Equipment
The Cobra F9 Driver Really Is “The King Of Speed”
Mar
I am just going to get this out into the air: Last year I really, REALLY wanted to like the F8 Driver….but I couldn’t. Don’t get me wrong, the driver looked and sounded great, but the performance literally was one of the worst I have seen in a while.
Now before I get people saying that I am full of it and their F8 is the best ever, I get it…different strokes for different folks. Statistically speaking in the majority of my fittings it was not even a contender even though I really wanted it to be.
There is a happy ending to this story, however, and that is the new F9 Driver. So far this year it has produced some of the fastest ball speeds for both slower swing speed players, as well as great spin and distance numbers for the faster swinging players. That is a crazy impressive feat for a company that only has one driver head for their lineup. (Being a golf shop…we kinda like that part too!). Let’s move into what makes this Cobra strike so hard.
Pioneering the “Twist Face”: before it was even a thing.
For years now Cobra has had something called E9 Technology. Basically that means that there are nine zones on the driver face meant to do different things based on where they are hit. While they don’t go as far as saying the metal is twisted to change the gear effect, we can say that E9 works every bit as good as “Twist Face Technology”.
For those of us that are gear heads E9 Technology consists of a variable thickness structure designed in an elliptical shape (along 9 different points) that expands the SWEET ZONE across a typical miss-hit pattern that ranges from the low heel to high toe areas (sounds very similar doesn’t it?!).
CNC Precision Milled Face
So you won’t really convince me that the CNC portion of this equation is better or worse than any other driver face on the market, but along with E9 they do have a face packed with all sorts of techno-goodness.
One of those technologies is called a Dual-Roll face. Every different driver loft has a specific roll pattern to help optimize spin and launch on both low and high ball strikes. This could very well be the secret to only needing one driver head, along with the movable bottom weights to adjust launch and spin.
More info straight from the Cobra’s mouth
SPEEDBACK AERO DESIGN.
SPEEDBACK Technology delivers Cobra’s most aerodynamic club shape which utilizes rounded leading edges, a raised crown, a raised skirt and a raised tail. This design streamlines the clubhead to promote an uninterrupted flow of air from the leading edge to the tail, to reduce drag and increase club speed.
OPTIMIZED AERO AND LOW CG.
A low CG structure comprised of titanium and tungsten moves the CG low and deep, creating a more efficient transfer of energy to the ball for optimized launch and spin, while maintaining an aerodynamic shape.
Summary
Looks: In a perfect world I would love to have the white color bottom with the glossy top, but both drivers look quite sexy on the crown. The bottom colors also “pop” well sitting on the rack at our shop. I really think they nailed the loud colors without offending “classic look” customers as well!
Technology: This thing is an E9 Speedback CNC Dual Roll Precision Milled Speed Tuned Perfected Bulge Carbon Wrap 360 Aero PWR Ridged beast of a driver! (Yeah, that’s a lot of technology!)
Final Thoughts: With the F8 being such a dud for most customers, this really proves you need to “keep an open mind”. I wasn’t overly excited to get the F9 in my hands because of the previous model, but it was easy to change my mind after a few readings off of our Foresight GC Quad. Like previously stated, not only are the numbers solid for the slow to average swing speeds, but to those long knockers as well!
BUILD YOUR OWN Custom Fit Cobra King F9 Driver
