Impulsively (after reading all the info which says it has 9 hot spots and even on bad hits it goes for miles, I purchased Cobra Speed LD (ladies) Driver. I have to say what a waste of my hard earned cash. Took it to the range with 50 balls and was so disappointed. Couldn't believe the cheap and nasty noise it made when I struck a ball, I was extremely embarrassed to say the least. Was tempted to walk off there and then but I thought I should stay and give it a go. Normally drivers have a lovely "ping" to them when struck well, this had a "dunk". Out of 50 balls, only 4 decent shots went past the 150 mark. The rest if I was lucky got to 70-100 yards. Tried it again two nights in a row on the course and had slightly better results, but again the noise is so embarrassing. Seems I am destined to carry on using my 3 wood !!!

You only hit 4 shots out of 50 past 150yards??!!

What is your swing speed?

How far do you hit your 3 wood?
What is its make, model, loft and what shaft does it have?

As for the noise - cobra drivers are infamously loud. But if you really want embarrassing try an FT-i or Sumo2.

The sound my Benross makes was described my my playing partner the other day as sounding like I had hit the ball with a shovel. As it seems to go where I aim it and a reasonable distance the last thing I worry about is the noise.

Quite honestly I don't think it is anything to be embarrassed about most drivers these days make odd sounds and some are so loud that you need ear plugs.

Your embarassment may have something to do with the bad shots as you were probably concentrating more about what everyone else was thinking than on your shots.

I agree, I tried one out the range and it made a very strange sound. If you are looking for a decent driver with a ladies shaft, try an MD EQL (not the square one). My wife uses one and is lethal with it

For info, I am a woman, which is why I bought a ladies club. Shaft is Cobra/Bassara M/Speed tuned Women's flex graphite shafts. I can hit 3 wood at least 160 yards so might just stick to it.

My apologies, was not sure as your username was not clear and I was trying to be neutral so as not to cause offence. The MD really is a good club if you get a chance to try one and cost less than £100.00.

sgr - The reason i asked my questions is because quite a few of us demo'd SMT Drivers in lofts up to 14degrees last year and the results were very good. I think some of the cat 1 and 2 players here are using 12-14 degree drivers to great effect. The rest of us have male egos which hinder us :)

Its combination of loft of the driver and the shaft(shafts can after the launch angle quite a bit) that will give or not give you the desired results. So it maybe the case that your 3 wood is giving your better launch angle/conditions than your driver. i.e driver too low launch angle, too little spin, for the ball speed.

I realise this is all techy stuff, but it does help when deciding to buy a driver.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Cobra drivers (okay maybe the sound but i have tinnitus!) its just maybe that the loft is too low and/or the shaft not quite right.

I would try a fitting on a launch monitor and then hit it at the range before buying next time. OR even just borrow your friends clubs and work it out for yourself by trial and error.

Best of luck!

I took Greg's advice and tried one of the MD drivers out yesterday, had to try the gent's one as NB didn't have any ladies ones and was pleasantly surprised. On the simulator managed to hit them on average 160-180 yards and pretty straight too, so now on the look out for a bargain on the internet. Don't know whether to just go for the gents 12deg which is what I tried out (choked down on the shaft as I thought it was a bit long) and have it chopped by 2", or go for the ladies.

Certainly my local AG sell the ladies version and had plenty in stock (though had to ask as did not have one on display)

i tired a ben sayers ladies driver the other day cost 30 quid was sligtly offset, i couldnt not hit this straight driver after drive. didnt go very far for a driver but straightist driver ive ever hit

sgr It might be worth trying to gat a demo on a Prestige driver. These come with very high lofts, up to 16*. My wife has the 16* model and contrary to what I thought (that it would go into orbit) she can easily send it 170-180yds. I dont't know how they work, but they certainly do. Direct Golf are stockists. Oh, they are also pleasantly muted when struck :-)

I think MD go up to similar lofts, certainly my wife's is a 15 degree with a draw bias