The Low Spin Driver Everyone Can Use

Golf Monthly

Joel Tadman tests the new Cobra Radspeed drivers to discover if more golfers can now benefit from using a low-spinning driver. The Radspeed has some extreme front and back weighting claiming to offer low spin with forgiveness, but what are the sacrifices in performance if any? He also tests the Radspeed XB driver up against two older models to see how the performance has evolved.

Transcript

00:00Hello everybody, Joel Tabman here from Golf Monthly and welcome to a wintry Burley Park

00:07Golf Club here in Stamford where I'm going to be answering the question as to whether

00:11you can now get away with playing a low spin driver. Historically, low spin drivers only

00:16really been for very fast swingers or low handicap golfers that use very little of the

00:22club face, they're using the centre of the face more often than not, but is there a case

00:26now that more golfers can benefit from low spin performance without sacrificing accuracy

00:32out on the golf course? That's the question I really want to answer with the launch of

00:35this new Cobra Rad Speed driver, new for 2021, comes out at the end of January. I've been

00:41giving this a thorough test in its various different weight positions, various different models,

00:45up against the prior generation drivers as well to see how the performance has evolved

00:50with this driver, are their distance going to be had without sacrificing accuracy from

00:54the design of this new driver, let's find out.

01:01Right, so Cobra Rad Speed driver, all about pushing weight to the extremities in terms of

01:12that front and back area, getting it further away from the centre of gravity, giving you

01:17forgiveness but with low spin to maximise performance for different player types. So you'll notice

01:23with this driver you've got two new weights here right at the front of the head, two eight

01:27grand weights that are designed to give you more ball speed and lower the spin and then

01:31you come back to the rear of the head, you've got this Rad Speed weight right at the back,

01:36similar to the speed back design we saw prior from Cobra, dragging the mash low and back,

01:41increasing launch, MOI spin as well to give you forgiveness. So you combine those two together,

01:46you think it's the ideal blend of performance. You've also got two adjustable weights here

01:51in this standard model, you've got a 12 and a 2 grand weight which you can interchange if

01:55you want to, to adjust those launch and spin characteristics. This is one of three models

02:00now from Cobra in the new range. You've also got the XB model which stands for extreme back,

02:04so no adjustable weighting, more weight is back in that head to give you more forgiveness

02:09and a bit more stability. So that's really designed for players that utilise more of the face and

02:13really want more forgiveness from their driver. Then you've also got a new XD model which stands

02:18for extreme draw, so if you're struggling with a slice you should be able to get more distance

02:22by opting for the XD model. So it's really getting about distance in different ways from

02:28this Rad Speed range. The big question I want to answer of course is can you get away with playing

02:33a low-spin driver like this or how low-spin is this driver compared to the rest of the market?

02:38So I gave these drivers a really thorough test down at Forsyte Sports HQ on the GC quad launch

02:43one or two using Titleist Pro V1X golf balls. And I'll flash the data up on your screen now

02:48because I think it is really, really interesting and there's no question, you know, this driver,

02:52especially compared to the prior generation drivers from Cobra, so the King F9 Speedback,

02:57the King Speed Zone drivers, this driver is unquestionably lower spinning than the

03:02than those drivers. And you'll notice, you know, from that low spin, this driver was delivering

03:07me more distance on average than those other drivers. So this is all with the same shaft

03:13tested. So I've got the new Fujikura Motore X-Diff staff, so I was able to retrofit this

03:18shaft into those other drivers, same loft, so 9 degrees of loft. And my first impression

03:23was, well, okay, it's great to get low spin, you know, but getting a spin number under that

03:272000 RPM mark is a little bit of a concern for me. So obviously there are ways you can

03:32just raise the spin a little bit, certainly I thought I needed to try and do that to get

03:37it closer to optimum. So I started by moving the 12-round weight into the rear of the head.

03:41And you'll notice from the numbers how the spin really, really popped up there. So I was

03:45expecting it to go up by one or two hundred RPM, but actually it went up by more like four

03:49to five hundred RPM, around about a 2,400 mark average. And for me, that's a little bit too

03:54high, actually. You notice the distance really came down. The spin numbers were higher, but they

03:59were more consistent. And the flight was a lot more consistent as well. So while I wasn't

04:04getting as much distance in that setting, I was loving how straight the ball was going.

04:09Then I tested the Cobra Rad Speed XB driver. And typically, you know, I've found that they're

04:15extreme drivers. So the King Speed Zone extreme driver from last year, you know, that was really,

04:19really too high spinning for me. I lost about 10, 15 yards by switching into that driver

04:23because it was too high spinning. But actually, the XB driver gave me a surprisingly good

04:27middle ground in a bit of a dilemma into which model I want to choose, kind of torn between

04:32this one and the XB. They both perform very similar, but I think the differences and the

04:36decision will come down to the looks of these drivers because, you know, they do have two

04:41very different looks. So I prefer the kind of the shorter look of this Rad Speed Driver

04:46and also the matte finish on the crown. I definitely prefer that. Versus the stretched out look

04:51of the XB driver. This is a really, really cool looking driver. It's got loads going on

04:57on the bottom. You've got carbon fiber panels. You've got loads of weight ports. That turbo yellow

05:01color really pops through. Really, really cutting edge. I love the look of the driver.

05:05Feel and sound as well. Definitely improved with this driver. I think, you know, where the King F9

05:10was quite a low-pitched thud sound and the King Speed Zone driver was quite a loud high-pitched sound.

05:17This is somewhere in the middle. I think Stripe's a really nice middle ground in terms of that feel

05:21and sound. Feels really, really solid out of the middle. You've obviously got that infinity face here,

05:25which I think also helps a little bit with alignment as well. That kind of contrast between the crown

05:29and that infinity face. The way it wraps over the top section of the crown just gives you a little bit

05:33more alignment assistance on offer. So, yeah, definitely food for thought there. Wasn't confident as to

05:38which model would be best for me. Yes, that low-spin driver in its low-spin setting gave me the best

05:44average carry, but I really wanted to find out if that was playable out on the golf course.

05:56Okay, so I've hit some shots here on the range with this Cobra King Rad Speed Driver in its low-spin setting.

06:01I've got to say, I was surprised at how stable and consistent the ball flight was in its low-spin setting.

06:07Yeah, I'm a five handicap golfer, so I'm peppering kind of around the area on the circle on the face

06:11where this infinity logo is. I say the ball flight was very, very straight, very consistent.

06:16On those kind of off-center hits, especially in the tow outside that area where you do see

06:22spin dropping off quite a lot, there is a case to say, yes, you are getting a bit more kind of curvature

06:27to the left. It's not quite as stable in that setting on those slight off-center hits. This driver does have

06:33more fade-bys built into it than the other models, which I think definitely helps me, as a drawer of the golf ball,

06:39achieve a more stable, neutral ball flight. But switching the weights around, having that heavy weight

06:45in the back definitely gave me more consistency. But I would say, in its low-spin setting,

06:50there was more forgiveness on offer than I was expecting. I think whether you opt for that setting

06:55will depend on a lot of different factors. Obviously, it depends on your own swing. Would low-spin generally

07:01be helpful to you? Maybe you're quite a high-spin player already and therefore knocking some RPMs off

07:06wouldn't be a bad thing. Is your attack angle down? Obviously, that will contribute to more spin

07:12and therefore something like this would really help you out. As a golf ball that hits quite a lot

07:17up on the ball, I don't necessarily want lower spin to get me more distance. But that said,

07:23the numbers would show that this driver did unlock more performance for me, or the most performance,

07:28in its low-spin setting. But for me, whether you opt for a low-spin driver like this, I think it's

07:33actually quite course dependent. If your course is quite open and you can get away with those

07:39miss hits and those offline drives more, then maybe a low-spin driver could work for you.

07:44It's the same with the longer shaft debate. If the course is quite open, you can get away

07:48with wider shots. But if your course is quite tight, for me, Pearly Park Golf Club here in

07:53Stamford, it's quite a tight course, tree-lined. It's quite short as well, so I need more control

07:58than I do distance. Therefore, a low-spin setting isn't really overly beneficial. I think dragging

08:04that weight back and having a bit more spin, maybe sacrificing a few yards, but finding

08:09a few more fairways would definitely help me out more than hitting the ball a little bit

08:13further. That said, if I'm swinging the driver really well, I think there's definitely a case

08:18for swapping those weights around, having the heavy weight in the front, and benefitting

08:23from that extra distance if you're hitting the centre of the face more often. If you're

08:26swinging it well, that's a really good option to have. And that's why I think this

08:29Cobra Rad Speed Driver is quite versatile, because you can set the driver up differently depending

08:34on the course and how you're playing, and give you two quite different types of performance.

08:38We've seen from the numbers how the difference in the RPM was significant in those two weight

08:42settings, and therefore you've always got two drivers in one. You've got a low-spin

08:46and bomb driver. If you want to hit high bombs like Phil Mickelson, you can do that with this

08:50Rad Speed Driver in its low-spin setting. But then if you want a bit more control, you can

08:54switch those weights around, and you're getting something that's a bit more stable, while still

08:57looking nice and compact down behind the ball. So I think it's a really thoughtful offering

09:00from Cobra. Really, really versatile, as I mentioned. And when you consider the price

09:05tag, £369, significantly cheaper than a lot of the mainstream brands on the market, and

09:11this performance from this driver, I would say, is pretty comparable with those. I've

09:15not even been custom fitted for this driver. Definitely, if you go through a custom fitting

09:19process, I think you'll unlock potentially even more performance from this driver than I did.

09:23When you factor all those things in, as well as the Cobra Connect shop tracking system that

09:27comes included with this driver, I think this is a mightily enticing package for the

09:33Club Golfer, especially when you consider, in addition, those two other models to choose

09:37from. So the XB driver, if you want even more forgiveness, you can go for that one. If you

09:41want more slice correction, you've got that XD model as well. So really, really comprehensive

09:45package from Cobra. Looks fantastic, feels great. Nice variety in the setups that are available

09:51to you, depending on what you are looking for from your driver. But for me, you know, if

09:56I had to choose the driver in the setting that I would go for, it probably would be this Rad

10:00Speed Driver. I'd probably opt for the weight at the back, just to give me a bit more stability

10:05initially, and then as I kind of got used to it, might think about having that heavy weight

10:09forward to give me a bit more distance. But in answer to the question at the start of this

10:12video, can you now get away with playing a low-spin driver, I'd say that definitely the

10:16potential has increased with the launch of this Rad Speed Driver. But do do

10:20it with caution, because it won't be for everyone. Guys, I hope you enjoyed this video,

10:25and it's giving you a good idea as to what the performance of this Rad Speed Driver is

10:28all about, how it compares with what came before, and what driver model might be best

10:32for you from the new range. I've really, really enjoyed my time testing this Rad Speed Driver.

10:36Do click the like button down below if you like what you're watching, and comment on the video,

10:39tell me, are you interested in hitting high bombs with low spin, or do you want a bit more

10:44control and accuracy on your drives? But that's all for me, from Burley Park Golf Club here in Stanford.

10:49I'll see you next time.

Category

Transcript

Recommended