We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Project X 5.5 vs KBS tour stiff

Nippon Shafts
ncsuhunter

ncsuhunter

#MAKEADIFFERENCE
Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
319
Reaction score
29
Location
Willow Spring, NC
OK guys. Looking at changing out my irons. I currently play the tour edge CU irons with true temper dynalite stiff shafts. I am working towards a push draw as my normal ball flight with my miss being a push. My tendency with these irons is to not trust the swing to get the draw and come over the top and end up with a pull hook. When I make myself slow down and think about the swing I can typically get the push draw I want. Ball flight is a little higher then I would like. I've been hitting a Tom Wishon 575 MCC at the range a lot and boy do I like it. I trust the club and don't get the pull hook. (May be some mental, wouldn't surprise me :)). So I went to golf galaxy yesterday ( I know I know) and did a shaft fitting with the mizuno shaft optimizer and the MP62 heads (closest thing to the 575 that I saw). Swing speed in three swings was 89, 90, 89. This was a simple test of getting a place to start. Mizuno came back with the DGX100 (no, felt like a ton of bricks), PX 6.0, and KBS C-Taper X with 1 soft step. I have a fitter here in town that I trust so I took the numbers to him as a starting point. He had the PX 6.0 but not the C-Taper X. He also had the PX 5.5, and the KBS Tour Stiff. Here's the average numbers from the three: (note, slightly different club heads, but closest he had to the wishons)
ShaftSwing SpeedBall SpeedLaunch AngleSide SpinCarryTotal DistanceClub
PX 6.086.6117.817.910051661796 iron
PX 5.586.7121.717.4702160 ish7 iron
KBS C-Taper X89.5121.716.53041761906 iron
KBS Tour Stiff85120179553160 ish7 iron





PX 6.0 is probably a no for me. I felt like I had to really go after it to get enough out of it and I honestly think that by the end of the round when I'm getting a little tired I could get myself in trouble with it. Would have loved to see the real world ball flight of the C-Taper but alas my fitter didn't have one. He can get one, but I'm not sure I'd like it any more then the PX 5.5 or the KBS Tour Stiff. Ball flight for both was about medium and when I hit it right had the beautiful little push draw I'm looking for with my misses to the right. I'm leaning towards the KBS because they felt a little "smoother". I am looking for some real world experience with the 5.5 vs the KBS Stiff. My fitter said we can tweak the KBS stiff or the PX 5.5 to get something in the middle of the 5.5 and 6.0. I'm honestly leaning towards the KBS tour, but I'm not really sure yet. I'm going to sit down with my teaching pro and fitter on Tuesday and talk about it some. So what do you guys say? Anybody have any feedback on the Wishon 575 MMC cavity back blades? Thanks in advance for the input!
 
Moved to the shaft section.

if the KBS felt smoother, I would go that direction.
 
Any decent angle or backspin information?

Assuming same performance, the KBS is a smoother feeling shaft (IMO) and would be my preference. The PX 5.5 plays a bit softer than the KBS Tour S (CPM number-wise).
 
JB said:
Moved to the shaft section.

if the KBS felt smoother, I would go that direction.
Click to expand...

This sounds like pretty good advice. If the numbers are the same go with the feel.
 
You've got the objective stuff above. The subjective stuff is personal. For me, I prefer the 5.5 (and Tour 90's for the matter) over the Tour S, at least in the DPC heads. But that mostly doesn't mean much for you. If the Tour S feel smoother to you I'd say go for it.
 
ncsuhunter said:
OK guys. Looking at changing out my irons. I currently play the tour edge CU irons with true temper dynalite stiff shafts. I am working towards a push draw as my normal ball flight with my miss being a push. My tendency with these irons is to not trust the swing to get the draw and come over the top and end up with a pull hook. When I make myself slow down and think about the swing I can typically get the push draw I want. Ball flight is a little higher then I would like. I've been hitting a Tom Wishon 575 MCC at the range a lot and boy do I like it. I trust the club and don't get the pull hook. (May be some mental, wouldn't surprise me :)). So I went to golf galaxy yesterday ( I know I know) and did a shaft fitting with the mizuno shaft optimizer and the MP62 heads (closest thing to the 575 that I saw). Swing speed in three swings was 89, 90, 89. This was a simple test of getting a place to start. Mizuno came back with the DGX100 (no, felt like a ton of bricks), PX 6.0, and KBS C-Taper X with 1 soft step. I have a fitter here in town that I trust so I took the numbers to him as a starting point. He had the PX 6.0 but not the C-Taper X. He also had the PX 5.5, and the KBS Tour Stiff. Here's the average numbers from the three: (note, slightly different club heads, but closest he had to the wishons)
ShaftSwing SpeedBall SpeedLaunch AngleSide SpinCarryTotal DistanceClub
PX 6.086.6117.817.910051661796 iron
PX 5.586.7121.717.4702160 ish7 iron
KBS C-Taper X89.5121.716.53041761906 iron
KBS Tour Stiff85120179553160 ish7 iron





PX 6.0 is probably a no for me. I felt like I had to really go after it to get enough out of it and I honestly think that by the end of the round when I'm getting a little tired I could get myself in trouble with it. Would have loved to see the real world ball flight of the C-Taper but alas my fitter didn't have one. He can get one, but I'm not sure I'd like it any more then the PX 5.5 or the KBS Tour Stiff. Ball flight for both was about medium and when I hit it right had the beautiful little push draw I'm looking for with my misses to the right. I'm leaning towards the KBS because they felt a little "smoother". I am looking for some real world experience with the 5.5 vs the KBS Stiff. My fitter said we can tweak the KBS stiff or the PX 5.5 to get something in the middle of the 5.5 and 6.0. I'm honestly leaning towards the KBS tour, but I'm not really sure yet. I'm going to sit down with my teaching pro and fitter on Tuesday and talk about it some. So what do you guys say? Anybody have any feedback on the Wishon 575 MMC cavity back blades? Thanks in advance for the input!
Click to expand...

What shaft is in the Wishon 575?
You might check the total weight of the Wishon iron heads and also the swingweight of those irons?
 
I was fit into the PX 5.0 or the KBS Tour R+. So, I'd imagine PX 5.5 and KBS S are probably a similar comparison from a stiffness standpoint. Of the two, I much preferred the feel of the KBS. Definitely felt smoother to me.
 
JB...sorry about putting the thread in the wrong forum....thanks for all the quick replies

I've got decent angles on the 6.0 from the mizuno fitting...it was 45 degrees...judging from the real world hitting I did today I'm not going to have any trouble getting any of them up in the air. I don't have backspin numbers from today...backspin for the 6.0 from the mizuno fitting was 5400 with the 6 iron...Spin numbers were fairly comparable for the 5.5 and the KBS...I didn't notice anything that was terribly different thing. I agree with you guys about going with the feel of the shaft. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something important in the numbers. I've put a bunch of time in this summer and I want what's going to give me the best chance to get better. I know it isn't the end all be all but I also know it's an important factor. Thanks again!

majBC said:
What shaft is in the Wishon 575?
You might check the total weight of the Wishon iron heads and also the swingweight of those irons?
Click to expand...

The Wishon I've been hitting has PX 6.0's in it. I feel like I get tired fast swinging them and think i'll suffer from fatigue later in the round. Fitter kinda had the same opinion.
 
No worries brother. Here to help.
 
ncsuhunter said:
JB...sorry about putting the thread in the wrong forum....thanks for all the quick replies

I've got decent angles on the 6.0 from the mizuno fitting...it was 45 degrees...judging from the real world hitting I did today I'm not going to have any trouble getting any of them up in the air. I don't have backspin numbers from today...backspin for the 6.0 from the mizuno fitting was 5400 with the 6 iron...Spin numbers were fairly comparable for the 5.5 and the KBS...I didn't notice anything that was terribly different thing. I agree with you guys about going with the feel of the shaft. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something important in the numbers. I've put a bunch of time in this summer and I want what's going to give me the best chance to get better. I know it isn't the end all be all but I also know it's an important factor. Thanks again!



The Wishon I've been hitting has PX 6.0's in it. I feel like I get tired fast swinging them and think i'll suffer from fatigue later in the round. Fitter kinda had the same opinion.
Click to expand...

Your two main concerns are ball flight (lower) and weight of shaft (getting tired at the end of rounds), correct? I suppose you could hard step a lower flex or try to find a lighter shaft with a higher kick point. You might also try a heavier graphite shaft, although all graphite iron shafts I have tried have resulted in higher ball flight than steel shafts. Higher torque shafts can lead to higher ball flight as well.
 
majBC said:
Your two main concerns are ball flight (lower) and weight of shaft (getting tired at the end of rounds), correct? I suppose you could hard step a lower flex or try to find a lighter shaft with a higher kick point. You might also try a heavier graphite shaft, although all graphite iron shafts I have tried have resulted in higher ball flight than steel shafts. Higher torque shafts can lead to higher ball flight as well.
Click to expand...

My biggest concern was/is finding the shafts that fit me by the computer the best and then trying to hit them on the range and see real world results to judge ball flight, consistency, etc. I didn't see a ton of difference between the project X 6.0, 5.5, or KBS tour today. Flight wise they were all pretty close. Distance, again close. Ball flight, push draw with all with main misses being a push. I guess I was kind of hoping for one to jump out from the rest and shine. I felt like I was having to work a little too hard with the 6.0s to get them to perform. Hard stepping the 5.5 or the KBS stiff may still be a possibility. I was interested if others saw something in my fitting numbers that would lead them one way or the other. Looks and sounds to me like it's going to be a personal preference thing. Right now I'd probably say I'd prefer the KBS tours. Thanks again for taking a look!
 
I like the KBS better they feel a lot better the PX are a bit boardy
 
Just goes to show you how individualized it is when you're down to the details. We both had the same recommendations by the Optimizer. I also thought the 6.0 was to Boardy and harder to get to work. The difference is I thought the PX 5.5's felt smoother than the KBS. I ended up with the PXin my AP1's and love them.


At this point, IMO , get whatever feels best.
 
Thanks again for all the information and thoughts guys! I'm not dead sold on anything yet. This isn't going to be an impulse change. I want to make sure I'm getting the right equipment fit to me for my swing. I'll probably go back out on Tuesday before my short game class and hit the PX 5.5 and the KBS Tour Stiff again and see with my instructor there to get his input. This is exactly the reason I joined THP!
 
Point of clarification from my earlier comment. I disliked the 6.0's - just way too much shaft for me. Good call trying the 5.5 before making a decision.
 
The KBS i have had before and they run stiff to flex. This was true on both the stiff and reg flexes I have had. They are hard to beat because of the low side spin that comes from the lower torque values they have. Very accurate if you are....
 
Trickyputt said:
The KBS i have had before and they run stiff to flex. This was true on both the stiff and reg flexes I have had. They are hard to beat because of the low side spin that comes from the lower torque values they have. Very accurate if you are....
Click to expand...

To me, the PX are even more stiff to flex than the KBS. KBS soft stepped or R+ felt right to me, and PX was a 5.0.
 
Thanks again for all the helpful thoughts guys. I pulled the trigger last night on a set of custom made Tom Wishon 575MMC in cavity back 5-9 iron and blade pw with KBS Tour Stiff shafts. I hit the PX 6.0, 5.5, and KBS shafts again last night and just found myself coming back to the KBS every time. There was little to no difference in ball flight and launch monitor numbers with any of them. I also went ahead and ordered a set of 3 KBS Hi-Rev Stiff shafts to reshaft my Cleveland 588 RTX 50, 56, and 60 wedges with. I hope this is going to be the change that pushes me in the right direction. I'll put up some pictures in a couple weeks of the new sticks. That being said, if anybody's interested in some Tour Edge CU with dynalite 90 Stiff shafts PM me. I'll put them up in the market place with some pictures tonight. Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top