Review: Cobra Fly-Z Driver

The Fly-Z Smashes It
There are lots of different words used to describe what a golf club does to the ball at impact.  One that came to mind with the new Cobra Fly-Z is that it “Smashes” the ball.  The great feel at impact is certainly part of the equation, but one detail sometimes overlooked is “smash factor”.  This the energy from the clubhead transferred to the ball.  Perfect smash factor is 1.50.  In a perfect world all clubs would deliver 1.50 every time, but in the real world most do not.  Some of that has to do with where you hit the ball on the face, and other times it has to do with the “hotness” of the face.  I had the highest average “smash factor”, 1.49, with the Fly-Z I’ve ever recorded with my FlightScope X2 Launch Monitor.
The Cobra Fly-Z driver appears to be similar to the Bio Cell and Amp Cell driver with similar color options, adjustable hosel, E-9 Face, and 460cc forgiveness.  While previous drivers have been very good, there are couple new additions that make this driver better.
 

I’ll start with the face, because this really seems to be the source of high smash factor.  It is still the E-9 face they’ve been using for the last 4 years or so, but the additional Speed Channel creates a trench around the face making it thinner near the perimeter and thus getting higher ball speeds on off-center hits.  Cobra is on to something here because the numbers don’t lie, this face smashes the ball no matter where you hit it on the face.

The lower and further back weight plate also generates higher ball flight and forgiveness. There were able to put more weight there because of reduction in the crown. I was getting really great results on course with this driver.  It was in play during my trip to Hawaii and “oh man” was it forgiving and long.  A couple holes demanded long carries, yet accuracy and I found the dead center of the fairway.  I hit the ball really straight with this driver, at times too straight running through dogleg fairways.  The back weight really seems to smash right through the ball; it feels like the energy transfer from back to front really works at impact.

The only real issue I had was spin, it was a little more than ideal for me.  I think this driver is going to be a great fit for the masses because of how forgiving and hot the face is, but for the ball spinners like myself, the Fly-Z+ is probably what we want to look into.  With that said, it wasn’t high spin, because on-course I didn’t have balloon balls or movement right or left, it just left a few yards of roll out on the table because of the spin, but being in the fairway is hard to complain about.

The Matrix VLCT Sp Shaft was a real surprise because typically back-weighted shafts and I don’t get along, but this one felt really stable and smooth.  It kind of reminded me of the X-con line in terms of feel.  The club came in at D4 so it is a heavier head which the back-weighting helps create a good balance.

Cobra did it again with the new Fly-Z driver, a forgiving, great feeling, excellent performing club with improvements over the previous model.  It’s not going to add  20 yards to your drives, but you should see more consistent drives in terms of distance and direction which really is key to better golf.  Cobra “smashes it” with the new Fly-Z Driver.

For more information: www.cobragolf.com

Quick Hits
+Best smash factor
+Very forgiving
+Excellent feel
+Consistently long

–Slightly higher spin

The lowest smash factor of any drive I hit with this club and yet good results.