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KBS Tour 90 Shafts Review - Forum Testing

Nippon Shafts
War Eagle said:
Yep, he's a good dude. I think the THP theme on these will look great, cant wait to see them in person.
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Ryan, great post above. Thanks for the details and pictures!
 
War Eagle said:
Got these back today, and they are reshafted and ready to go. Hoping this Tropical Storm clears out tonight and league is on for tomorrow night so I can get these out on the course.

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Great looking set! Just missing the KBS labels...
 
War Eagle said:
6/28/12 First Range Session with KBS Tour 90 Shafts

I took the KBS Tour 90 shafts out for their first range session this afternoon. I was quite excited to get out on the range, as the rain and junk weather we have had for the past week has kept me off the course. Anyway, as I have stated previously, my big struggle with my game is the line drive ball. I often struggle to get the ball up in a high trajectory, and this leads to me missing a green, as my ball flight will be lower and hit the green and roll out and off the back of the green. Through talking with Conrad at KBS about my game and the previous shafts I have gamed, he told me that he expected that I would see a higher trajectory on my iron shots and tighter dispersion. With the higher trajectory, my first thought was that I would lose distance, but the guys at KBS said that I would not see a distance loss, and if anything, would see a slight distance gain! This had me thinking that my full shots with my irons in to the green would really help me with holding my shots on the green.

I hit the range and started with my normal warmup routine; 8iron w/ half shots, ¾ shots and full shots. For me, the first thing that I noticed was the difference in weight of my club during my swing. Hard to put into words, but it just felt that I was swinging on a much more even plane, with an all around smooth swing. I started hitting full shots, taking it right out to the 150 yard marker, with a few going just beyond it. This is a normal distance for me with the 8iron, but the difference I noticed with the Tour 90 was the flight my ball had. Often times, my shot will have a lower trajectory and will land and roll out, the results I was seeing on the range today was much different. My shots were hopping off the face of the club and getting up in to the air quick, with a nice, high ball flight. Didnt feel that there was any balooning, but the arch of the ball flight was quite nice to see. I was hitting my shots the same distance as I am used to, but much higher, and a very sharp trajectory downward to my target landing area.

My focus on the range was keeping the ball in the middle of my stance, and just hitting to my distances. I was stoked to see that my distances remained the same, even with an increased height on my shots. I stood on the range, and hit ball after ball, directly at my targeted area, and was hitting them on my line. It seemed most of my shots were right in the area that I wanted, and I felt that I was hitting my shots quite consistently. I didn't work on moving the ball around in my stance to try to do anything fancy, just keep the ball in the middle of my stance, and hit to my numbers. With the ball flight I was seeing, I don't recall ever having so much fun watching my shots after I hit them. When you struggle at times with line drives as I do, a nice, towering iron shot gets you a bit excited.

One big aspect of these irons that I took away from my range session was that the lighter weight of the shaft allowed me to really groove my swing and keep a nice even tempo with my transition at the top. I tend to often hitch my swing at the top, that will get me a bit out of sync and result in a not so great shot. With the Tour 90 shafts, I felt that I was keeping that even tempo from my start of the swing all the way through to the finish. When hitting through my irons, the thing that kept creeping into my mind was that my swing was smooth, consistent and repeatable. I was seeing consistent results on my shots, in part to having a swing that I felt I was repeating with each shot. Smooth tempo, a flowing swing through the ball, and good results. Sounds good to me. I hit about 10 balls in a row with my 7iron to see where I was hitting the ball on the club face, and was pleased with what I saw;
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I hit a large and a small bucket, about 175ish balls with irons only today. I felt that my swing at the end of my range session was just as good as it was at the beginning. Working my way through my bag, I was consistently seeing a higher ball flight. Being able to get my iron shots with a higher trajectory is something that I have worked on for quite some time. I have adjusted my stance, ball alignment and swing, but before today, I had never adjusted the shafts in the irons that I am playing. I didn't try to do too much with my swing today, was really just working on hitting my shot straight and focusing in on my distances and the ball flight that the shafts were giving me. I am really looking forward to dialing them in throughout my irons and wedges, and seeing what results I see on the course.
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Excellent write up, Ryan. We appreciate the thorough testing and are happy to see the improved ball flight and feel!
 
JB said:
I got to take the newly shafted KBS Tour 90 shafts out for their maiden voyage this morning and I have to say its as if an old friend came back home. A little background on me first is that I used to play these shafts when they first came out and loved them. As I made a couple of small tweaks in my swing, I went through a fitting and was fit for the KBS Tour shafts and I love those equally as much and my ball flight worked well. However one thing I notice is how much I miss the lighter weight shafts during those hot days or slow days on the course when I get tired. A few grams does not seem like much, but throughout a day it seems to add up.

When I first got out with the KBS Tour 90 shafts, I was pretty impressed with how easy the transition was back to the lighter weight. My first few practice swings I worked on keeping my tempo smooth the way I like it and then proceeded to hit balls with my 8 iron. Its the same club I always use to warm up and this was no different. Start with half swings and feel the shaft as I make my transition and then proceed to three quarter and full swings and continue to pay close attention to nothing but the shaft at transition. This is where the KBS Tour 90 shafts are the best I have ever used. The smoothness at the top as you make your transition to the impact zone is like nothing else on the market today. Once I have it all set in my head, I begin to hit all of my irons.

My routine is 5 good shots in a row with each iron during things like this, and I start with the PW and work my way down. What I found with the performance of these was not only my distance very good, but the ball flight was nice and high and coming in for a soft landing. To get a higher ball flight without any sacrifice of distance in my opinion is worth its weight in gold. Before I go on, I want to say that I saw absolutely no ballooning or distance loss out of any club I tried.

The go to club for me is the 8 iron during these drills and I wanted to play close attention to both distance and ball flight. I was at a range with good range balls, so I thought it would be a pretty good test. They have a small hoop at the 150 yard mark that has a net in it and I decided to play a little game. The net can be had, but could I hit the bar on top of the net, that would make the shot (according to my laser) exactly 150 yards on the nose. Ball after ball I hit (about 35 total) and I came close about 7 times, but nothing hit it. I did hit 4 in the net which I was pretty happy about, but the reason that this is brought up is not because of working on my game, but because of ball flight.

The way the net is situated and the bar is done, you would only be able to hit it by hitting it high. A lower ball flight would hit the foam or go into the net, but a nice high flight that comes in soft is what I am looking for in a club head and shaft combo and the KBS Tour 90s do that better than any I have tested to date. I got after it a few times with no issues of ballooning or losing it right or left. I came in smooth a few times and had no issues either.

All in all for a first test, I was darn impressed and as mentioned before, it was like a visit from an old friend. They are just so good.
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JB, thank you for writing this up! It looks like the shaft helped you achieve a ball flight and distance that is optimal. The weight change can be difficult, but glad to see this was an easy change for you!
 
pmoa said:
KBS Tour 90 - Should you replace your stock shafts? - Thoughts

So I was doing a little thinking today at my desk and really thought through the process before I received the opportunity to replace my shafts with these beauties. The main question was if I wasn't lucky enough to get to test these shafts what were the major reasons why I didn't replace my stock shafts or shafts that fit my swing earlier. There were several factors:

1. Cost - There is an associated cost with replacing shafts. I know this is a major decision factor for a lot of folks. For me, I wasn't serious enough about my game to go and drop $25 per shaft and then have them installed locally. You should ask yourself why you want to replace the shafts and weigh your opportunity costs. It is an investment of your time and money.

2. Shaft Education - There are so many different types of shafts out there. After doing my research and figuring out what I needed to improve, I made the choice to switch to KBS shafts. Sure a little bit of it is marketing, but if they are good enough for the pros, why not joes? Went to my local range and hit almost the entire line of KBS shafts as well as the stock offerings from Ping. I'm a huge numbers guy and went with the CFS shafts in a regular after some conversation with KMac. Speaking with Conrad and doing my own research, KBS seemed like the next logical step and I took the plunge. Do your research and figure out what you want out of your shaft. Don't just go out and get a C-Taper shaft cause so and so can hit it a country mile and it would be cool to show my friends that I have C-Taper shafts. Find one that fits your swing! I can't stress this enough. I'm sure the testers can agree with this sentiment.

3. The 1-800-Prove-It factor - All of the marketing hype says you can hit it this percentage farther and less dispersion. As much as I wanted to believe it, these numbers are found either by machine testing or a lot of data points from golfers hitting these clubs. I wanted the companies to prove it, so I can tell myself that it in fact does improve my game. I don't typically drink the Kool Aid so this was an important factor for me. So I did my own physical research at the range and had to confirm my suspicions.

4. Patience - I now have the new shafts in my clubs, what do I do now? What do you mean I can't see perfect ball flights immediately? Don't second guess yourself. The shafts aren't magic sticks that all of a sudden get you shooting par. It is the next chapter in your golfing education. Swinging these KBS Tour 90s has got me thinking about tempo, distance education, and confidence. I had to change my mindset a little bit to improve on my swing and course management. I was tentative with my old Ping i10 Stiff AWT shafts and would always wondering which miss was about to happen. Having the confidence in your equipment to do what it is supposed to do has changed my course management and attitude. Take your time, learn your swing and apply it to the new equipment you just placed in your clubs.

5. Keep on improving - Now that I have this equipment and new found confidence in shafts, I can't wait to go to Golftec and get some more lessons to get even more out of my shafts! This is the fun part people. Many of us already enjoy this silly game and it is fun to see each and everyone one of us improve. Thank you KBS and THP for improving my game and giving me the tools to increase my confidence.

Sorry for the long winded thinking out loud. This was a major change to my equipment and I didn't take it lightly. So go ahead and do your research and take the plunge in improving your game.

Perry
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Great thoughts here, Perry! Thanks again for the review and testing!
 
Jersey Nate said:
A brief update here. Took my irons out for a range session this morning as I thought there was going to be a healthy wind. Well I was wrong, the wind died as soon as I got into the car. No matter - I got out anyway and worked on my ball striking and keeping myself in tempo. Less pulls on the range today, and I think that my OTT move was also more in control. Here's a little range video of my 8i swing:



I thinned a couple in this video, but the majority of these strikes were the same high, soft landing 150 yard shots that I've been seeing. I also tried to "go after" a couple shots, and I was met with either a mega pull or a mega push slice. These shafts do NOT like me trying to eek out extra yards.

I also tried to hit a few knockdown shots today - I used my PW, 8i, and 5i, placed the ball back in my stance, and took a shorter swing with a cut off follow through. The ball did flight down quite a bit, to my surprise, and it wasn't too difficult to hit these shots when I got into a groove. I did lose some distance, but that would be expected with a shortened swing. I have a feeling that I would be able to hit these shots if needed in a healthy wind. The 90s do respond quite well to a knockdown shot.
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Golfing only a year? Keep at it Nate, you have a natural swing. Thanks again for the nice review and posts. -CM
 
I have to admit that it's amazing that KBS is going through the thread and commenting on the reviews, it really shows how awesome of a company they really are!
 
KBSshafts said:
Great thoughts here, Perry! Thanks again for the review and testing!
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Thanks for the wedge shaft Conrad! We all really appreciate the OEMs coming in here and participating in the thread. It really means a lot to us!

KBS Tour 90 - Additional Thoughts

So some more thoughts on what is going on with the shafts and the game. The past couple of rounds have been played at a so-so level. The fear of missing left is creeping into the game. In the past, the left miss was extreme and usually yanked out of play. The KBS Tour 90 shafts immediately let me know after the follow through where the club face pointing and what the club head was doing after impact. I can go through the round playing around with my swing to band aid my misses. This is a testament to the lighter shafts.

Tonight it was a balmy 103 without the heat index and it was soupy outside. The first few swings of the irons were strong, but as the round dragged on, I can feel the fatigue setting in. In the past, I always thought I should be swinging out of my shoes to get "fitted" to the right shaft. Boy was I wrong. Tonight was evidence that to keep the swing at that speed for the entire round is damn near impossible (out of shape) :alien: Last year, with my irons I faded and faded quickly towards holes 7-9 on hot days and the ball was being sprayed every where. If I knew back then what I know now, I could have finished the rounds stronger. The smoothness and lightness of the shaft really help limit the misses.

Now for some stats. I have had about 9 rounds now 9 and 18 holes with these shafts. Prior to receiving these shafts my GIR % was 36.4%. This is a mish mash of rounds with my new i20's and my old i10's. Since these shafts have been in I have increased my GIR % to 48.4% and my putts in GIR has gone down from 2.5 to 2.1. What that means is that I am hitting more greens and putting closer to the pin and 3 putting less! Of course the shafts aren't just something you put in and poof they magically make you play better, but an easier tempo swing versus a swing out of your shoes has worked wonders. The improvement in those numbers even includes the rounds where I couldn't hit the ball anywhere I wanted. The misses are smaller! I have scheduled some GolfTec lessons at my local Golfsmith and get some numbers from my ld i10's in a stiff shaft vs my i20's with the Tour 90's. Should be an eye opening experience.

Thank you KBS for an excellent product and supporting us Hackers.

To be continued...
 
That's a pretty cool stat, pmoa!
 
I like when stats get brought in to play. So perry is seeing his Greens go up and his putts per gir go down. I like it. I imagine that the performance he is seeing from these also allows him to take more aggressive lines at the pin. It's nice to be able to do that because you have a shaft/iron combo that you just flat out trust.
 
Thanks Hawk. I saw WE's stats and I was like that will be interesting to see. Definitely need some more data points though.

Exactly Dean. It has contributed to more aggressive lines and the misses are less pronounced.
 
pmoa said:
Thanks Hawk. I saw WE's stats and I was like that will be interesting to see. Definitely need some more data points though.

Exactly Dean. It has contributed to more aggressive lines and the misses are less pronounced.
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That's awesome dude! Over the past few weeks, I felt that I was hitting the ball much more consistent and on line, but it wasnt until I compared my GIR % from before these shafts and after that I realized how much my shot dispersion had improved! It's awesome that you are seeing similar improvements in that area!!

I dont think it's any coincidence that I have broken 80 twice in the past 3 weeks with these in my irons. The performance is there for me, and the confidence I have in my irons, not just the short irons but long irons too, has increased tremendously round over round.

One last thought; I am with you Perry, I feel like I have gotten a bit more agressive in my shots in to the green. Having the thought in my head that I am going to land it and stick the green is a nice thought to have when approaching a shot.
 
War Eagle said:
That's awesome dude! Over the past few weeks, I felt that I was hitting the ball much more consistent and on line, but it wasnt until I compared my GIR % from before these shafts and after that I realized how much my shot dispersion had improved! It's awesome that you are seeing similar improvements in that area!!

I dont think it's any coincidence that I have broken 80 twice in the past 3 weeks with these in my irons. The performance is there for me, and the confidence I have in my irons, not just the short irons but long irons too, has increased tremendously round over round.
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I completely agree! When a ball goes way off the map, I know it was something I did out of the norm. These sticks are no joke. I wonder how these shafts feel in different clubs like your J40's and JN's wilsons?
 
Perry that is some great info and those stats are pretty telling. Awesome stuff by everyone is this testing.
 
pmoa said:
I completely agree! When a ball goes way off the map, I know it was something I did out of the norm. These sticks are no joke. I wonder how these shafts feel in different clubs like your J40's and JN's wilsons?
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I tried the i20s a while back and they werent for me, I am wondering how much of that was due to the shaft? Shaft testing has me thinking A LOT about clubs in general that I have tried in the past and wasnt in favor of.
Kmac said:
Perry that is some great info and those stats are pretty telling. Awesome stuff by everyone is this testing.
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Thanks THPFTMKmac.
 
War Eagle said:
I tried the i20s a while back and they werent for me, I am wondering how much of that was due to the shaft? Shaft testing has me thinking A LOT about clubs in general that I have tried in the past and wasnt in favor of.
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You are so right. There were a few sets of clubs that i just hated, maybe the stockers weren't for us. THen I remembered that I hit the Adams CMB's and they had the C-Tapers in them. Even though those were heavier and stiffer, they were still a joy to hit...Equipment pondering coming up!
 
War Eagle said:
I tried the i20s a while back and they werent for me, I am wondering how much of that was due to the shaft? Shaft testing has me thinking A LOT about clubs in general that I have tried in the past and wasnt in favor of.

Thanks THPFTMKmac.
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Reading this thread made me wonder the same thing about your i20 experience. The i20 CFS shaft is pretty light which I like.
 
Kmac said:
Reading this thread made me wonder the same thing about your i20 experience. The i20 CFS shaft is pretty light which I like.
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Yeah, they are 109g I believe?
 
pmoa said:
I completely agree! When a ball goes way off the map, I know it was something I did out of the norm. These sticks are no joke. I wonder how these shafts feel in different clubs like your J40's and JN's wilsons?
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Agreed. When I'm in tempo, the ball rarely strays offline. When it does, I know that it's either my tempo or swing path. As far as feel, I haven't hit the i20s and will most likely never get to hit the J40s as I'm a lefty. Of course the club head will effect how the total package feels, but it is telling that we are seeing a similar smoothness when we are in a good and balanced tempo, and a similar high ball flight with more spin across all three club heads.
 
War Eagle, and any one else that has played the KBS Tours. How do you think they play as far as flex between the two?
 
War that's one of the top 5 reviews I've read on THP. You thoughts opened up some thoughts in my head. I was able to visualize what you were working with. Well done!

All testers are doing a great job in describing what you are feeling and what I have seen for the past 9 months.

KBS reading and responding is such a positive thing, it shows their constant level of commitment.
 
Howzat said:
War Eagle, and any one else that has played the KBS Tours. How do you think they play as far as flex between the two?
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I think they are pretty close in flex to the 5.5s I was playing in the PX flighted. Even though the Tour 90s I am testing are Stiff flex, they are not as Stiff as some of the others that I have played, more of an "in between" flex...if that makes sense?
 
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