Mizuno MP-H4 Better Player Irons Review

Tested by Jon Greathead (8 h’cap)

If I was asked to point to which part of my game I enjoyed the most, I’d have to say iron play. This isn’t to say it is brilliant, but it’s certainly a step up on my inconsistent work off the tee box.

Getting decent distance and lots of height has never been a problem for me, and it’s one thing I never mind practising (perhaps wrongly, given it is already a strength…). However, the truth is, this high level of confidence only really applies from wedge through to 5-iron.

In fact, the thought of hitting a 3-iron – especially without much practice – fills me with dentist-like dread. I’ve toyed with hybrids over the past few years, and while there is certainly an improvement, I’ve more than often found myself coming back to those longer irons, simply because I prefer the way they look compared to a rescue club.

So when Mizuno told us they were launching some long-iron replacements that weren’t hybrids, I was desperately hoping they could offer the confidence I have with my short irons with the added forgiveness of a hybrid. And they pretty much did.

In terms of distance, I didn’t notice anything sensational but there were definitely other benefits; I was generating a much better ball flight than normal, and this translated to a bit more confidence – I could imagine hitting and holding even a hard green with the longer irons.

But what I particularly liked was that Mizuno offer the irons from 5-iron all the way down to 2-iron – and if you want a real ‘go to’ club off the tee that wasn’t a wood, I couldn’t recommend this highly enough. Which, given my fear of 3-irons stated earlier, tells you all you need to know. The only slight negative comes with the aesthetics – there’s no getting away that the head, and the topline, is chunkier than nearly every other better player iron I can think of. But that’s because the hollow construction allows greater weight to be placed low and deep within the head, which generates the high ball flight and added forgiveness.

Pros: Sensational confidence in what are traditionally-harder-to-hit irons, and a lovely high ball flight.
Cons: The chunky nature of the topline and the head as a whole won’t be to everyone’s liking.

The MP-H4 is a super forgiving long iron replacement – with the classic low offset look preferred by better players.

At address the MP-H4 sits comfortably alongside any of the MP iron sets, while the new Grain Flow Forged face and neck esnsure the same smooth, Mizuno feel at impact.

Unlike a standard MP long iron, the MP-H4’s hollow construction allows greater weight to be placed low and deep within the clubhead. The deeper weight position encourages a high launch angle and softer landing path, for control with longer approach shots. A Grain Flow Forged face, neck and sole create additional face flex to produce higher ball speeds and a noticeable step up in distance.
 
The MP-H4 long irons are available from 2-5i and can be custom fitted to mix with any Mizuno MP iron set.
 
Website: www.mizuno.com