Is the Cobra DS Adapt Max K Driver for Real?

[coreyhr]

Took mine out for it's maiden voyage yesterday. I've got the 10.5 turned down -2*, as I like to look at an open face. Not crazy about how it sits behind the ball compared to my Qi10, but the initial performance was very encouraging. This thing truly is a bit of a unicorn. Drivers with this kind of forgiveness aren't supposed to stay in this kind of a spin window. Never saw it drop below 1900 and a bottom strike was spinning at 2400. The consistency of the spin was impressive, it never varied more than that.

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On 6/9/2025 at 10:17 AM, bm303 said:

Was playing a 45.5" G430 max 10k with the same shaft but in S flex. 

 

So it's not entirely a fair comparison, since I went to X and 1" shorter. 

 

SS about 108.

In my testing on the Max K i found an equal level of forgiveness and way more distance potential compared to the 430 Max 10k. Easier to get club head speed with the Max K, I just had to work really hard to get anything out of the G430, I was hitting fairways but giving up a lot of distance. But I I'm curious what you saw in the difference between the G430 and the Cobra? I ended up grabbing a used GT2 but will probably come back to the Max K later in the year and give it another head to head. 

[me05501]

Got mine to the course today and drove the ball well. Still dialing in the loft/lie setting…I’d been launching it too high at the range so I dialed it down but I may have overdone it. So while launching the ball a bit low today I still saw a good ballflight and some decent speed. 

[Canuckgolfer67]

10 hours ago, coreyhr said:

Took mine out for it's maiden voyage yesterday. I've got the 10.5 turned down -2*, as I like to look at an open face. Not crazy about how it sits behind the ball compared to my Qi10, but the initial performance was very encouraging. This thing truly is a bit of a unicorn. Drivers with this kind of forgiveness aren't supposed to stay in this kind of a spin window. Never saw it drop below 1900 and a bottom strike was spinning at 2400. The consistency of the spin was impressive, it never varied more than that.

I'm pretty certain that this loft sleeve adjusts loft independently.  So if you have notched the loft down 2 degrees, the face angle is unaffected.

[coreyhr]

11 hours ago, Canuckgolfer67 said:

I'm pretty certain that this loft sleeve adjusts loft independently.  So if you have notched the loft down 2 degrees, the face angle is unaffected.

Thats incorrect. You’re thinking of Cobra’s smart pad sole. It allows the head to stay at rest at whatever face orientation you put it in at address, and resists returning to the actual face angle of the head. It’s not possible for any adapter on the market to physically change the loft of a driver. It’s all done by face angle. 
 

 

[provx]

On 6/9/2025 at 11:58 AM, bryanwmilburn said:

I did not. Just the Tour Black but it's holding up quite well. I'm tempted to throw in a Ventus like I've played for years but as good as I'm hitting it I don't want to mess with it 😄 

I was dead set on ordering one with a ventus black x but you’re temtping me to try the pro black x 

[BayAreaDoublePar]

Just picked one up here, coming from a G430 Max. Will put my Ventus Red in there. My typical miss is a low hook. Any recommendation on settings to try first? 

[MountainMan]

2 hours ago, BayAreaDoublePar said:

Just picked one up here, coming from a G430 Max. Will put my Ventus Red in there. My typical miss is a low hook. Any recommendation on settings to try first? 

Based off the chart I would try either B6 or A5 to start.

[JFORBES]

14 hours ago, BayAreaDoublePar said:

Just picked one up here, coming from a G430 Max. Will put my Ventus Red in there. My typical miss is a low hook. Any recommendation on settings to try first? 

Let me know your thoughts. I’m in a G430 Max and want to give the Max-K a spin. Thanks!

[MiloMalt]

First session at the sim with the Max K and it is straighter and lower spin than my AI Smoke TD Max. There was a slight difference in shafts but I will have a Ventus Blue available for it later in the week so I can get a better comparison. I didn't mind the performance of the Fujikura Pro Black but I did have to put a bit more work into the swing compared to Ventus Blue. 

 

Overall great first impression of the Max K.

[me05501]

I'm coming from an AI Smoke Triple Diamond Max into the Cobra Max K. Same 9* head and Tensei Blue 65R shaft in each. 

 

I am about 5 range sessions and 30ish holes into this experiment. I'm almost ready to commit to the Cobra driver. 
 

Without being on TrackMan recently my dialing-in process has been more about trial and error.

 

I seemed to be hitting moon balls on the range last week so I dialed the settings down to get the flight I like to see. When I got out on the course I ended up hitting low bullets. They still went as far as I expected which was nice but I know I can get more distance from launching it higher. 

 

I've landed on C1 which is pretty close to the +1/D setting I have sometimes preferred on my Callaway. I'm setting it up to work best on the course and just living with the fact that I sometimes hit it higher on the range. Those differences should fade away as I get used to the club. 

 

I like the way it looks and I'm getting used to the feel. The sound is a bit brash for my tastes but at least it is a solid sound like a railroad spike being driven instead of a hollow sound like a metal garbage can being hit with a baseball bat (still mad at those Astros!). 

 

During today's session I alternated hitting three balls with each driver (with a few wedges in between to keep my tempo under control). The Cobra was definitely more forgiving today. 

 

I've also had a few drives out on the course where I didn't get the face squared. Those shots have mostly landed in the right rough instead of peeling further off course. This is the reason I'm auditioning this club in the first place. 

 

Still messing with it but it's coming together. 

[sociojeje]

Is it draw biased? 

[Ty_Guy]

Excited to demo the Cobra Max K in a few days.

 

I had the Callaway Rogue ST LS for the longest time. Nothing could beat it. Now I'm in the AI Smoke Max TD. Which, honestly, is very similar to the previous Rogue, either reaffirming how great this club shape has been for Callaway or nudges towards the need for a better fit.

 

Either way, this is number one on my demo list. I'm going to try it first my LA Golf Bryson Series then give their Gold Series a whirl. After that, it's fitter's choice! My shop also just got LA Golf drivers in too, so my love for LA Golf demands I give that a whack too. Didn't love the Krank head so we'll see.

[KhiloD]

1 hour ago, sociojeje said:

Is it draw biased? 

No. sits very neutral in base setting. Obviously with the multitude of settings you can do almost anything with it.

[KhiloD]

On 6/14/2025 at 2:26 PM, provx said:

I was dead set on ordering one with a ventus black x but you’re temtping me to try the pro black x 

Try the Project X Denali Black. Feel is so much better than the Pro Black, of course being totally subjective.

[J-Walker]

I picked up a Max K 10.5° this week and played it for 18 holes and a range session today. A/B’d it against my gamer… a DS-Adapt LS 10.5° using the same shaft (Ventus VC+ Red 6S tipped 3/4”) and it was pretty nice. I had to lower it 2° in loft with a neutral lie angle to get it in the same spin window as my DS-A LS. It is very forgiving, but it definitely spins higher than my gamer.
 

After one full day of testing, I’m still leaning towards the LS model, but there will be more testing in the days ahead. It is definitely a very forgiving and consistent driver. 

[ShakeyT]

I hit the Max K in the PGA Superstore last week & was very impressed with the forgiveness. Yesterday I demo'd it on the course & everything I saw in the store, I saw on the course.

 

Our course only had the 10.5* head (Denali Black stiff). I set it at C7 to bring the loft down 2*, but I still launched it to the moon. Downwind it was effortless distance & straight. Into the wind, I lost distance due to the ballooning, but it never left it's line. I would love to try the 9* lofted down to 7* on the course or maybe try the 10.5* at 8.5* with an xstiff shaft. 

 

At some point I'll own this driver.

[BayAreaDoublePar]

On 6/15/2025 at 5:36 AM, JFORBES said:

Let me know your thoughts. I’m in a G430 Max and want to give the Max-K a spin. Thanks!

 

Had my first round with the Driver today and was super happy with how forgiving and straight it was. I typically hit a draw and hit it low, so I started off with the flattest and highest loft setting (B6). The first two holes, my low draw turned into a very high very straight but to the slight right shot, maybe due to the Ventus Red I put in. I proceeded to follow up with stock loft and flat setting (A5) for another two holes and had good success but still right. I tried a couple holes with stock loft and lie (A1), down loft to F4 and then finally landed F3 with great penetrating and straight ball flight. Looking forward to getting more comfortable with it and hoping that I don't have to mess around with the settings so much from now on! 

[Qegurezi]

This is the first driver to scream my name since the G430 10K I've been using for a year. It's getting rather hard to resist lol. The 10K is a 9* turned to the big minus. Flight and spin is quite good for me at that setting so hopefully the Max-K on it's lowest setting spins similar or even a touch less. I've seen a few claim it's a little lower spinning than the 10K. 

[shaolingolfer]

On 6/27/2025 at 4:14 PM, J-Walker said:

I picked up a Max K 10.5° this week and played it for 18 holes and a range session today. A/B’d it against my gamer… a DS-Adapt LS 10.5° using the same shaft (Ventus VC+ Red 6S tipped 3/4”) and it was pretty nice. I had to lower it 2° in loft with a neutral lie angle to get it in the same spin window as my DS-A LS. It is very forgiving, but it definitely spins higher than my gamer.
 

After one full day of testing, I’m still leaning towards the LS model, but there will be more testing in the days ahead. It is definitely a very forgiving and consistent driver. 

 

I am on the same boat.  I am doing an overlength build at slightly overt 46" and with the LS, I put the heavy weight at the toe, remove the heel weight completely and put it at the flat setting.  It just eliminates the left miss.

 

If I play at regular length with stiffer shaft, I will play the Max K instead of LS.

[bryanwmilburn]

Just following up as I get more time with this driver. It still impresses me after a few more rounds under my belt. The thing that I really love the most is the ability to have a low lofted, high MOI driver that doesn't feel like a sledge hammer. I've owned the 10K (twice) and to be honest this feels equally as forgiving without the loud sound or heavy feel of the 10K. I have yet to hit one off the planet with it and have hit it all over the face. The only thing I think I may tweak is adding a premium shaft. While the Pro Black has been serviceable, in my personal experience the last few years the benefit of getting fit for and gaming an upgraded shaft is strike consistency. The fact that this thing does so well in an unfit shaft for me, hit all over the face is really incredible. Plus to me it sounds great and feels fast too. Definitely needs to be on the list of drivers for people to try across multiple handicap ranges. 

Edited July 1 by bryanwmilburn

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6 hours ago, bryanwmilburn said:

Just following up as I get more time with this driver. It still impresses me after a few more rounds under my belt. The thing that I really love the most is the ability to have a low lofted, high MOI driver that doesn't feel like a sledge hammer. I've owned the 10K (twice) and to be honest this feels equally as forgiving without the loud sound or heavy feel of the 10K. I have yet to hit one off the planet with it and have hit it all over the face. The only thing I think I may tweak is adding a premium shaft. While the Pro Black has been serviceable, in my personal experience the last few years the benefit of getting fit for and gaming an upgraded shaft is strike consistency. The fact that this thing does so well in an unfit shaft for me, hit all over the face is really incredible. Plus to me it sounds great and feels fast too. Definitely needs to be on the list of drivers for people to try across multiple handicap ranges. 

I completely agree with all of this, got mine out today for 9 holes and after owning the Max 10k this thing is just a much better experience across the board. I got the head used, and managed to pick up a barely used Aretera 55/4 Blue shaft and so far am loving that combo. Showed up just in time for my tee time and had to basically grip it and rip it and got a lot out of it for a cold swing. By the time i got to the 2nd hole I was warmed up and just NUKED one straight down the middle (didn't have time to set up Arccos, but would say it got out there 265-275 ish?). Max 10k never looked, sounded, or got out that far for me, I also got away with a pretty gnarly toe strike on 9 that ended up just barely off the fairway that I thought for sure was dead. If you have a chance to try out the Aretera shaft it's really nice, loads really smooth and is really stable.   

[MountainMan]

This is my favorite driver ever. 

[MiloMalt]

1 hour ago, MountainMan said:

This is my favorite driver ever. 

I'm leaning towards this opinion as well. It has 100% replaced my Callaway Ai Smoke TD Max as of today. Longer, 200-300rpm lower spin (Max K is at 9.7 degrees vs Smoke TD Max at 10.5) but with the same launch and dispersion is significantly tighter. The SMoke TD Max was good but every now and again a bad swing would cause a wild miss. The Max K's miss on those bad swings are not even in the same realm of miss.

[Phabs]

Swung this head again today in a 10.5* with a LAGP low/low shaft . Only took 6 swings with it ice cold but it definitely has my attention 

Edited July 3 by Phabs

[stratgolf]

Few months down the line, do these still sit in the bags of those that bought them? Keen for some reviews of those who ditched it and why, or longer term reviews. Seems like they might be legit.

[David87]

I decided to buy the Cobra Max K without testing it first! Fujikura Pro Black 60 stiff shaft and 9 degree head. 

I must say that I have been really impressed. My misses are heel shots and the driver has so far handled those extremely well. I am used to see my misses go to the right and spin like crazy but for some reason the balls are now going relatively straight when I hit them out of the heel.  

Compared to my TSR2 the Cobra feels solid no matter where on the face I strike the ball!

 

I have now regained confidence to pick the driver on holes with fairly tight fairways. 

My driver speed is ~107-108 and handicap is ~6. 

[JohnKHawk]

5 hours ago, stratgolf said:

Few months down the line, do these still sit in the bags of those that bought them? Keen for some reviews of those who ditched it and why, or longer term reviews. Seems like they might be legit.

Has been in the bag since beginning of the golf season. I can be a bit of a club ho but really haven't had a reason to even think about a different driver. I have the 9 degree head which is the first time in forever I have not had a 10.5 degree. Found a good deal on ebay for just the 9.0 degree head & snagged it. Paired it with the original Ventus Blue 6S Velocore shaft.

 

There really isn't an aspect of this driver that disappoints. Looks, feel, forgiveness, sound, distance it's all above average for me. The kicker is it seems that it's a lower spin head than I would expect from this model of driver. This could be Cobra's best driver since the F9 in my opinion.

[J-Walker]

I played another 18 holes plus a range session with my Max K yesterday and the forgiveness is off the charts (playing 10.5° turned down to 8.5° /standard lie). Spin is still too high for me with Ventus Red VC+; a shaft that is perfect for me on my 10.5° DS-Adapt LS. I have a Tour AD-VF incoming to try and lower the spin and launch angle just a bit (of the low/low shafts, this is the one I’ve had the best luck with in the past).
 

For reference, my SS is around 110 right now and AOA is 1°-4° up. I’m preferring the dispersion and forgiveness of the Max K over LS but am sacrificing a bit of distance. I’ve tried different balls as well, and the spin and launch is a little high with just about everything.

 

I’m hoping a shaft change will get my numbers in line otherwise it will be back to the LS/Ventus Red. 

 

[ChadL]

I have nothing to add that hasn’t already been said. Really fantastic driver. Sounds great, feels great, overall stellar performance. Bravo Cobra!!

Edited July 6 by ChadL