Srixon has a memo for those of you who assumed making the cen-ter of the face hotter—particularly on compact hybrids—was no longer possible: Try a little harder; there’s more there than you know. In this case, added speed isn’t just the flexing of the face but how the area immediately around the face can take the face to another level. A high-strength steel alloy makes the face 5 percent thinner than previous models for more rebound at impact, but by encircling the areas outside the face with stiff and flexible zones, Srixon created a second springy support region that amplifies the way the face deflects at impact. That means better energy transfer to the ball for off-center and on-center strikes. That’s especially helpful in a hybrid of this compact size in which less face area makes it more challenging to create higher ball speeds. The faster action of the clubface is a key to distance, but a lower center of gravity reduces spin for an efficient trajectory. That’s where the step down in the first part of the crown comes in. It lowers the midpoint within the head to yield a higher launch with less spin. As a bonus, that structure helps the face deflect more for, that’s right, more ball speed. Read More >>