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KBS Hybrid Shaft - Thoughts from those who have played it...

Nippon Shafts
mab13

mab13

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Apologies if the hybrid shaft has been discussed elsewhere; the search facility requires a minimum of 4 characters I believe so searching for 'KBS' doesn't work.

Anyway...

I recently picked up a tour issue 20* Adams LSP to compliment my retail 15* Adams LS, as I prefer the smaller footprint of the LSP in my higher lofted hybrid. I was hoping (albeit not expecting) my swing would be man enough to deal with the TourSPX Attas 100x shaft that it came with... but it's not.

So the search begins for the perfect partner to pair with my 20* LSP. I hit my 4 iron around 190yds and would like the LSP to be a 200-215yds club with a mid/high flight... somethign that I can hit mid launch off the tee to gain a few yards roll or get a little more height from the deck when required to hold greens from 200-215yds.

I've been really pleased with my KBS Tour 90s shafted CB3 irons... great feel, great performance... so I'm considering giving the KBS Hybrid shaft a try.

The LSP will be used for accuracy over distance, so the slightly heavier shaft with potentially more stable characteristics of steel vs. graphite (???) strikes me as a great potential option.

Thoughts from those who are using or have used the KBS Hybrid shaft, including comparisons with other shafts, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mark
 
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Hi Mark,
I recently purchased a hybrid from hireko with the KBS hybrid shaft in it. I absolutely love the ball flight I get. I'm newer to the sport, and not very experienced with club building etc so this is just a users opinion I can't qualify it very much. The ball flight I get is piercing, not too high, not too low, it just seems to rocket out straight and stay there not too much climb or dip. At the end it comes down a little sharply and doesn't roll out very much. Accuracy is phenomenal for me. Possibly the straightest club I have in my bag. I also have it in regular, it doesn't feel too whippy etc. I like the feel of a hybrid in steel especially from the fairway. Graphite just doesn't feel right to me when I'm not hitting off a tee. Helps me hit it more like an iron I think. Just my two cents, let me know if you have any specific questions.
Take care,
KP
 
Thanks KP and glad to hear it is working out for you.

I've done a little digging and it will cost around $65 delivered for the shaft in the UK, which seems ridiculous given that Golfworks in the US has it listed for $29. I'd love to give it a try but I get too frustrated with the inflated prices we have to pay for equipment in the UK, so looks like I'll have to wait.

I'm going to keep my eye on eBay and hopefully one will come up. In the meantime, I'll pick up a cheap pull on eBay.

If anyone has any adiditonal thoughts on their experience with the KBS hybrid shaft, I'd love to hear them.
 
I have also been contemplating the kbs hybrid shaft for my 21* Love the kbs tours in my irons. I may just go ahead and do it and see what happens. :)


Tapatalk: Gently Tapped like a downhill three-footer.
 
Do it, you won't do it ;)
 
Penglynns said:
I have also been contemplating the kbs hybrid shaft for my 21* Love the kbs tours in my irons. I may just go ahead and do it and see what happens. :)


Tapatalk: Gently Tapped like a downhill three-footer.
Click to expand...


Something else I have considered over the weekend is matching my hybrid shaft to my irons, so popping a KBS Tour 90s in there. Not sure of the advantages / disadvantages of that over the hybrid specific shaft, but have emailed Conrad for his thoughts.

Could also be a consideration for you, i.e. going with a standard KBS Tour R...?
 
If your transition is smooth an "R" would be the place I would start. The hybrid shaft does have a stiffer tip than the 90s.

mab13 said:
Apologies if the hybrid shaft has been discussed elsewhere; the search facility requires a minimum of 4 characters I believe so searching for 'KBS' doesn't work.

Anyway...

I recently picked up a tour issue 20* Adams LSP to compliment my retail 15* Adams LS, as I prefer the smaller footprint of the LSP in my higher lofted hybrid. I was hoping (albeit not expecting) my swing would be man enough to deal with the TourSPX Attas 100x shaft that it came with... but it's not.

So the search begins for the perfect partner to pair with my 20* LSP. I hit my 4 iron around 190yds and would like the LSP to be a 200-215yds club with a mid/high flight... somethign that I can hit mid launch off the tee to gain a few yards roll or get a little more height from the deck when required to hold greens from 200-215yds.

I've been really pleased with my KBS Tour 90s shafted CB3 irons... great feel, great performance... so I'm considering giving the KBS Hybrid shaft a try.

The LSP will be used for accuracy over distance, so the slightly heavier shaft with potentially more stable characteristics of steel vs. graphite (???) strikes me as a great potential option.

FWIW, my driver swing speed is c.100-102 and my 6 iron is around 170yds. The KBS shaft system surprised me by recommending r-flex so I'd likely go that route and leave the playing length a little longer allowing me to tip an extra 0.5" if required.

Thoughts from those who are using or have used the KBS Hybrid shaft, including comparisons with other shafts, would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mark
Click to expand...
 
Everytime I hit a shot with this shaft I find myself just watching it. I absolutely love this club and I think a lot of it has to do with this shaft. Can anyone recommend an iron shaft that would be similar? Should I look at the C taper lites or tours? Any help would be appreciated.
 
C-Taper lite will be marginally higher trajectory and spin than the Tour, with both being 110g in R-flex. You'd be more likely to find a pre-owned set of Tours as the C-Taper lites are a relatively recent release.

You could also go Tour 90 (stiff) if you wanted even higher trajectory and spin.

From playing around with the KBS Online Fit System, it appears to recommend Tour 90 Stiff -> C Taper Lite Regular -> Tour Regular as you hit the ball a little further and as your transition / tempo gets more aggressive / faster. The Fit system is on the KBS site so give it a go!

Ps. I'm 99% sure I'm going to source a KBS Hybrid shaft for my LSP, so I'll let you kow how it goes once purchased and installed.
 
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bellairemi said:
If your transition is smooth an "R" would be the place I would start. The hybrid shaft does have a stiffer tip than the 90s.
Click to expand...


Thanks. Yes, I'm going to pick one up asap and install in the LSP - I may leave playing length slightly long so I can tip a further 0.5" if needed.

Really quite excited about it...
 
I played around with fit system and it keeps spitting out c taper lite in r. If you look at the profile of the c taper lite and hybrid shaft they are both mid high, spin control... probably the best match. That being said I will most likely grab a pulled set of tour in r for the cost benefits.
 
I play a KBS hybrid shaft in my Adams DHy. I really like the feel. It is smooth and silky. I play Nippon Super Peening Blues in my irons, and the KBS hybrid fits in well with the SPBs. The DHy came with a White Tie, and I struggled with that shaft.
 
So my KBS Hybrid shaft landed and I installed it last night; when I arrive home from work tonight, the install will be dry and ready for a range session. Very excited!

I'm loving the LSP and have hit some fantastic shots with it over the past few weeks with a terribly ill fitting shaft installed (including, last Friday, hitting to 6 feet from 216yds out and converting the birdie putt - a real rarity!) so I have fairly high expectations for this combo.

I've installed per the KBS trimming instructions but left the playing length 0.5" long, so I can trim a further 0.5" in due course if I want the shaft to play a tad firmer.

I'll report back once I've put it through its paces.
 
Nice! Interested to hear how this performs for someone else.
 
The KBS shafted LSP has had two trips to the range and one round (only used a couple of times during the round).

We're not yet fully acqainted, but I do have a few initial thoughts. The shaft feels quite stout to me even though I know it's not, no doubt due to the differing shaft profile compared with graphite... that's not necessarily a bad thing as it feels as though the club really can be controlled, albeit I currently feel I need to put a really good swing on it.

I would say the shaft is smooth-ish, but not smooth like my KBS Tour 90s shafted forged CB3s. The feel is certainly more direct and precise than with graphite.

Ballflight is excellent. It's a mid to mid-high launch with a strong trajectory which from the tee will gain some nice roll, but which should also hold greens. The running hybrid from the tee is a shot I would love to be able to call upon at will as my Mashie F7 doesn't give me nearly enough roll (well, any roll in fact) to be a club I like to take from the tee.

I feel it's a setup I will need to get used to and more acqauinted with, after which I think we could get along tremendously well.

I am playing 36 holes on Friday in a competitive format, so I'm hoping to put it through its paces a little more then.
 
The control feeling is my favorite part. It definitely helps give some confidence off the tee or on a long approach. It's a feeling I didn't have with any of the graphite hybrids I tried. Glad to hear you're starting to get along.
 
mab13 said:
Something else I have considered over the weekend is matching my hybrid shaft to my irons, so popping a KBS Tour 90s in there. Not sure of the advantages / disadvantages of that over the hybrid specific shaft, but have emailed Conrad for his thoughts.

Could also be a consideration for you, i.e. going with a standard KBS Tour R...?
Click to expand...

Can anyone comment on using a standard shaft vs a "hybrid" shaft? Say you want to match your hybrid to your irons would you put a 4i shaft in your 4H? Any recommendations to hard or softstepping? Recently installed a ctaper 2i shaft in my 2H. Love the trajectory but feel like I've lost a little distance. Need a little more time on the range to know for sure.
 
Claydoo said:
Can anyone comment on using a standard shaft vs a "hybrid" shaft? Say you want to match your hybrid to your irons would you put a 4i shaft in your 4H? Any recommendations to hard or softstepping? Recently installed a ctaper 2i shaft in my 2H. Love the trajectory but feel like I've lost a little distance. Need a little more time on the range to know for sure.
Click to expand...


Conrad is certainly an advocate of Tour 90 shafts in hybrids to match Tour 90 shafts in irons; not sure whether or not he would advocate the same for other shafts in the KBS line though, although I can't see any immediate reason why not (other than weight, perhaps).

Regarding hard / soft stepping, hybrid heads are typically the same weight as their iron counterparts, so you should in theory be able to shaft as normal.

It doesn't surprise me to hear that you've lost distance though. Regardless of flex, the C-Taper is a heavy shaft in comparison to 'normal' weight graphite hybrid shafts. Therefore, in order to maintain the swingweight of your club, you will most likely play the C-Taper shafted hybrid at a shorter length than when it was shafted with graphite, thereby costing you clubhead speed and distance.

On the plus side, you may find increased control and accuracy.
 
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