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Cobra DARKSPEED Drivers Review

SuperStroke
As I have said several times, my DS Max 12* driver with a HZRDUS Red shaft is just awesome for me. It is a dead nuts reliable fairway finder. That said, I cannot even imagine what Cobra can come up with in the next generation or two to improve on my DS. I have had and played a F8, F9, SZ and LTDx and the progression is remarkable. It boggles my mind what could come next.
 
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jdtox said:
After playing several rounds with the DarkSpeed X I can say for me I have no need for the LS. I found it very forgiving on toe strikes and was able to work the ball in both directions pretty easily. If you don't need to kill spin I thin the X is great choice, its by no means high spinning though. I was playing it at 10.5 weight forward but think the 9* head might be the play as I did see it spin up on me a few times yesterday but the ball change also could have had something to do with that.
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I found the same results when getting fit. I thought for sure I would need to fight spin and be in the ls head. I get around 2200-2400
Spin with X head set at 8*. It actually now has me thinking if I should be playing the chrome tour or chrome tour x ball?
 
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Got a round in today that reminded me of our Shaft Up at Victoria National. 42 degrees out and some wind but I just had to get in some more time to play with this driver. The Darkspeed feels like it is so easy to swing and I have excellent ball speed. This is a par 5 I play often and with this kind of distance gained I will be pumped to see where I’ll be set up all season compared to last.
 
Played in a scramble yesterday and hit a bunch of good drives with this club. Unfortunately I was the only one under 60 in my group so I was playing from 550 yards further back than the other 3 on my team and I just don't hit it far enough to make up 20-60 yards off every tee. I hit 3 that cleared 240 and that is a number I hadn't really been able to attain till last year. I like that this clubs keep me right unless my hips just stall out and I yank the fire out of it. My standard draw with this club is very slight, carries plenty, and rolls out a ton.
 
BigDill said:
The Darkspeed LS has been very good to me on this trip. The speed this club has is impressive. I’m also loving that o can elevate the ball while using the 9* head. It’s pretty wild.
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Nice to see you having success with the Driver.
 
DataDude said:
Played in a scramble yesterday and hit a bunch of good drives with this club. Unfortunately I was the only one under 60 in my group so I was playing from 550 yards further back than the other 3 on my team and I just don't hit it far enough to make up 20-60 yards off every tee. I hit 3 that cleared 240 and that is a number I hadn't really been able to attain till last year. I like that this clubs keep me right unless my hips just stall out and I yank the fire out of it. My standard draw with this club is very slight, carries plenty, and rolls out a ton.
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That's some good distance buddy!!!💪🏼
 
Getting some work in before work. Not seeing the distances I want quite yet but the shot shape is better. And it still feels fantastic.

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I know I sound like a broken record but a good chunk of people not looking at the Max are missing out.

Some slower swingers around don't seem to think of the Darkspeed when they're club pondering, and then they hit the Max with the LinQ Red 5F2 or something similar and minds get blown.
 
Finally got the call I've been waiting for yesterday arvo. My LIN-Q blue shaft got in and I can change it out tomorrow.
 
🤔
 
OldandStiff said:
I know I sound like a broken record but a good chunk of people not looking at the Max are missing out.

Some slower swingers around don't seem to think of the Darkspeed when they're club pondering, and then they hit the Max with the LinQ Red 5F2 or something similar and minds get blown.
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I ended up in a max… and I’m not a slow swinger
 
LSMO said:
I ended up in a max… and I’m not a slow swinger
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Oh I've already mentioned a bunch how great I think it is for plenty of others. There just seems to be this thing in my part of the country where the slower guys think of every other driver first. And miss out.
 
OldandStiff said:
Oh I've already mentioned a bunch how great I think it is for plenty of others. There just seems to be this thing in my part of the country where the slower guys think of every other driver first. And miss out.
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TBH I wouldn’t have tried the max. Was struggling with spin on misses and wanted to stay in the head. Fitter said try this combo. Didn’t look at it hit some good ones and it was a max 12.5 head turned down. Put the ego aside and cash on the table lol
 
The versatility of the weighting and overlapping functionality seems to be really well done by Cobra as folks get these out on the course.
 
Cobra Darkspeed LS 8.0 Review​

I came into this golfing season with a plan of not changing a lot in my bag, but hey, would I really be a true THPer if I didn’t? By the end of the season, I’m sure all 14 will have changed and maybe multiple times in each spot.


Driver is a club that I tend to look at more often than others, because at the end of the day, if you can find me more speed and more distance, I’ll take it 100 times out of 100. Distance is way too important when it comes to playing better golf. The closer I am, the better I’ll score.


I played a PING G430 LST 9.0 with Diamana XF 60X last season. It was forgiving and accurate and kept my spin a little lower, but I felt like I had more distance and speed (ball and club) with either a tweak or something new.


Enter in my afternoon with one of my old fitting buddies. I went in with somewhat of a plan. I thought I’d end up Callaway AI Smoke TD, Taylormade Qi10 LS or maybe Titleist TSr3. I, unfairly I admit, had not really considered many other options beyond those. I started working my way down the line of what I thought would be good, and the best of the bunch was the Qi10 LS. It was a little faster ball speed than my G430 (about 1 mph), had the ability to launch high with that knuckle ball type spin, and I do enjoy the adjustability of the loft sleeve on TM products.


My friend then suggested a couple more that he thought could be contenders. We tried Mizuno’s ST-G, which had some pop, and I liked a lot. But little did we know, the next driver was the winner hands down.


Next up was the Darkspeed LS 8 degree, with its unique shaping compared to the more lofted counterparts. My friend said, “does it look odd to you?” and I simply said “no, it looks fast”, and boy was it. We did try a few shafts after this but what we started with is what ended up being the best combo (LIN-Q M40X Blue 7F5). I ended up in the STD D hosel setting and keeping the 12-gram weight in the heel. I like to see the ball turn to the left if anything, so this just felt like a little bit of a security blanket for me.

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I immediately saw almost a 2 mph jump in club head speed and 2.5-2.75 mph jump in ball speed. This is exactly what I was looking for. Was it the most accurate driver I hit all day? No, definitely not. Some of my mishits were further offline than my G430. But like I stated at the beginning, distance will trump accuracy for me Every. Single. Time. Being 15 yards closer to the hole is a full club’s difference which allows me to be more aggressive towards pins.


I’ve played with this driver for a couple months now. Started inside on Trackman and have had rounds on my home course, as well as 1 competitive round so far. I’ve focused a lot of my practice time into this club as I continue to dial in the swing with it, but man it goes far. And when it’s dialed, I feel like I open myself up to a lot of good scoring. Excited to keep gaming this driver, and update as I see more progress with it.


I’ve enjoyed reading about everyone else’s usage with these drivers and wanted to add my perspective on the 8-degree LS. It’s a distance machine! Please fire away if I can answer anything!
 
I can’t wait for all the Morgan Cuppers to get their hands on these. Which model you guys thinking?
 
AuzzieMatt said:
X with the LIN-Q Blue...money.
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I hear you....but I have an unhealthy attachment to Project X ever since the shaft up THP event a few years ago lol. That Smoke blue though sounds perfect.

How much spin difference is there between the LS and X? I need drivers that typically take a bit off.
 
DataDude said:
I can’t wait for all the Morgan Cuppers to get their hands on these. Which model you guys thinking?
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Definitely Darkspeed X.
 
CBaker said:
I hear you....but I have an unhealthy attachment to Project X ever since the shaft up THP event a few years ago lol. That Smoke blue though sounds perfect.

How much spin difference is there between the LS and X? I need drivers that typically take a bit off.
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I can only speak as an LS player but that thing is a speed spin killer and faaaaast.

Like I mentioned earlier in my review I wouldn't call it super forgiving, which I'm sure the X does better. But it's great on dropping spin
 
That new club champion by me might be getting a fitting scheduled here soon lol. Sounds like i may need to compare.
 
CBaker said:
I hear you....but I have an unhealthy attachment to Project X ever since the shaft up THP event a few years ago lol. That Smoke blue though sounds perfect.

How much spin difference is there between the LS and X? I need drivers that typically take a bit off.
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Considering putting a Cobra tip on my raw shaft from that event. It would look pretty good with the Darkspeed head.
 
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