Cobra F6 review and update

[chisag]

… Cobra has updated the most popular driver of 2015. The Fly Z gained legendary, cult like status after only one year in play. IGR and more than a few reviewers thought the Fly Z combination of performance and forgiveness was unequaled. So the Cobra R&D department had their hands full when Cobra decided to replace the Fly Z with the new King F6.

 

… I imagine the decision to replace the name was not an easy one. Cobra is moving in a new direction while going retro at the same time. Some of you may remember the days of the King Cobra and just how popular those clubs were. Tiger Woods made the King Cobra driver famous and many more played the King Cobra Oversize irons. Now Cobra has combined the iconic King Cobra name with new technology, bringing together the best of both worlds. The King LTD is the most technically advanced driver on the market for the better player. The F6+ has a sliding weight to fully customize the trajectory and spin in a composite driver for the strong player that needs a lower trajectory with reduced spin. But in my opinion, the crown jewel of the Cobra driver line up is the new King F6. An all titanium driver that combines performance in one of the most forgiving, accurate and longest drivers I have ever played.

 

… The F6 looks very similar to the Fly Z at address. The thinner, pin stripped white trim on the crown of the F6 makes the head appear a little smaller than the Fly Z and it just looks ideal when setting it behind the ball. But the difference is far from cosmetic. For most players the low and rear position of the weight produces an ideal combination of mid-high launch with mid-low spin and a very stable head on slight mishits. I have had some tee shots contacted a little toward the toe that traveled almost as far and straight as perfectly struck shots. Losing just a few yards and no directional loss is a huge advantage off the tee. Ironically, that additional forgiveness allows me to swing more freely, hitting the exact center more often. But when I don't, it is nice to know the forgiveness is there. The F6 really likes to go straight with the weight in the rear position, but if you have the skill it can certainly be worked in either direction. With the weight in the forward position, the character of the F6 changes to a mid-low trajectory with less spin. The trade off is, it is not as forgiving as the rear weight position but it is easier to work right to left. I have hit a few prodigious drives with the weight up front, a good 10-15 yds farther than my longest with the weight in the rear position. I play my F6 at 10.5* but increased the loft to 11.5* with the weight up front and even with a mid-high trajectory the ball came down with a more shallow angle of descent and produced extra roll. That said, I consistently hit the ball farther with the weight in the rear position because my misses are not as penal as they are with the weight up front and most importantly my directional control is better. I will almost always play my F6 with the weight in the rear position, but it is nice to know that if I have to play on a very windy day, I can move the weight forward and play a lower, more boring trajectory into the wind.

 

… The F6's amazing forgiveness is not just a product of weight distribution. The face of the F6 is the culmination of Cobra's innovative E9 face and their Speed Channel. The Forged 8-1-1 Titanium E9 face is the product of R&D that analyzed over 25,000 swings and found all players, from high index players to Touring Pro's, miss the center in an elliptical pattern that is lower in the heel and higher in the toe. So Cobra produced an elliptical sweet spot with the E9 face to take advantage of those contact patterns. That means those slight mishits I hit a little high and toward the toe traveled almost as far as perfect contact by design. The Speed Channel is kinda like a mote around the perimeter of the face where that weight is moved to the rear of the club head with the added benefit of an 18% larger sweet spot enhancing off center contact efficiency. The combination of rear and low weighting, the elliptical sweet spot and the Speed Channel make for the most forgiving driver I have ever played. The remarkable thing about the F6 is it works for high index players, low index players and tournament players of the highest level. I honestly can't think of another driver that produces excellence for such a large cross section of golfers.

 

… I spoke at length with Steven Mitzel, the designer of the F6 and he gave me a few insider nuggets I can pass on to IGR readers. For reasons I won't go into here, the F6 has a placebo plastic weight that really serves no purpose other than cosmetics. The actual weight can be placed in the front or rear with the plastic weight moved to the position not used and Steven tells me you can just leave it off the club head altogether. Nice to know. A second and more important insider insight, is the removable weight comes in several different gram sizes. You can order your F6 with a 14gm weight instead of the stock 10gm weight and this will give you additional stability in what the guys in R&D call “the hot set up and a fairway finder”. I highly recommend all amateurs look at reducing the length of the shaft to 44-44.5” and the heavier 14 gm weight will bring back the club head to a playable swing weight as well as providing additional forgiveness and accuracy.

 

… Cobra has moved to the #1 position for drivers in 2016. With the King LTD, F6+ and the F6 there is a driver for everyone. The F6 comes stock with a Matrix Red Tie 60Q4 that is a good fit a wide range of players. But you can also order the Matrix White Tie X4 and the Aldila Tour Blue or Tour Green as free upgrades. The F6 comes in classic Black, Blue, Charcoal, White and for Rickie Fowler fans, Orange is still available as a special order. If you haven't hit a Cobra driver yet, they are a must demo and the King F6 should be at the very top of your demo list.

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[chisag]

... I started playing my F6 again a few rounds ago and have taken advantage of the SLDR loft up technique. I have the heaviest weight in the forward position and adjusted the loft up to 12* instead of the 10.5* I normally play. I am hitting it on a similar trajectory as my 10.5* Fly Z but getting more roll, although it isn't quite as forgiving as the rear weight position. I need several more rounds to get completely comfortable with this configuration and see if I can live with the reduced forgiveness. 

[ole gray]

This is an excellent review and I concur with everything said.  I recently picked up a King F6 driver and I've been extremely please. The guys I'm playing with are wondering if I've been sucking down a boatload  of Geritol.  My drives have been longer, straighter, and I've found more fairways than I have in years.   One of my buddies was playing with me and he asked to hit my driver.  He grinned like a opossum in an overloaded persimmon tree. The next day he had one in his bag. 

 

This past week I put DawgDaddy's new F7 in play to compare it with my F6.  Now my F6 plays at 44 inches and I have more lead tape on it than Nascar fender bender however the darn thing feels sweet!  Hell it not only feels sweet, it sounds sweet, looks hawter than a two dollar pistol, and some of my regulars (good old boys) are pulling it out of my bag for a closer look.  They think I put some sort of rocket fuel in it to soup it up...    Soooo back to the F7.  It didn't stand a chance against my F6 and I imagine not having it set up like my driver, put a damper on it's chances.  I'm guessing it might stand up pretty good if it mirrored my fancy fitting but I will never know.  This F6 is going to be in my bag until the shiny new blue paint fades to silver.   I don't think that's gonna happen so ole blue will be with me until the cows come home and I don't have any cows so that will be forever.

[Bags]

I have f6 driver 3wood hybrid all black great clubs

 

 

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[cksurfdude]

Chisag - nice write-up, thx.

 

Started my golfing days with a Cobra driver - actually a Lady's Speed LD I'd sort of inherited from my Mom (along with her Tommy Armour iron/hybrid set; after she'd passed away and i went to her place to clean up, i shipped the golf stuff back .. figured I'd give it a try .. she was always trying to talk me into trying the game).

 

Later I started buying my own gear (ah the genesis of the club ho'dom) including a Cobra S2 driver. Can't recall why I got rid of it but really shudda hung on to that one!

(Have had trouble hitting a driver since....)

 

Then I had a set of Baffler Rail hybrids, which I also really liked .. and also prob shudda just hung on to .. but gave to my cousin when I got a pair of F6 hybrids together with a set with F6 irons. Really liked the irons, so-so on the hybrids.

 

I'd had a gap in my bag around the 22-25° range - couldn't hit a 5i all that strongly but did not really like using a 5H (now I understand what guys mean when they say a club "doesn't look right at address").

 

Well that problem was solved when I discovered the King OS - got a 5i with a Recoil 460 ES in it and love it! Solid strike (when I can make one..) goes high and straight and sometimes even with a bit of a draw

 

Now.. my thinking was to get Recoils for the F6 irons - replace the stock FST steel, please don't ask me what I was thinking there - and decided to go for an iron fitting to get a qualified opinion on this, or some other head/shaft combo they might suggest.

 

And.. as it turns out.. I'm now waiting for delivery of a whole new set of King OS irons - re-using my 5i head then down to PW - with Recoil 807s (available thru fitters).

 

So.. long story but point is I'm pretty solidly a fan of Cobra golf gear!

 

May have to give an F6 driver a test run (with, as suggested, a shorter shaft and a heavier moveable weight).

[xxio]

The high toe-low heel sweet zone technology was developed and touted as far back as 2000.

 

Same company as my username.

[josmi15]

I've been saving for a new putter, but I just commented yesterday that if I saw a deal for a good drivers. I just may have to run down and demo this!

 

 

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[xxio]

Just did some back research the high toe-low heel tech was called "auto focus" by Dunlop/XXIO.