The new Srixon ZXi 2025 drivers are living proof that three seemingly contradictory conclusions can all be true.
First, they might be the best drivers Srixon has released in the last decade, at least. There’s an intriguing new face material and face design, three distinctly different models, and a look that rivals anything we’ve seen so far this year.
Second, despite what we just told you, the new Srixon ZXi drivers are unlikely to shake up the driver market this year. We don’t see TaylorMade, Callaway, PING, Titleist or COBRA worrying too much about the ZXi.
thirdly, Srixon he doesn’t really care what he just reads. Like most metalwood challenger brands, Srixon is fighting for its share of the 10 percent of the market that the Big Five don’t already own. Success is measured in feet, not miles.
That said, we’ll focus on the first conclusion today. Srixon has always had “good” drivers, but this is the first time in my memory that Srixon is bringing a compelling driver story to the table.
Should 2025 demo drivers be on your list?
Speed through materials
Srixon, by nature, is not the most hyperbolic company. It is not in big marketing splashes and will not (with perhaps one exception) slap you in the face with words like “revolutionary” or “game changer.” While this makes for a more responsive organization, Srixon executives do not generate the same hum like the usual suspects.
That’s why hanging your hat on a newly developed face material and a new variable thickness face design is largely Srixon.
The new material is called titanium Ti72S, developed by Srixon engineers in Japan and California.
“The limits have been pushed to what we can squeeze out of titanium,” Srixon Director of Engineering Dustin Brekke tells MyGolfSpy, “but we can improve its manufacturing stress and what it can handle. We can get benefits in reducing mass and improving our variable facial thickness.”
The face is one of the hardest parts of a club leader. Anytime you can make it easier and improve strength, that’s an opportunity for better. The Ti72S is lighter and stronger than Srixon’s previous Ti51AF. Lighter and stronger allows you to make the face thinner, and a thinner face is a ball speed multiplier.
Accelerate through i-Flex and Rebound Frame
Each OEM has ball speed enhancement technology, with face flex and variable face thickness playing key roles. The goal is twofold: maximize ball speed on on-center shots and minimize loss of ball speed on off-center shots. Some may be more effective, but they all serve the same purpose: get the ball moving like a bat from hell at impact.
After that, the ball is on its own. The club has done its job.
“Twenty years ago, we had a uniform face thickness stamped from a sheet of metal,” says Brekke. “It gave you pretty good ball speed, but it was inefficient. You had a lot of mass that wasn’t optimized for performance.”
Make fun of artificial intelligence if you want, but AI can create an optimized model of variable face thickness that could take 100 engineers 100 years to replicate. The computer is not blind, however. It uses player impact information, Arccos data and other human data. With all this data, Srixon’s supercomputer created the i-Flex.
“The new Titan Ti72S is a counter for us,” says Brekke. “It’s our thinnest face, so we can improve the impact in the center.”
If you look at it from the inside, the i-Flex face design resembles either a stylized capital letter “I” or, if you prefer, the Green Lantern symbol. (Don’t tell me I’m the only one who sees it.) Srixon supports i-Flex with the fourth generation Rebound Frame to create ball speed.
The Rebound Frame essentially creates two springboards in the front of the club. The first trampoline features the thin i-Flex face supported by a rigid frame. This frame is then supported by a flexible area which is then supported by another rigid area. Think of it as a double boing.
“i-Flex brings the focus to the face itself,” says Brekke. “Rebound Frame is all about maximizing the overall deflection profile.”
Three new drivers Srixon ZXi: Spin is the thing
For an industry that resists standardization (axle bending, anyone?), golf seems to have settled on a basic steering nomenclature. Srixon’s 2023 driver lineup featured the more player-focused ZX7, the more forgiving ZX5 and, for the first time, a low-revving model in the ZX5 LS.
It is now 2025 and the industry has adopted the standard terminology, MAX and LS. Srixon is joining the party with the new ZXi, ZXi MAX and ZXi LS drives. If you’re trying to match them up, the ZXi replaces the ZX7, the ZXi MAX replaces the ZX5, and the LS replaces the LS.
standard Srixon The ZXi should suit the widest range of players (Shane Lowery played it in last week’s TGL debut) and offers a balance between ball speed, MOI, forgiveness and low spin. The ZXi MAX, as the name suggests, is all about forgiveness. Has the highest MIA of any Srixon driver to date. The ZXi LS is the sequel to the ZX5 LS, Srixon’s surprise performer for MGS in 2023. It has a low spin profile and benefits golfers with aggressive swings, even if their swing speed isn’t what you’d call high.
Srixon’s convenient history, however, is what makes the composition interesting.
“All of these are designed for fast ball speed and maximum distance,” says Brekke. “But from an impact performance standpoint, spin is the driving force. Need low revs? Would it help you to have more rotations, provided you face the trade-offs that might come with that?”
For most golfers, you will start with the ZXi as it will give you some variation from left to right. If you need more spin and forgiveness, switch to MAX. If you need less torque and can tolerate the loss in forgiveness, you can check out the LS.
A New Adjustable Clutch (FINALLY!)
That 1969 Woodstock-level roar of approval you’re hearing is me celebrating a new adjustable tube in the Srixon ZXi drivers.
Hallelujah!
Not the old one Srixon the adapter was junk. it wasn’t. The problem was that there were more positions than the Kama Sutra and you needed an advanced degree to use it.
“Board tuning was engineering-driven for the longest time,” admits Brekke. “It was like, ‘Oooh, look at everything he can do.’ It was just so overwhelming.”
The new area has a bigger range than the old one, but you won’t need a decoder ring to figure it out. It’s based on loft, but as you adjust the loft up or down (1.5 degrees in ½ degree increments), you also adjust the reach angle down from standard and the face angle to be more open or closed.
In total, the new bundle offers 12 different settings. When combined with interchangeable soleplate weights, a good fitter can easily turn three different Srixon ZXi drivers into dozens of possibilities.
“If a driver doesn’t say ‘Draw’ on it, everyone is trying to go straight,” says Brekke. “We’re a little left-leaning with the MAX, but there are things you can do with the angle of the face and stuff. We are trying to provide appropriate solutions and clarity on performance expectations.”
The sound of distance?
I’ve tried all three of the new Srixon ZXi drivers and while I wouldn’t describe their sound as weird, it’s not the old 1985 Kathleen Turner whispering in your ear either.
“It is not a loud driver. There is nothing crazy about it,” says Brekke. “But I think it has more of a signature sound. It’s not as loud as previous Srixon drivers, but the sound is another design compromise. “Depending on how the weight of the foot, heel and toes are adjusted, you can get foot vibrations that may be out of place where you want them to be.”
That’s a long way of saying it we designed the driver to do a few things and this is the sound we got. Srixonlike PING, it eschews carbon fiber in favor of all-titanium construction. The carbon fiber crowns slightly change the dynamics of the sound, i.e. a high-pitched scale clinkyness is expected.
Perhaps the best way to describe it is that it sounds like a PING driver.
“As an engineer working with sound, there are a lot of wrong answers, but very few right answers,” explains Brekke. “There are spaces in which you cannot live. But once you’re in the right space, it becomes a compromise. Moving a few grams on the inner ribs or changing the curvature of the face affects the sound.
“There will be things you will and will not want to do.”
Then again, if the fit works for you and you like the performance, it’s amazing how quickly the sound won’t bother you. I’ve hit worse sounding drivers over the years, that’s for sure.
Plus, once you hit some bombs, every driver will sound like a Paul McCartney lullaby.
Srixon ZXi Drivers: Price, Specifications and Availability
The standard Srixon ZXi driver will be available in nine- and 10.5-degree right- and left-hand lofts. Comes standard with interchangeable heel and toe weights. Weighing 10 grams in the heel and four grams in the heel, the ZXi is more prone to traction. Swapping them makes it more fade biased.
The Fujikura Ventus TR Blue (X-, S-, R-flexes) is available as is the Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360 grip.
The ZXi MAX comes in nine, 10.5 and 12 degree heads (nine is RH only) with a single 14 gram rear weight for a low and deep center of gravity. The lighter weight Project X Denali Red 50 is the stock shaft, in S-, R- and A-bends. The Tour Velvet 360 is the stock grip.
The 12-degree women’s ZXi MAX is available in both left- and right-handed models (left-handers must custom order). Aldila Ascent PL 40 shaft and Lamkin ST Soft cap are in stock.
The Srixon ZXi LS comes in three lofts (eight, nine, 10.5 degrees) with Project X HZRDUS Black in X-, S- and R-bends and Tour Velvet 360 grips. Only the nine-degree model is available for left-handers.
The new Srixon ZXi drivers will retail for $549.99. They hit stores on January 24th.
For more information, visit Srixon website.
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