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2011 Cobra S3 Max Irons Preview

SuperStroke
JB, are they going to make a ladies version? Pandute took the 7 iron to the range yesterday and really liked them. She said she was getting 140 yards, which was longer than the CG16 and her current set. She tried the S2 ladies and was not impressed.
 
Thanks Rhino!
These are a bit different than the mens S3 MAX. She is going to play around with my clubs and if it works out she might be hitting the mens clubs at the demo day outing
 
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Nice purchase, Clam! They beat out a formidable opponent in the Di11's.


Tap before talk.
 
Glad you found a set of irons that works for you Clam. I haven't tried the S3 Max irons, but like the S3 irons quite a lot.

Team 4 in the THP Outing Saturday scramble just got a little better!
 
golf4life said:
Glad you found a set of irons that works for you Clam. I haven't tried the S3 Max irons, but like the S3 irons quite a lot.

Team 4 in the THP Outing Saturday scramble just got a little better!
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Team 4 will be fine.. but you two are on Team 3. hehe
 
White Rhino said:
Team 4 will be fine.. but you two are on Team 3. hehe
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Ooops, thanks for the correction Rhino. Looking forward to how you hit those new sticks at the outing Clam
 
It's ok G4L you can be supportive of whatever team you want in the scramble, including team #1...lol
 
Okay, spent some time on the range today with these and I have some really good things to say about them and some things that really need to improve upon.

The Pros
They are really forgiving. Off of most lies, we (there were 2 of us) found that the ball jumps off the face and and high or low on the club face had virtually no impact on distance. Miss on the toe or heel a little bit? No problem, the clubs really assist.

Distance was exceptional. In the ball part of many of the other distance clubs although not quite as far as a select few. Really good and the ball as mentioned literally jumps off the face.

The ball flight is REALLY high. I mean REALLY high. It gets up in the air faster than any club I have ever hit. A couple of times with the wedge, I thought it was going to hit the bill of my hat. That is how fast they get up.

It handles MOST lies extremely well. The rails on the sole really glide through deeper grass and the larger and thicker club head really cuts through the rough well.

The Cons
There is an odd sound at impact that I am not used to. Not really good or bad really, but different. Because of that, it gives off a very "interesting" feel.

Off of really tight lies, both of us found ourselves hitting a lot of thin shorts. While the club face is still forgiving as can be with this, I found it hard to control distances because of it. Im not sure if its the rails on the bottom or the larger sole, but on harder ground with a tight lie, we really struggled quite a bit.

Overall
These surprised me a little bit. They were quite good, but I definitely need some more time with them because if I am hitting fairways (hope so), I fear that I would thin far too many balls. Be back with an update soon.
 
JB said:
Off of really tight lies, both of us found ourselves hitting a lot of thin shorts. While the club face is still forgiving as can be with this, I found it hard to control distances because of it. Im not sure if its the rails on the bottom or the larger sole, but on harder ground with a tight lie, we really struggled quite a bit.
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Interesting review JB. Is it something a little more forward shaft lean can assist with? Or is it just the shape of the club?
 
Thainer21 said:
Interesting review JB. Is it something a little more forward shaft lean can assist with? Or is it just the shape of the club?
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We worked with that a little bit and it still gave some inconsistent results. It could be a digger/picker type of thing. More testing will give off the proper results I think.
 
JB said:
We worked with that a little bit and it still gave some inconsistent results. It could be a digger/picker type of thing. More testing will give off the proper results I think.
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I dont doubt it. Im pondering a set of these for my dad. The course he plays doesnt ever have a very tight lie so I think he may benefit large from everything that these promote.
 
Thanks for the review I have been thinking about a set.
 
This is just a quick update. I just hit 100+ balls in the ol' driving cage with the new sticks. The bad thing about hitting into a net is you can't see the ball flight. I placed my targets up based on my NICKENTS and went to work on that bucket o' balls. I started with the 7 iron and worked my way up. The ball just explodes off of the face. I put some tape on the faces so I could see where I was making contact. Most of what I knew were bad swings still found their mark. I like that I had some feedback, but didn't have to pay for it with a ball off target.

The four iron might be my favorite club. I played it farther back in my stance and it was pure strike after pure strike. It makes me glad I opted for the no hybrid set. This is coming from a guy who was gaming a 5 hybrid.

The sound issues JB noticed might be happening but I am deaf in one ear so I couldn't make it out. I will ask my buddies if they hear anything. I am interested in what they pick up on.

Ok now its Mashie time! Later
 
Clam, I love that you are so excited about these irons. Thanks for the update.

Tapatalk keeps me sane.
 
clam fist said:
This is just a quick update. I just hit 100+ balls in the ol' driving cage with the new sticks. The bad thing about hitting into a net is you can't see the ball flight. I placed my targets up based on my NICKENTS and went to work on that bucket o' balls. I started with the 7 iron and worked my way up. The ball just explodes off of the face. I put some tape on the faces so I could see where I was making contact. Most of what I knew were bad swings still found their mark. I like that I had some feedback, but didn't have to pay for it with a ball off target.

The four iron might be my favorite club. I played it farther back in my stance and it was pure strike after pure strike. It makes me glad I opted for the no hybrid set. This is coming from a guy who was gaming a 5 hybrid.

The sound issues JB noticed might be happening but I am deaf in one ear so I couldn't make it out. I will ask my buddies if they hear anything. I am interested in what they pick up on.

Ok now its Mashie time! Later
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Clam -- Sounds like you have hit the Mother Lode dude! Enjoy you new sticks and I'm glad the snakes are working well for ya. You know someone has to take on the, "snake charmer job" :thumb:
 
clam fist said:
This morning I made my first trip to the range with my new snakes. I only grabbed the 4 and 7 iron and stuck it in my bag. I have been super busy at the Monkey Disco, so I had no time to remove my old set. I purchased what they call a "large" bucket at the new Sevierville Golf Club. I hit about a third of the bucket with the M1:clapp:, the rest I saved for my mini Nickent 4dx vs. S3 Max shootout.

I have had the 4dx irons for a while now and have my yardages pretty much dialed in. I am still an inconsistent ball striker. I have days that I struggle. Today was one of those days, and the Nickents let me know it. I was hitting close to the toe on quite a few strikes. This is how I knew the Cobras were for me. The shots hit off the toe of the S3 still had good straight ball flight. I hate looking for lost balls in the Smoky Mountain rough so straight is huge for me. On the well struck shots, I couldn't believe how much farther I was hitting. It is one thing to see your distance on a launch monitor, but watching that ball fly on the range makes it real. My confidence is way up. I am looking forward to getting these on the course. I have a feeling that lower scores are soon on the way.:banana:
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Clam is the new ole gray :D! Good luck with your new snakes and enjoy them. It's all about confidence and like JB said, if a person hits a shoe on the end of a broom stick good, more power to ya. hmmmmm I am going to try that shoe/broomstick combo.
 
Ole Gray said:
Clam is the new ole gray :D! Good luck with your new snakes and enjoy them. It's all about confidence and like JB said, if a person hits a shoe on the end of a broom stick good, more power to ya. hmmmmm I am going to try that shoe/broomstick combo.
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Rock on Clam!

And Gray, it's not just Clam. Everytime I go and try Cobra clubs I'm more impressed, I could easily end up with a bunch more of them. Oddly enough it seems the club their most known for is the only one I hit like crud (the baffler).

Welcome Clam to the snake charmer clan.
 
Super Tuna said:
Rock on Clam!

And Gray, it's not just Clam. Everytime I go and try Cobra clubs I'm more impressed, I could easily end up with a bunch more of them. Oddly enough it seems the club their most known for is the only one I hit like crud (the baffler).

Welcome Clam to the snake charmer clan.
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ST -- That's cool man as the snakes are great sticks and once you get em charmed, they will bite the arse off of your opponents! I still have two of my Cobra drivers and three of my Bafflers. I actually love the bafflers and hit the 16 degree 1H better than any 3 - wood I have owned.
Good luck with the charming and if you need any pro tips, let me know :D
 
Spent time at the range with these again yesterday and the findings were very similar to the first time out. Out of the rough and thicker lies, these clubs were deadly. Long and straight with a nice high ball flight. However on the harder tight lies, the club head almost bounces off the turf rather than gliding through it and creates many thin shots. If someone is a digger, and/or takes a larger divot, these could cause some issues.

They have a nice impact feel, and once again we made note that the sound is definitely different. At impact it has a muted hybrid type of a sound rather than that of an iron. Not bad or good mind you, just very different.

As mentioned, the ball flight is very high. Moving hte ball around is not all that easy, but you can hit a good draw with these and a nice straight ball. Creating a fade or hitting it low gave us a few issues. More coming soon.
 
JB said:
Spent time at the range with these again yesterday and the findings were very similar to the first time out. Out of the rough and thicker lies, these clubs were deadly. Long and straight with a nice high ball flight. However on the harder tight lies, the club head almost bounces off the turf rather than gliding through it and creates many thin shots. If someone is a digger, and/or takes a larger divot, these could cause some issues.

They have a nice impact feel, and once again we made note that the sound is definitely different. At impact it has a muted hybrid type of a sound rather than that of an iron. Not bad or good mind you, just very different.

As mentioned, the ball flight is very high. Moving hte ball around is not all that easy, but you can hit a good draw with these and a nice straight ball. Creating a fade or hitting it low gave us a few issues. More coming soon.
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JB, wouldn't it be safe to say as a generalization that someone who was looking at these clubs is not so concerned with working the ball? They are mostly looking for clubs that will get the ball up and get some decent distance if struck correctly.
 
White Rhino said:
JB, wouldn't it be safe to say as a generalization that someone who was looking at these clubs is not so concerned with working the ball? They are mostly looking for clubs that will get the ball up and get some decent distance if struck correctly.
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Im not sure. I would venture to say yes, but it is something that we work on with every club we test.
 
From your comments, it sounds like these could be great for those looking for a higher, straighter ball. I could see the 'difficulty moving the ball right' thing being very popular. JB, you mention a 'hybrid-like' sound to these. Would it be similar to the way the a30S/a70S sets sound? I know it's probably been awhile since you've hit either of those clubs.
 
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