Mizuno ST-G 220 Driver

Key Takeaways

Mizuno to release a new ST-G 220 Driver with adjustable weights Available at retail in October MSRP $500

Chasing higher ball speeds across a driver face using adjustable weights to control spin and shot shape sometimes gets accomplished at the expense of a sacrificial lamb: FEEL. No getting around it.

Impact feedback can get altered dramatically with a couple twists and tweaks of a driver wrench. Try for a slightly different launch window and that nice dense sound/feel you’re accustomed to, well, it can turn kind of foreign. Especially on off centre strikes.

Mizuno’s new ST-G 220 driver is designed with more wrench torques in mind. Actually, a lot more. Engineered with a trio of shorter lateral weight tracks and a pair of moveable center/back weight ports the next generation ST model maintains impact feel however it is set up. You could never say that about adjustable Mizuno drivers of the past. Still plenty long but some…..well, let’s just say they weren’t exactly a concert hall of sound/feel dynamics. Or at the very least they were inconsistent in that department.

Not this one.

Sound/Feel Profiling

Sound profile and innovation has made quantum leaps from where it was even a decade ago. Computer acoustics software is as integral to driver design these days as looks in the address position and game improvement technology. That, of course, is due not only to modern driver volumes (460cc max) but also the (multi) materials used for construction, head shape, and adjustability function.

Trying to find a sound/feel happy place in all of that? Challenging to say the least.

Mizuno took it on in the ST-G 220.

The mission was to make feel compare favorably with non-adjustable, fixed weight drivers. Not an easy benchmark to attain with so many movable parts.

How’d Mizuno Do It?

Advanced ball speed increases with its previous generation ST-Z and ST-X drivers were taken full advantage of by Mizuno. For the ST-G it started with a second go using SAT2041 Beta Ti. Call numbers and letters for Super/Alloy/Titanium/20% Vanadium/4% Aluminum/1% Tin the multi-material mouthful opens up two important advantages: 17% more tensile strength and 8% more flexibility than standard 6-4 Ti.

Designed with a Multi-Thickness CORTECH face the ST-G 220 Driver picks up enhanced speeds from energy return across a larger swath of impact area. Including lower on this deeper faced, shorter back-to-front driver.

Cue Those Weight Locations

Turning this driver over is a revelation.  Count em’. The ST-G has a trio of weight tracks and, not one, but a pair of moveable weights. That’s A LOT of adjustability. It allows the driver to cover ball flights from low-spin to more mid-spin with both fade or draw bias’. The shorter lateral weight tracks were designed to compliment the center/back pair of weight port locations with the outcome being more options.

The best part? Fine-tuning flight comes with zero sacrifice for sound/feel. Even the most wrench-happy do-it-yourselfer won’t detect a difference.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too…

When it comes to optimizing ball flight adjustable drivers can be either real good at backspin or adept at fade/draw adjustability. Rarely both. That’s another advantage that comes with ST-G 220.

Since the driver provides for more independent movement of weight along both the X and Z axis Mizuno’s R&D team accomplished three things:

1) From the increased separation of the lateral weight tracks it was able to create more draw/bias capability.
2) The two central back weights deepened center of gravity with the payoff being enhanced stability, launch and spin.
3) Consistent, dependable feedback across the full range of weight settings.

Details, Details

Mizuno’s ST-G 220 comes stock with HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 6 shaft and Lamkin ST Hybrid 360 60R grip. Quick Switch Adjustability provides four degrees of loft adjustability to further fine-tune look and trajectory.

As an adjustable driver (that ships in the neutral position) ST-G 220 can go toe- to-toe for COR and MOI with a number of the market’s most forgiving products. Seems targeted to better players, right? Maybe not. There is sufficient cause for higher single digit and even mid-handicap players to give the Mizuno ST-G a long look.

The ST-G 220 Driver will be available at retail in October. MSRP IS $500.

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