Isn’t the Cobra F-max a draw driver, too?

Draw drivers have come a long way over the last two years. So much so that for 2018 each of the “big three” brands – Callaway, Taylormade and Ping – has produced their leading model in a draw version, too. If you’re the sort of golfer who’s turned their nose up to draw drivers before, remember they aren’t just for slicers. They’re actually great at improving ball speeds for heel strikers, too, as the extra weight in line with those strike locations means the head twists less at impact, losing less energy. This is how the best compare.

Eagle-eyed gear nuts might be wondering why we’ve not included Cobra’s F-max draw driver in our test… well we did, but the results weren’t quite what we expected. It didn’t need the brain power of Einstein to work out that the Cobra is aimed at a very different audience to the draw models from Callaway, Taylormade and Ping. Even at Simon’s average swing speed, the F-max launched shots four degrees higher, with 2,500rpm more backspin than average. That meant shots flew high, but not very far. Throw in the fact the Cobra doesn’t have an adjustable hosel and only comes in a single shaft option and you can see we were not the target golfer for this model. This absolutely doesn’t mean the F-max is a bad driver; in fact, it’s very nicely set up thanks to the offset hosel and thicker grip to perform for the senior golfers who really could do with generating more air time to maximise distance.