Equipment: Cobra King F7 and F7+ driver review
Our Cobra King F7 driver review took place in the Golf Shack at Moor Allerton in Leeds under the watchful eye of our resident pro James Whitaker.
The conditions were very windy and we were hitting from an inside hitting bay into the wind.
Results were monitored using Trackman 4.
Cobra King F7 driver review – First impressions
The Cobra King F7 driver follows on from the very successful King F6 driver which also came in a regular and F6+ model.
The F7 has a similarly large head profile which should inspire plenty of confidence behind the ball. The F7+ is slightly more compact.
The F7 is available in three colours – Black/Orange, Silver/Yellow and Blue/Red/White. The F7+ is available in Black/Orange and Blue/Red/White.
There’s also an all-new blacked out King LTD driver, as used by Rickie Fowler, which is new for 2017.
To watch our review of the King LTD click here.
All three finishes in the F7 look stunning. Not in a loud, overbearing way – in a classy and stylish way. Particularly in the blue finish, the driver looks a million dollars at the address position and on the shelf.
There’s a load of technology in the sole and hosel to help golfers get dialled in with three moveable weights and a range of loft and face angle settings in the hosel.
But what’s an industry first and really cool is the partnership with Arccos which which features an ultralight sensor that’s embedded in the grip, allowing golfers to automatically track the distance and accuracy of every drive. Intrigued? You should be.
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Cobra King F7 driver review – The technology
The Cobra Connect Powered by Arccos system communicates at shot impact with a golfer’s smartphone, which must be carried in a user’s front pocket.
It then uses a proprietary shot detection algorithm and sensors on a user’s smartphone to identify the location of their second shot, allowing driving distance and accuracy to be recorded in real time.
At the end of a round, golfers can review their overall driving performance, track improvement and share pictures, longest drives or key stats directly with their friends or other Cobra Connect users.
The King F7 features a larger face and address profile that increases MOI and provides more distance, forgiveness and speed across the face.
An adjustable weight system with three CG settings in the front, the back and heel positions allows for three differing ball flights – low, high and draw, to provide golfers with optimum distance and trajectory for a variety of conditions.
The heavier 12g weight in the front CG position creates a lower, penetrating ball flight with less spin and more roll for maximum distance.
When the heavier weight is placed in the back position, it delivers a higher, towering ball flight with added spin for more carry distance and increased forgiveness.
When moved to the heel CG position, it works to reduce spin to deliver straighter drives for those who may be prone to a slice.
The F7+ driver utilises the same key technologies as the F7 driver – including three weight settings for CG adjustability, a Forged Ti-811 face, a TeXtreme Carbon Fiber Crown which allows more weight be be added lower in the club.
Both drivers have MyFly8 technology to adjust the loft and face angle.
Cobra King F7 driver review – Results/NCG Verdict
The F7 driver is right up my street as it just looks so forgiving and confidence inspiring. I love the colour options too – especially the Blue/White/Red version.
I started with the larger weight in the back position and the loft was set at 10.5˚.
Now I thought this setting wouldn’t be right for me but didn’t want to start playing around before hitting a shot.
As expected my shots were going a bit too high and with too much spin.
But what I did notice straight away was a much improved sound and feel compared to the F6 driver.
I loved the F6 but it did sound and feel a little bit harsh. The F7 has a soft feel with a sweet high pitched sound. Similar to the improvements I found with the TaylorMade M1/M2 compared to their previus drivers.
James Whitaker, our resident pro, put the loft down to 9.5 in the draw position and moved the heavier weight into the heel.
Instantly the ball flight, ball speed and carry improved dramatically. It was really interesting to see just how much my shots changed from a high, drifty left-to-right shot to a lower, straight ball flight that was finish to the left of the fairway rather than the right.
Cobra say there’s up to 20 yards of draw bias that can be added to this driver which for a player like me who suffers with a miss to the right, that’s music to my ears.
And I can vouch, first-hand that the technology does what it’s supposed to do.
I had a go with the F7+ driver which looks equally stunning but just doesn’t have the same forgiveness levels on off-centre hits.
As a result my overall ball speed and carry numbers were down on the F7.
So it would be a very easy decision for me as to which driver I’d buy. And unless you find the middle of the club face time after time, I’m not sure why you would opt for the F6+ over the F7 – especially with the ability to get dialled in so well.
We’re big fans of the Arccos Driver GPS and the fact Cobra have built it into the grips of their new F7 and King LTD drivers is very exciting news.
We look forward to sharing some of our stats with you over the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned…
Details
Cobra King F7 Driver
SRP: £279
Lofts: 9˚, 9.5˚, 9.5D , 10.5˚, 10.5D, 11.5˚, 11.5D and 12˚
Stock shaft: Fujikura Pro 60
In store: January 27, 2017
Cobra King F7+ Driver
SRP: £299
Lofts: 8˚, 8.5˚, 8.5D, 9˚, 9.5D, 10˚, 10.5D o and 11˚
Stock shaft: Fujikura Pro XLR8 61 shaft
In store: January 27, 201
For more information visit the Cobra website HERE
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