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Right, welcome back to the channel everybody and uh a very simple and straightforward video as ever on this channel. We’re going to look at two new irons from Stricken that fill a void in the game improvement category and they tick a lot of boxes that aren’t ordinarily covered within this genre. So, there are two models been released Z XIR and Z XIR HL. HL standing for high launch. They differ in the way they’re put together in terms of the mass. One’s a bit bulkier than the other. that HL being the bulkier of the two. And the idea and concept is quite simply that that HL launches the ball higher for slower swing speeds. They’ve both got new alloy within the the body of each of the irons which Shrixen claim to be softer, better feeling than other materials that are used by competitors within this space. So, we’ll be interested to see if that is the case. They’ve also built them in a way from a visible perspective that is in line with their other ZX models which are very much classed as a premium players iron. And what I really like about box one that they’ve ticked is produce an iron that is incredibly good looking for this kind of area because again unfortunately when we get into that game improvement category the high launch models as well it tends to fall off a cliff a little bit in terms of the looks. They’ve done a really good job of uh making these something you’d be proud of in your bag rather than taking a little bit of stick for. Right, before we go into data and start hitting some balls on camera, I just want to briefly talk about the the spec on these clubs. Although you can find more information from Shrixen’s website, they do contain a lot of the technology that you’ll see in the other ZX ions like the five and the seven. The material is different. They’re forged. These have got this eye alloy and we’ll see how it feels when we hit some balls shortly. They got the VT sole which has been very prevalent in uh stricks and irons and that’s to aid turf interaction. Not something I can comment on in here, but I’ll tell you how it feels when it hits the mat. I do want to touch on that looks element because essentially this genre can be I’m not going to go as far as say ugly and offend some people, but there is a tendency for them to look like an almost like package set half the time. There’s not a great deal of attention paid to the looks and therefore it can be off-putting. We can’t ignore the fact they’ve done an incredibly good job of building a game improvement iron that, like I said in the intro, you’d be proud to have in the bag. And it certainly will encourage more and more golfers to go down this route cuz to be quite honest with you, unless you’re having a bit of a close-up, it looks like you’re game in a player iron with a lot different sort of help packed into it. Next thing is the lofts. You’re going to see some data very shortly that will be impressive, but also surprising. And it also tells a tale how the modern golf club really works. And those people who get hung up on loft will once again see that is only a small part of what makes up a golf club’s performance. Now, one last thing before I do it a golf ball, the two eight irons that you can see on the deck now are considerably different on the profile. I must admit when I was hitting these balls clubs earlier, I didn’t recognize it so much, but when you put them side by side, you can see that HL is a fair bit chunkier. Um, but again, it’s not been something that has been off-putting by any means. Anyway, right, I’m going to hit which I think, if I’ve got that right. Yeah, this is the standard. So, it’s a ZX IIR. And, uh, let me just talk about what my thought process is. Anyway, when I’m hitting these things, I like the chunky profile or chunkier, although this is by no means I think this is sort of P790 is what I would say. That’s what I’m kind of feel like I’m looking down on. So, we’re just hitting into fairways. I don’t think that bunker is anywhere near in reach. No, it isn’t. Um, decent strike. I mean, these things again, 33° 8 iron. I’d still expect it to be. So, what we got? 145 carry. Uh, 42 spin was a little lower than we’ve been recording uh off camera when I was getting the data earlier. But uh the first thing I’ll comment on, what I will do once I’ve hit this one, trying it the other way. Bit of a cut this time. Still my more natural swing. For those you watch the channel, you know I’m working on sort of getting the draw into play, but that certainly felt a little bit more comfortable. That’ll spin a bit higher. Yeah, carried shorter. Spins up a little bit more. Look at that launch angle. 26.6°. Um, even with, don’t forget, this is the R. This is not the high launch model. It’s still launching plenty high enough. And I’ve got that one fat and pulled it down the left. Yeah. Will we get away with it? Oh, no. We’d have been taking a drop, I’m afraid. That was better than the uh previous shot. A lot more effort to make sure that it wasn’t a weak effort. And I’ve just turned it over a tad, but like I said, that should carry quite a bit further. So, we’ve gone into 163 in terms of carry because of that club head speed went up. And it’s really good to see that spin number has been maintained as well. Um, so yeah, I mean, this thing is a real joy to hit. I love the sound that it comes out with. You can see what’s going on in terms of the screen, in terms of how high launching this is. And this is, like I said, not that intended product. That’ll be another one that’s got a bit more club head speed and therefore traveling that bit further again into that sort of where it’s 148. The one thing I will say on uh as we’ve hit balls here today, there’s been a few variables that would perhaps be a little bit concerning. Um certainly that one 148 shot being 160 odd. That would be something that I’d be a little bit worried about and not a number that uh let’s see what that does. Well, like I said, we haven’t seen those kind of variables within the data we’ve collected. And these have all been pretty decent strikes. You can see um bottom right, they’re all on top of one another. again 153 carry spin number is sort of staying at a great number and then we’ll switch into the uh the HL model. The main thing to keep an eye on then so we got 24.5 launch and I think that was fairly consistent with most of the shots. Let’s see what this does in terms of that comparison at least because you would expect that thing to be a lot higher again. Super strike. The Trackman imagery is suggesting that’s higher. Um, but be really interested to see what it does. Back in that grouping in and around. If you look at the bottom right, you can see the grouping of all the shots that have been hit. So, there you go. 26.3. Um, not considerably different. 147 carry and spinning a little bit higher as well. Now, that’s something that has been very prevalent. Now, if I hit that cut shot, what you should see is again how that launch starts to creep up a little bit higher, and you’ll start to see the spin increase as well. So, there you go. 29.3 launch on an 8 iron, but we’ve only got a 130 carry. We got 7,000 revs of spin. Now, that is something that we’ve seen quite consistently within the data. And what that means is that and what I would confirm that they’ve definitely done what they intended, what they set out to do, this is definitely launching considerably higher than their standard product and is aimed at a certain individual. Right? So I’ve got to be careful I don’t make this a head-to-head between the two stricksen models cuz that’s not what it’s supposed to be. It is really identifying have stricten set done what they suggested because these irons in my opinion from what the data tells me at least anyway is they are aimed at very much a different player and you’ve got to establish which which one works for you. The standard product uh in eight iron 143 carry with 5,000 revs of spin a launch angle of 24.6 land angle of 49.2 to and a peak height to 94. So if you take them numbers as a comparison to a standard 8 iron that I would use, they’re incredibly good. They’re incredibly good because they tick the boxes right across every sort of uh parameter. That spin number, again, I always say in every video cuz I have to. If you’re new to the channel, my spin number is generally low off these mats. So that 5,000 revs of spin could be suggested that it’s a little bit low. I would argue that it’s not and that’ll be perfectly fine out on the fairways. So that’s standard 8 iron really good numbers and you’ll see with the six shortly in the standard product the ZXIR incredibly good. Then we go to this 8 iron which is the uh HL and you see the comparisons. The club head speed was a little bit quicker, but the ball speed dropped off by 1 mph and the carry fell by 11 y, but the spin rose significantly by 2,000 revs. And if you go to the end column, we were 26.4 on average when it comes to launch angle, a land angle of 53.1 and a peak height of 101. So if you just compare them again, we were 2° higher in terms of the launch, which is significant. We were, like I said, 2,000 revs of spin more significant. And that land angle was bordering on 4°. So, coming down a lot steeper and yes, the peak height was higher. So, first of all, just in that head-to-head between the iron types, Stricksen have done exactly what they intended to do. They’re launching the ball higher. It’s a weaker loft and it goes a shorter distance, but it spins more. So, if you’re slower club head speed, fantastic. They do a great job. probably at 10 shots with that. By the way, sixiron now with the HL again, incredibly good numbers. 6iron, don’t forget, 160 yards carry, 5,000 revs of spin. Look at these end numbers here, though. Still launching at 22.8° with a 6iron. So, still going incredibly high, a 109 peak height, 51.2 coming down. Combine the spin number as well. If you’re a slower swing speed golfer, these things are incredibly good. And if you want to compare that to that of the R model, uh again, we’re a little bit slower in terms of the uh club head speed, ball speeds incredibly good off that 115 with a 166 carry 48 spin. Again, that little drop off and 22.7 20.7 launch angle. And again, what that means is compare it as a standard product. In other words, a nonHL and it performed incredibly well. So my standard iron to eye gain compared between the six and eight of the R model. This thing has done really really well. Just overall and as I say I didn’t want to confuse myself as much as you. Two things really clubs from Strickson. This ZXI model incredibly good. The HL does exactly what it’s supposed to do. They look fantastic. They probably are the irons to beat in my opinion in this category. moving forward into 2026 because I’m not really sure what anybody could want more from a set of irons if this is the type that you’re looking for. And let’s be honest, most average golfers would fall into one of these two types of irons. So, well done to Shrixen because we’ve got game improvement irons that tick every single box and we now have no more excuses not to put that style of iron in our bag. Incredibly good. Loved hitting them. The sound and feel elements as well are lower indoor and it can sometimes be sort of accentuated a bit in terms of the the the spike in the noise. They felt brilliant, sounded good and I can’t wait to get these out on the fairway and do some further testing. That’s my first look. Hope you enjoyed what you got there. Hope it made sense. Thanks for watching. Give me your feedback down below and uh I’ll speak to you all in a day or two’s