An Overview of the 2011 Cobra S3 Line of Clubs

When looking at the Cobra S3 line of clubs, it's worth mentioning that Cobra is one of the fastest growing manufacturers in the entire club making industry. In fact, Cobra drivers, fairway woods and irons have been capturing an ever-increasing share of the golf club market for several years now. How has Cobra managed to make inroads against Callaway, TaylorMade, Ping and the other major golf club manufacturers?

In my view, Cobra's success is due to the fundamental philosophy, the orientation, the approach that the company takes in designing and manufacturing its equipment. Cobra's main goal is to make golf more enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels and abilities. Its clubs use innovative designs, technology and high quality materials to deliver more distance, accuracy and forgiveness at a reasonable cost. Every one of Cobra's clubs is highly engineered to provide performance and maximize a golfer's game.

The new Cobra S3 line of clubs includes S3 and S3 Max drivers, S3 and S3 Max woods, S3 irons, S3 Pro irons and an S3 Max Iron-Hybrid set. Introduced in 2011 as the successor to Cobra's popular S2 line of clubs, these clubs carry on Cobra's underlying approach toward club making - a strong focus on providing the technology that maximizes performance and player enjoyment while lowering players' scores.

This latest series of Cobra clubs incorporate advanced technology like Cobra's "E9 Face Technology" and "Adjustable Flight Technology." For example, the S3 and S3 Max drivers have been engineered with E9 Face Technology. This particular design feature delivers an optimized ball flight and additional distance by using an elliptical face and beveled perimeter to create a large sweet spot that Cobra believes accurately reflects the typical locations on the clubface where average golfers often strike the ball. As with the S3 fairway woods and irons, the Cobra S3 driver is aimed at low- to middle-handicap golfers, while the version the company has named the S3 Max is intended for mid- to high-handicappers. Among its other game-improvement features, the S3 Max driver features an offset head which helps prevent or correct a slice.

A similar division exists between the S3 fairway woods and the S3 Max version. The S3's are intended for more accomplished players and the S3 Max fairway woods are designed to provide additional help for golfers who are seeking it.

It's the same story with Cobra's S3 iron sets. The Cobra S3 irons are designed to provide more accomplished golfers with the overall excellent performance they want, while the Max Iron-Hybrid set combines maximum game-improvement irons with hybrids that replace the long irons that would otherwise be in the set. The low profile mid- and short-irons in the S3 Max Iron-Hybrid set have a slightly thicker face than the older S2 Max irons to provide more weight behind the hitting area, improving feel and adding ball speed for greater distance. They also feature a wide sole to improve the clubs' interaction with the turf.

The S3 Max hybrids that substitute for long irons may very well be Cobra's largest and most forgiving hybrids, designed to help golfers strike the ball more consistently from the fairway, out of the rough and off the tee. Stop and think about that last sentence for a few seconds. For more than 30 years now, one of Cobra's most-beloved clubs has always been its wonderful Baffler hybrid. And the Cobra S3 Max hybrids just might be even better than the Baffler. They've been shown to help mid- to high-handicappers have a better chance at making solid contact and launch the ball higher while at the same time providing better-than-average accuracy and forgiveness. The only two downsides of the Cobra S3 Max Iron-Hybrid set that I can see are the fact that it provides "only" average to slightly better than average distance, and a lack of useful feedback at impact. Neither downside is fatal, especially for the mid- to high-handicap golfers which these clubs are designed to help.

Cobra has even brought out a full line of women's Cobra S3 and S3 Max clubs (driver, fairway woods, irons, and Iron-Hybrid sets), allowing lady golfers to play confidently with clubs that have been specifically designed for them. These ladies' Cobra S3 clubs use lighter shafts, smaller, softer grips, and flatter lie angles than the corresponding men's clubs to make them powerful yet easy for women to hit.

I'll explore some of the Cobra S3 clubs in more depth in reviews elsewhere on this site.

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