Cobra King Tec hybrids: What you need to know

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Cobra King Tec, a compact players hybrid updated from the 2023 model, pushes an invigorated emphasis on adjustability with a 33-way hosel that can dial in ball-flight preferences high, low, left and right, along with movable sole weights. Its overall emphasis is on low spin with a unique internal tungsten weighting structure that pushes mass low and far forward while still allowing optimal face flexing.

PRICE: $300. 17, 19, 22, 25 degrees (single-length version available at 7-iron length, 19, 21, 24 degrees). Each with 33-way adjustable hosel. At retail March 13.

3 Cool Things

1. Internal affairs. When you’re designing a hybrid for the better player, there’s often an emphasis on lowering spin, and the best way to get that result is by pushing the center of gravity low and far forward. The problem with that position is that building mass low in the sole can restrict the way the face deflects, particularly on the lower-face impacts that are common with hybrids. That’s why the King Tec employs a version of the weighting structure first seen on the Cobra Aerojet drivers. That structure, called PWR-BRIDGE, is shaped like a bridge that hovers barely above the sole (to keep the CG low) and nestles close to the face (to keep the CG forward).

That shaping is crucial because it allows the high-strength 475 steel-alloy face to flex more effectively, particularly for impacts lower on the face. With the face designed with an L-shape that wraps around the leading edge and into the sole, that sole portion now contributes to the face’s flexing, something that wouldn’t happen if there were a large weight pad directly on the sole that far forward.

Further helping to lower the center of gravity is a lightweight carbon-composite crown. That piece weighs just 3.2 grams, comprising just 1 percent of the head’s total weight on a typical 4-hybrid.

2. Faster 15. The L-shaping of the face may be more effective, but it’s not new compared to past King Tec hybrids. The biggest, newest change is the way the face’s variable thicknesses have been designed, which has moved from nine distinct thickness regions to 15 on the new King Tec hybrid. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning simulating thousands of impact simulations, the 15 regions across the face are tweaked to enhance speed, launch and spin. The complexity of the new system individually controls the height, width and location of those regions, particularly valuable again for the flexing of the lower portion of the face where most impacts occur.

3. More options. Like the rest of Cobra’s woods introduced this year, the King Tec hybrids will feature a 33-way adjustable hosel. It adjusts loft and lie by plus/minus 2 degrees, including independent adjustments that allow draw or fade settings that don’t alter loft at the same time. In the same way, loft can be adjusted without an accompanying change in lie. That system is even more effective thanks to the sole design, called SmartPad, that lets the adjustments to lie and loft not change the way the club sets up at address.

The King Tec hybrid also features heel and toe sole weights (12 grams and two grams). Spaced wider than on the previous version for a greater effect on ball flight, placing the heavier weight to either side further tweaks direction (heavier in the heel for a draw, heavier in the toe for a fade). With the weights and the 33-way adjustable hosel, that gives the King Tec hybrid the equivalent of 264 distinct possible setups from 15-27 degrees.

Finally, the King Tec will offer a single-length version that is built to the shaft length of a typical 7-iron. Rather than movable weights, it has a single center sole weight in the back of the club to offer a low CG position and increased stability on off-center hits.

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