TaylorMade Stealth HD Iron Review

Golf Monthly

Our verdict on this unorthodox game improvement iron said to deliver a high, draw-biased ball flight consistently

Transcript

00:00 Now it's fair to say that TaylorMade is a company

00:02 well known for thinking outside the box

00:04 and creating new products, but it's fair to say

00:06 we weren't expecting something this drastic

00:08 with its latest iron design for 2023.

00:11 It's the TaylorMade Stealth HD iron

00:13 and it comes into the range in addition

00:16 to last year's Stealth irons,

00:17 offer golfers even more launch and draw bites

00:20 to help them if they struggle with weak shots

00:22 that finish out to the right.

00:24 And it's a very unorthodox approach, you can see it here.

00:27 It's an incredibly shallow face,

00:29 especially in the long irons, really wide sole,

00:32 a completely unconventional approach

00:34 to golfers hitting longer, more accurate shots.

00:37 But the big question is, does it work?

00:39 That's what we're gonna try and find out in this video.

00:41 We're gonna test it on a launch monitor

00:42 up against the Stealth iron to understand exactly

00:45 what the differences are in the performance

00:47 and which type of golfer might benefit

00:49 from switching to an iron like this.

00:51 Okay, so what has TaylorMade done

00:53 with the design of this new Stealth HD iron?

00:55 Well, I've got the Stealth HD 7-iron

00:57 and the Stealth 7-iron from last year.

00:59 And as you can see, the face on the new Stealth HD iron

01:03 is a lot shallower.

01:04 And the whole idea behind that is to drive the CG lower

01:08 to give you more help in launching the ball a lot higher.

01:11 It's a pretty radical approach to iron design

01:14 in terms of achieving that.

01:15 So as I mentioned, it's a very shallow face.

01:17 It's almost as wide as it is tall.

01:19 It's a very unorthodox design and look

01:21 that you would often associate with chippers

01:24 or chipping clubs around the green,

01:25 those specific clubs to help golfers

01:26 who've got the yips around the green.

01:29 It's got a very rounded front edge and a very wide sole,

01:32 which actually plays a little bit narrower than it looks

01:34 because of this step-down design here at the back.

01:36 But all in all, at address, it's an unconventional look.

01:39 There's a lot of loft on show, very wide, bags of offset.

01:42 And the other thing that you'll notice at address

01:44 is that it does sit significantly toe up,

01:47 which is always gonna promote a right to left ball flight

01:50 for a right-hander or get the ball turning over

01:51 from right to left.

01:52 So very, very different to where we were with the Stealth iron

01:56 worth pointing out that the Stealth HD

01:58 does get a bit more traditional as the irons get shorter,

02:01 as the loft increases, it looks a little bit more traditional

02:03 but those longer irons in particular,

02:05 kind of from seven iron down, are drastically different

02:08 from any other kind of conventional iron

02:10 that you'd be used to looking down on

02:11 in that game improvement space.

02:13 So I think, you know, we've done a lot of talking

02:15 about how this iron looks.

02:16 Let's hit some shots on the launch monitor

02:18 to see exactly how the performance compares

02:21 between the two, but also how the iron performs

02:24 when we slow our swing speed down.

02:25 We know this iron is not designed

02:27 for a three index player like me,

02:29 it's designed for high handicappers

02:30 who tend to have slower swing speeds.

02:32 So how does this iron perform

02:34 when we slow our swing speed down versus Stealth?

02:36 Because we know brands offering stronger and stronger lofts

02:39 in their game improvement irons

02:40 doesn't necessarily help those who are kind of force limited,

02:43 who physically don't have the speed to flight the ball.

02:46 Often something that's more traditionally in loft

02:48 and built to help the ball launch higher,

02:51 you'll get more carry distance out of that

02:52 versus a stronger lofted game improvement iron.

02:55 So it doesn't necessarily mean that stronger lofts

02:57 equal more distance for every type of player.

02:59 But let's hit some shots

03:01 with both these irons compared to the two

03:02 and then we'll slow our swing speed down

03:04 to see what difference that makes.

03:05 (upbeat music)

03:08 Right, so I've hit five shots with each of these irons.

03:19 Worth pointing out, before we go into the data,

03:20 that the Stealth HD iron has a seven iron loft of 30 degrees.

03:25 So two degrees weaker than the tailor-made Stealth.

03:27 We've got the numbers here, starting with the Stealth iron.

03:30 You can see this club is carrying nearly 172 yards

03:34 and spinning at kind of 5,400 RPM.

03:38 But if we switch to the Stealth HD,

03:41 unsurprisingly, it is quite a lot shorter.

03:44 It's around about nine yards shorter on average

03:46 and it's spinning up a lot more,

03:48 launching a little bit higher,

03:49 not as quick off the face because of that weaker loft.

03:51 But I think there's some trends here.

03:53 You can see, clearly, the Stealth HD

03:55 is doing its job of flighting the ball a lot higher.

03:57 That's the white ball flight on the left.

04:00 And speaking of shot pattern, we can see over here,

04:02 the shot pattern is more to the left

04:04 than we were with Stealth.

04:06 But what I'd say is not as far to the left

04:08 as I was expecting.

04:08 Looking down on that face with the toe pointing up,

04:11 I was expecting the shots to start

04:13 and curve a lot more left than they actually did.

04:15 So I was surprised about that.

04:17 And actually, you can see how the dispersion pattern

04:18 is pretty consistent.

04:19 Other than that one I turned over quite significantly,

04:22 the other shots were pretty solid

04:24 and quite close to the target line.

04:25 So it's definitely a very user-friendly forgiving iron.

04:28 Obviously, the Stealth is obviously

04:29 a very forgiving iron as well.

04:31 But I was surprised at actually how straight

04:34 the shots with the Stealth HD were

04:36 because in practice, I'm hitting them on the range outdoors,

04:38 the shots were turning over quite a lot more to the left.

04:41 So perhaps take it with a pinch of salt,

04:44 but maybe it doesn't have as much left bias in as I thought,

04:47 but is delivering more draw bias

04:49 than the original Stealth iron.

04:51 There's clear delivery on its promise

04:53 of higher launch and a more draw bias ball flight.

04:56 But the big question is, how does it perform

04:58 or how does it compare when we slow our swing speed down?

05:01 Would a slower swing speed golfer actually benefit

05:03 or get more performance out of an HD iron

05:06 versus the original Stealth?

05:07 That's what we're gonna try and do now in a live scenario.

05:10 So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna slow my swing speed down,

05:12 hit a shot with each that's well struck,

05:13 and hopefully we'll see variances in carry distance.

05:16 They actually might kind of reverse themselves

05:18 and maybe even the Stealth HD iron

05:20 could go a little bit further.

05:21 Okay, so we're seeing from the data

05:23 on full tilt hitting these seven irons,

05:24 my swing speed is around about 85, 86 miles an hour.

05:28 We're now gonna see how the carry distance compares

05:31 when we slow our swings right down.

05:32 So starting with the Stealth HD,

05:34 gonna try and slow it right down to about 65 miles an hour

05:38 and see what difference the carry distance has

05:40 given the differences in the construction of these heads.

05:44 So starting with the Stealth HD.

05:48 (gunshot)

05:50 Right, nearly bang on there.

05:55 Club speed of 64 miles an hour

05:57 and a carry distance of 118 yards.

06:00 You can see we're a little bit left.

06:02 Shut the face a bit, which might affect the carry slightly,

06:05 but let's see what the Stealth iron does at similar speed.

06:09 (gunshot)

06:13 Ooh, I think I swung that a bit too hard.

06:18 65, so slightly quicker and only four yards longer

06:23 on average carry.

06:23 So you can see when you slow your swing speed down,

06:25 the difference between the two irons really does narrow

06:28 and actually the distance is probably quite comparable

06:31 between the two club heads.

06:33 So therefore when you have a slower swing speed,

06:35 the choice becomes more difficult.

06:36 You've got the choice of something a bit lower spinning

06:39 or something a bit higher spinning

06:40 and higher launching with the Stealth HD.

06:42 I think actually slower swingers would probably benefit

06:45 from switching in something a bit more user-friendly

06:48 like that HD iron.

06:49 It's a bit larger, gonna get the ball up in the air

06:51 a little bit easier and you probably don't lose

06:54 as much distance as you might think.

06:56 Okay, so hopefully this comparison test give you a flavor

06:58 about what this Stealth HD iron is about

07:01 and how it performs versus a more conventional

07:03 game improvement iron.

07:04 And yes, it is a drastic departure visually

07:07 from where most game improvement irons are,

07:09 but if you can get past the looks we've seen from this test,

07:12 it does deliver that extra performance of more height

07:15 and more draw bias to your iron shots.

07:17 And if your swing speed is slightly slower,

07:19 you're really gonna enjoy the performance benefits

07:21 that this club offers.

07:22 It's very user-friendly, forgiving through the turf

07:25 with that wide sole.

07:26 And if you also struggle with a miss to the right,

07:28 this is definitely gonna help correct that.

07:30 So there are a lot of benefits or positives

07:32 to talk about with this Stealth HD iron.

07:34 I think the looks will divide opinion

07:36 and for some it might be a step too far,

07:38 but if you can get past the way they look

07:39 or you want to look down on an iron

07:41 that's more confidence inspiring,

07:42 like a hybrid style design,

07:44 you're gonna enjoy what the Stealth HD iron has to offer.

07:48 For a lot of golfers it won't be as long

07:50 or as powerful as the original Stealth iron,

07:52 but for that golfer that struggles to flight the ball,

07:55 there's an awful lot to like about this Stealth HD iron.

07:57 So hopefully you enjoyed this video

07:58 and it's given you a really good idea

08:00 about what this Stealth HD iron has to offer.

08:02 But that's all from me from Kings Golf Studio.

08:04 Do click the like button if you like this video

08:06 and subscribe to our channel,

08:08 but I'll see you next time.

08:09 (upbeat music)

08:12 (upbeat music)

08:14 (upbeat music)

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