier weight in the toe.
04:40 And there's quite significant differences in spin there
04:43 which I wasn't really expecting.
04:44 So that's something obviously to bear in mind
04:46 if you're going through a fitting process.
04:47 The spin profile does change
04:49 with those different weight settings.
04:51 And then the big difference I would say
04:52 would be the ball flight.
04:53 That's kind of the one thing we're looking at
04:55 or expecting with this change in the weight positions.
04:58 Is it altering the ball flight?
04:59 And I would say absolutely yes it is.
05:01 Starting with the weight in the middle
05:02 it was kind of pretty neutral for me.
05:04 A soft draw is what I normally expect to see
05:06 with a 7-iron and that's what I was getting with this club.
05:09 And then when I moved into the toe
05:12 that definitely changed to a straight shot
05:13 or a slight fade which is definitely something
05:16 I want to see as a player that tends to miss left quite a lot.
05:19 If I can start the ball at the pin,
05:21 slightly left of the pin and know
05:22 that it's going to bleed back,
05:24 that's an ideal ball flight for me.
05:26 So I was really impressed to see that in that Edel 7-iron.
05:28 We're not talking massive difference
05:30 but it was probably a good two to three yards
05:32 more to the right versus with the weight in the middle.
05:34 And then finally when I moved the weight into the heel
05:37 what was interesting is that the dispersion was a lot wider.
05:41 So it didn't necessarily draw more than the other.
05:44 It probably did draw a little bit
05:45 but actually I was missing more shots to the right,
05:48 more shots to the left.
05:49 Dispersion was a lot more erratic.
05:51 And I think that just goes down to the fact
05:52 that my general strike pattern with an iron
05:54 is centered, is slightly towards the toe.
05:57 So you've got more of a difference there
05:59 between where the weight is and where the strike is
06:01 and therefore the gear effect is going to be greater.
06:03 So I think that definitely contributed
06:04 to a wider dispersion pattern with the weight in the heel.
06:07 So for me obviously the optimum setting
06:08 would probably be in the toe.
06:10 Was expecting to get a little bit more distance
06:12 out of the toe weight setting
06:14 because it felt a bit more solid out of there
06:16 but obviously the launch monitor suggested
06:18 that it was pretty consistent
06:20 across those three different settings.
06:21 And what I like about that toe weight setting
06:23 is that you can still draw it if you want to.
06:25 It's not like you're only limited to playing a fade
06:27 if you do move that heavy weight into the toe.
06:29 So you've got the ability to draw it if you need to.
06:31 You can get custom weights through a fitting with Edel
06:34 so you can have four or 10 grams
06:36 depending on what you want.
06:37 If you go through that process you can really dial it in.
06:39 But I've been very surprised by the impact
06:42 of this adjustable weight technology within an iron.
06:45 I think it's definitely going to help people
06:46 control the direction of their golf shots
06:48 a little bit more easily.
06:49 This iron comes in at $250 a club
06:52 so it's quite a premium product.
06:54 But you're not going to get many irons
06:55 that offer this kind of precision adjustability
06:58 with your dispersion pattern.
07:00 So it's definitely worth trying.
07:01 If you struggle with your accuracy on your iron shots,
07:03 if you want to hit more greens,
07:05 if iron play is your weakness,
07:06 something like this concept
07:08 could definitely have a positive impact on your iron play.
07:11 So there's undoubtedly some merit in the concept
07:13 of moving a weight around in the head.
07:15 And obviously if you go through an iron fitting process,
07:17 you are able to change the dispersion and the shot pattern
07:20 by adjusting the angle and the shaft profile of the iron.
07:23 But I think moving the weight around inside the head
07:25 like we've seen with this Edel SMS iron
07:28 has a bit more of an impact potentially
07:29 on the dispersion of your shots
07:31 and kind of reducing or increasing the gear effect
07:34 that you get on the strikes
07:35 and depending on where you hit the face.
07:36 So a lot of merit to the concept
07:38 and I've really enjoyed testing it out today.
07:41 So that concludes our look at the Edel SMS iron.
07:43 If you like the video,
07:44 make sure you click the like button.
07:45 Do subscribe to the Golf Monthly YouTube channel
07:48 so you don't miss any of our equipment review videos.
07:50 But from me, from Burley Park Golf Club,
07:52 it's goodbye and I'll see you next time.
07:54 (upbeat music)
07:57 (upbeat music)
07:59 (upbeat music)
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