XXIO 13 Metalwoods: What You Need to Know

The new XXIO 13 metalwoods line follows the tried-and-true XXIO recipe. 

We can talk all we want about the new technology and key improvements (trust me, we will) but the XXIO message remains the same and remains simple.

It’s a highly engineered line of lightweight clubs designed exclusively for two very specific subsets of golfers: Those who don’t swing the club very fast and those who don’t swing the club as fast as they used to.

If you’re a young bomber, or even a middle-aged one, fear not. Your day of XXIO reckoning is coming. Father Time, as Tiger famously told us, is undefeated.

Yeah, the new XXIO 13 metalwoods lineup is light. But as we’ve learned from XXIO over the years, it’s about way more than just sticking a light shaft into a regular clubhead. XXIO designs each generation from grip to tip with no one but low to moderate-swing golfers in mind.

For the record, they’re specifically talking about men and women with driver speeds between 75 and 90 miles per hour.

If that’s you, read on. If that’s not you, it probably will be some day.

XXIO 13 Metalwoods: What is a XXIO, anyway?

As the name suggests, this is the 13th XXIO generation. The product line was introduced in Japan in 2000 and eventually joined stablemates Srixon and Cleveland in North America. It’d be cool to think XXIO represents some culturally significant ancient Japanese saying. But sometimes reality just isn’t cool.

XXI, for you Super Bowl fans, is the Roman numeral for 21 as in the 21st Century.  In Japanese, the “o” sound means “king,” “leader,” “best.” Put them together and XXIO means king/leader/best of the 21st Century.

Yeah, something with a samurai would have been cooler but it is what it is.

And if you’re having trouble pronouncing it, just say SEXY-oh. Then change the S to a Z and you’ve got it.

XXIO is also morphing its market approach in North America. It’s premium priced, to be sure (XXIO 13 drivers are $699.99) but that’s still in the ballpark with XXIO’s 2016 pricing. Mainstream drivers, as we know, are ready to crash the $600 barrier on their own. It’s premium but not ridiculously so.

And XXIO is getting better at delivering its message. The line has been a smashing success for Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO in North America and its reach is expanding. As recently as pre-COVID, XXIO was mostly found at retirement country clubs. Today, it’s in almost every retail store you can name.

For the right golfer, XXIO might just be the elixir that makes the game fun again.

BiFlex: The Finder of Lost Yards?

XXIO’s mantra is to throw all of its newest and best technology into its clubs and see what works. The XXIO 13 metalwoods feature a new twist on Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO’s trademark Rebound Frame. It’s a technology that may very well prove to be groundbreaking and we don’t say that lightly.

XXIO calls it BiFlex.

“It’s a term we’re using for the next generation of Rebound Frame,” says Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO R&D Director Jeff Brunski. “BiFlex is a progressive Rebound Frame.”

We’ve talked about Rebound Frame extensively but the simple version is it’s a double-trampoline system to enhance ball speed. The flexible clubface is backed by a rigid supporting ring, like a regular trampoline. Then that rigid supporting ring is backed by another flexible zone which is then backed by another rigid zone. The idea is to maximize energy transfer from club to ball with a double-boing, if you will.

But there are tradeoffs.

“If you start creating a very rounded and rigid region next to the face, you start to decrease the actual face height,” says Brunski. “It’s detrimental because you begin to shrink the face height so much that it won’t be as flexible.”

A XXIO metalwood trademark is a deep face, so you can see the problem. BiFlex is a re-engineered iteration of Rebound Frame that features progressive face and frame geometry from heel to toe. That allows  XXIO to keep its deep face while maximizing ball speed on heel and toe strikes that are common to its target golfer.

An AI Assist

XXIO isn’t making it a front-and-center marketing callout but AI design makes BiFlex possible.

“We want ball speed across the whole face but especially heel and toe,” says Brunski. “It’s similar technology to what you’ll find in a Cleveland or a Srixon metalwood but it’s modified for the target golfer.”

Based on player testing, Brunski says his team knows that Srixon player impact patterns differ from those of Cleveland players and XXIO players. They use AI to modify designs based on that information.

“We know this person might benefit from a taller face at this part of the club,” he explains. “So we turn Rebound Frame down a little bit. You can fine-tune these technologies based on the target player.”

So what’s the tangible benefit? According to the company, BiFlex is giving the XXIO 13 driver a 125 percent larger high COR area than the previous generation. XXIO defines a high COR area as the part of the face with a COR higher than 0.80.

That’s better known as “the sweet spot.”

And folks, 125 percent larger is more than double. And anytime you can double the size of something good, well, that’s really good.

BiFlex is part of the XXIO 13 fairway wood and hybrid story as well. BiFlex doubles the high COR area in the fairways while increasing it by 120 percent in the hybrids.

ActivWing and Sir Isaac Newton

If there’s one thing XXIO knows about its target low-to-moderate swing speed golfer, it’s that he/she tends to leave the face open a touch at impact.

Some of that’s on the golfer and some of that is just a function of a slow swing. ActivWing, despite its Marvel superhero-sounding name, won’t solve the problem but it can help.

If you’re a believer in Newtonian physics, that is.

ActivWing debuted two years ago in XXIO 12. Its goal is to stabilize the clubhead in the downswing and, aerodynamically, help the golfer get the club more square at impact. We’re not talking club speed aerodynamics here. Instead, ActivWing invokes Newton’s Second Law of Motion.

“Moderate to slow swing speed players, as a general rule, fight an open club face,” says Brunski. “In simple terms, ActivWing uses its aerodynamics as a kind of airfoil to keep the face from opening during your downswing.”

If, as Newton observed, acceleration equals net force divided by mass, the ActivWing airfoil mass on the heel of XXIO 13 metalwoods increases lift force and drag force during the downswing. It also helps maintain clubhead speed and keep the clubface a little more square at impact.

“I won’t say this is a game-changing technology,” admits Brunski. “It’s a small dial but it is effective. It does help the golfer come in with a more closed face angle.”

ActivWing is getting a wing-lift in the XXIO 13 metalwoods lineup. The original ActivWing featured only one “wing,” which kept the club stable in the first half of the downswing. The newly added second “wing” helps maintain speed during the second half of the downswing and helps the face get a little more closed.

Are two wings better than one? Ask any flighted bird and they’ll tell you.

XXIO 13 Metalwoods: Specs, Price and Availability

 The XXIO 13 metalwood lineup features the requisite families of drivers, fairways and hybrids, all designed for specific spots in the target golfers’ bags.

The XXIO 13 men’s drivers will be offered in three non-adjustable lofts: 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 degrees. The face material is the ultra-thin, ultra-strong Super-TIX® 51AF titanium. And since XXIO designs its clubs for a specific profile, there are no shaft options. The driver features XXIO’s proprietary MP1300 shaft in regular flex.  Stiff shafts are available through custom order. Only the 10.5-degree model will be available for lefties.

XXIO 13 fairways run the gamut from a 15-degree 3-wood to a 23-degree 9-wood with a 16.5-degree 4-wood thrown in for good measure. Only the 3-, 5- and 7-woods will be available for lefties. The MP1300 shaft is stock.

And the XXIO 13 hybrids come in 3- through 6-hybrid models at 18-, 20-, 23- and 26-degree lofts. The 4- and 5-hybrids are the only left-handed options.

Both the fairways and hybrids feature an HT1770M steel face. XXIO is providing a new-for-North America proprietary grip. It’s lightweight (36 grams) and a standard North American size. Previously, XXIO used a smaller grip made for the Japanese market.

The XXIO 13 driver will retail for $699.99, the fairway woods for $399.99 and the hybrids for $299.99 each.

They’ll hit the stores on Jan. 26.

For more information, visit the XXIO website.

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