DS 9* in the cart
Cobra DARKSPEED Drivers Review
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how long till we get to the next step in the process?DS 9* in the cart
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Could be awhile haha
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I think you will love it. LS that isDS 9* in the cart
Somehow, someway, you need to be able to compare the X with the heavy weight forward and the LS with the heavy weight back.
Out for the maiden voyage. First tee shot went right down the middle through the fairway. Never done that on this hole before so that’s fun
3/4 fairways on the front 9. 1/1 so far on the back with the longest of the day. Looking forward to getting more rounds and comparing this to the last two Cobra drivers. Early impressions are that it is long and forgiving.
What shaft did you go with?
9° head with Lin-Q blue 6f3.
Would love to hear the story behind that shaft choice!
I tend to get very out of rhythm and rush the entire swing. When I played a round recently with rental clubs, I had a 50g regular flex driver shaft. I had to really focus on a smooth tempo before every tee shot. I hit the ball really well. I tested probably 10 different shafts and liked the contact pattern and dispersion most with the softer shaft. Long story short, I’m a bit mental and this helps me focus to swing better which means better contact. 2024 is the year I keep the ball in play
Doesn't seem totally out of the question since you were playing Velocity. Excited to here how it keeps working for yaI tend to get very out of rhythm and rush the entire swing. When I played a round recently with rental clubs, I had a 50g regular flex driver shaft. I had to really focus on a smooth tempo before every tee shot. I hit the ball really well. I tested probably 10 different shafts and liked the contact pattern and dispersion most with the softer shaft. Long story short, I’m a bit mental and this helps me focus to swing better which means better contact. 2024 is the year I keep the ball in play
First time out and it felt great!
7/9 Fairways for 78% (Aerojet LS was 45% over the last year)
294 p-avg (Aerojet LS was 286)
277 avg (Aerojet LS was 262)
305 longest and it was in the middle of the fairway although it was straight downwind and caught a little hill.
Overall I'm very impressed and happy to be back in the more forgiving model from the LS. I had a couple of my typical fast transition swings and hit the ball pretty low heel. It stayed in play and still managed to get some good distance. I know it's a VERY small sample size but I was happy to see the sim results move out to the course. Looking forward to more rounds with it including an SCGA tournament this Thursday.
7/9 Fairways for 78% (Aerojet LS was 45% over the last year)
294 p-avg (Aerojet LS was 286)
277 avg (Aerojet LS was 262)
305 longest and it was in the middle of the fairway although it was straight downwind and caught a little hill.
Overall I'm very impressed and happy to be back in the more forgiving model from the LS. I had a couple of my typical fast transition swings and hit the ball pretty low heel. It stayed in play and still managed to get some good distance. I know it's a VERY small sample size but I was happy to see the sim results move out to the course. Looking forward to more rounds with it including an SCGA tournament this Thursday.
Thinking about updating to the Darkspeed LS from the LTDx LS. Very interested in your thoughts comparing the two.
I only played the standard LTDx so I'm not sure how the LS battle would compare but I can go standard vs standard for you. I've also improved a lot since I last played the LTDx to be totally fair.
The Darkspeed has more ball speed and distance and this is especially true on the off center hits. I still have the miss low heel on driver that I've always battled. It's very noticeable that Darkspeed is straighter and longer there than the LTDx was for me. It's not even close! On the good hits in the center of the driver, the Darkspeed X feels every bit as long as the Aerojet LS was.
For me the look of the Darkspeed is much more appealing at address. I like clean and simple and LTDx had the little ridges that went from the front to back. Little things like that jump out at me and can be somewhat of a bother. Darkspeed doesn't have that so I like it a lot. I also like the black Cobra logo on the top as it blends in a little more.
The sound on the Darkspeed is great but I'm not one that sound plays too much of an impact either way.
Overall, I think that the LTDx to Aerojet was a pretty good jump in performance. I feel that the Aerojet to Darkspeed jump was even more noticeable in the first round. Again, that could be that I am much better suited in the X vs the LS because I don't live center face. I would venture to say that you would see a significant increase in ball speed and distance with the Darkspeed LS as you are much more consistent with your contact than I am.
Great first round out!
Those are fantastic numbers!
Thank @Jtubb17 for the great info!
@willplaysgolf how about your experience with the LTDx LS and the Darkspeed LS?
What differences have you seen?
Similar when I did my CC fitting for it, but better numbers on off-center strikes for me vs other options. Really wanted an Ai Smoke but the Darkspeed kept my spin numbers under 3k when I caught it high toe and the Smoke (all head and weight options tried) kept wanting to get into the the 3500 range on poor strikes. Tried a few other heads as well (Qi10, new Ping, one other I now forget...) but the DS Max was consistently most in play on bad swings and #2 on best swings (I got a little more distance from the Ai Smoke when hit perfectly, but not enough to offset the poorer results on misses). I also could have played the X with weights back but with the Max turned down I was getting higher smash that the X at same effective loft so we went that way. That's one of the coolest things about the DS line this year is how much overlap you have between heads depending on loft and weights. Tons of fitting options.
I had lower spin with similiar launch compared to Aerojet Max, but don't have reference to other models.
From LTDx to Aerojet I feel like there was a big improvement in managing spin around the face. That has stayed with Darkspeed plus it's more forgiving directionally IMO, even without the heavy weight back "cheat code" setting.
Sound is less of a carbony thwack and is a little more well rounded with some titanium feels mixed in. Feels kind of buttery when you hit it the screws like your really mashed it.
Biggest changes visually are the deeper face and the head has a little less rounded shape. If you're looking for a more rounded shape it sounds like you could still get some low spin out of the X head.
Really good summary
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Hmmm thought for sure there would be red on that