Bought a 6 and 8 gram weight.
At my driver shaft fitting in March my driver swing speed was between 100-104 MPH.
Cobra DARKSPEED Drivers Review
At my driver shaft fitting in March my driver swing speed was between 100-104 MPH.
I have struggled with driver for as long as I can remember. My over the top swing, and playing a driver that is fade biased only compounded my right miss. Got fit into the Max and first couple of rounds we were in the honeymoon stage and I thought that was the cure to what ailed me, but not even a driver this forgiving can make up for a crappy swing.
Not being able to play like i wanted/needed to for a month or so didn’t help either. This week I have hit a bucket of balls every day with probably 75% being driver, heck I have even tried putting my 3w shaft in it just trying to find something. Fast forward to last night and I caught myself even searching you tube looking for answers. Well I stumbled on a Danny Maude video and watched it then and again this morning I walked outside with a driver in hand probably 15 different times today trying to feel what he was teaching. Finally went to the range later today and tried it with my driver and came away finally not hating myself so much and wanting to quit
I hit probably 30 balls with driver and ball flight was better but still seemed to be a little to much left to right movement for my liking.
Then it hit me, my dumba** had tried everything but the one thing that would have been the easiest thing I could have done and that was moving the weights around. I had the heavy weight in the heel from the beginning thinking it would help with the right miss. So swapped them and hit about 30 more balls that way and it was a totally different driver. Hopefully I have finally found something i can work with. It may not be the same tomorrow or may not be the answer to my problems but the ball flight was much more controlled, and at least for a day, I left the golf course feeling like I was doing the DS Max justice with a halfway decent swing. Playing tomorrow and praying that I have found lightning in a bottle or at least a bandaid for the next 3 weeks
Not being able to play like i wanted/needed to for a month or so didn’t help either. This week I have hit a bucket of balls every day with probably 75% being driver, heck I have even tried putting my 3w shaft in it just trying to find something. Fast forward to last night and I caught myself even searching you tube looking for answers. Well I stumbled on a Danny Maude video and watched it then and again this morning I walked outside with a driver in hand probably 15 different times today trying to feel what he was teaching. Finally went to the range later today and tried it with my driver and came away finally not hating myself so much and wanting to quit
I hit probably 30 balls with driver and ball flight was better but still seemed to be a little to much left to right movement for my liking.Then it hit me, my dumba** had tried everything but the one thing that would have been the easiest thing I could have done and that was moving the weights around. I had the heavy weight in the heel from the beginning thinking it would help with the right miss. So swapped them and hit about 30 more balls that way and it was a totally different driver. Hopefully I have finally found something i can work with. It may not be the same tomorrow or may not be the answer to my problems but the ball flight was much more controlled, and at least for a day, I left the golf course feeling like I was doing the DS Max justice with a halfway decent swing. Playing tomorrow and praying that I have found lightning in a bottle or at least a bandaid for the next 3 weeks
This is very encouraging! I've had my share of troubles with the driver and finally may have found the setup that works.I have struggled with driver for as long as I can remember. My over the top swing, and playing a driver that is fade biased only compounded my right miss. Got fit into the Max and first couple of rounds we were in the honeymoon stage and I thought that was the cure to what ailed me, but not even a driver this forgiving can make up for a crappy swing.
Not being able to play like i wanted/needed to for a month or so didn’t help either. This week I have hit a bucket of balls every day with probably 75% being driver, heck I have even tried putting my 3w shaft in it just trying to find something. Fast forward to last night and I caught myself even searching you tube looking for answers. Well I stumbled on a Danny Maude video and watched it then and again this morning I walked outside with a driver in hand probably 15 different times today trying to feel what he was teaching. Finally went to the range later today and tried it with my driver and came away finally not hating myself so much and wanting to quit
Then it hit me, my dumba** had tried everything but the one thing that would have been the easiest thing I could have done and that was moving the weights around. I had the heavy weight in the heel from the beginning thinking it would help with the right miss. So swapped them and hit about 30 more balls that way and it was a totally different driver. Hopefully I have finally found something i can work with. It may not be the same tomorrow or may not be the answer to my problems but the ball flight was much more controlled, and at least for a day, I left the golf course feeling like I was doing the DS Max justice with a halfway decent swing. Playing tomorrow and praying that I have found lightning in a bottle or at least a bandaid for the next 3 weeks
I'm confident you'll be ready in a couple of weeks. But we play what we have then. And I'm really happy you get to play more now!
Your gains were astonishing. But I guess we should expect it by now. Great to see the results are there even at home!I couldn’t help myself. It’s busy as hell at the club, but I still wanted to come out and hit some with the Darkspeed.
Confirmed it works at home.
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My game is being transformed. Absolutely incredible what the right head and right shaft can do together.
I’m probably going to have to tip it out at 6800 soon
I believe hit a 350 yard drive on flat course thats normal aka not hardpan …515 par 5 had 155 second shot so im sure it got a crazy crazy kick but yea it came out lowwwww but i got a good crunch on it
Hit 9 iron to 15 feet n three putted lol
Lol still wondering if it is real cuz my peak reasonable speed that ive measured is 115 i can get up to 120 just giving zero fcks about the face but my course speed is like 107-109 n usually hit the ball like 270-280
I been switching back n forth w ventus tr red red 6x n hzrds rdx green 6x still not sure which i like some days i like the red when i feel good i like the green
Want to try out the 9 degree ls still but maybe next year
Hit 9 iron to 15 feet n three putted lol
Lol still wondering if it is real cuz my peak reasonable speed that ive measured is 115 i can get up to 120 just giving zero fcks about the face but my course speed is like 107-109 n usually hit the ball like 270-280
I been switching back n forth w ventus tr red red 6x n hzrds rdx green 6x still not sure which i like some days i like the red when i feel good i like the green
Want to try out the 9 degree ls still but maybe next year
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The Max was on fire today. 9/14 fairways on a really tight course. Missed 2 fairways right and 3 left and didn’t miss by much. Driver swing feels really good right now and that confidence is carrying over into the rest of the bag
First two rounds in the books with the darkspeed x. Hitting a lot of fairways, more than usual. Despite my pull (which I'm playing into) I am really hitting it well. Nice trajectory, forgiving, easy 250y or thereabout and I'm not even hitting it well yet.
Last 5 rounds 50%, 57%, 71%, 64%, 78% fairways hit.
My miss is still the spin killer that ends up in the left rough. Mostly stays out of trouble.
Confidence with driver right now is as high as ever.
My miss is still the spin killer that ends up in the left rough. Mostly stays out of trouble.
Confidence with driver right now is as high as ever.
I'll put the LS + Hzrdus Silver combo in play for a lesson and a round on Thursday + 3 other rounds Fri-Sun. That should finalize the decision and give enough data to chew.
Pretty sure I can switch between the Lin-Q Blue and Hulk shafts with the DSX but when you hit a 305 yarder straight down the fairway, the Hulk stays for the time being.
Between work and sick wife and kiddos it has been a crazy week. Finally managed to get out again this afternoon. Still debating if I am going to continue to try and make this driver work for me. I hit 1 fairway with it all day. I birdied that hole. The sad thing is I had a few other birdies on the day and a lot of pars playing from some bad places. I didn’t keep score but I am guessing low 80s. I feel like I would be shooting rounds in the 70s if I was hitting fairways.
I am leaning towards taking a trip to the range with it and my old gamer. Might even grab a couple demo clubs as well. That way I can have a little driver battle and see what is going to be in the bag.
I am leaning towards taking a trip to the range with it and my old gamer. Might even grab a couple demo clubs as well. That way I can have a little driver battle and see what is going to be in the bag.
Really good weekend with the DSX. I had 10 FW hit today and the other few were just off, My distance was good even going into the headwinds we had a few times. Hitting the DSX with a lower trajectory to help with the wind still gets some serious distance!
The Darkspeed X TL 9° w/LINQ Blue 6F4 is proving to be so good. Played 27 yesterday and hit 60% FIR. Distance is proving to be very consistent, misses are consistently playable, and I'm able to swing with good expectations and without much technical thought. I rarely hang with my playing partners in regards to driver length, but that has been slowly changing and they don't like it.
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Not quite hacker level success but getting closer
But it gives you something to shoot forNot quite hacker level success but getting closer
I have found a combo that I can be consistent with. I can still have those WTF to the right shots but I think I have found what has worked for me. If I try to swing too aggressively things don't work, but if I can give transition more time things get synced up better.
Darkspeed X 10.5 standard with UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X black heavy weight back. This has been the best so far. I do feel like overall the driver is forgiving. Better off the toe than the heel for me for misses.
Darkspeed X 10.5 standard with UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X black heavy weight back. This has been the best so far. I do feel like overall the driver is forgiving. Better off the toe than the heel for me for misses.
Today is my favorite day of the week: lesson day. Worked on driving mostly. During the lesson I swapped the weights for the first time and wow what a difference. Heavy weight back feels so much different than I anticipated and so much better for me. Ball flight was better and roll was better. Most importantly feel was better. Really getting into the groove with this driver looking forward to where it takes me
The Daskspeed X head is special. I’m a little bit salty that I let slow winter swings by me in my testing make me pass on it at the start of the season.
But this head with a custom fit UST Mamia Proto V2 turns it into a magic BOOMSTICK.
When I rotate thru and put a good swing on it the thing is otherworldly. I know some don’t like when I post video but I want this to be seen. It’s magic dude.
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But this head with a custom fit UST Mamia Proto V2 turns it into a magic BOOMSTICK.
When I rotate thru and put a good swing on it the thing is otherworldly. I know some don’t like when I post video but I want this to be seen. It’s magic dude.
View attachment copy_86B3B27A-CE90-403C-B3B0-13052B3B9749.mov
I love video!
I will say a bit unfairly to the DSX that I had kinda lost my swing when I had first got it. Recently I’ve been finding it and putting a really good move on the ball, which the DSX rewards beautifully. I get a nice high strong flight out of it and it’s becoming extremely consistent for me. If I don’t fully see where it landed, I can just go out to that distance and start looking, and do a good job finding it that way. I have someone I play with that is regularly about 10 yards longer than me but recently I’ve been right up with him on most shots. Even shots decently off center are still turning out well recently.
Heading out for my final lesson and the star of the show will be the DS LS 10.5. I'll be honing the last bits to be ready to bomb it down Briggs Ranch.
After extensive testing against the X, I feel like the LS tailors well to my swing and misses higher on the face. Cobra has built something really special here for a higher capper like me to end up in an LS.
After extensive testing against the X, I feel like the LS tailors well to my swing and misses higher on the face. Cobra has built something really special here for a higher capper like me to end up in an LS.
Okay so when I started out looking at Drivers for the Morgan Cup I was playing the Aerojet Max and absolutely loving it, I was sure when I went to my fitting that they Darkspeed Max would be the driver for me. So come the day of fitting I was surprised when the fitter recommended the Darkspeed X. I was swinging and hitting it well and so I went with it. Fast forward a month and a half and when i'm swinging well the Darkspeed X is absolutely a blast, it looks great, it's long, it's still forgiving on the high toe miss which is my miss, but every once in a while my swing goes haywire out of nowhere and a big push slice would result in hitting it OB, penalty strokes, and it happened consistently enough it never let me get completely comfortable with the X.
So I decided to go back to my inital thoughts and switched it up to the Darkspeed Max. The thinking was that while my normal everyday swing didn't need a ton of help squaring the club face, that bad swing did. The hope being that I could deal with a bit more draw bias on my good swings and hopefully it would help my HUGE miss. So in comes the Darkspeed Max and it has all the good looks of the X (and better due to the red accents vs the blue), it still has that wonderful butter feeling on pure strikes with miss hits have a bit more vibration but nothing jarring, you just know you missed the sweet spot a bit. Balls are flying high with a slight draw and i'm quickly gaining confidence, and the bad swing happens and the ball gets pushed to the right, but it's only a straight push, not the push slice and a ball that would have been OB in the neighbors yard off the right is in play deep in the right rough. This is exactly what I was hoping for and what the Darkspeed Max keeps giving me, it has lessened my big miss making it playable a majority of the time, this makes golf way more fun.
So I decided to go back to my inital thoughts and switched it up to the Darkspeed Max. The thinking was that while my normal everyday swing didn't need a ton of help squaring the club face, that bad swing did. The hope being that I could deal with a bit more draw bias on my good swings and hopefully it would help my HUGE miss. So in comes the Darkspeed Max and it has all the good looks of the X (and better due to the red accents vs the blue), it still has that wonderful butter feeling on pure strikes with miss hits have a bit more vibration but nothing jarring, you just know you missed the sweet spot a bit. Balls are flying high with a slight draw and i'm quickly gaining confidence, and the bad swing happens and the ball gets pushed to the right, but it's only a straight push, not the push slice and a ball that would have been OB in the neighbors yard off the right is in play deep in the right rough. This is exactly what I was hoping for and what the Darkspeed Max keeps giving me, it has lessened my big miss making it playable a majority of the time, this makes golf way more fun.
I much prefer to share all the good things I see from the DSX, but I'm going to spend a second talking about my misses with it:
Currently, tempo is my biggest opp and 99% of my misses right now seem to be due to my tempo getting too quick. I believe I can accurately state that I've yet to hit this driver on the heel, as my miss lives on the toe-side of the club face. Last night, while playing a practice round with my sons, I hit several drives that I would gladly take every tee shot. Towering (for me) ball flight, above average carry, and the ability to hold my line whether hitting draw/straight/fade. It rarely fails that when I start seeing that desirable ball flight I swing harder (because more is always better) and quickly lose the magic. I consistently, in those situations, saw an overcooked draw that remained on a playable line and saw minimal distance loss. While I was getting a bit frustrated with not hitting perfect tee shots 100% of the time, my oldest reminded me of how playable are my misses when compared to my misses over the past multiple seasons. We've established that the Darkspeed X is very good when a good swing happens, but there are a few aspects of this driver when mishit that make it a unicorn for me:
- ample feedback that lets me know that I missed the center and where I missed
- mishits still hold a playable line the vast majority of the time
- distance loss is present, but minimal
I love my Darkspeed X when I put a good swing and "center" the contact, but I truly appreciate the DSX when I fail to hold up my end of the bargain and decide to put on a less than ideal swing.
Currently, tempo is my biggest opp and 99% of my misses right now seem to be due to my tempo getting too quick. I believe I can accurately state that I've yet to hit this driver on the heel, as my miss lives on the toe-side of the club face. Last night, while playing a practice round with my sons, I hit several drives that I would gladly take every tee shot. Towering (for me) ball flight, above average carry, and the ability to hold my line whether hitting draw/straight/fade. It rarely fails that when I start seeing that desirable ball flight I swing harder (because more is always better) and quickly lose the magic. I consistently, in those situations, saw an overcooked draw that remained on a playable line and saw minimal distance loss. While I was getting a bit frustrated with not hitting perfect tee shots 100% of the time, my oldest reminded me of how playable are my misses when compared to my misses over the past multiple seasons. We've established that the Darkspeed X is very good when a good swing happens, but there are a few aspects of this driver when mishit that make it a unicorn for me:
- ample feedback that lets me know that I missed the center and where I missed
- mishits still hold a playable line the vast majority of the time
- distance loss is present, but minimal
I love my Darkspeed X when I put a good swing and "center" the contact, but I truly appreciate the DSX when I fail to hold up my end of the bargain and decide to put on a less than ideal swing.
That was a bomb with a nice smooth swing!