- Staff
- #726
Nope, he just hates on Cobra consistently and historically.
Cobra KING Tour Irons with MIM Technology
If you were just going to do 1 maaaybe 2, would you lean more towards the KING Utility, or Forged Tec to pair with them? I know it's not the right thread for those, but you spent some time with the Utility and I'm trying to run this through in my head a few ways so I hopefully don't end up wasting a bunch of time I don't have.
- Staff
- #728
It’s a tough one.
Cop out but real answer, depends on type of use. Strict iron play? Probably Tec. As a tee club as well as standard iron play? Tec UT.
Here is what I did. I tend to add dynamic loft, a swing flaw that I am hoping to work on over the winter. I had my irons bent one degree strong and I go to 6 iron, which I believe to be 28* when bent one degree strong. I then go to a King Utility, adjusted to 24*. It is gapping fine, with the added advantage that I can jump on the Utility and get a little more out of it than I probably could a normal iron. I go from the King Utility to a Cobra SpeedZone hybrid, which is 19*. I then have a Callaway Super Hybrid at 17* and my 3 wood. It really seems to give me a lot of versatility.
I know that bending them strong is not everyone’s cup of tea and likely not yours, from what you have written, but it is just one way that one guy created a blended set.
No, that sounds pretty good. I'm not opposed to anything that works for someone. And that doesn't sound too far off of what might work for him. He just hates hybrids, so it'd be a 2nd UT in that scenario, but a 24 to 6i was kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for the feedback. That helps. You too, @Jman , thanks. That's quite the setup you've got right now, @Tenputt . I like it.
For sure, he could play two King Utilities. The beauty with that utility, of course, is that the lofts are adjustable, allowing somebody to adjust easily for gapping. I could probably enjoy another King Utility in that 19* spot.No, that sounds pretty good. I'm not opposed to anything that works for someone. And that doesn't sound too far off of what might work for him. He just hates hybrids, so it'd be a 2nd UT in that scenario, but a 24 to 6i was kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for the feedback. That helps. You too, @Jman , thanks. That's quite the setup you've got right now, @Tenputt . I like it.
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Just mentioning that they are somewhat near Ping durability has be even more interested in these. I told myself this is the year I’m going to try a more forgiving iron and actually just picked up my jpx 921 forged this afternoon but I can totally see these clubs in my bag at some point this year. All these great reviews re making it extremely difficult to resist
Don’t abandon the JPX 921 Forged quickly. Those are fine irons. I have hit them and could easily play either one long term. I would consider the JPX 9212 Forged to lean a little more on the side of player distance and these Tour MIMs to lean squarely into the players cavity profile. Somebody who wants that player profile would likely come this way. Somebody who wants a little more distance and forgiveness might go with the Mizunos.
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I was leaning a bit more towards the forgiveness factor of the irons in a package that I like the look of. The added distance will be ok but Was something I wasn’t really looking for. I was plenty happy with the distance I got from my 902/623 combo and p760’s. Those Cobra’s r absolute beauties
Review 2 - The Numbers
Ok, had the chance to get this on Skytrak to get some comparable numbers with the Epic Forgeds. I have not had the chance to get this in the course yet ( I will do that next).
These numbers were all off of an indoor setup with a Fiberbuilt mat, so just about perfect conditions.
Methodology - to keep this as comparable as possible, I hit all the shots on the same day.
I warmed up with each iron, then took 30 shots of each. I edited out the worst 3 or so that were due to my personal swing issues and kept the rest.
I used the Cobra 8 iron and the Epic Forged 8 iron. Due to lofts, this put the Cobra at a distinct disadvantage (Cobra King Tour with MIM sits at 37 degree of loft and the Epic Forged is at 31.5 degree of loft). In fact, the Cobra 8i sits between the Callaway 9i and PW in terms of lofts!
However, lofts aren’t the only story, there’s height, gapping, forgiveness, and descent angle that matter to me for performance.
If I’m going to consider a switch, I’d want something that performs roughly the same as I have now but with more stopping power! If the Cobra distance is less than my current 9i, I’d have to lug around a 3i just to gap with my hybrids (not because I hit them long, just because I hit my irons that short!)
So even though there was some des rep act here, I felt I needed to put them up head to head to see how they performed.
The Numbers
Keep in mind Skytrak isn’t as accurate as others, but as I’m doing this test with the same balls and the same days, I’m only concerned with comparable numbers, not the absolute accuracy!
Epic Forged
Club Speed - 75 mph
Ball Speed - 98 mph
Carry - 134 yd
Total - 145 yd
Descent - 39 degrees
Height - 19 yds
Backspin - 5008
Cobra King Tour with MIM
Club Speed - 74 mph
Ball Speed - 96 mph
Carry - 130 yd
Total - 139 yd
Descent - 40 degrees
Height - 18 yds
Backspin - 5860
Conclusions
Number test is...interesting. Despite being lifted much more traditionally, Cobra was neck and neck with Callaway. I will give up somewhere about 3-5 yds in total distance to gain about 800 revs of backspin and improved stopping power.
This is what I was hoping for in the Cobras - similar (if a bit less distance that I currently have), in exchange for better stopping power on approaches to the greens.
I still have more testing to do, on the range and on the course, but so far, this is exactly what I’d hoped it would be.
More to come!
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That is a very well thought out comparison. I am actually surprised that the Cobras hung that close. I have both of these iron sets and there is a much bigger difference in ball speed for me. It is a good club difference. That should be extremely encouraging for you.
Spent an our on TrackMan this evening. For a player profile, these really do have some pop. This was a typical 6 iron This evening. The smash factor is awfully high for a mid iron. That really has nothing to do with me. It just tells me that the iron design is very efficient in transferring the club speed to ball speed.
pondering if there will be any variation to these in 2021. Something else? Hmmmm
By variation, do you mean another MIM iron offering? Or black?
Well a variation of the Tours. I guess I’m just wondering out loud what or if there might be a different players style iron coming out in 2021
Love to see that. Everyone keeps talking about the feel and control with the slightly higher spin profile, but I think I told you that they seemed decently thumpy to me. I've had zero trouble hitting solid ball speed or distance marks relative to my swing speed any of the times I've hit them.
I was actually thinking today that I haven't done that (hit these) in a couple weeks and might need to tomorrow.
I personally will be very surprised. The company has released new game improvement irons on an annual basis for the last several years, i.e., F8, F9 and SpeedZone, but the Cobra Forged Tec Black were offered for two years, before being replaced last year by Cobra’s first hollow body design, the Forged Tecs. I would presume that the King Tour MIM irons replaced the King Forged Tours, that were in the lineup for a couple of years. The King Forged CB/MBs were released in 2018 and are still in the lineup. So, it looks like the pattern is an annual release for game improvement irons, but the more player profiles seem to be on multi-year cycles.
It will be interesting what info might be revealed in the THP Off Course podcast this Friday, where host @Canadan will be speaking with Mike Yagley from Cobra.
My next TrackMan session might involve a comparison of the Tour MIMs and the Forged Tecs for numbers, just to see how they compare.Love to see that. Everyone keeps talking about the feel and control with the slightly higher spin profile, but I think I told you that they seemed decently thumpy to me. I've had zero trouble hitting solid ball speed or distance marks relative to my swing speed any of the times I've hit them.
I was actually thinking today that I haven't done that (hit these) in a couple weeks and might need to tomorrow.
Make complete sense. Unless the did something with the Pro combos
I definitely think that anyone wanting to look at player cavity-type profiles should put these on the list.
I really have to think these will be a serious ponder for MC participants. Some may be thrown off if they don't think they can game them or they are more of a better players iron. With my game, if I can manage to make contact, everyone could put these in play if they wanted
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I think these would be the set to beat for me. Their iron offerings are seriously overlooked IMO.I really have to think these will be a serious ponder for MC participants. Some may be thrown off if they don't think they can game them or they are more of a better players iron. With my game, if I can manage to make contact, everyone could put these in play if they wanted