Review Cobra Fly z - Driver

[mizuno_lover]

As some of you may have read in my other posts on site I have been struggling with my current gamer a Ping G25 which is a 12 degree head shafted with the stock Ping stiff shaft.  It has been the best driver I have had to date but I have found over the last 12 months my swing speed has dropped somewhat and I started losing everything off the tee right.  In a moment of sheer brilliance it also dawned on me that as I age and lose the super human strength of youth that is going to happen as sure as death and taxes are.  I have also had my irons re shafted recently from DG S300's to the XP 95 R300's and have been enjoying rekindling my love affair with my MP 54's.  I have always struggled with a driver so when I found the Ping it was heaven to be able to get the ball airborne and be able to put it out there around the 250 yard mark.  But in the back of my mind I knew it wouldn't last forever and eventually I would have to replace the G25. 

 

Periodically I would try drivers on the range and very occasionally one would survive the test and make it out onto the course for a trial.  The Fly Z was one of those that I did both of those things with and it stayed at the back of my mind surfacing occasionally to remind me that I had had some success with it.  Given my more recent tribulations I decided to give it another crack and thought a review alongside the fairways might be helpful to those of you who might be considering buying a driver and a fairway as a package to replace those old under performing naughty girls in your bag

 

I arrived at the course and switched out my Ping for the Cobra, having the junior Pro set the fully adjustable head to 12 Degrees.  There are a jillion settings that you can choose from on the loft scale and some of those also have a draw bias option which is something I have learned to not go anywhere near unless I want to hook balls off the planet,  Seriously I hit them so far left they finish right.  The head also has what is called a CG zone weight that you can take out.  At the writing I don't know if that weight is interchangeable but what I do know is that the way it was set was perfect for me so I wouldn't be fooling around with it.  You will see it in the photos it is the gold thing that looks conspicuous on the bottom of the club.  The shaft is the Regular flex VLCT - Sp Matrix shaft that has a graphic on it that would indicate it is suited to swing speeds over +85 MPH. I'm guessing but I would say mine is around 90-95 MPH now that I am old.  I grabbed a small bucket of balls and headed to the range to warm up.

 

I hit a few 8 irons to get the muscles working and then pulled the Cobra out.  It looked great as I set up to make a few practise swings the shiny black glossy paint job glistened like snake skin in the sun light and it sat on the turf so provocatively it seemed to beg me to hit something.  The club felt light and well balanced in my hands and I just knew that I knew I could hit this club.  Safe to say then that it inspires confidence.  The first ball I hit I got a bit toward the heel but solid and it launched nice and straight on a similar trajectory that I  hit with my Ping instilling even more confidence in me and flew with a gentle fade disappearing over the tee at the end of our driving range, a carry of about 235 yards. Not bad for a coldish first crack at a new club.  That was how the range session went remembering it was just a warm up bucket with detuned range balls that had had the gizzards hit out of them.  The vast majority of the balls I hit were straight or with a baby fade of 2-3 yards in the air and felt really solid.  The proof of the pudding was of course going to be out on the course.

 

Our 10th hole is a shortish dog leg right par five.  The tee shot screams out for a hard hit power fade that is fraught with danger with fairway bunkers in the landing area unless you are a knuckle dragging Neanderthal that can carry a power fade 260 odd yards - yes I know you young Tyros are out there that can and do and good luck to you but I cant so I tend to bunt a three quarter Driver or hard 3 wood and place it at the 220 yard marker to have a crack at the green in two wit my 3 wood.  Today I hit that 3/4 bunt and the ball flew as straight as an arrow drawing "well done" and "good hit" from the cynics that make up my foursome on a Thursday.  It had a mid trajectory that fitted with the way I teed the ball just a little lower than usual and the feel was gorgeous. I used to hit my Ping pretty straight or with a slight draw when I first got it and it seemed that was the pattern I would develop through out the round today. 

 

The next Drive of note was on 16 another long straight par 5 that requires 2 good hits and a shortish wedge for me in the normal course of events.  I set up planning to hit my customary draw and made what felt like a good swing,  Contact was Zen like, simply sublime, the ball climbed to a nice high but penetrating trajectory and flew forever with that 2-3 yard draw and measured out to 274 yards according to my sure shot GPS shot measurer.  The next Drive of note was off the first tee.  The tee markers were at the back and that hole needs a good hard 3 wood or a well struck driver to put you in the mayors office for your second.  I regularly used to put my G25 up there but since my affliction with the rights I had almost exclusively gone back to the hard 3 wood.  It was reliable and I rarely get it wrong but used to love pounding a driver down to about 80 yards.  Today I smoked the Cobra down to the mayors office, and once again the measured distance was 280 yards with an 80 yard 52 degree knocked down wedge to 10 feet for my second.  I checked the face for melted Mizuno JPX ball fragments but it was clean.  That was pretty much the pattern all day and I averaged 265 yards with it a pick up of 15 yards over the G25 that I averaged 250 yards with.  I tried fading it a couple of times and it performed at will.  They were the shorter drives that I hit but expect a fade to be shorter than a draw and knowing that a shot like that is there if I need it just boosts the confidence level exponentially.

 

In summary I can't recommend this driver enough.  I think it should at least be on your list to try out but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.  The adjustable head gives you so many loft options its crazy and I don't think in this day and age finding a shaft that suits you will be a problem.  The obvious distance gain I picked up I think comes from playing a shaft that is definitely more suited to my swing speed.  The option I used today enabled me to hit the ball high, low, left to right, right to left and dead straight so I can't ask anymore than that and I think I'll be making a purchase very soon

[dhayse32]

Great review!  Cobra makes some amazing clubs. 

[fozcycle]

Thanks for the review Mizzy,  It sounds like you are very pleased with the Fly-Z.  As a Cobra Bio Cell owner, I have not yet tried out the new clubs this year, rather I have been concentratineg on my Bio Cells from last year.  I am very interested in the comparisons, say between the Bio Cell and the Fly-Z and the Fly-Z+.  

[Jmikecpa]

I have last year's Bio Cell + in the basement right now and really need to give it a good shot to get in the bag.  It is a solid club in most categories except for looks.

[Sluggo42]

Mizzie lover, how old are you?

I'm 59 and wondering if the shift to R flex should be in my future thoughts, or not.

 

I went and hit drivers yesterday, and noticed my swing speed was down to the mid 90's. I'm guessing being post surgery created that drop from 105.

 

What I found interesting though, was that all the new drivers were virtually identical in performance. 245-255 yards.

FlyZ/BBAlpha/R15/Adams/etc. I hit everything there with a S- shaft.

 

I wonder if an R shaft would have created different results?

[mizuno_lover]

Sluggo I am 56 years old.  I 'm not quite sure of my swing speed at the moment but I would guess in the 90-95 MPH range.  The stiff shaft I have in the G25 seems great when I am playing at my best but the Cobra with the Matrix shaft seems a better all round choice because I am definitely not at my best every day.  That means I spend a lot of time in the right hand side bush/rough and losing shots to the right and I have been told by people that apparently "know" that that is a symptom of a shaft that is too stiff.  Bottom line I hit the regular shaft straighter and longer

 

My ego also enjoys the Ohhh nice shot comments that accompany the regular shafted Cobra when I hit a good one.