What you need to know: Cobra seeks to build on its Darkspeed irons with its follow-up, the DS-Adapt and DS-Adapt Max. The new irons make meaningful moves forward with a new hollow-body construction that features the company’s largest cupface design in an iron to date for more ball speed.

Price/Availability: Available Jan. 10, the DS-Adapt and DS-Adapt Max irons come in a 4-PW or 5-iron through gap wedge for $999 in steel or $1,099 in graphite.

3 Cool Things

1. Speed redefined. Previous Cobra irons employed more of an L-face design. DS-Adapt utilizes a cupface (where part of the face wraps around the topline and sole) for more rebound. Like Darkspeed, the face is thin—a lithe 1.8 millimeters at its thinnest. Coupled with an internal channel, it brings more speed with a higher launch.

The face also utilizes its “H.O.T.” (Highly Optimized Topology) technology where the face design relies on artificial intelligence. That helps it bring plenty of ball speed by producing the best variable thickness pattern for a larger sweet spot to assist on both center and off-center hits.

The hollow-body construction boasts lightweight foam microspheres in the irons up to the 7-iron that saves 4 grams of weight that was added to the power bridge, which helped lower the center of gravity while helping sound and feel. The power bridge is a weight located above the bottom of the club, allowing for the bottom of the face insert (up to the 7-iron) to maximize energy transfer to the ball at impact.

2. Each iron has a job to do. Each iron in the set is designed with distinct designs in the long irons, mid irons and short irons to optimize gapping. The 4- through 7-irons feature a hollow construction with foam microspheres and the cupface to maximize speed and distance on longer approach shots, while the 8-iron through pitching wedge feature a hollow construction with foam microspheres for distance with enhanced precision. The gap and sand wedges are also hollow but pass on the cupface and foam as those clubs are designed for more precision into and around the green.

3. Max it out. The DS-Adapt Max irons contain all the technology of the DS-Adapt but provide a more-forgiving option to the less-skilled golfer.

The irons are slightly more oversized, with a higher moment of inertia to lessen loss of ball speed on mis-hits. The shape is noticeable different as well with a longer blade length, thicker topline and more offset.

Because players that would be drawn to this iron typically need help with launch, the lofts are 2 degrees weaker and the sole is wider sole than the standard model, making it easier to get the ball in the air.

The additional offset in the Max also promotes a straighter ball flight for players who struggle with a slice. According to Cobra, when tested against the standard DS-Adapt irons, the Max produced approximately 1.6 degrees higher launch, 550 rpm more spin, 2.4 yards higher peak height, 2 degrees steeper descent angles and eight more yards of draw bias. In other words, the kind of help a lot of golfers could use.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com