Srixon ZXi RKT Driver & Woods: Which Model Is Right For You?
October normally isn’t an exciting time of the year to be launching new clubs, but Srixon is bucking that trend with the release of its new ZXi RKT drivers, fairway...
October normally isn’t an exciting time of the year to be launching new clubs, but Srixon is bucking that trend with the release of its new ZXi RKT drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids, which we now have available for custom fitting in the Nine By Nine Golf studio.
Srixon players have already tasted success with the new lineup. Shane Lowry won his second Irish Open with the new RKT LS driver in his bag. Ryan Fox claimed the Open Championship in July with the LS driver and three-wood in play.
Tour validation is one thing, but Srixon’s ZXi RKT range isn’t solely for the game’s elite. As we’ll show you in this guide, there is a ZXi RKT model for every level of playing ability.
The bigger question isn't simply which of the three heads is best, but which head, shaft and setup produce the right combination for your swing.
What's New InThe Srixon ZXi RKT Woods?
We’ll start by focusing on the drivers. Srixon states that the ZXi RKT range is built from the ground up, bringing in new technologies and designs to offer power and forgiveness where needed, along with appealing acoustics.
The best place to start is where the range gets its name from: the RKT Face.
The RKT Face (Rocket) starts with Srixon’s new VR-Titanium face, which combines a new lightweight titanium alloy with silicon to create a new composition. The combination helps to increase the face and body’s flex properties within the legal limits to deliver more energy for faster ball speeds.
i-Flex is a process where Srixon’s engineers have been able to vary the thickness of the face to optimise the energy transfer from clubface to ball. What this means is that on off-centre hits, there will be less of a drop-off in distance through lower ball speed compared to a centred strike, making each ZXi RKT driver more consistent across the face.
The Rebound Frame also acts as a tool to amplify ball speeds across the face by creating two flex zones to maximise flex across the face and body.
More power is just one aspect of what the ZXi RKT lineup offers. The drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids have also been designed to be accurate. To achieve this, Srixon has engineered each face with what it calls Variable Roll Design, which means they’ve changed the curvature of the face to help off-centre strikes fly more accurately, with particular focus on the common high-toe miss.
Srixon has also revised the laser milling across the face, designed to make alignment easier while helping to stabilise spin and retain performance in wet conditions.
Driving the ball is about confidence. Distance and accuracy go a long way towards building that confidence, but how a driver sounds at impact is equally important for golfers.
Srixon has taken the importance of obtaining the right acoustics on board and created ACOUSTICORE technology for the ZXi RKT range.
ACOUSTICORE is an all-new internal chassis featuring an AI-optimised internal ribbing structure, which is precisely tuned to give a crisp, controlled sound at impact.
A lightweight carbon crown also frees mass to be repositioned elsewhere in the head and forms part of the work Srixon has done around acoustics.
The shape of each head has also changed. Srixon developed its Tour-Driven Chassis through extensive prototyping and feedback from its tour staff, refining how each model looks behind the ball and performs for its intended player.
The ZXi RKT drivers come in three different profiles, which we’ll look at shortly. Srixon has created specific weighting designs on the sole that will allow club fitters to dial in the exact flight and shot shape for a player’s needs. Srixon has also incorporated its adjustable hosel into each driver model to further fine-tune launch and spin characteristics.
The ZXi RKT Drivers At A Glance
The ZXi RKT drivers comprise three models. We’ll start with the model that Ryan Fox had in his bag during his victory in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this summer: the RKT LS.
RKT LS
Designed for the accomplished player who generates distance, is consistent in their ball-striking, and likes to work the ball when they can off the tee.
This level of player’s main concern is excessive spin, and the LS features a deeper RKT face profile, which can help control launch and spin more effectively. The LS head is 460cc, but has a more traditional rounder profile behind the ball.
The LS features front and back interchangeable weights, which can reduce spin further or make the head more stable depending on what the player needs.
The LS is not for players who struggle with clubhead speed or consistency in their ball striking. However, there is a model in the RKT driver lineup that will appeal: the RKT MAX.
RKT MAX
The MAX is the most forgiving model with the highest MOI.
It features the biggest footprint behind the ball as its 460cc mass is stretched as far back from the face as possible, giving it a confidence-inspiring look behind the ball. A single weight port in the rear of the head lowers and deepens the centre of gravity to aid launch and spin numbers.
RKT
The standard model will appeal to the widest range of player ability, epitomising how Srixon views the RKT lineup: raw power, pure sound. The RKT is designed to improve ball speed, offer a higher MOI head compared to the LS model, and offer the perfect blend of performance with forgiveness.
Rather than simply sitting between LS and MAX, the standard RKT gives the fitter more scope to influence shot shape through its heel-and-toe weighting. Moving more mass towards the heel can encourage a draw bias, while additional toe weight can move the tendency towards a fade.
Srixon offers three models in the ZXi RKT because every golfer has different needs when it comes to optimising their driver performance.
The starting point is understanding where your own game is.
How well do you fare with the driver on the golf course?
Are you accurate but lack distance, or do you struggle to keep the ball in play? Are the ball and tee marks spread across the face, or is there a tight grouping in the centre, heel, or toe?
The information you can’t easily obtain from the golf course is what your launch and spin numbers look like, and that’s where custom-fitting makes a difference because it takes the guesswork out of the equation and replaces it with solid evidence of where your driver game sits and what the right model of RKT driver will work best for you.
A golfer swinging in the low 90s mph might naturally start with the standard RKT or RKT MAX, depending on launch, strike pattern and spin. Equally, 100mph-plus speed doesn't automatically mean RKT LS: it becomes relevant when that speed is also producing more spin than the golfer needs.
How you deliver the club matters too: two golfers with the same swing speed can produce completely different launch and spin because their angle of attack and delivered loft are different.
The key to understanding which model is right for you comes down to maximising your launch and spin numbers regardless of playing ability, which can only be fully uncovered in a custom fitting session.
But the fitting goes beyond choosing which RKT model is right for you.
The fitter can dial in exactly how the adjustable weights and hosel can be configured to fine-tune those all-important launch and spin numbers, while helping to neutralise or create a specific shot shape.
With the RKT driver head optimised, it’s time to look at how selecting the right shaft can further enhance the numbers.
Why Choosing The Head Is Only Half The Fitting
Srixon employs variations of the Mitsubishi Kai’li shaft for the three RKT driver models.
The Mitsubishi shaft is a good option, but how do you assess whether it’s the right shaft for your swing characteristics?
Most golfers expect that playing the right shaft can add more distance, but in reality, playing the right shaft offers a lot more, and that’s where a custom-fitting session becomes invaluable.
Custom fitting helps golfers understand that the focus of what the right shaft is shouldn’t solely be on the flex; the shaft flex is only one part of the equation. Playing with the correct shaft weight and profile helps to optimise the transfer of energy between the clubhead and the ball.
The launch monitor becomes an invaluable help to ascertain how shaft changes improve performance across distance, ball striking, and accuracy.
The adjustable hosel and sole weights can then fine-tune launch, spin and shot shape, but they cannot compensate for a shaft or loft that isn't suited to the player. That is why choosing the correct RKT head is only the first stage of the build.
At Nine By Nine Golf, we understand that every golfer who comes to us will have their own unique swing characteristics, and that’s why we stock a wide variety of shafts of differing weights, profiles, and flex from manufacturers such as Fujikura, KBS, Accra, Graphite Design, AutoFlex, and Mitsubishi Chemical, to name a few.
The attention to detail you receive from a fitting at Nine By Nine Golf also ensures that the chosen shaft is cut to the correct length.
ZXi RKT Fairway Woods
The Srixon ZXi RKT fairway woods carry the same technology as the drivers, which means RKT Face, incorporating i-Flex technology, Variable Roll Design, and a shape designed through extensive tour feedback.
The three-wood and three-wood+ feature carbon fibre on the crown, which helps reduce weight and allows the Srixon engineers to move the mass lower in the back of the head to maximise the head’s stability.
Within the head, Rebound Technology features two flex zones to amplify the energy transfer between the clubhead and the ball to maximise distance through increased ball speed.
For the first time in a Srixon fairway wood, the ZXi RKT combines adjustable sole weighting with an adjustable hosel, allowing the fitter to fine-tune launch, spin and shot shape.
Getting the best from a fairway wood also depends on matching the head with the right shaft. Optimising the fairway wood for use off the tee won’t be useful if you also play a lot of fairway wood shots off the deck, so the choice of shaft has to provide the correct launch and spin characteristics for both options.
The fitting process will also look to create consistent distance gapping from the driver to the longest iron in your bag.
The ZXi RKT fairway woods are available from a stronger-lofted three-wood+ through to a seven-wood
If lofted woods aren’t for you, Srixon has also introduced ZXi RKT hybrids.
The all-new ZXi RKT hybrids carry over the same “Raw Power, Pure Sound” theme as the rest of the woods family, with RKT Face, i-FLEX, Variable Roll Design, Rebound Frame and head shaping influenced by tour feedback.
A first for Srixon hybrids is the inclusion of adjustable weighting and an adjustable hosel to fine-tune launch and spin to help create ideal distance gapping between the ZXi RKT hybrid, fairway woods, and longest iron.
Custom fitting helps identify the ideal loft combination and where the ZXi RKT hybrid fits within your bag. Matching the head with the correct shaft then helps optimise launch, spin, strike consistency and distance.
The range runs from 17° through to 28°, giving fitters plenty of scope to bridge the gap between fairway woods and irons. The ZXi hybrid can also provide a natural crossover into Srixon’s updated ZXi iron family, giving golfers another option when building a blended setup through the top end of the bag.
Find your ideal ZXi RKT setup with a custom fitting at Nine By Nine Golf. We’ll match the right head, loft and shaft to your swing and build the club around your game.
Srixon's new, faster and more accurate driver face, a re-engineered alloy and face structure built to maximise ball speed and consistency.
What is ACOUSTICORE?
A new internal chassis with AI-tuned rib structures that gives the ZXi RKT its crisp, controlled sound at impact.
Can You Fit a Custom or Aftermarket Shaft in the Srixon ZXi RKT Driver?
Yes. During a ZXi RKT fitting, we can test a wide range of aftermarket shafts with different weights, profiles and flexes to find the combination that best suits your swing. The aim is to optimise distance, ball flight, strike consistency and control rather than simply relying on the standard shaft option.
Are the Srixon ZXi RKT Woods Adjustable?
Yes. Srixon has adjustable weights and hosels built into the RKT drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids. Adjustable weights and hosels are fine-tuning devices to ensure the correct shot shape, launch, and spin numbers. A fitting at Nine By Nine Golf ensures the weight and hosel settings are dialled in once the correct head and shaft combination is uncovered.
Discover the best driver shafts for a 95–105 mph swing speed in our guide. Learn how to choose the perfect flex, weight, and kick point to optimise your game.
