Cobra Pars and Stripes Speedzone Ventus Blue Velocore vs Mizuno ST190G

[winegr]

I ordered the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes edition on a whim. I liked the look and real deal Ventus Blue Velocore 6S. Today was the first time I hit it. I have never hit a Speedzone before and had not hit a Cobra driver in recent years (really only Mizuno, TaylorMade, Ping and Titleist).  
 

I hit my Mizuno ST190G with Atmos TS Black in stiff flex and the Cobra Par and Stripes with the Ventus Velocore.  I used a Rapsodo launch monitor to look at differences in ball speed and clubhead speed. But it was a pretty cold day around 50 degrees with a strong breeze in my face. Not sure how much of an effect that had on ball speed recorded by Rapsodo. 
 

The winner was very clear. The Cobra was longer, more forgiving and much more consistent and straighter. It was not my finest ball striking day. There were some surprises though. 
- Cobra with Ventus Blue Velocore seemed to deliver maybe 3-4 extra mph ball speed on well struck shots. I have no idea how much of that was the head vs Ventus. The difference was generally 156-157 ball speed with the Cobra. 152-154 was more typical with the Mizuno. Again, not sure how much the cold affects the ball speed and shaft performance. My goal is to get ball speeds consistently over 160 by next summer with ProV1x, Bridgestone, TP5x, etc after a bit of fitness and over speed training and warm weather. 

- The Ventus Velocore in S flex seemed like plenty of shaft for me. It was described as mid-launch (certainly compared to Ventus Black), but it hit moderately low for me. It was very accurate for some of the crappy swings I put on it. Hit a lot of frozen ropes that liked to go straight unless I really turned them over or left the face open. There were a few that seemed to deserve duck hooks that went relatively straight. Even though the shaft flexes some, it’s very stable. Even if I was getting ball speed into the low 160s I would not look at an x flex for me with this shaft. Ball curvature was not a problem. 
- The Atmos TS Black S flex did not work nearly as well for me. I’ve played this setup for the last 8 months and done OK with a few really nice driving days. It was always solid, but never felt like the longest. Combined with the less forgiving Mizuno head (I never thought of of that way), I was hitting more pull hooks and contact wasn’t great. But the Mizuno head always seemed higher loft than stated. I often played it at 7-7.5 degrees when adding loft and positive attack angle. So I had typically hit this driver relatively high on standard settings. Again, not the best day to tell a lot except that the Mizuno performed signicantly worse on this day. But a few weeks ago, I had hit it well and straight. 
- I ended up adding loft to the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes. It is 9*, but I generally got better launch conditions playing at 10*. This was a surprise, but my swing was a bit off. I haven’t hit a cobra in recent years, but I remember hitting them high when demoed years ago. Not sure if Speedzone has a moderate launch or if the Ventus was responsible for this lower than expected launch. 
- The Cobra was slightly heavier feeling than expected. This could be because my swing is out of sync, but seemed slightly heavier than the Mizuno and certainly some of the featherweight Cobras from 5+ years ago. I just expected it to be really light to a fault.  

The conclusion was basically that the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes largely trounced my existing setup. It was longer, straighter, and much more forgiving. The surprises were generally the lower launch than expected and the solid performance on some pretty poor mishits. I tested all parts of the Speedzone face. 
 

I’m pretty pleased with my impulse purchase after 1 range session. I bought the driver on a whim, but it has a chance of staying in the bag for all of 2021 if I keep hitting it straight. I certainly see the appeal of Ventus. It took a really marginal swing to go way offline. 
 

Interested in others thoughts on the Speedzone (distance, trajectory, foregiveness, etc) and people with experience with the Pars and Stripes edition (regular or Extreme) with Ventus Velocore Blue. Has it performed in line with other drivers like the SIM and 410LST and TSI2/3? Are people still very happy with the Ventus Velocore after playing it for a while?

[winegr]

Given the interest in Ventus Velocore, I though my I would update a bit based on a few more range sessions (in the cold).

 

General observations:

- Ventus Velocore plays firm, but not too stiff. The 6-S flex plays like a fairly stout S, but not abnormally so. The softer butt must help a bit. Not boardy. 
- I don’t think it flights the ball as low as I originally thought. I would say it doesn’t add a lot of loft, but it doesn’t flight it down artificially low either. More mid-trajectory. 
- The spin seems fairly low, but not super low. Haven’t had many balloon and haven’t had many knuckle. 
- My misses are more pushes and pulls versus big hooks or big fades. More accurate/forgiving than my Atmos TS Black. 
- Distance is hard to tell in the cold, but it does seem to jump off the face of the Speedzone when you catch it on the screws. I think the distance will be pretty good because of the solid carry and lowish spin. Ball speeds stayed up pretty well on some marginal swings. 
 

Still a big fan of the Ventus Velocore. It feels really solid and stable without any board-like feeing. Workable. People who like shafts that don’t flex at all may even find that it feels slightly soft because of the softer butt. I don’t think it plays soft. The hooks I hit with it have been well-deserved. The Cobra Pars and Stripes Speedzone is also quite a nice driver with the Velocore highly additive to the stability and foregiveness. Still in the honeymoon....until outdoor demo season at least. 

 

[Nick_E]

On 1/2/2021 at 6:14 PM, winegr said:

I ordered the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes edition on a whim. I liked the look and real deal Ventus Blue Velocore 6S. Today was the first time I hit it. I have never hit a Speedzone before and had not hit a Cobra driver in recent years (really only Mizuno, TaylorMade, Ping and Titleist).  
 

I hit my Mizuno ST190G with Atmos TS Black in stiff flex and the Cobra Par and Stripes with the Ventus Velocore.  I used a Rapsodo launch monitor to look at differences in ball speed and clubhead speed. But it was a pretty cold day around 50 degrees with a strong breeze in my face. Not sure how much of an effect that had on ball speed recorded by Rapsodo. 
 

The winner was very clear. The Cobra was longer, more forgiving and much more consistent and straighter. It was not my finest ball striking day. There were some surprises though. 
- Cobra with Ventus Blue Velocore seemed to deliver maybe 3-4 extra mph ball speed on well struck shots. I have no idea how much of that was the head vs Ventus. The difference was generally 156-157 ball speed with the Cobra. 152-154 was more typical with the Mizuno. Again, not sure how much the cold affects the ball speed and shaft performance. My goal is to get ball speeds consistently over 160 by next summer with ProV1x, Bridgestone, TP5x, etc after a bit of fitness and over speed training and warm weather. 

- The Ventus Velocore in S flex seemed like plenty of shaft for me. It was described as mid-launch (certainly compared to Ventus Black), but it hit moderately low for me. It was very accurate for some of the crappy swings I put on it. Hit a lot of frozen ropes that liked to go straight unless I really turned them over or left the face open. There were a few that seemed to deserve duck hooks that went relatively straight. Even though the shaft flexes some, it’s very stable. Even if I was getting ball speed into the low 160s I would not look at an x flex for me with this shaft. Ball curvature was not a problem. 
- The Atmos TS Black S flex did not work nearly as well for me. I’ve played this setup for the last 8 months and done OK with a few really nice driving days. It was always solid, but never felt like the longest. Combined with the less forgiving Mizuno head (I never thought of of that way), I was hitting more pull hooks and contact wasn’t great. But the Mizuno head always seemed higher loft than stated. I often played it at 7-7.5 degrees when adding loft and positive attack angle. So I had typically hit this driver relatively high on standard settings. Again, not the best day to tell a lot except that the Mizuno performed signicantly worse on this day. But a few weeks ago, I had hit it well and straight. 
- I ended up adding loft to the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes. It is 9*, but I generally got better launch conditions playing at 10*. This was a surprise, but my swing was a bit off. I haven’t hit a cobra in recent years, but I remember hitting them high when demoed years ago. Not sure if Speedzone has a moderate launch or if the Ventus was responsible for this lower than expected launch. 
- The Cobra was slightly heavier feeling than expected. This could be because my swing is out of sync, but seemed slightly heavier than the Mizuno and certainly some of the featherweight Cobras from 5+ years ago. I just expected it to be really light to a fault.  

The conclusion was basically that the Cobra Speedzone Pars and Stripes largely trounced my existing setup. It was longer, straighter, and much more forgiving. The surprises were generally the lower launch than expected and the solid performance on some pretty poor mishits. I tested all parts of the Speedzone face. 
 

I’m pretty pleased with my impulse purchase after 1 range session. I bought the driver on a whim, but it has a chance of staying in the bag for all of 2021 if I keep hitting it straight. I certainly see the appeal of Ventus. It took a really marginal swing to go way offline. 
 

Interested in others thoughts on the Speedzone (distance, trajectory, foregiveness, etc) and people with experience with the Pars and Stripes edition (regular or Extreme) with Ventus Velocore Blue. Has it performed in line with other drivers like the SIM and 410LST and TSI2/3? Are people still very happy with the Ventus Velocore after playing it for a while?

Getting a real ventus with Velocore is huge with the Cobra.  I'd expect it to beat it the other combo.  I have a blue 6x in 410LST and its amazing.  Just wants to go straight.   

I need to play more with it, but it seems a winner. 

[winegr]

9 minutes ago, Nick_E said:

Getting a real ventus with Velocore is huge with the Cobra.  I'd expect it to beat it the other combo.  I have a blue 6x in 410LST and its amazing.  Just wants to go straight.   

I need to play more with it, but it seems a winner. 

That sounds like a great setup. The Velocore really does want to go straight. 

[jomatty]

I’d be curious if it was the Ventus making the difference.  I really like the mizuno st 190 and then st 200 (my current gamer).  It’s hard to draw too much from the comparison of heads with different shafts.  The main takeaway seems to be that the pars and stripes with ventus is a really good deal for a driver with a seriously upgraded shaft.

[winegr]

5 hours ago, jomatty said:

I’d be curious if it was the Ventus making the difference.  I really like the mizuno st 190 and then st 200 (my current gamer).  It’s hard to draw too much from the comparison of heads with different shafts.  The main takeaway seems to be that the pars and stripes with ventus is a really good deal for a driver with a seriously upgraded shaft.

It's hard to draw a perfect conclusion on what's driving the results, but I do think:

- The Speedzone face is more forgiving than the ST190G across the face.  Not really close.  I think "average" ball speeds would be up as a result.

- Speedzone MOI seems higher or weighting fits me better.

- I was never quite able to get within 2-3 mph on ball speed with the 190G and more typically 3+.  Is that face or shaft? Not sure. Some of each probably.

- I do think the Ventus is making some of the difference, but the head is more forgiving regardless. 

 

I think the 190G is a good driver, but I think most would find the Speedzone more forgiving on mishits.  At times I got in a groove and hit the 190G very well, but I am more confident over the ball with the Speedzone.

[winegr]

I’ll post one last update on this. First range session where there was no wind into me and slightly warmer temps in mid 50s. 
 

I’m really, really enjoying this club. Todays range session was tremendous. I increased my width and upward angle of attack more (and tee height) and was launching the ball pretty high this time and it still hit the ground running. No spin numbers unfortunately.  I cranked the loft down to 8 and then 7.5 and was still getting a 13-14.5 launch angle most often (weight shift flaw adds to +AOA). Large carries.  Very few poor drives.  Lots of high (too high at times) straight, straight bombs (for me at least). Slightly fade biased only because it doesn’t turn hard left easily.  Mostly straight with slight pushes or pulls. Maybe a little draw or fade. 
 

It is hard to tell how much the Ventus is adding to this. But I was getting some nice ball speeds and directional misses even on some very mediocre strikes. Contrary to my first chilly day where I thought Ventus Blue might be lower launching than expected, I now think it is truly mid launch as advertised. 
 

The Pars and Stripes Cobra Speezone with Ventus has exceeded my expectations and looks great.  It will take a really great driver to knock it out of the bag in 2021. It’s left my Mizuno in the dust. I wouldn’t be surprised if something like the SIM or TSi3 produced more ball speed, but can it match the forgiveness and straightness and ease of use?  We’ll see. 

[winegr]

First round of the year and this club performed absolutely outstanding. Long, straight, good gear effect. The thing I loved the most was that I got basically no left hooks. I assume the Ventus had a part in this. My misses were mostly slight push rights and still pretty long. 
 

Not sure if bargains are to be had, but hard to imagine anything outcompetes this by too much. 

[greenbean4606]

I appreciate your input!  This thread was a factor in me purchasing a black velo 6s on a whim to go with my cobra extreme.  I'm loving the combo so far!  I am hitting much straighter, longer drives than I ever thought I would as a newer golfer.  I was worried the black would flight too low but I'm not finding that to be the case.  Cobra+velo seems to be a great combination.

[Red4282]

I had the 190 non g. Was a good driver but i would say it was always about 1-2 mph slower than top competitors. Probably just s spec tolerance thing. The ventus is the real thing... i just got a black and jts 👍👍