Thursday, February 16, 2012

First Impression Review Series: Cobra ZL Encore Driver

Coming into this season, I was really looking forward to hitting the Cobra ZL Encore Driver. I had heard many good things about the original ZL, so I thought that this one would be nice.

The nice thing about this driver is it comes in both Black and White. The white, to me, is better looking, but if you are a fan of classic club designs the Black one will be much better for you. I really like the shape of the head and how the face looks. And the supposed Real-Deal Motore shaft looks pretty good as well.

However, the club falls short when it comes to the most important aspect--hitting. It just has a harsh, unforgiving feel and really doesn't launch off the face. The face feels hard but the ball goes no where. And it spins a lot more than a players head should. While this driver may work for some other players, my swing and game just did not work with this driver. I think it may be a great club for someone with a slower tempo and transition, but with a quick transition it just doesn't work.

Now I'd like to try it with my shaft in the club, and I think that may make it a little better.

Grade: C-

Heading to try the Callaway Razr Fit tomorrow, as well as some irons and fairways. So stay tuned. And don't forget to vote in the poll regarding irons. The results will help me choose which iron sets to write the best reviews for!

And, please follow @ahintz2 on Twitter. Link at right for that as well.

4 comments:

  1. I agree. I use a taylormade r9 8.5 x-stiff motore 60g and I just bought this cobra zl encore 8.5 motore f1 stiff. I was very excited when I bought it but it has turned out to be a big thud. Yup. That's the sound it makes and it doesnt explode off the face. It just limps off the face unlike the r9. I might try changing the shaft to aldila alpha rip 60g x-stiff otherwise its back to taylormade. But the pro blades s3 are super though.

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  2. I couldn't disagree more! I recently demo'd this club along with the Titleist 910 D2/3, Taylormade R11/S/RZB, Nike VR Pro, Callaway RazrFit, and Cleveland Tour Classiscs. The sound, feel, and performance beat out every one of the above. I must say that I was able to hit this using the shaft I have in my current setup (GD AD DI-7X) and couldn't be happier. Off center hits went much further and felt better than any of the other offerings. I would encourage others to try this driver for yourself, and be aware that the F1/F3 shafts are 55gm weight and may not be suitable for a higher swing speed / faster transition player

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    1. I really would love to try this driver with my preferred shaft (Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 6.0X), because I think it really could work. Maybe in the 8.5 head, I really like the look of the black driver head. But with the stock setup it is more for slower swing speeds, I agree with that.

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  3. yuppers....

    ss 95-105...muted sound ,accurate,easy to work it,very slick to look at ..kinda like a performance JAG..260-290 yards, confident swinger and balanced.

    mine...black one-9.5-reg- moto 55- netral setting-hcp-4-9

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