MEMBER REVIEWS: Cobra SpeedZone and SpeedZone Xtreme Drivers! Read The Reviews Here!

[wareagle12]

Good Afternoon Golfwrx,

 

I was the winner in the giveaway thread. Cobra was a little backed up due to COVID and our course was/is doing some maintenance so I haven't had a chance to get it on the course much. I wanted to wait until I got a little more time, but decided to go ahead an give an early opinion.

 

First off HUGE THANK YOU!!! to Cobra and Golfwrx!!! This is the first contest I have won on here and it was a really good one. Below is the build I ordered. 

 

10.5 Speedzone Extreme Matte Black/ Avalanche White with Fujikura Ventus Blue 6X

 

A little about me - Have not played as much in the past year and a half as I normally do. We just finished building a house and have our first little guy on the way, so needless to say I haven't had as much time as in the past. 2 years ago I was playing to a 0.6 or so and the strength of my game is driving and driving distance. Current driver is a Ping G400 10.5 with a Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 6.1x tipped 1/2". I LOVE this club and knew it would take alot to unseat it in the bag. 

 

It was packed perfectly. I received it a few weeks back. The club is beautiful. I will post pictures later. First impression it looked awesome. Looks kind of big coming from the std G400. I took the wrench out and meant to take off 1 deg and make it 9.5 but accidentally added a degree. I didn't notice until I got it on the launch monitor and started to hit it. With the Ping I would have definitely notices as it makes the club appear much more closed as is the case with pretty much every other brand I have used in the past. I dropped a degree to 9.5 and the face looked slightly more open, but honestly from a visual perspective I think I could play this one in any position. Due to my lack of consistency, I was having a hard time finding the middle of the club. I was getting really good ball speeds though. The launch was lower and the spin was a little higher than my gamer. I was a lower launch player until I got the PING and it transformed my game. I haven't created a report but below are just my general observations for numbers between the two clubs over the past few weeks hitting on my LM. Averages are just that - Some higher, some lower, some farther, some shorter.

 

PING: Average Ball Speed 179-185 (well struck shots usually right in the middle of those) 

Average Spin: 2000-2800 depending on strike. 

Average Launch: 12-16 depending on how I am trying to hit it but standard swing is usually 12-14

Average Carry: 298-310

 

COBRA: Average Ball Speed 175-185 (Hard time knowing when I hit the middle as I don't have many swings on it yet)

Average Spin: 1900-3500 Spin was much more inconsistent probably 100% due to swing but on good swings when I felt like the spin would be down it seemed slightly higher than the gamer. Could be shaft/swing/head or combo

Average launch: 7.5-13 This is typical of where my launch used to be when I played Taylormade

Average Carry: 285-305

 

As you can see above, it wasn't a miracle worker yet. I need more time with it to try and get used to the shaft and head. I have played 9 holes with it and hit both drivers many times during that round. Unfortunately I was swinging terribly that day, but I will talk a little about what I think I saw. On the first hole, I hit a terrible little screamer low and right with the Cobra. It stayed in play. I took my PING and hit the same shot (No warm-up, no excuse 🙂 )When I walked to the shots the PING was WAAAAY behind the Cobra. I was thinking this was a great sign. I didn't get to hit driver again until the 4th hole. It is one of my favorite driving holes. Straightaway par 4 about 400 yards with a generous fairway but not much room if you miss the fairway. I rarely miss this fairway on this one. Cobra first swing was a big push high and straight but missed in the right trees... Next swing with PING and it was a similar swing but was just off fairway in the right rough. Third with the Cobra and it was an over correction heel pull but straight and in the left rough. Fourth with PING was similar to 3rd with Cobra but slightly farther and in the fairway. I told you I was swinging bad..... Next chance to hit it was on 8 - my second favorite driving hole. First swing is the only one I will talk about here with the Cobra. I normally play a fade and I started this one down the left. It never moved off line and carried the bunker on the corner. Probably carried about 295-300 into the wind. 

 

I hope to get it on the course a lot more in the next few weeks and will report back with what I find. I am not giving up on it yet, but so far I will probably stick with the PING. I just think the shaft is probably a better fit and leads to more center contact. The Ventus feels awesome but a little tighter maybe than the Motore Speeder and I am super sensitive to shaft changes. Also, I seem to get more consistent 180s ball speeds with the PING. I also hit more fairways with it than any club I have ever owner (by far), so the bar was extremely high. 

 

Again I can't thank Cobra and Golfwrx enough for this one. I am probably going to order the Speedzone fairway as I don't get along with the PINGs and this thing really does look great!

Edited October 9, 2020 by wareagle12

[CAT GOLFER]

I guess I owe this thread another post.  I switched back to my Ping 410+ recently, have about 4 full rounds with it now.  Honestly, the gains from the Cobra don’t seem to be substantive to my game in comparison.  I am as long with my Ping, which is 1” shorter, and accuracy is basically the same.

 

Bottom line, I need a good fitting.  I believe I have self fit myself into a corner and am likely far from where I should be and likely not giving any clubs justice at this point.

[doublepar93]

Figured I’d update this thread. Played my last round of the year this past Sunday. Put the Graphite Design shaft in the Extreme head.I though l found a winner earlier this year, but  I’ve switched back and forth between the heads and shaft repeatedly just for fun. I certainly hit my longest drives with the Regular SpeedZone head and the GD shaft, but I hit the highest,straightest shots with the Extreme head and Atmos ts shaft. Putting the graphite design shaft in the extreme head seems to be the best of both worlds. Gives me a more penetrating flight with the extreme head. Still very high compared to other drivers I’ve hit, but helps give a little more distance. I’ll start next year with this combo, but will probably go to the regular head with the GD shaft further into the year if ball striking picks up for me. Both are great drivers, and one of them will be in the bag for every round next year. 

Edited December 9, 2020 by MitchellGolfing

[968cab]

All things being equal—ball, shaft, loft, swing parameters—what would somebody expect ball performance wise by changing the weight in the SZX head? More spin? Less? Higher launch?  Both lighter and heavier changes. 
 

I realize the swing weight changes.  

 

Thanks! 

Edited February 28, 2021 by 968cab
Added content

[Dpavs]

40 minutes ago, 968cab said:

All things being equal—ball, shaft, loft, swing parameters—what would somebody expect ball performance wise by changing the weight in the SZX head? More spin? Less? Higher launch?  Both lighter and heavier changes. 
 

I realize the swing weight changes.  

 

Thanks! 

 

Adding more weight to the rear of the driver generally increases spin and launch a bit. That being said, it is much too individual a thing to predict with any certainty what will happen for each of us. We are not robots, so more often than not, changing the swing weight, CGI or any number of other things will cause variances in our swing. Some of those changes might be beneficial or they may not.. others may result in insignificant changes. I think this is why it becomes such a test it for yourself and see or get fitted where you can test several options to find the one that will benefit you the most.

[968cab]

Totally agree, hence the “all things being equal” part of the comment.  

 

I absolutely love this driver and have spent quite a bit of time zeroing in my desired results...with the exception of playing with the weights.  Obviously, there’s only one unless I buy spares. They aren’t cheap, just to see what resulted.  
 

So I was curious if I jumped or dropped the weight on any given swing, and all other things stayed exactly the same, what would be the theoretical affect/result.
 

Thanks for the response!  

[CAT GOLFER]

Adding weight helped me, I felt the overall club balance didn’t suit me before I did.  I had both the AD IZ and the Smoke Yellow, which I believe  have higher balance points.  I swapped out the heavy weight from Speedzone and put it in the Extreme.  Launch did increase a little bit, but was worth it for me, I felt I could really feel the head and get after my drives.  The SZ heads have a lot of pop, I just had to take a shot in the dark and the shafts I picked didn’t ultimately fit me the best.

[me05501]

Bumping this old thread to add another opinion. 

 

I have been playing a Callaway Rogue SZ 10.5 with a Pro 62 Green stiff shaft. I have really loved this combo, not only the results but the sound and feel. It's been a great package for me and one that I could easily keep playing. 

 

OTOH a buddy of mine bought a SZ 10.5 with the Ventus in stiff back during the summer and he never really bonded with it. It's barely been hit and it's just been sticking out of his bag the last several rounds without being hit so he offered to let me play it yesterday. 

 

The Cobra Speedzone is quite similar to the Rogue SZ in overall dimensions. From address they are very similar. 

 

The Cobra feels harder on contact. Maybe it was just me, or the brisk weather, but I never felt that mashed feeling that I often get with the Rogue SZ. That being said, the feel was my only complaint with the Cobra. It sets up easy and seems forgiving all over the face. I especially noticed that toe-side strikes are quite forgiving, losing little distance and maintaining a nice tight draw. 

 

I felt a lot of confidence with the Cobra as the round went on and hit some really nice drives with it. It was a fairway finder for me all day. I think the head/shaft combo gives me a little more out of my 90mph driver swing speed, maybe due to spin characteristics. I'd need to do more head-to-head testing with the Rogue SZ to be sure. 

 

My friend wants to sell the Cobra and I'm somewhat tempted. This would continue my pattern of buying "last year's model" at a big discount to the current hot offerings. Part of me says to give my buddy $250 and play the Cobra this season, and part of me says to commit that $250 toward a good fitting session (though the idea of spending $100-ish plus $550+ for a new driver is not too exciting to me). Honestly being fit this year is not going to stop me from being interested in whatever comes out NEXT year. 😕

[brew4eagle]

13 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Bumping this old thread to add another opinion. 

 

I have been playing a Callaway Rogue SZ 10.5 with a Pro 62 Green stiff shaft. I have really loved this combo, not only the results but the sound and feel. It's been a great package for me and one that I could easily keep playing. 

 

OTOH a buddy of mine bought a SZ 10.5 with the Ventus in stiff back during the summer and he never really bonded with it. It's barely been hit and it's just been sticking out of his bag the last several rounds without being hit so he offered to let me play it yesterday. 

 

The Cobra Speedzone is quite similar to the Rogue SZ in overall dimensions. From address they are very similar. 

 

The Cobra feels harder on contact. Maybe it was just me, or the brisk weather, but I never felt that mashed feeling that I often get with the Rogue SZ. That being said, the feel was my only complaint with the Cobra. It sets up easy and seems forgiving all over the face. I especially noticed that toe-side strikes are quite forgiving, losing little distance and maintaining a nice tight draw. 

 

I felt a lot of confidence with the Cobra as the round went on and hit some really nice drives with it. It was a fairway finder for me all day. I think the head/shaft combo gives me a little more out of my 90mph driver swing speed, maybe due to spin characteristics. I'd need to do more head-to-head testing with the Rogue SZ to be sure. 

 

My friend wants to sell the Cobra and I'm somewhat tempted. This would continue my pattern of buying "last year's model" at a big discount to the current hot offerings. Part of me says to give my buddy $250 and play the Cobra this season, and part of me says to commit that $250 toward a good fitting session (though the idea of spending $100-ish plus $550+ for a new driver is not too exciting to me). Honestly being fit this year is not going to stop me from being interested in whatever comes out NEXT year. 😕

90 mph and SZ 10.5 Ventus stiff doesn't sound like a good fit to me, but if the results seemed good then $250 isn't a bad deal at all.

[me05501]

1 minute ago, brew4eagle said:

90 mph and SZ 10.5 Ventus stiff doesn't sound like a good fit to me, but if the results seemed good then $250 isn't a bad deal at all.

 

Right? The Rogue SZ doesn't seem like it would be a good fit either but it works great for me. I am only on a monitor during lessons with my pro so I don't have a mountain of data, but I'm starting to get the idea that my swing dynamics generate too much spin for optimal distance, and combos that reduce spin work well for me. 

 

I will likely postpone a fitting until I get my speed up into the upper 90's which is my project for this season. 

[Dpavs]

20 minutes ago, me05501 said:

Bumping this old thread to add another opinion. 

 

I have been playing a Callaway Rogue SZ 10.5 with a Pro 62 Green stiff shaft. I have really loved this combo, not only the results but the sound and feel. It's been a great package for me and one that I could easily keep playing. 

 

OTOH a buddy of mine bought a SZ 10.5 with the Ventus in stiff back during the summer and he never really bonded with it. It's barely been hit and it's just been sticking out of his bag the last several rounds without being hit so he offered to let me play it yesterday. 

 

The Cobra Speedzone is quite similar to the Rogue SZ in overall dimensions. From address they are very similar. 

 

The Cobra feels harder on contact. Maybe it was just me, or the brisk weather, but I never felt that mashed feeling that I often get with the Rogue SZ. That being said, the feel was my only complaint with the Cobra. It sets up easy and seems forgiving all over the face. I especially noticed that toe-side strikes are quite forgiving, losing little distance and maintaining a nice tight draw. 

 

I felt a lot of confidence with the Cobra as the round went on and hit some really nice drives with it. It was a fairway finder for me all day. I think the head/shaft combo gives me a little more out of my 90mph driver swing speed, maybe due to spin characteristics. I'd need to do more head-to-head testing with the Rogue SZ to be sure. 

 

My friend wants to sell the Cobra and I'm somewhat tempted. This would continue my pattern of buying "last year's model" at a big discount to the current hot offerings. Part of me says to give my buddy $250 and play the Cobra this season, and part of me says to commit that $250 toward a good fitting session (though the idea of spending $100-ish plus $550+ for a new driver is not too exciting to me). Honestly being fit this year is not going to stop me from being interested in whatever comes out NEXT year. 😕

 

If it is the Ventus Velocore Blue shaft you might have little to lose in that kind of deal. I think the shafts alone are still selling upwards of $150 or more.  You could also think about trying the few drivers that are available out there for under $400. If you did get fitted and bought what you were fitted into, would they not deduct the fitting cost from the price of the driver?

[me05501]

32 minutes ago, Dpavs said:

 

If it is the Ventus Velocore Blue shaft you might have little to lose in that kind of deal. I think the shafts alone are still selling upwards of $150 or more.  You could also think about trying the few drivers that are available out there for under $400. If you did get fitted and bought what you were fitted into, would they not deduct the fitting cost from the price of the driver?

It’s not the Velocore, I checked. 🙂

 

If I get fit I’ll do it in a lesson with a pro. I don’t know whether they’ll credit the cost of the fitting against the driver. 

[klbcec]

15 hours ago, me05501 said:

It’s not the Velocore, I checked. 🙂

 

If I get fit I’ll do it in a lesson with a pro. I don’t know whether they’ll credit the cost of the fitting against the driver. 

My last three drivers have been Cobras.  If you like head, take it to a fitter and have him fit a shaft for you. That's what I did.  I am still playing the Fly Z+ with the shaft they fit me with, because to this day, no other shaft head combo has performed better despite two trips to Club Champion in search of newer tech.

[me05501]

7 hours ago, klbcec said:

My last three drivers have been Cobras.  If you like head, take it to a fitter and have him fit a shaft for you. That's what I did.  I am still playing the Fly Z+ with the shaft they fit me with, because to this day, no other shaft head combo has performed better despite two trips to Club Champion in search of newer tech.

Might do that. Sounds like you don’t believe the Ventus could be a good fit. I worked great for me on Friday. Perfect ball flight, IMO. 

[klbcec]

9 hours ago, me05501 said:

Might do that. Sounds like you don’t believe the Ventus could be a good fit. I worked great for me on Friday. Perfect ball flight, IMO. 

I just think it's  worth knowing.  If you spend 250 on the head and $100 on the fitting, and that was the best shaft for you, then you still saved $50 to $150, and maybe $300 on a fully fitted driver purchase from Club Champion. And you  will know you have the best equipment for you.

[joj]

I got the stars and stripes Xtreme version with Velocore Blue in it. Was ready to be done with it, but randomly decided to throw my Motore F3 3 wood shaft in it. Can't believe how good I'm hitting hit. May leave the short shaft in for good. My point is, the heads are good, just find the right shaft.