For one reason or another it felt like Cobra’s DS-Adapt range didn’t quite hit the mark with golfers last year, but the brand has returned with a strong technology story for 2026 which is seeking to improve their fortunes. The new Cobra Optm range is designed to help golfers hit the ball straighter, and when we tested the standard head earlier this year, it did seem to live up to the expectation.
Now it’s the turn of the Optm LS, which is the low-spinning head best suited to fastest swingers. Could this provide the speed to go along with the improved dispersion?
Who Is It Aimed At?
Low-spin drivers like this one usually come with smaller head profiles which make them suited to golfers who can strike the ball more consistently. Because they spin less, you’ll also need a bit more speed to be able to get the ball launching and staying in the air too.
The Optm LS could be ideal for golfers who like the low-spin properties, but don’t want to lose out on accuracy either.
With an RRP of £479 it’s also going to be one of the cheapest low-spin drivers of 2026, especially compared with the likes of the Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (£649) and TaylorMade Qi4D LS (£549).
The Tech
The big new story in the Optm range is Product of Inertia, or POI for short. POI measures how resistant the clubhead is to diagonal twisting at impact, compared to MOI which only looks at vertical and horizontal twisting.
Cobra say that a lower POI is more beneficial as it creates gear effect, and that is achieved through improved shaping and adaptive weighting. As a result, they’re saying that golfers will see reduced shot dispersion by up to 23 percent in the Optm range.
Each driver in the range has AI-Optimised POI shaping to increase stability, as well as adaptive weighting for more accurate CG placement. On the whole, the clubhead shapes are more rounded, to get the CG more in the centre of the clubhead.
The LS model features a ‘tour profile’ and weight ports in the high toe, mid heel and back, with 11g, 7g and 3g movable weights.
The driver also features Cobra’s FutureFit33 hosel system, which we first saw in last year’s DS-Adapt, offering 33 unique loft and lie settings.
A forged face insert with Cobra’s H.O.T face technology provides 15 different hot spots across the clubface, helping to generate more distance and faster ball speeds.
Cobra Optm LS Driver Review
Looks
Compared to the rest of the range the Optm LS has a more simple and subtle overall look. The sole design is pretty much all-black with just a couple of flashes of white around the weights and the Cobra logo.
Down by the ball you get a slightly smaller footprint as you’d expect from an LS head, although it really isn’t intimidating. You can still see enough of the face at address, and the design of the grooves on the face really helps to frame the ball up nicely too.
I don’t think the looks are going to blow people away, and I don’t think it quite competes with the TaylorMade Qi4D – which is probably the best looking driver of 2026 for me – but I can’t see many people disliking this design either. If you’ve had one of the Darkspeed or DS-Adapt drivers over the last few years, I think you’ll like this one too, although the shiny crown may not be to everyone’s taste.
Feel
I thought this driver felt great! It felt super fast but was also one of the more forgiving LS driver heads I’ve tested in recent times.
It sounded great too – it wasn’t too loud but give a nice amount of feedback which I found satisfying during testing.
Performance
After being slightly underwhelmed by the Optm X when it came to ball speed and distance, I was keen to see what the Optm LS could deliver.
Straight away I was impressed by the ball speed this driver produced on the launch monitor. An average of more than 155mph is right towards the top end of what I’d like to see, and more than 3mph faster than the standard Optm X too.
With an average carry of more than 262 yards, this was one of the fastest and longest drivers I have tested so far in 2026. I even saw some shots getting up towards 270 yards carry which is right towards the top-end of what I’ve ever seen.
The thing that was most impressive though was the consistency of this driver, both on mis-hits and in terms of the ball flight too.
I saw just one shot that would’ve missed a fairway well to the right, but a dispersion of just 14 yards between my shortest and longest carry was great. The spin rate was also really stable at just under 2600 rpm, which does seem a little higher than expected for a LS driver but probably helped to give me a bit more consistency, and this was reassuring.
Cobra Optm LS Driver Verdict
When I reviewed the standard Cobra Optm Driver I was impressed by the fact that it definitely went straighter than previous Cobra drivers.
However I did feel like it was lacking a little bit in ball speed, especially when compared with the likes of TaylorMade and Callaway. If golfers were to put the three drivers against each other in a fitting scenario, I’m not sure how often the Optm would’ve led in distance or ball speed.
However the Optm LS performed much more strongly in this department. I was impressed with both the ball speed and the distance it offered, and I still managed to hit it pretty straight too.
It’s a smart looking driver that performed really well and offers good value for money compared to its rivals. If you’re looking for a low-spin driver in 2026, this should definitely be on your testing list.
Would I Use It?
Potentially! I was surprised at how easy I found this driver to hit, usually I lose that little bit of confidence with low spin heads – but not with this one.
