WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Srixon’s newest iron lineup is designed for practically every player type. That’s not an exaggeration. With three distinct models (ZXi4, ZXi5, ZXi7) and a utility (ZXiU) on the menu, it’s possible to mix and match irons boasting different materials, face designs and internal constructions.

AVAILABILITY/PRICING: $185.71 per iron for all four models. The ZXiU utility irons are $240 each. Available at retail Jan. 24.

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1. Different strokes. Iron construction has changed drastically in the last decade-plus with the introduction of smarter face designs, advanced materials and 3D-printing capabilities. It’s no longer necessary to plug the same design concept and materials into every model. Shaking things up a bit can lead to stronger performance gains for specific swing types and impact locations.

It’s about creating an iron that fits a golfer like a well-tailored suit. Peruse Srixon’s ZXi iron lineup and you’ll notice each iron offers different materials, designs and features.

For example, the game-improvement ZXi4 body is now made from a 17-47 stainless steel that’s heat treated to be softer, making it easier to bend like a forged iron, while the ZXi5 and ZXiU utilize a condensed forging and heat-treatment process on the S20C carbon steel to reinforce the topline and soften the face—without impacting durability.

Even the ZXi7 features an all-new S15C carbon steel—and the same condensed forging process—to promote a softer head and better feel at impact.

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s three different materials in a lineup with four models. The process is called i-Forged, or impact forged, and was developed to strengthen and improve each iron without sacrificing feel and off-center performance.

“The i-Forging process gave us the unique ability to select which steels would be best suited for each ZXi Iron, promoting a better hitting feel and overall performance,” said Dustin Brekke, Srixon’s director of engineering. “On the ZXi7, we used a softer steel in S15C. It’s the softest steel we’ve ever had in a forged Srixon iron. Each new material upgrade serves a specific purpose to balance and strengthen each iron and give players immediate feedback at contact.”

Internal testing confirmed condensed forgiving—whereby specific areas of the head are locally strengthened and hardened to increase overall performance—resulted in a 7-percent softer ZXi7 body. Even the ZXi5 and ZXiU face material is 14-percent softer than its predecessor.

The goal behind having a multitude of material processes and designs isn’t to confuse golfers when they start digging into the details behind all four iron models; it’s meant to reinforce the fact that Srixon’s design team didn’t take a day off during the creation process.

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2. Frame the ball. Continuing the trend of creating tailored irons for each player type, Srixon’s engineering team made wholesale changes to the face and cavity designs, beginning with the one-piece ZXi7. The better-player iron is the only model in the lineup boasting a pure frame cavity. Through feedback from tour, pros consistently favored additional mass behind the hitting area to replicate a blade-like feel.

The shaped contours in the cavity feature a raised section in the middle that was extended into the topline—the raised section stopped short of the middle with ZX7 MkII — for feel purposes. Increasing the stiffness of the face made it possible to replicate the acoustics and response at impact so many pros requested during the creation process.

While better players tend to value the sound and feel of pure impact, stability (in the form of perimeter weighting) becomes more of an emphasis for the game-improvement crowd. It’s partly why ZXi4, ZXi5 and ZXiU are equipped with optimized face thickness designs—dubbed main frame—and internal weight pads to enhance ball speed and forgiveness, even on extreme mis-hits.

Each face is crafted using thousands of FEA impact simulations, granting the computer autonomy to adjust a myriad of parameters that define the face geometry. The parameters are modified along the way to optimize performance for each head (and model) in the lineup.

By improving face dynamics at impact, golfers can achieve more consistent balls speeds where they need it most.

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3. Sole success. The heel and toe notches found in the sole of each iron—and even the ZXiU utility—are known as Srixon’s Tour VT Sole, a unique design that improves turf interaction and impact through a higher bounce towards the leading edge and lower bounce towards the trailing edge.

For irons at the top of the setup, a wider sole is generally used to avoid inconsistent impact and unwanted digging. But not every player wants a beefier sole.

The v-shaped sole design and notches in the heel and toe keep the width manageable by providing relief where golfers tend to need it the most. The notches also make it easier to achieve better contact when it’s necessary to choke up or down on a sloped lie where the head might be toe-down or toe-up at impact.

The effective bounce also increases in the higher lofts to match the steeper angle of attack players tend to take as they approach the short irons.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com