Cobra AMP Driver Review

[SW]

Just hit both of them in golfsmith actually. I thought the amp was more forgiving laterally. The Adams was a touch longer but felt awful on misses and they suffered pretty sharp distance losses.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Can anyone offer feedback head to head with the Adams Speedline Fast 12 (the version with Speedcoat Graffaloy ProLaunch blue shaft)? Both are pretty cheap right now and I gotta a little store credit burning a hole in my pocket - I remember liking the Fast 12 at a demo day last spring but the 910 was better so I went with that at the time. Never had a chance to hit the Amp so any comparisons would be helpful (vs G20 also welcomed). Thanks in advance.

I have the AMP offset now and am a big fan of it. I more or less chose between the Speedline12 and Ping G20 at the beginning of the season (went w/ the G20). So it's been a while since I was really contemplating and hitting the Speedline12. But from memory I'd say the AMP is more forgiving and I like its stock shaft better. My recollection is the Speedline12 felt more demonstrably like a lightweight offering (no surprise, their whole angle is to increase swing speed through aerodynamics) whereas the AMP is light but substantive (hope that makes sense). Seeing as how I've gone G20 and AMP over Speedline12 it probably comes as no surprise that I'd lean toward the AMP. But I did think the Speedline12 was a nice club. I think they are both good quality sticks and maybe their designs result in different feel so maybe hit them both and see which one seems to suit you better. Then buy the AMP

EDIT: I just saw that you said 'and G20 also', so I will elaborate. The G20 is also a great club - very forgiving and long - but damn if I didn't have a hard time hitting it straight. Forgiveness in this case means less distance loss on off center hits, not so much straightening out shots. Many people from the G20 thread commented that it naturally seems to want to be a fade club. If you play to a draw and want to straighten it out this could be a phenomenal club for you. If you fight a fade you may want to stay away from it. To me, the AMP is a fairway finder in comparison. Just a great club.

In terms of feel, I'd say you have a spectrum. I already mentioned that the Speedline12 felt ultra lightweight compared to the AMP. I'd put the G20 to the right of the AMP, making it the most subtantive/heavy feeling of the three. Again, no surprise since I'm gaming the AMP, but the shaft feels to me just about perfect - lighter and with more play than the G20 shaft but more substantive than the Speedline12. I'm really pretty well sold on the AMP and think you can't go wrong with it. But hit them yourself and see what you think.

 

[ryebread]

I had my second range session with the Amp Offset last night. The first night out I had a swing issue, but I seemed to get that fixed last night. The results were pretty solid, though I still plan on shortening the shaft. I've yet to really consistently hit the sweet spot, and I think that has a lot to do with the shaft length.

I think my distance and dispersion is about what I'd expect out of a solid modern driver. I've not been on the course yet to get GPS readings, so I may be surprised. I think with a shorter shaft and more center hits I'm going to be pretty happy. I'm "putting them out there" for me, even with mishits.

What I like most about the Amp Offset are the look, sound and feel. Aesthetically, the silver head and silver face with the "racing stripe" on the top line is very very pleasing. It actually looks pretty old school at address, which I like. It also looks super durable -- like it will avoid the idiot mark leading edge chips that a lot of drivers get. I think the Offset looks way better than the regular Amp in the looks department.

I like the deep face. That's confidence inspiring and covers the miss that I regret the most with the driver (high/low that mars the club). I've yet to hit one out on the toe, so I can't really comment on that. I actually think some of the Callaway IMIX drivers may be a bit more forgiving for shots on the heel (my statistically most prevalent miss).

The sound is nice and muted. That's what I like out of a driver. It isn't as quiet as the Callaway composite drivers (FT series in particular) but it's a lot better than offerings by TaylorMade, Adams, Ping or Nike.

The feel is interesting. Even with rock hard range balls, the feel is almost squishy. I've not sure I've hit a driver quite like this. I've hit some that felt extremely hard to the point of brittle (Tour Edge XCG4). I've hit some that felt incredibly solid no matter where they were hit (Callaways FTs). I've hit some that felt like they were tin can hollow (Ping K15). I've hit a bunch that just didn't have any sort of uniqueness of feel (Taylormade, Nike, Adams, etc). This one is unique in its own way and I kind of like it. If you dislike shock, I think this is a great club.

As for the comparison with the Adams F12 (this year's silver, space ship looking model), I hit the regular Amp and the Adams back to back during a three hour simulator session one day (alternating up with a bunch of drivers). My swing was pretty good that day -- nice and controlled and fluid.

On that day, I hit the Adams further on the sim by about 10 yards but my misses with the Cobra were better. The Adams also felt a bit unwieldy -- sort of like I was whipping this long, lightweight thing around and was lucky to make good contact. My natural ball flight is a fade, and my misses with the F12 were these weak, high slices that just tailed off. Those seemed to show up any time I tried to lean into it. When I was smooth, the F12 was a great performer, but I'm rarely as consistently smooth as I was on that day. I didn't like the F12's head shape visually at all.

I came away pretty impressed with the Adams though and feel it is better than any other Adams driver I have tried. It was the biggest surprised of the day for me when comparing my expectations versus the results seen.

The Cobra products though (Amp and S3) just seemed to be a better fit for my game. I felt like I had more margin of error with them and I found them much more aesthetically pleasing.

There's one other thing that I've noticed. The Adams seemed to get a lot of hype at the beginning of the season. There were huge threads here. If you look around currently in peoples' sigs, you seemingly don't see many THP members still playing it. I felt like the Amp came out flat (probably due to the orange), but more people have gone to it as the season has progressed. It seems like people are figuring out that this is a pretty solid offering, orange or no orange.

Your mileage may vary, but hopefully this helps in some way. I'm sure if you asked the same question in an Adams thread, you'd find people pointing you towards that club.

 

[JK]

Great feedback guys, appreciate it. I'll go demo the Amp and the F12 but probably hold the credit for the spring - my guess is a G25 will be in my bag by March anyway. If I like the Amp, a wait for the Cell might be worthy.

Tequila, I can confirm the G20 fade bias you mentioned. I had some issues with the lefts with my 910 and I definitely hit the G20 very straight or with a high cut. I went with what is now too much loft and the full inch i cut off is a little too much I think...

 

[ArmyGolf]

The ability to change loft at will without changing face angle on the AMP Cell is intriguing to say the least.

 

[glock35ipsc]

Played 9 yesterday, and hit a small bucket on the range before the round. I have had the face set to closed, and have been hitting them either straight or a very slight pull. So after hitting a few to get loose, I set it to neutral. Ball flight was a touch lower, and with a nice fade.

Left it set at neutral for the round, and hit 7/9 fairways! If it hadn't been for barely missing the #8 par 3 green to the left, I would have had a perfect driving day. :bananadance:

Now I'm patiently waiting for the AMP Cell to be available. I really want to try one of those and see how they stack up against this club. But for now, it's going to be nearly impossible for something else to kick this club out.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Tequila, I can confirm the G20 fade bias you mentioned. I had some issues with the lefts with my 910 and I definitely hit the G20 very straight or with a high cut. I went with what is now too much loft and the full inch i cut off is a little too much I think...

Would you stick with your G20 if the shaft was right sized or would you look for a change no matter what because of loft? If the former - and you hit a stiff shaft - I can help you out.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Great feedback guys, appreciate it. I'll go demo the Amp and the F12 but probably hold the credit for the spring - my guess is a G25 will be in my bag by March anyway. If I like the Amp, a wait for the Cell might be worthy.

One other thing I neglected to mention early re the AMP. My experience was that shaft flex impacted height of ball flight. My SS is 95. Regular flex was a really high trajectory. Stiff flex is a still plenty high but a more boring trajectory.

 

[Chunkylover77]

Man I have to say that reading through this thread, there is some incredible amounts of info in here. Great job by everyone. I may be biased but Frank did greatness in here

 

[FrankA]

Man I have to say that reading through this thread, there is some incredible amounts of info in here. Great job by everyone. I may be biased but Frank did greatness in here

Thank you sir. This was a sleeper for sure, but just keeps coming up, time and again, as a driver that's very good for my game. It's not all that punishing and when it's on I see some great results. Head to head, for me, it took down the G20, the Anser, and the Cleveland CG Black.

 

[Jjmorris]

Man I hit more FIR's with this bad boy yesterday than i ever had.

Random, I put my first baby draw on a ball with this yesterday, it was weird, but I liked it.

 

[Ole Gray]

Hmmmmm this is some very interesting stuff opcorn:

 

[ryebread]

Hmmmmm this is some very interesting stuff opcorn:

Are the snakes a temptress to you Old Gray, or is this more like a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past?

 

[glock35ipsc]

OK, I know this is the AMP driver thread, but.......

I bought an AMP 7 iron off the bay for $20, I figured this would be the best way for me to see how I liked the irons and if it was worth the $$ to switch from my current irons, which I do really like.

So I stopped by the range on my way home tonight. Long story short, I will be ordering a set of the AMP irons within the next week or two! They are AWESOME! Cobra definitely has a group of winners with the AMP line.

 

[inthehole]

I have about 10 rounds on my Cobra Amp offset driver - gotta say, the fitting was so worth it - I tried about everything on the market & the launch monitor told me the Amp was the driver for me. Can't argue - and it 100% translates to the course ... i've NEVER EVER hit so many fairways. My miss is no longer a slice, but a pull. I love the club so much I bought the Amp 3 wood ...

 

[Sibbers]

Just had a fitting for a new driver. Having done a lot of reading I thought the RAZR Fit would come out on top for me of the 5 I tried. They were Cobra AMP, RAZR Fit, Taylor Made RBZ, Yonex Ezone, Ping G20. I know you should have no pre-conception but I do not like the big white head of the TM. It may be in my head, but that was also the club that came out worse. The top for me was the Cobra AMP by quite some way.
The conditions were freezing temperrature, old range balls that had been out in the hopper all night so were cold!
The average carry of the Amp was just over 200 yards, the worse was the TM at 165! R
oll on all was about 20 yards, with the RAZR Fit rolling furthest off a carry of 180.
Average height was around the 55-60 ft, but the Fit was below 50. Spin was around the 3500 mark.

This was with a 9.5 loft and stiff flex, swing speed about 97mph, ball speed 125mph.

I am not totally convinced as this fitting felt a bit rushed to me, although I did feel the improvement and most shots went in the same direction, and I didnt get that many options to try. I am going to go to another range when I can, rather than rush into buying this. That said my old driver needs replacing. It was shortest of all the clubs today. I know that I normally hit it around the 200-220 mark so the figures above should translate to 250+ on the course for the AMP, especially if the conditions are better and my balls are warm

 

[T0AD]

I just picked up an AMP off the marketplace here (thanks, T!) and let me tell you something...

I have gone through, no kidding, six drivers trying to replace my old F Speed Cobra from 2008.
I've bought and tried the Burner 2.0, RAZR Hawk, Callaway Octane Tour, Nike MachSpeed Round, and on top of that, spent serious range time with an R11 and RBZ.
Not until I swung the AMP, on the morning of the True Blue Invitational on the range, did I know I had finally found it. Guess how many swings it took....FOUR!
Four swings and I knew I had found what I'd been looking for in the last 11 months. I hit about 10 more just because, and only hit one bad shot that was entirely my fault.
I took a brand new-to-me driver onto a tough course I had never seen. This is something I never do as I'd rather just be comfortable and hit my old trusty F Speed.
But that's just the point I'm trying to make; it was so comfy from the start, I actually looked forward to using it on holes I'd never played. And I think I hit all but 1 fairway at True Blue.
I felt confident in just swinging through the ball and sending it on its way. (My problem with True Blue was all that damned sand (and skill set), not my clubs!)

Let's move to day 2 with the AMP. We played at OG and KellyBo's home course and I had another good day with it, even though I was physically exhausted (5 hours of sleep in 2.5 days).
I missed more fairways on the 2nd round, but hey, I was tired. On those shots I was able to maintain some concentration, I flushed them and sent them on their way, creating a couple nice high fades when needed, too.
OG gave it a swing and before he finished his follow-through, I heard a "dayum!", so I knew he liked it, too.
I haven't even messed with the head settings, yet, and not sure if I want to even mess with it. The face feels stable, but soft, and I swear I could feel the balls I was using compress on the face before they launched.

I think, based on looking at some current market prices, the AMP is by far the bargain buy of the moment for drivers.

 

[Damaikis]

You were killing that thing at TB, Toad. It was awesome to watch.

 

[TRyan]

I just got one open box on globalgolf and absolutely love it! I need to get the launch down but so far I am enjoying it


TapaTalk from the iPhone

 

[tequila4kapp]

I just picked up an AMP off the marketplace here (thanks, T!) and let me tell you something...
***
I think, based on looking at some current market prices, the AMP is by far the bargain buy of the moment for drivers.

I just got one open box on globalgolf and absolutely love it! I need to get the launch down but so far I am enjoying it
TapaTalk from the iPhone

Congrats on the new driver both of you! This is such an underrated driver.

 

[Jjmorris]

That is great TOAD and TH.

This puppy is such a blast to hit. I freaking love it.

 

[glock35ipsc]

Congrats on the new driver both of you! This is such an underrated driver.

That is no lie! The first couple times playing with friends, I heard the jokes...... how do you like your orange on a stick, where's your orange cap, your mustache is too thick to play that club, etc. It generally stopped after the first tee shot. I'd let them hit, then I'd drive well past them, then they were like :bulgy-eyes:. Although, I haven't heard a word from the peanut gallery for the last couple rounds.

 

[Ole Gray]

I am hoping that I continue to hit this driver well this weekend at the Invitational. I like playing a controled fade with it. Such a fairway finder. I also found out of I go at it a little harder I can bomb it straight and even with a little bit of draw.

Dave -- You were killing the Amp all day dude! It was fun to watch you swing that snake :golf2:

Are the snakes a temptress to you Old Gray, or is this more like a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past?

I'm getting a really strong itch so it must be that Ghost :bulgy-eyes:!

I just picked up an AMP off the marketplace here (thanks, T!) and let me tell you something...


Let's move to day 2 with the AMP. We played at OG and KellyBo's home course and I had another good day with it, even though I was physically exhausted (5 hours of sleep in 2.5 days).
I missed more fairways on the 2nd round, but hey, I was tired. On those shots I was able to maintain some concentration, I flushed them and sent them on their way, creating a couple nice high fades when needed, too.
OG gave it a swing and before he finished his follow-through, I heard a "dayum!", so I knew he liked it, too.
I haven't even messed with the head settings, yet, and not sure if I want to even mess with it. The face feels stable, but soft, and I swear I could feel the balls I was using compress on the face before they launched.

I think, based on looking at some current market prices, the AMP is by far the bargain buy of the moment for drivers.

You ain't lying I like it and I was like, what da heck! The only club in my bag that I can not hit a consistent draw with is my driver. Most of my misses are a weak cut or push type shot. I'm getting fricking tired of it and I'm as close as a cat on a rat of moving on to something different. The AMP is now on my seriously high ponder mode :thumb:. I'm just not sure whether to go with the 10.5 or 9.5, stiff or regular? I can trade my RBZ in on TGW and get the AMP in very good condition for a great deal. Dayum!

 

[tequila4kapp]

The AMP is now on my seriously high ponder mode :thumb:. I'm just not sure whether to go with the 10.5 or 9.5, stiff or regular? I can trade my RBZ in on TGW and get the AMP in very good condition for a great deal. Dayum!

The 10.5 / Regular gave me an awefully high trajectory, bordering on ballooning. The Stiff shaft brought that down into a more solidly penetrating ball flight. The CS guy at Cobra told me it wouldn't make much difference but that is not what I have experienced. (FWIW my SS with the driver is 95)

 

[Ole Gray]

The 10.5 / Regular gave me an awefully high trajectory, bordering on ballooning. The Stiff shaft brought that down into a more solidly penetrating ball flight. The CS guy at Cobra told me it wouldn't make much difference but that is not what I have experienced. (FWIW my SS with the driver is 95)

Thanks tequila as my SS averages 95 too. T0AD's driver was the 9.5 in stiff and I absolutely nuked it for my old arse. The drive was in the 265 yd range and the fairways were soft due to a big rain the night before. Pretty much all carry.