Is This The Future Of Irons?
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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00:00Now, we're all familiar with adjustable drivers
00:02and how they can optimize your launch conditions
00:04for every swing, but what about transferring that
00:07to other clubs in your bag?
00:09So far, we haven't really seen it a great deal.
00:11PXG have dabbled a little bit with their precision weighting
00:14but there's a new kid on the block
00:15in the category of adjustable irons
00:18and it's from Edelgolf.
00:19This is their new SMS iron.
00:21SMS stands for Swing Match System.
00:23We've seen it with their wedges
00:24and now they've transferred it into their irons.
00:26And I'm really curious to see exactly
00:28what adjustable weighting in irons can do
00:31for my dispersion because I do struggle
00:32with my accuracy on my iron shots
00:34and Edel say that this concept
00:36should enhance your club face control.
00:38It should, they say, also give you
00:40a little bit more distance
00:41if you get the weight in the right place.
00:43So I'm curious to find out exactly if that works or not.
00:46We're at the beautiful ninth hole here
00:48at Burley Park Golf Club.
00:49I'm gonna hit some shots on the launch monitor
00:51to give me some numbers and also obviously assess
00:53the ball flight that we get in those three positions.
00:55So let's get onto the tee, hit some shots
00:58and see how it performs.
00:59So before I hit some shots,
01:00my first impressions with this Edel SMS iron.
01:04Oh, that's actually a really nice looking club.
01:05It's a little bit bulky, kind of front to back.
01:07It's relatively thick.
01:08Obviously got to house those three different weights
01:10so that's understandable.
01:11But this is a player's distance iron.
01:13It's actually hollow in construction
01:14so it's filled with foam inside the head.
01:16Dampen the vibrations, give you a softer feel.
01:19But it's a forged head.
01:20It looks really nice
01:22and it has a seven iron loft of 32 degrees.
01:24So relatively traditional
01:25in that player's distance iron category.
01:28I'm gonna hit some shots here.
01:30Got a flag 170 yards away into the wind
01:32so it's probably gonna be a little bit too tough for us
01:35to get shots all the way back to the flag
01:36on a day like today.
01:37But what we're really looking at
01:39is the distance we're getting
01:40on the full swing kit launch monitor
01:42which I've got set up down here.
01:43And then also obviously observing the ball flight
01:45in those three different weight positions.
01:47So I've got the weight in the middle first of all.
01:49Let's hit some shots.
01:49Got Titleist Pro One X golf balls.
01:52Hit three balls with each
01:53and we'll see how the performance compares
01:56in those three different weight positions.
01:57It's not a bad one to start.
02:06Slight draw there with the weight in the middle.
02:09First impressions down at address actually
02:10it's quite a nice looking club.
02:12It's relatively compact
02:14but that kind of still manages
02:15to frame the ball really well.
02:17There's a hint of offset there.
02:18Top line's quite thick
02:19compared to most players' distance irons.
02:21Not everyone will like that
02:22but actually it kind of strikes a good balance
02:25of being quite inviting to hit
02:26without looking too chunky overall.
02:28So I'd say looks wise it ticks the boxes.
02:31From a feel perspective
02:32that first shot doesn't feel as springy off the face
02:36as a lot of players' distance irons.
02:37Actually felt quite hard and harsh.
02:39So maybe from a feel perspective
02:41the foam isn't quite doing the job
02:42it's supposed to be doing.
02:44Doesn't feel overly soft.
02:46We're going to hit a few more balls.
02:47As I said three with each in those weight positions
02:49and then we'll compare the performance.
02:55Okay, so I've finished my exhaustive testing
03:12of this Edel SMS iron
03:13and there's a few findings
03:15that I'd like to share with you in this verdict.
03:17The first being that actually
03:18as I went through the testing
03:19and started to hit more solid shots
03:21the feel of this club really improved.
03:23So yes it does feel a little bit hard
03:24but actually it feels quite solid off the face
03:27and I actually really enjoyed the feel
03:28by the end of the testing session.
03:30That said it didn't quite give me
03:32the ball speed or distance
03:33that I was maybe expecting from an iron
03:36of this size and of this loft.
03:37So for comparison I did on another day
03:39test this iron up against the new Mizuno Pro 223
03:42which has the same seven iron loft
03:44as this one at 32 degrees.
03:45And that club was going
03:47around about five yards longer on average
03:49and it is slightly smaller.
03:50So that comes to show
03:52that maybe you are sacrificing
03:53a little bit of distance with this club
03:55designed with adjustable weighting
03:57versus a more traditional club of the same loft.
04:00But that said it was interesting for me
04:02to see the different performance characteristics
04:05through the weight setting.
04:05So the first observation would be
04:07that actually even though Edel say
04:09you might get a bit more distance
04:10in your optimal setting.
04:11For me looking at the full swing kit
04:13launch monitor numbers
04:14which I'll flash up on the screen now.
04:15The distances in each of the settings
04:18were pretty much exactly the same.
04:19I was bang on about 160 yards
04:21in all three settings.
04:22So I didn't really see an adjustment
04:23in the distance there.
04:25So one key take away would be
04:26actually how much the spin changed
04:28in three of those different weight settings.
04:30So starting with the heavier weight
04:31in the heel position
04:32the spin was quite high around six, seven.
04:35And then moving into the middle
04:36it came down to about six, four I think.
04:38And then it came down even further
04:40with the heavier weight in the toe.
04:41And there's quite significant differences
04:42in the spin there
04:43which I wasn't really expecting.
04:44So that's something obviously to bear in mind
04:46if you're going through a fitting process
04:47the spin profile does change
04:49with those different weight settings.
04:51And then the big difference
04:53I would say would be the ball flight.
04:54That's kind of the one thing we're looking at
04:55or expecting with this
04:56change in the weight positions.
04:58Is it altering the ball flight?
04:59And I would say absolutely yes it is.
05:02Starting with the weight in the middle
05:03it was kind of pretty neutral for me.
05:04A soft draw is what I normally expect to see
05:06with a seven iron
05:08and that's what I was getting with this club.
05:10And then when I moved into the toe
05:12that definitely changed to a straight shot
05:14or a slight fade
05:15which is definitely something that I want to see
05:17as a player that tends to miss left quite a lot.
05:19If I can start the ball at the pin
05:21slightly left of the pin
05:22and know that it's going to bleed back
05:24that's an ideal ball flight for me.
05:26So I was really impressed to see that
05:27in that Edel seven iron.
05:29We're not talking massive difference
05:30but it was probably a good two to three yards
05:32more to the right
05:33versus with the weight in the middle.
05:34And then finally when I moved the weight into the heel
05:37what was interesting
05:38is that the dispersion was a lot wider.
05:41So it didn't necessarily draw more than the other
05:44it probably did draw a little bit
05:45but actually I was missing more shots to the right
05:48more shots to the left.
05:49Dispersion was a lot more erratic.
05:51So I think that just goes down to the fact
05:52that my general strike pattern with an iron
05:55is centered, is slightly towards the toe.
05:58So you've got more of a difference there
05:59between where the weight is and where the strike is
06:01and therefore the gear effect is going to be greater.
06:03So I think that definitely contributed
06:04to a wider dispersion pattern
06:06with the weight in the heel.
06:07So for me obviously the optimum setting
06:08would probably be in the toe.
06:10Was expecting to get a little bit more distance
06:12out of the toe weight setting
06:15because it felt a bit more solid out of there
06:16but obviously the launch monitor suggested
06:19that it was pretty consistent
06:20across those three different settings.
06:22And what I like about that toe weight setting
06:23is that you can still draw it if you want to.
06:25It's not like you're only limited to playing a fade
06:27if you do move that heavy weight into the toe.
06:29So you've got the ability to draw it if you need to.
06:32You can get custom weights through a fitting with Edel
06:35so you can have four or 10 grams
06:36depending on what you want
06:37if you go through that process
06:38you can really dial it in.
06:39But I've been very surprised
06:41by the impact of this adjustable weight technology
06:44within an iron.
06:45I think it's definitely going to help people
06:46control the direction their golf shots
06:48a little bit more easily.
06:49This iron comes in at $250 a club
06:52so it's quite a premium product
06:54but you're not going to get many irons
06:56that offer this kind of precision adjustability
06:58with your dispersion pattern.
07:00So it's definitely worth trying.
07:01If you struggle with your accuracy on your iron shots,
07:04if you want to hit more greens,
07:05if iron play is your weakness,
07:06something like this concept
07:08could definitely have a positive impact on your iron play.
07:11So there's undoubtedly some merit
07:13in the concept of moving a weight around in the head
07:15and obviously if you go through an iron fitting process
07:17you are able to change the dispersion
07:20and the shot pattern by adjusting lie angle
07:22and the shaft profile of the iron.
07:23But I think moving the weight around inside the head
07:26like we've seen with this Edel SMS iron
07:28has a bit more of an impact potentially
07:30on the dispersion of your shots
07:31and kind of reducing or increasing the gear effect
07:34that you get on the strikes
07:35and depending on where you hit the face.
07:37So a lot of merit to the concept
07:39and I've really enjoyed testing it out today.
07:41So that concludes our look at the Edel SMS iron.
07:44If you like the video,
07:44make sure you click the like button.
07:46Do subscribe to the Golf Monthly YouTube channel
07:48so you don't miss any of our equipment review videos.
07:50But from me, from Burley Park Golf Club,
07:52it's goodbye and I'll see you next time.