Mizuno has long been a competitor in the average golfer market with their JPX line. They have just announced the release of their new JPX AD line for 2010 which will be released right before the Golf Fair here in Japan. The last two generations of JPX clubs, including the A25 series and E600 series have seen a less than enthusiastic reaction from consumers in my opinion. Because of this, Mizuno has overahauled the look of their JPX line and gone with a new approach. This approach is that a longer club will equal more distance.
The new JPX AD Driver is 46.5″ long, the 3 wood is 43.5″ long and the 20* utility is 42″ long. Those who follow my opinion on the blog know that I agree that a longer club adds distance BUT only if the player can square up that longer club at impact. I have said it many times, a longer club is simply harder to hit consistently. Mizuno notes that for every extra inch in length there is an increase in swing speed of 1m/s. I am unsure as to what to think of Mizuno’s new JPX stategy especially as an average golfer who can hit a 44″ driver staighter and further than a 46.5″ driver on a consistent basis. And golf is all about consistency right? I’d rather swing 40m/s and hit it dead center and flush then 42.5m/s and hit a glancing blow off the toe.
However, Mizuno of course makes awesome clubs and is perhaps Japan’s most well known golf brand outside of Japan and for good reason. So I will give them the benefit of the doubt until I test the clubs myself. At a recent test session, Mizuno had 134 average golfers test the new driver and 85 of them or 63.4% of them all saw an obvious increase in distance. Sounds promising especially if you are one of those players who have no problems squaring longer clubs and are looking for more distance.
The new JPX AD line will step back to the old JPX E310 series colors and feature a gold and black theme. The E310 series was a very solid line and if the JPX AD can perform up to its standards we have something exciting to look foward to. Once I get a chance to test the new line you’ll surely hear from me on the blog. Look for the new JPX AD pre order in the shop sometime this week!
Compared to this new look, the A25 actually looks good. Notwithstanding the square head, the A25 is actually not a bad driver in the JPX line up. IMO, the extra length might be the wrong way to go for Mizuno with the JPX, a high handicap line of clubs.