Best Game Improvement Irons 2023
Golf Monthly's irons expert Joel Tadman heads to Orlando Florida to put the latest game improvement irons on the market to the test to help you get a clearer picture as to which model might be best for your game. Whether you prefer something more compact, forgiving or easier on the wallet, there will be an iron perfect for you within Joel's selection and make sure you watch to the very end to hear his favorite as it may well surprise you!
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Now, if you are a mid or high handicap golfer
00:02 looking to upgrade your iron set in 2023,
00:04 this is the video you need to watch.
00:06 It's where I'm going to test 10 of the latest
00:09 game improvement irons up against each other
00:11 to see exactly what the differences are
00:13 and how they look, how they feel,
00:14 and how they perform to help you pick
00:16 the best model for your game.
00:18 I'm on the beautiful driving range here
00:19 at Black Bear Golf Club in Florida.
00:21 They hit the ball on the range.
00:22 I've also hit them on the launch monitor indoors
00:24 with premium golf balls to really understand
00:26 the subtle differences in the performance
00:28 to help you pick the best model for you.
00:30 So without further ado, let's dive into
00:31 the different categories, starting with the looks.
00:34 Now, as you might expect from the latest
00:38 game improvement irons, they all inspire confidence
00:41 just through their overall size,
00:42 but some have a little bit more meat
00:44 behind the ball than others,
00:46 and that comes down to personal preference.
00:48 Some people actually get more confidence
00:49 looking down at a slightly more compact head,
00:51 and if that's you, you'll enjoy what you're looking down on
00:54 with the Callaway Paradigm,
00:55 'cause it's got quite a short blade length
00:56 from heel to toe, but it's got a generous top line as well,
00:59 so the dimensions, I think, will suit the eye
01:01 of maybe the slightly lower handicap range,
01:03 but it still does look really nice and inviting to hit,
01:05 and has that mirror chrome finish,
01:07 which I'm not personally a fan of,
01:08 but some golfers do like that.
01:10 So I think that stands out for looks,
01:11 especially on the shelf, I think it has a lot of pop to it.
01:14 It has a very modern, techy look to it.
01:15 So that'll be one of the standout features.
01:17 And if you want something that's a little bit
01:18 more traditional in terms of the shape,
01:20 the address, and also how it looks at the back,
01:22 there's two that really stand out.
01:23 The Mizuno JPX 923, you can see it's quite subtle
01:27 on the back, but it's a nice kind of profile.
01:29 It's a fair amount of offset on it.
01:31 But the other one I think that really stands out for me
01:33 in terms of looks is the Swixon ZX4.
01:36 So this is a hollow head, but they've really shrunken it down
01:38 versus where it was in the previous generation,
01:40 which was more of a hybrid iron.
01:42 It's much slimmer, it's much more compact
01:45 down behind the ball, they've really reduced the offset
01:47 and the top line, and for me, as a slightly lower handicapper
01:50 this would be the one I would gravitate towards,
01:52 'cause I think it just looks really sleek
01:54 down behind the ball.
01:54 Maybe not the most confidence-inspiring,
01:56 obviously there are some larger sizes
01:58 within this range of irons.
02:00 The Cobra Aerojet is another one that's really
02:01 gonna inspire a lot of confidence.
02:03 But for me, my favorite looking iron from the back
02:05 and down behind the ball is the Swixon ZX4.
02:07 Okay, so now we move on to the sound and feel of these irons
02:13 and unsurprisingly, all of them feel very lively,
02:15 very explosive off the face.
02:17 But I think there is some subtle differences
02:19 between how they feel at impact.
02:21 I've split these into two groups of four
02:23 and I've got here, I'm gonna add some other ones as well.
02:25 So in the kind of more lively, powerful feel section
02:29 I've got Titleist T300, the Wilson Dyna-Power,
02:32 TaylorMade Stealth Callaway Paradigm,
02:34 and the Cobra Aerojet.
02:35 So those are the ones that feel really fast and powerful.
02:38 But if you want something a little bit more subtle
02:39 in the way it sounds, these are the other ones I'd go for.
02:41 The Yonex E-Zone GS i-TEC, the Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal,
02:46 Ping G430, and the Swixon ZX4.
02:50 I'm gonna pick one of my favorites in each.
02:52 I think for the most powerful feeling ones
02:55 has to be the Wilson Dyna-Power.
02:57 This iron is an absolute rocket ship.
03:00 It is quite strong in loft, but when you hit it well,
03:03 you certainly know about it and you get rewarded
03:05 with a really nice high, towering flight
03:09 and an awful lot of distance.
03:11 Even then that was a bit thin,
03:14 but it still felt really, really nice.
03:17 Even low off the face and very, very long.
03:19 But my favorite feeling iron,
03:21 obviously I think as a slightly lower handicap,
03:23 I gravitate towards the slightly more subtle feeling irons.
03:26 My favorite was the Ping G430.
03:29 I just think it strikes a really nice balance
03:31 of being kind of energetic off the face,
03:34 but it's not too loud.
03:35 And it's really, really consistent,
03:37 even if you don't quite catch it in the heel or toe,
03:39 you still get that really nice feel and feedback
03:41 that you're looking for on your iron shots.
03:43 Hopefully you can pick that up on the microphone.
03:47 Maybe a little bit louder
03:48 than some of the others in that category.
03:50 But as an all-round package for feel and consistency,
03:53 I really like what I'm getting from the Ping G430.
03:55 (upbeat music)
03:58 Okay, so moving on to the all-important performance.
04:00 And as I mentioned earlier,
04:01 I tested all these irons indoors
04:03 on the Foresight Sport GC quad launch monitor
04:06 with Titus Pro 1X golf balls.
04:07 And I'll flash up the data on the screen now.
04:09 You can click pause and see exactly
04:11 how each of these irons perform.
04:13 But I was also observing the ball flight
04:15 and the consistency and the stability of the flight here
04:17 when testing outdoors.
04:18 And there were some really key takeaways
04:20 that I'd have with some of these irons.
04:21 If you prioritize as much distance as possible,
04:23 there were some standout performers
04:25 in terms of ball speed and distance.
04:26 They were the TaylorMade Stealth,
04:28 the Cobra Aerojet, and the Wilson Dyna-Power.
04:30 The Wilson Dyna-Power being the longest one out of all of them.
04:34 It is fairly strong in loft, but not the strongest.
04:37 In fact, despite it being slightly weaker in loft
04:39 than the Cobra Aerojet, it was a little bit longer.
04:41 So if you want maximum distance,
04:44 it actually has some pretty good stopping power as well
04:46 from the height it was getting.
04:47 The Wilson Dyna-Power was really impressive.
04:49 Feels really nice, and it's just an absolute powerhouse,
04:52 to be honest with you.
04:53 Couple of surprise packages for me
04:55 in terms of performance were the Srixon ZX4
04:57 and the Yonex E-Zone GS iTech.
05:00 They were really consistent
05:01 in terms of that left to right dispersion.
05:03 Felt like you could throw a pretty small blanket
05:04 over the shots I hit with both of those irons.
05:07 Ping G430, very forgiving as well, very consistent.
05:10 And also gave me a little bit higher ball flight
05:12 than most of these irons on test,
05:14 which again will give you good stopping power into greens.
05:17 No real weakness in any of these irons.
05:19 They were all pretty consistent.
05:20 You see the difference in the carrier distances
05:22 is actually fairly small,
05:23 from the shortest iron to the longest iron.
05:25 But for me, I was really looking at how consistent
05:28 and repeatable those carrier distances were,
05:30 and there was a standout performer in that regard.
05:32 It was the Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal.
05:36 This one was much more consistent than the others
05:38 in terms of repeating those carrier distances.
05:40 I think the difference between my shortest shot
05:43 and my longest shot on test was about three or four yards,
05:46 so there really wasn't much in it.
05:47 The variances in strike didn't seem to have much impact
05:50 on those carrier distances either.
05:51 So if you're looking for pretty good distance,
05:53 it's not the longest,
05:54 but if you want consistency and reliability,
05:57 I think the Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal
06:00 is the standout choice this year.
06:01 (upbeat music)
06:04 So onto the overall verdict.
06:05 When it came to picking my favorite game improvement iron
06:08 of 2023, it was an awfully difficult task.
06:11 I've managed to narrow it down to four here,
06:14 which I think were slightly elevated
06:15 in terms of their overall performance package
06:17 than the others.
06:18 They are the Ping G430,
06:21 excellent consistency from that club
06:23 and a really nice high towering flight.
06:25 Callaway Paradigm, I love the look of this club
06:27 and also how long it was.
06:29 It was pretty consistently as well.
06:31 Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal, again, very consistent,
06:34 and I love the feel of it as well, not too harsh or hard.
06:37 Hint of softness to it, very reliable.
06:39 But my favorite iron in this game improvement video
06:43 for 2023 might surprise you.
06:45 It's the Swixon ZX4.
06:48 I love the way this looks.
06:49 I love the way it feels.
06:51 It's long enough, but not too long.
06:54 The other thing we haven't touched on with this iron
06:55 is the Tor VT sole,
06:57 which I think will really get you out of jail
06:59 when it's wet and you're tending to catch the ground
07:02 a little bit heavy.
07:03 I think does increase your margin for error
07:05 a little bit on your strike.
07:06 Maybe less applicable here on firmer, dense turf conditions,
07:10 but I think if the ground's slightly wet,
07:12 you're really gonna enjoy the interaction
07:13 this has with the ground as well.
07:15 And it was plenty forgiving as well,
07:17 especially left to right dispersion.
07:19 Felt like I was very much in control
07:21 of where this club was going.
07:22 And as a result, because of how well it looks and performs,
07:25 this is my favorite game improvement iron of 2023.
07:28 So that's all from me.
07:29 I hope you enjoyed this video.
07:30 Do click the like button if you liked it.
07:32 Subscribe to our channel if you haven't already.
07:34 Hopefully you found it useful
07:35 in narrowing down your search.
07:36 This Swixon ZX4 iron, while I think it's the best,
07:39 might not be for everyone.
07:40 There are some other ones that you should definitely try out.
07:43 Head to head against each other
07:44 to see which one works for your swing the best.
07:47 And do let me know if you found it useful.
07:49 I'd love to hear from you.
07:49 But that's all from me from Black Pear Golf Club in Florida.
07:53 I'll see you next time.
07:54 (upbeat music)
07:57 (upbeat music)
07:59 (upbeat music)
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