Cobra KING F7 ONE LENGTH iron review

Could this be the start of a golfing revolution? Quite possibly.

Cobra are not the pioneers of the single length set - other brands have tried it, and it’s never truly taken off.

But Cobra has a leading Tour star using the clubs in Bryson DeChambeau, it’s a massive brand able to put big chunks of money into R&D and marketing, and it says the clubs suit all swing types. Those that have failed to popularise the single length approach have never had all these assets in their arsenal. 

The KING F7 ONE LENGTH irons are all the length of a seven iron, allowing players to use the same set-up for every shot. In testing, this improved performance of average golfers. Weighting has also been adjusted to make a consistent feel through the set. 

The brand certainly seems to think they’re onto something – and after testing, so do we.

We used a SkyTrak launch monitor to aid our testing. 

Sitting it the bag you’ll be able to spot a single length set, because all the irons will sit at the same height.

The heads look traditional, with mid thickness sole and top lines. The funky pattern on the back of the club reminds you this is a Cobra product.

Has a thick, meaty feel, that lets you know when you’ve got one right out the middle of the bat.

Produces an amiable low thwack at impact.

No doubt, it will take some time to get used to these clubs. The mix of mid iron shaft and PW head staring up at you is a little disconcerting at first, but it's impressive how quickly we got used to it.

We hit long, mid and short irons consecutively to see how we were able to adjust, and over 30 minutes we were middling the irons on a consistent basis. 

What’s more impressive, we continued to improve and build consistency into our game the longer we spent with them – who knows what level we could achieve by using these single length clubs over a couple of months?

The key to good iron play is finding the middle of club consistently, in order to produce consistent yardages and hit it straight. We were in no doubt that for some players, these single length clubs would allow them to do that. 

We also found they helped us build a repeatable tempo, which helped with distances and shot dispersion. We were impressed by how straight these clubs were. 

Despite what most player think, all types of swing can thrive with the single length clubs. While DeChambeau is troubling the top-end of leaderboards with his single plane move, our testers boast a variety of techniques and were all able to thrive with the clubs. 

By not having to move ball position or manipulate our swing in any way,despite the shot required, the swing was simplied and there were less thoughts running through our heads. As we got accustomed to the clubs we felt our confidence soar because off this.

From testing the standard set of KING F7 irons, we know they are both forgiving and precise thanks to the variable cavity construction and PWRSHELL technology, which thins out the face and crown allowing the CG to move. 

Putting the standard set up against the single length irons, there are a few differences in launch angle, distance and spin, but it’s nothing drastic. The long irons in the single length set are shorter compared to a normal set of irons - around five yards shorter with the four iron - while the shorter irons launch slightly higher. Again, these numbers are relatively small, and shouldn't cause too many issues, but it should be kept in mind when building a set. 

Looking at data provided by Cobra, some players noticed small differences like the figures we saw, while some saw exactly the same distances with both sets, and others actually hit further while hitting single length long irons (would they still be called long irons?).

Importantly, our yardages were consistent, and so was out gapping. We expect this would be the case with most players, allowing them to build a set, with hybrids at one end a wedges at the other. 

While these clubs could work for any handicap, they could be a masterstrok for beginners. Rather than bamboozle newcomers with the different set-ups needed with each club, they can learn to hit a variety of shots and will improve fast with the single length set.

While strange at first, players will fast get used to playing with a set of single length clubs, and will reap the benefits.

For us there were small variations in spin, distance and trajectory compared to standard clubs, but nothing that would put us off gaming them. They also produce consistent gapping, allowing players to easily build a set around them.

We felt confident over the ball while using the same set-up with every stroke, and our tempo improved to boot.

Every player should at least give the KING F7 ONE LENGTH irons a test to see what it does to their game. 

Head to the Cobra website for more.