Srixon Z 355 Driver: Action Mass Technology

03/23/2016

If you’re shopping for a new driver this golf season, the Srixon Z 355 is one of the new clubs worth your consideration (at a price point around $350).

The Z 355 is designed with a heavier club head and a higher balance point on the shaft that Srixon says “combine to increase both distance and consistency.”

The large titanium cup face construction produces an expanded sweet spot for “maximum distance and forgiveness,” even on those not quite rare enough slight miss-hits.   

Here’s video of our team and Troy Klongerbo (@troy_usgolftv) taking a look at the driver at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show: 

Review

The club looks and feels nice: you’ll certainly never be embarrassed to pull it out of your bag on the first tee.

The driver has an adjustable head that allows 12 customizable settings for loft, lie and face angle so golfers can zero-in to the individual set-up that they think works best for their swing.

The heavier driver head and the high balance point on the Miyazaki Jinsoku graphite shaft form what Srixon calls Action Mass Technology, designed to provide consistent distance and ball flight on even less-than-perfect contact.

Since less-than-perfect contact is one way to describe my swing, I went to a local golf store to try out the Z 355, taking along my almost five-year old Callaway FT-9 as a control.    

After warming up in the hitting bay, I pounded 10 balls with my old driver and then launched 10 more with the new Srixon.  Now 20 swings is hardly a conclusive test to draw comprehensive results from, but it is enough to reveal a consistent, though slight, improvement in distance and swing speed from the new club.

The Srixon Z 355 (with a neutral set-up) gave me just less than five percent more length than my old driver provided. It also averaged a very small improvement in both swing speed and carry distance.

The club is easy to swing, it looks nice while waggling behind the ball, and the large (211-gram, 450CC) driver head makes a pleasing sound at contact.

The best in the world are in the field this week @DellMatchPlay. Who are you pulling for? #SwitchToBetter pic.twitter.com/G9K3hIgUYB

— Srixon (@SrixonGolf) March 23, 2016

Conclusion

There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about the Z 355, but there are two caveats to this review: first, to get maximum benefits from the adjustable club head will require some time on the driving range to fully test and settle on the set-up that’s best for each individual golfer. Second, remember, a new driver will not give you a new swing; whatever flaws are inherent in your golf swing will still exist with the new club.

In other words, if you’re going to spend $350 to try and improve your golf game, a series of lessons with a knowledgeable pro might be a wise alternative to a new driver.

That said, I found the Srixon Z 355 easy to hit. The distance and dispersal pattern of the shots in my limited sample test presented a small though noticeable improvement compared to the driver that I’m used to and am essentially happy with.

But if now is the time for you to put a new driver in your golf bag, I recommend you at least test drive the new Srixon Z 355 at a pro shop or golf store near you.

A video review of the Z 355 is available at online.

Incidentally, neither USGolfTV.com or this writer received any form of compensation from Srixon for this generally positive review.

Tip:Keep your club in front of your chest as much as you can. You want everything to move together.-@willwilcoxgolf pic.twitter.com/D4qwp92BYG

— Srixon (@SrixonGolf) March 8, 2016