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Cobra DARKSPEED Drivers Review

SuperStroke
willplaysgolf said:
This week I moved the heavy weight to the heel, which was mostly sim rounds until I played 18 today.

I feel like when I’m swinging or striking poorly I’m going to have higher spin in either setting.

When I’m swinging “ok” I feel like there are a few yards left on the table with the weight back and I have to work a little harder to keep the spin down in an optimal range. Arguably I should work hard to help get my swing in a better spot, but I’m trying to do that with my irons too right now, so I’d really like to just send driver as-is and keep the grinding to the iron swing.

With the weight in the heel it seems like misses are less likely to ramp up spin, and I get more of the low 2000s high toe mishits that give me more distance than I deserve based on the ball speed.

Today on the course it seemed like it validated what I saw on the sim this week. It was 50 and gloomy and I didn’t feel like I was swinging particularly fast or anything, but the distance seemed to come really easy today. Looking at my stats I’ve had a pretty steady P-avg each round this year with the weight back, and I was about 10 yards longer on both 9s I played today.

One drive in particular is sticking with me a bit. I squared the face nicely but felt it in the heel. This one took off straight and far, as if I had hit it in the center. LTDx LS, Aerojet LS, and now Darkspeed LS have had good toe forgiveness IMO, but I don’t think the previous drivers would have managed this strike as well. I played those with the heel weight as well, so I don’t think it’s that. Curious if anyone has seen this as well?
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I share the feeling that Darkspeed has significantly improved heel side forgiveness compared to my previous Aerojet Max and LTDx standard.
 
Tenputt said:
I continue to play around with the settings a bit. Today, I had my 9* LS set at 10*, with the heavy weight in the back. This may have finally fully optimized everything for me with this head. I hit 6/9 fairways when teeing off with this driver. My average driving distance (not performance average) was 278 yards, which is super good for me. I had one drive of over 300 yards again. The driver felt so automatic today. I was 2.86 strokes gained with driver compared to a 0 handicap. I wish I could bottle it.

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Nice driving there! Gives you chances to drive some greens :oops: :love:
 
Took some swings with the Darkspeed 9*X today, weight forward and LinQ White 6F5. Pretty much confirmed I can play this setup and it would be solid for me. Next time I'll try a LS but the only one they had was 8* with a shaft I wanted so I skipped it.
 
jdtox said:
Took some swings with the Darkspeed 9*X today, weight forward and LinQ White 6F5. Pretty much confirmed I can play this setup and it would be solid for me. Next time I'll try a LS but the only one they had was 8* with a shaft I wanted so I skipped it.
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Loft that 8* up to 9.5* and swing like Kyle Berkshire. I have faith in you.
 
Tenputt said:
Loft that 8* up to 9.5* and swing like Kyle Berkshire. I have faith in you.
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Lol might be a hero at the range or in front of a launch monitor but on course I really believe the X is the play
 
jdtox said:
Lol might be a hero at the range or in front of a launch monitor but on course I really believe the X is the play
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Honestly, I hit the X with the weight up and the LS with the weight back enough to have confidence you would smash either, but we definitely should be playing what we feel confident swinging. I don’t know that there would be a huge difference in numbers between the X heavy weight forward and LS heavy weight back. Either one would allow many single digit players with at least decent swing speed to thrive on the course.
 
Tenputt said:
Honestly, I hit the X with the weight up and the LS with the weight back enough to have confidence you would smash either, but we definitely should be playing what we feel confident swinging. I don’t know that there would be a huge difference in numbers between the X heavy weight forward and LS heavy weight back. Either one would allow many single digit players with at least decent swing speed to thrive on the course.
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If you looked at that chart that was posted earlier there is some overlap there with those exact settings and I based on what I’ve seen with limited swings on a monitor I would agree with you. I’m pretty sure I could play either one, next time I’ll bring a tool and swing both with same shaft and see which I prefer
 
The more I read about the LS, the more my TSR2 is sweating. Told myself I was going to sit out the new drivers this year, but it's getting difficult to ignore the itch.
 
jdtox said:
If you looked at that chart that was posted earlier there is some overlap there with those exact settings and I based on what I’ve seen with limited swings on a monitor I would agree with you. I’m pretty sure I could play either one, next time I’ll bring a tool and swing both with same shaft and see which I prefer
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When you do, see if you don’t feel that the LS has a more dense, satisfying feel on well struck shots. To me, it is more fun to play, but I would never allow that to sway me away from the better fit, because they both are awesome.
 
The LS just went toe to toe with my Ping G430 lat which I played all last year. The Darkspeed is a bit easier for me to turn over but I get a hair more ballspeed with the Ping. Distance and spin very similar, the Darkspeed sounds a bit better, such a tough decision. The Ping I play in standard at 9* with the weight in the center the LS has the 12g weight in the lofted up to 10*
 
Just finished 9. Good driving day. Developed a mean little piercing draw with my X. I can really get some distance out of it in the right spot and it’s killer into the wind we have had the last week around Louisville. Started working on trying to also find a higher flying strait or fading ball I can hit with it. I think I feel pretty comfortable saying this is a flatter flying driver than the TSR2 I played with the same shaft last year. Even cranked up to 12* it wants to stay pretty low in the sky. Definitely a great flight for a dry Texas fall course.
 
The DS was on point today. I pulled it 11 times and had 11 FW! I had one poor swing and I still managed to get the ball nice green grass. Lots of headwind today and I was getting some solid distance. TheDS with the LINQ blue TSPX shaft is just perfect.
 
For whatever reason a guy was getting fit yesterday and wouldn't try the Callaway.. no clue why and didn't inquire. He was set on a Taylormade. Watched him hit the Darkspeed LS and go from 167 to 174mph ball speed. He didn't want to comment on it and the more he hit the Taylormade the more you could see the Cobra destroy it. Very one sided for that golfer. He wouldn't buy on the spot but you could see him melt a bit
 
That post said:
I swung the X again today 5 or 6 times while at the golf store. Now that I'm almost 2 months into speed training and have added about 10mph to my driver swing interesting things are happening with the X. At the 95ish MPH I was at before speed training I did not enjoy the sound and feel at all. I described it in this thread a few times as 'harsh'. Now that cruising speed is around 102-104mph the sound and feel have completely changed. It no longer sounds 'harsh' it sounds 'crisp' it no longer feels bad it feels like the ball jumps off the face.

It's so interesting to me how sound and feel can change like that with different clubhead speed.
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Amazing. I’ve been working on speed training for about two months and haven’t moved the needle! What training system are you using? I’m a steady 98 - 100 swinger and want to get 105. My LS spins about 2300 and carries 245 when I connect. Based on the ball imprints on the face, center hits have a definite pop sound and pleasing feel. Compared to my Callaway driver, I‘ve grown to prefer the sound of my DS.
 
I love the way this thread keeps popping up over and over again. Makes me start drooling even more to get my hands on one in about 8 days.

ryan reynolds hot guy GIF
 
ammac said:
Amazing. I’ve been working on speed training for about two months and haven’t moved the needle! What training system are you using? I’m a steady 98 - 100 swinger and want to get 105. My LS spins about 2300 and carries 245 when I connect. Based on the ball imprints on the face, center hits have a definite pop sound and pleasing feel. Compared to my Callaway driver, I‘ve grown to prefer the sound of my DS.
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I’m using Superspeed overspeed training.
The thread is a little long but you can read all about it here.
 
I snuck out for my third round with the Darkspeed X after lunch today. I decided to try out my old Ventus TR Blue shaft in it because I’m an internet golfer and if it’s going well, there’s probably something that could make it better lol.

I have this shaft shorter playing at only 43.75” and it was last used in the Morgan Cup with my LTDx. I forgot how much I like this shaft and it felt absolutely 🔥 in the Darkspeed! 57% fairways on the day.

By hole 9 I had some serious confidence going with driver. I hit it on 9 attempting to drive the green with water short left. Perfect shot right down the middle coming up just short. Hole 15 & 16 were the two biggest drives of the day on a freaking rope right down the middle. 314 & 299 respectively.

This driver is so much fun to hit and so easy to get it out there. The two randoms I got paired up with were online looking at Darkspeed before we finished the round 😆
 
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Sounds like you gained lots of knowledge about your swing along with the extra speed. Congrats! You mentioned wanting to find the proper swing sequence and learn how to use ground forces to increase speed. Aside from the feels in your turn, was there any other ah ha’s?

Im 52, work out regularly and feel pretty athletic. I do golf swing specific exercises to help with explosiveness and flexibility. However, I don’t have the natural quickness I think that true swing speed requires. I feel maxed out for my swing DNA. Seeing your swing on video, you appear to have tapped into easy gains. Meaning, your swing looks too good to not hit it 270 all the time. If you started from this point, do you think you could add 10% more speed?
 
Got some updates!

And par the course for me, got two lovely marks on the bottom of the face of the driver already. The stiffness feels okay with the stock HZRDUS Stiff shaft - but time will tell. Gonna take it to the range one more time today and see if I can get some consistent numbers before posting.

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My swing is just not in a good place. I hate the way everything feels, but, I'll figure it out.

This was the best I could muster today, which don't get me wrong, its nice, I'd play it, but when you know you have 5-6 more MPH in there, it just leaves you thinking about what is left on the table right now.

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