We've launched the new forums! Read more here

KBS PGW Shaft

Nippon Shafts
I haven’t played in almost 4 weeks now due to a back issue but am going to try to play tomorrow. That said I was looking at my driving stats from the 5 rounds I have in so far this year and they are very impressive so far. I have it 76% of the fairways this year. I also don’t recall needing to play a recovery shot and I know I haven’t lost a ball. Looking at last year’s stats I am hitting more fairways but it is a limited sample size.

My miss has been left which is standard for me but isn’t the low snipe or pull hook some other people have been seeing. I do tend to miss left if I try to hit something hard but that is fairly normal for me. I would also add that I do find the shaft very stable on off center hits. I have had some rounds when I know I was missing the sweetspot but the clubface was staying square instead of snapping over and giving me a good result.

My previous shaft was a Ventus Blue TR5s Velo. I find the PGW feels a bit stiffer than the Ventus. On the course I am not having to think about doing anything differently with it. I am finding a mid trajectory. I am not a high ball hitter and am getting the trajectory I expect. I can hit the ball a bit higher if I want and flight it down a bit.

Right now if I had to pick between the PGW and the Ventus for an important round I would play the PGW. That is saying something because the Ventus has been in my bag for a couple of seasons and I hadn’t thought about a different shaft.
 
I forgot to add that my tempo tends to be pretty smooth. I don’t have a long swing but I am not violent with it either. My swing speed with the driver right now is in the 90 mph range and I have the 50s shaft. This is lighter than I have played previously but find I am very comfortable with it.
 
G-Man said:
Would you say that this one is 180* different than LINQ black as well?
Click to expand...
DRAMATICALLY different in terms of tempo levels. You can turn hard on the black, this one very much rewards mid to smooth swingers.
 
jfrigo1003 said:
My miss with the shaft has been huge pull draws....but yes I seem to miss out on the toe quite a bit with this shaft compared to others. This is definitely a smooth swingers shaft who has good tempo. I pull hard from the top and it doesnt seem to stay with my swing but instead snaps hard through impact. I've also noticed tons of face deflection compared to what Im used to playing

@BuffaloPlunger I've tried very hard to stop comparing it to the TD but its hard not to. After committing to swinging just the PGW the past 3 weeks I finally plugged the TD back in my Qi35 and it instantly worked better for me. I'm not saying the TD is a better shaft than PGW but it fits me better. TD has always been very stable for me and I think it's because it swings heavier. It has always minimized my misses where as the PGW seems to exaggerate my misses
Click to expand...
I agree here. For someone deciding between the TD and PGW, the PGW is definitely for someone with a smooth swing. Important to note that doesn’t mean slow. TD would be better if you have a slightly more aggressive swing
 
Jman said:
DRAMATICALLY different in terms of tempo levels. You can turn hard on the black, this one very much rewards mid to smooth swingers.
Click to expand...
I second this. As someone who regularly games the LINQ black, there’s really nothing similar about them in terms of feel
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
I agree here. For someone deciding between the TD and PGW, the PGW is definitely for someone with a smooth swing. Important to note that doesn’t mean slow. TD would be better if you have a slightly more aggressive swing
Click to expand...
I agree. It can hold up to fast, absolutely, but its smooth tempo that it rewards the most imo.

I like the feel of it, a lot, even at 40g, but it wants to be swung deliberately for sure.
 
@Jman have you thrown this one on the frequency machine? Does it actually play a little stiffer or is it just in my head
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
@Jman have you thrown this one on the frequency machine? Does it actually play a little stiffer or is it just in my head
Click to expand...
I’ve not, but mine is the 40g S so I tipped it CONSIDERABLY, thus the reading is bound to be a little….different….than standard version.
 
BuffaloPlunger said:
@Jman have you thrown this one on the frequency machine? Does it actually play a little stiffer or is it just in my head
Click to expand...
You went with 80g right? My bet would be it's the weight making it feel stiffer than the characteristics of the shaft playing stiff. My PGW is a 60TX and I feel like its considerably softer than the TD i have in 60x tipped one inch. I even tip trimmed the 60tx one inch also

This is a complete guess but if I were to try and breakdown the profiles between TD and PGW I would say they're like this using Graphite Design's rating of soft, medium, firm, stiff

TD: Stiff butt, firm midsection, medium+ tip

PGW: Stiff butt, medium midsection, soft+ tip
 
jfrigo1003 said:
You went with 80g right? My bet would be it's the weight making it feel stiffer than the characteristics of the shaft playing stiff. My PGW is a 60TX and I feel like its considerably softer than the TD i have in 60x tipped one inch. I even tip trimmed the 60tx one inch also

This is a complete guess but if I were to try and breakdown the profiles between TD and PGW I would say they're like this using Graphite Design's rating of soft, medium, firm, stiff

TD: Stiff butt, firm midsection, medium+ tip

PGW: Stiff butt, medium midsection, soft+ tip
Click to expand...
That makes sense, I also had mine trimmed an inch
 
I’ll be taking a driver lesson tomorrow to see if I can get back to a consistent swing, as that is what I think is causing my two way miss.

Too many alternating drives where I push one right a bit, but duck hook the next tee shot. It has been 2 weeks since swinging so I am going in with an open mind and won’t be mad at too much of a miss but will try to keep the swing smooth since I know this shaft can perform.

I wonder if the flex in this shaft is causing the bigger dispersion, or if it is just me falling into old habits again. It is odd that I feel like the head weight is more noticeable and ‘controllable’ yet I have been seeing too big of a spread across the course right and left.
 
Jman said:
DRAMATICALLY different in terms of tempo levels. You can turn hard on the black, this one very much rewards mid to smooth swingers.
Click to expand...
Agree on this one!
 
Sooo smooth swing mindset helped me today. I was in the short stuff way more often than not. However if I got quick it was lefty left...

I found that stiffening the grip to strong has helped and had some draws but still mostly a fade on this driver.

Booming height and distance though probably because it's airborne vs. that piercing flight. Mildly frustrating with the lefts here but with smooth swing it's definitely less wippy and head is better connected ... A lot more center strikes which is a move in the right direction.


I know it doesn't matter much (maybe a little) but the color graphics are soooo premium and looks great.
 
G-Man said:
I know it doesn't matter much (maybe a little) but the color graphics are soooo premium and looks great.
Click to expand...
it certainly matters to me. I love the look of a premium shaft when it’s well done.
 
JB said:
it certainly matters to me. I love the look of a premium shaft when it’s well done.
Click to expand...
I like this clean professional look because I'm a nut ball OCD guy. Plus the white just pops
 
First round out in a month today. I was a bit worried about my back but I felt ok. The PGW/Ai Smoke continued to be a fairway finding machine. I hit 11/14 fairways. I missed the first fairway. I literally hadn’t swung a club in a month. I did a 5-7 minute dynamic warmup to get loose but didn’t have time to hit any range balls. First swing was super tentative and I flared on right. My back felt okay though and I was able to settle down and make some good swings.

I hit 11/14 fairways today. I missed the first fairway with a bad swing. On 10 I was hitting driver somewhere I wasn’t comfortable. I made a bad swing but I was only a few feet off the fairway. The third fairway I missed was by a foot. I continued my run of rounds of golf that I haven’t come close to losing a golf ball.

I find the combination I am playing right now to be tremendously forgiving on off center hits particularly things toward the toe. I did add some loft to the driver based on some numbers from the simulator when I first got the shaft but now that I am swinging a bit more freely I may take a degree of loft off the driver and see how it behaves. I play a windy course and if I can lower the flight a touch without losing carry distance that would be good.

I will say I am hesitant to make a change because I am hitting it so well right now. For total distance I am about where I usually am. I don’t find it longer or shorter than my previous gamer shaft. I did add 1.5* of loft vs what I had been playing.

I am playing again on Sunday and am looking forward to more automatic driving. The PGW has been a fairway finding machine for me.
 
A round this morning and a lesson in the afternoon and I am seeing the higher ball flight as promised. Nothing extreme, but higher than my other driver shaft (using the same driver settings). Of course the issues I had were swing flaws...

My previous comments about seeing two way misses were reduced with a better set up and I saw consistent shots that drew a little, though some started a little right, others a little left before drawing. Face control is not a strength but I with the controlled and slower back swing, I do enjoy knowing where the club head is. Dispersion on the trackman showed a tighter spread, though I can still spin the ball too much. I was a bit tired for my lesson but even with less energy, I could still get the club going with the lighter shaft. I like knowing I can use less gas, have more control, and still see solid distances out of the set up.
 
So strengthened the grip today and that led to much better dispersion... Lost one way right but ended up being in a great spot every other ball was within fairway/first cut(off fwy less than 5 feet) know thats not a stat, but for me it's important.

Ball flew high, managed draw.

Range session I was locked into the same flag and hit every ball there which is great for knowing exactly where a club is going to be.

Again - less violence and more refined swing
 
G-Man said:
So strengthened the grip today and that led to much better dispersion... Lost one way right but ended up being in a great spot every other ball was within fairway/first cut(off fwy less than 5 feet) know thats not a stat, but for me it's important.

Ball flew high, managed draw.

Range session I was locked into the same flag and hit every ball there which is great for knowing exactly where a club is going to be.

Again - less violence and more refined swing
Click to expand...
I hit a LOT of shots with the 40S indoors last night and had that EXACT thought, less violence.

The smoother I got, the more the dynamics of the shaft started to show and perform for me. Really easy launch, and the downrange window got much much tighter. Key was, I was focused on smoother, not slower, so the speed was still there.
 
G-Man said:
Sooo smooth swing mindset helped me today. I was in the short stuff way more often than not. However if I got quick it was lefty left...

I found that stiffening the grip to strong has helped and had some draws but still mostly a fade on this driver.

Booming height and distance though probably because it's airborne vs. that piercing flight. Mildly frustrating with the lefts here but with smooth swing it's definitely less wippy and head is better connected ... A lot more center strikes which is a move in the right direction.


I know it doesn't matter much (maybe a little) but the color graphics are soooo premium and looks great.
Click to expand...
I love the looks of this shaft. Agree it gives premium vibes all around
 
Went to the range a few days ago and had a really good session. I was actually hitting tight draws that were carrying around 250y. Everything was starting on line. Not really sure what changed but it did feel like I was finally swinging a little smoother. It was also the best the shaft had ever felt. Sound was good and the feel was a little mute but also just right. Also didn’t feel like the balls we’re tumbling.

If I can maintain this swing, this shaft will easily turn into my regular gamer.

Funny enough, when I switched back to the TD, I lost control of the golf ball. Contact was solid and feel was good but I had a wicked slice going. Funny how tempo can have such a big impact.
 
Got another round in today. I wasn’t planning on playing but ran into some buddies at the course and they talked me into it. I wasn’t swinging the club very well particularly on the front 9. I did manage to hit 8/14 fairways. I did have a few that required me to hit recovery shots. Finally I started thinking about turning into my right leg and I found the center again. While I have been having really good results with the PGW it can’t fix really crappy swings.
 
I really like the way this shaft looks at address, but the feel when i just set up down the right center and i just know its going to go there with a little draw. I have not put a shaft in the driver and just had it do what i want from the start in so long, just fun to hit this one
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top