2024 New Drivers - What Is Your Favorite?

[Wheelieb]

Has anyone seen the videos of the main guys testing out and reviewing the drivers for 2024? I have to say I feel Cobra really took a step back based on the reviews that have come in so far. Where as callaway and Taylormade made their tour players drivers more forgiving, Cobra didn’t. Anybody have thoughts on that, maybe to the extent that Cobra should probably work on their driver line for a few years before putting out another driver line?

[TSauer]

Just because it doesn't work for some guys, doesn't necessarily mean Cobra released a bad driver. Everyone has a different swing, so it's hard to really take that small sample size and run with it.  That's just my 2¢, golf is a fickle mistress lol.

[vandyland]

17 minutes ago, Wheelieb said:

Cobra didn’t. Anybody have thoughts on that, maybe to the extent that Cobra should probably work on their driver line for a few years before putting out another driver line?

My thought is that Cobra is going all in on trying to have the highest ball speeds out of their driver. I agree, they don't seem that "forgiving" vs the others but watching the Golf Liberty review, Matt seemed to say the Darkspeed LS was the fastest driver he had ever hit. Also the cobra head shape is different (wider, not as deep, strange kind of toe wave to it) which seems to appeal to some. I think they have to differentiate to grab market share. 

Personally, I have played Cobra drivers and liked them but once I got into this Mizuno driver I have now I found out what forgiveness truly is....being able to hit it all over the face and still retain ball speed and keep it on the planet.

 

[JAYER38]

I very much agree with this! Cobra seems to care about head speed, ball speed, and distance. This has been the case since the LTDX(my opinion) The LTDX was a highly rated driver that i could not hit to save my life. I got a G425 and driver became a friendly club again. I think it fits certain people as does any club. 

Have a buddy I play with often that picked up an Aerojet and LOVES it. But his mishits are not pretty compared to mine

[cnosil]

59 minutes ago, Wheelieb said:

Has anyone seen the videos of the main guys testing out and reviewing the drivers for 2024? 

For me, I don’t really care what the “main guys”; not sure what that means, I want to hit the clubs myself and see how it performs in my hands.  About all I would listen to would be some of the launch and spin characteristics they might be seeing. 

The OEMs are work8my on clubs that won’t be released for several years so stopping makes no sense.  All OEMs go through periods where they make small changes and then big changes.  IMO, Last year was a big year for Cobra and this year is more of a small evolution.  

[cnosil]

Elaborating a little more.   I have been one of the MGS most wanted testers since 2017 and seldom is the most wanted club the ideal club for me and my swing.  
 

find what works for you!

[Wheelieb]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

For me, I don’t really care what the “main guys”; not sure what that means, I want to hit the clubs myself and see how it performs in my hands.  About all I would listen to would be some of the launch and spin characteristics they might be seeing. 

The OEMs are work8my on clubs that won’t be released for several years so stopping makes no sense.  All OEMs go through periods where they make small changes and then big changes.  IMO, Last year was a big year for Cobra and this year is more of a small evolution.  

What I mean by main guys are the ones that have a YouTube following. The Rick shiels, Matt fryer, Peter finch, and the now club champion guys. They all reviewed them. Just saying based on watching them it looks like Cobra gave up a lot compared to the others. 

[Wheelieb]

1 hour ago, JAYER38 said:

I very much agree with this! Cobra seems to care about head speed, ball speed, and distance. This has been the case since the LTDX(my opinion) The LTDX was a highly rated driver that i could not hit to save my life. I got a G425 and driver became a friendly club again. I think it fits certain people as does any club. 

Have a buddy I play with often that picked up an Aerojet and LOVES it. But his mishits are not pretty compared to mine

My friend of 30 years had an old Taylormade driver from 2008 in a combo set he got. He traded it in for the Cobra LTDx and hits Conra woods as well. I will agree that when he misses, his misses make my misses look like I should be playing pro. 

[Preeway]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

Elaborating a little more.   I have been one of the MGS most wanted testers since 2017 and seldom is the most wanted club the ideal club for me and my swing.  
 

find what works for you!

This is the big key, IMO. It’s easy to see great players get great results with a new club. But keep in mind, they got fitted into the loft AND the shaft. Add onto that, the length of the shaft and whether the shaft was cut more at the butt end or the tip. So many reasons to never buy a club off the rack unless you really don’t care about performance or you have money to burn. 

[jkimbrell0]

I think people also overlook COBRA pretty heavily regardless, on the preview article for the darkspeed posted earlier this week on the main site the guy was saying everyone should put a COBRA driver in their options if you do a fitting because they are usually good drivers. And it was just last year MGS had the AEROJET as the runner up for best driver so it's not like they aren't making great products, it's just not going to get the same coverage and hype as the TM/Titleist/Callaway since those brands pay more money to PGA pros and youtubers and their content and marketing game is next level. I was rocking the COBRA F9 Speedback for like 6 years and I honestly miss it compared to my new Callaway

 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

If I can get the shipping straightened out(I get fingered my zip code and need the seller to change the address), I’ll have a Callaway Paradym AI Smoke TD 8* head Monday.  Hoping that and the Mevo+ come in so I can start my sim build and compare the Smoke to the original Paradym. 

[Rob Person]

Now, on those videos you watched,  did they play ALL 3 of the driver options Max LS and X, or just one? (Haven't watched any vids yet)

COBRA states clearly which driver is suited for which type of player. MAX being the slower swing/entry level player looking for forgiveness. 

[Wheelieb]

1 hour ago, Rob Person said:

Now, on those videos you watched,  did they play ALL 3 of the driver options Max LS and X, or just one? (Haven't watched any vids yet)

COBRA states clearly which driver is suited for which type of player. MAX being the slower swing/entry level player looking for forgiveness. 

Yes, I was just stating what I witnessed watching all their videos. I find it fascinating to see the difference each club and each company puts into their clubs meant for the high handicapper and the tour players. They all perform vastly different. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

With all of the YouTube videos, I think you need to view them through a pretty subjective lens. For example, Ian with CC could not hit the Qi10 LS to save his life by his standards. Just could not get it to spin. But then Matt Blois was mashing the same club. 

 I don't think it means Cobra needs to go on an every other year release cycle. I think they maybe are just taking a different approach to their driver designs. If anything, I would argue they took it a step further from Aerojet based on ball speeds and distance. The Darkspeed X looks like a fantastic club that will suit a wide variety of players IMO.

Bottom line is with all of these drivers released this year, a fitting is the only way to truly know which club will work best. 

[Rob Person]

Makes me wonder, if you put the MAX (or any club designed for a slower swing speed) into a pros hands,  if it would act in a different fashion than intended for that range of golfer. Ie, if it's designed to perform optimally at say 80- 90mph, how can someone at 110+ mph actually judge its performance. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

2 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Makes me wonder, if you put the MAX (or any club designed for a slower swing speed) into a pros hands,  if it would act in a different fashion than intended for that range of golfer. Ie, if it's designed to perform optimally at say 80- 90mph, how can someone at 110+ mph actually judge its performance. 

MAX clubs aren’t designed for slower swing speeds exclusively. Their design characteristic is forgiveness, which is aimed at players that don’t hit the ball in the same spot on every swing. That goes for any swing speed, the thought being that if that player catches the ball closer to the toe or the heel on any given strike, the distance loss shouldn't be as significant. 

[cnosil]

6 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

Makes me wonder, if you put the MAX (or any club designed for a slower swing speed) into a pros hands,  if it would act in a different fashion than intended for that range of golfer. Ie, if it's designed to perform optimally at say 80- 90mph, how can someone at 110+ mph actually judge its performance. 

This isn’t the Darrell Survey so I don’t know how accurate, but there are a few pros that play the forgiving/max version of drivers.  

https://www.pgaclubtracker.com/clubhead_types/most-popular-golf-drivers-on-tour

Nelly Korda played the forgiving Titleist driver and plays the QI10 Max Taylormade.

it  comes down to what the player needs from their driver.  

[Rob Person]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

MAX clubs aren’t designed for slower swing speeds exclusively. Their design characteristic is forgiveness, which is aimed at players that don’t hit the ball in the same spot on every swing. That goes for any swing speed, the thought being that if that player catches the ball closer to the toe or the heel on any given strike, the distance loss shouldn't be as significant. 

I get that they aren't exclusive,  but reading the descriptions of the LS and the X, they describe theirs as desigmed for a more specific type of player.

 

Definitely  not trying to argue or split semantics. That's just how I interpreted their descriptions. And not to muddle the OPs line of thoughts either.  Apologies if  misunderstood 

Edited January 12 by Rob Person

[GolfSpy_BEN]

1 hour ago, Rob Person said:

I get that they aren't exclusive,  but reading the descriptions of the LS and the X, they describe theirs as desigmed for a more specific type of player.

 

Definitely  not trying to argue or split semantics. That's just how I interpreted their descriptions. And nontoxic muddle the OPs line of thoughts either.  Apologies if .misunderstood 

No worries

if I wanted to argue over semantics, I’d head over to the ball rollback thread

[GolfSpy_BNG]

2 hours ago, Rob Person said:

I get that they aren't exclusive,  but reading the descriptions of the LS and the X, they describe theirs as desigmed for a more specific type of player.

 

Definitely  not trying to argue or split semantics. That's just how I interpreted their descriptions. And not to muddle the OPs line of thoughts either.  Apologies if  misunderstood 

Just to add to the thought, Colin Morikawa is playing the QI10 Max driver and he is definitely not a slower swing speed guy. 

[Wheelieb]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy_BNG said:

Just to add to the thought, Colin Morikawa is playing the QI10 Max driver and he is definitely not a slower swing speed guy. 

I was about to say this

[GolfSpy_APH]

I know the OP had a bit more of mind for the Cobra drivers and youtube videos, but seems like a great thread to continue with a twist. What is your favorite so far in 2024? 

I don't actually think there is a miss in any of the current releases for looks. The Smoke Ai is going to be likely the most controversial with its color scheme and graphics. The rest are pretty standard I would say. 

However that is just one person opinion, truthfully all of yours matters a lot more! 

We have also put a poll up top for you to vote on!

[Josh Parker]

If I'm going on looks alone it's going to be Cobra. 

If I'm selecting which one(s) I'm most interested in trying, it's going to be TM and Cobra. Haven't ever had either in the bag before. 

[podgemci]

Really love the look of the Cobra and after seeing the RS review I'd love to gets a go of all 3 in the line up, also don't mind the look of the Callaway. Not getting the TM, could pass on it, wouldn't really thou!!!! 

[Wheelieb]

If we are going on looks, I’ll go with the Callaway. I like to be different and go against the crowd when it comes to golf. But I’ll probably try them all just to see performance of what each brings to the table. 

[Rob Person]

Looks wise: There is something about the Cobra that just draws you into it. The Qi10 as well as the G430 do as well.

Based off of reviews so far alone, I'd say the G430 and Darkspeed are probably looking to be the top contenders. 

Of course, I'm always one to go with the unknown or underdog,  and without some deep research, I'd like to REALLY see how the XXIO performs against the more popular brands. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Of the new releases I like the looks of the Cobra DarkSpeed the best, but I am most intrigued by the performance of the Taylor Made QI10. Should make for fun times demoing these at the shops or the range. 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

I’ll be giving the Smoke a run this week I hope. 
 

Footprint and shaping is hands down the Smoke TD for me with the Darkspeed LS a close 2nd. As for the QI10 the only one that fits my eye at address would be the Max and I’m not sure that’s meant for me with my high spin rates already

[cnosil]

I want to give these more of a go since it is probably the one area of the bag that I might be willing to change.    I have hit a few and want to hit more before I make any kind of decisions but my favorites would be:   Ping G430MAX 10K, Kirkland, and TaylorMade

[GolfSpy_APH]

3 hours ago, Wheelieb said:

If we are going on looks, I’ll go with the Callaway. I like to be different and go against the crowd when it comes to golf. But I’ll probably try them all just to see performance of what each brings to the table. 

Sorry for changing your thread, but I was thinking of doing this exact thread and saw yours which seemed like the perfect opportunity! Plus now you get more notifications and all the fun responses