KBS Tour 90 Shafts Review - Forum Testing

[JB]

THP has sent out KBS Shafts to the forum testers that were selected after signup and they will be providing feedback in this thread. Feel free to join in the conversation with your own reviews as well as ask questions to those that are doing the hard work of testing these out.

Lets keep this thread clear until the guys start getting their shafts in and posting initial thoughts. Thanks.

 

[JF]

KBS Tour 90 Shaft Testing - Unboxing Pictures and Initial Thoughts

KBS Tour 90 Shaft Testing - Unboxing Pictures and Initial Thoughts

Hey THP! Today I received the box with my shaft in them. I ordered 5-PW with two extra PW shafts. These will be going hardstepped into my irons 4-9 Apex Edges, and the two extra PW shafts will be going into my PW and 50* GW. My 54* is going to stay with the standard KBS Tour because I don't use it for full swings and I prefer the heavier feel on chip shots. I will have these ready for play as soon as I can. I will be putting up a video of my swing and ball flight before swapping out the shafts for a comparison of before and after the effects of the lighter weight shafts. I usually go through one range session a week and anywhere from four to seven rounds per week. Without further ado, the shafts:

I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to get the stickers on perfectly. If I'm lucky I can get them to do it with the installation and not have to worry about doing it all crooked and uneven.

THP Pure grips have just been ordered fore these. I'll be using the services of my uncle to put them on the shafts. I wish I could do it myself but I don't have all the tools I need.

A huge thanks goes out to THP and KBS Shafts for this opportunity! I'm really excited to be a part of this and I will give the testing my very best of efforts. I look forward to seeing how my three fellow testers like these as well as myself!

 

[Jersey Nate]

Good stuff, Ice! I'm so glad that I have Freddie to help with installation so I don't have to worry about those stickers...and an interesting setup with what you've been thinking about the wedges. Can't wait to see that box show up at my front door!

 

[Damaikis]

Hi Jack, I'm curious as to why you went with 5-PW shafts for your 4-9 irons rather than 4-9 iron shafts. Did you like the lengths of them better? Any other reason? Thanks.

Also, I can't wait to hear how you like it in the 50*. I've been thinking about getting my 50* reahafted, and if that works for you, I'll look into it.

 

[War Eagle]

KBS Tour 90 Testing
Pre-testing Writeup

As most of you know, I am going to be placing the KBS Tour 90 (stiff) shafts in to my Bridgestone J40 Dual Pocket Cavity Irons. In those irons, I have the Project X 5.5 flighted shafts, which I have really enjoyed so far. To me, the world of shafts is a bit new, and something that I am trying to learn a bit more about. Having the opportunity to talk to Conrad at KBS about iron shafts has been great, as it has really given me crash course education about the importance of a properly fitted iron shaft, and what benefits it can have on your game.

The shafts I currently game in my irons are at 120g, and the Tour 90s going in them are 102g, quite a bit of difference in what I have, and what I will soon have in my irons. One of my biggest struggles with my game is the line drive ball flight. It is something that i have struggled with, and have tried to fix, be it by playing a higher lofted driver or working on my stance and ball position. With that lower trajectory, I often lose out on distance and spin, and struggle to hold greens when I am hitting in to them, and my shot dispersion isnt where I would like it to be. In talking with the team over at KBS, the thoughts they had were that the KBS Tour 90 shafts could be a great fit for me; getting a higher ball flight and a better trajectory to result in better distance and more spin, as well as having a tighter shot dispersion for improved accuracy.

The team at KBS has been quite quite helpful in educating me on selecting shafts for my irons. I have always been a "stock shaft works for me" type of guy, but after getting my quick education from KBS, I see how that could be something that has been holding me and my game back a bit. I am quite excited to get these delivered to my door, and hoping they come soon. By design, the Tour 90s claim to offer a higher trajectory, and this is something that I can see being quite beneficial to my game.

 

[White Rhino]

I have these shafts in my irons and I love the feel of them. I look forward to hearing the thoughts of the testers moving forward.

 

[Mr. Satchmo]

Good stuff guys, I'm really jealous of this testing haha, the KBS shafts are amazing and I would love to see if they make a difference in my ball flight and consistent iron play lol. I can't wait to hear stuff after they've been installed into the irons. Good luck all!

 

[Jjmorris]

Great initial pics Ice.

War, I like your initial thoughts, I think I am in the same position as far as shaft knowledge goes, so I am excited to hear what you have to say.

 

[Jersey Nate]

KBS Tour 90 Pre-Testing Writeup


First of all, I have to thank KBS and THP again for the incredible opportunity to test the KBS Tour 90s. I've only had two sets of irons (Wilson Staff Di11s and my current gamers the Ci11s) and have always gone with the stock shafts. With all the equipment talk here, I always have been curious as to what a different shaft would do for my game.

My current shafts are the True Temper TX Flighted in my Ci11s. Paying attention to what they do for me in the Ci11s, these shafts flight the ball on a mid-high, piercing trajectory that bores through wind very nicely. Coming from the Uniflex fat shaft in the Di11s, the TX Flighted shafts lowered my ball flight slightly and I saw a lot less ballooning from them, with distances just as good as my previous Di11s. The weight of the stock shafts in the Ci11s comes in at 105 grams, whereas the KBS Tour 90s in Stiff flex will come in at 102. As this is a (in my opinion) negligible difference in weight, I'm very excited about how quickly I might get used to these shafts in my Ci11s and am looking for differences in feel, ball flight, distance, spin, and accuracy. I'm wondering if these shafts will have a similar ball flight to the TX Flighted, or if they will offer a higher ball flight as I was used to seeing with my Di11s. I also hope that they help my shots bore through the wind, as I do play some tracks close to the Jersey shore which offers quite a bit of medium to high winds. I enjoy the stock shafts in my irons, but I've always taken heed of all of the KBS love that is throughout this forum and am very happy to have the opportunity to try them out myself.

It has been said before by WE, but Conrad at KBS has been incredibly helpful in setting me up with the right flex (no hard or soft stepping here) and has been an absolute asset here on THP in the Official KBS Thread...all in a relatively short amount of time. This is my first big equipment testing, and I hope to do a thorough and honest job providing feedback here so people can see what these can do for a mid-high handicap golfer.

 

[pmoa]

Just like WE, I'm going to provide some background info. Shafts were relatively new for me and always thought stock would be fine. Boy was I uneducated!

I am currently gaming the Ping I20's with a Regular CFS shaft weighing in at a paltry 99g. They are extremely light! The clubs are at a D0 swing weight which makes it a little difficult to feel the club head. The clubs play mid-high trajectory, but the ball just seems to carry! The CFS shaft has less steps in it to provide a smoother feel to the hands. These are really good shaft offerings, but it's time to optimize.

Then, in comes Conrad from KBS. He mentioned with my swing speed I could stick with regular, but we felt we could get the ball down a little bit by hard stepping it once to be a little stiffer. I am inconsistent on my ball striking and the balls tend to be off the toe. This is more of an artifact of my swing and not the equipment I hit a mid-high ball and am looking for tighter dispersion and more distance.

One request from the testers. Would it be possible to see some pics of loading the shaft with your current shaft and then the KBS shaft? One at the top and one at impact? I'm just curious.

Thank you to THP and KBS for this awesome opportunity and hope to bring honest feedback to the community.

 

[Hanks]

You guys are going to love these shafts. The feel that these give you is really unlike any other shaft I've hit before


^^^^^^ I Tapped That.....On My iPad ^^^^^^

 

[Jersey Nate]

Just like WE, I'm going to provide some background info. Shafts were relatively new for me and always thought stock would be fine. Boy was I uneducated!

I am currently gaming the Ping I20's with a Regular CFS shaft weighing in at a paltry 99g. They are extremely light! The clubs are at a D0 swing weight which makes it a little difficult to feel the club head. The clubs play mid-high trajectory, but the ball just seems to carry!

Then, in comes Conrad from KBS. He mentioned with my swing speed I could stick with regular, but we felt we could get the ball down a little bit by hard stepping it once to be a little stiffer. I am inconsistent on my ball striking and the balls tend to be off the toe. I hit a mid-high ball and am looking for less dispersion and more distance.

One request from the testers. Would it be possible to see some pics of loading the shaft with your current shaft and then the KBS shaft? One at the top and one at impact? I'm just curious.

I will take a video tomorrow of a swing with my 7i with the TX Flighted shafts and try to single out those two images. Interesting idea! My swing doesn't go to parallel, so it might be difficult to see the load of the shaft at the "top" of my swing, but I'll do my best.

 

[JeffReedMO]

Have fun, fellas! The Tour 90's are a terrific shaft and I think you all are going to really enjoy these.

 

[JF]

Hi Jack, I'm curious as to why you went with 5-PW shafts for your 4-9 irons rather than 4-9 iron shafts. Did you like the lengths of them better? Any other reason? Thanks.

Also, I can't wait to hear how you like it in the 50*. I've been thinking about getting my 50* reahafted, and if that works for you, I'll look into it.

I hardstepped them. That simply means I put one higher shaft in each iron so that each one plays a little stiffer. The lengths where they are at with the hardstepping is perfect for me. And in reality, my irons are 10 years old and have more traditional lofts. My 4 iron is like everyone elses' 5 irons, so it works out great.

 

[Damaikis]

I hardstepped them. That simply means I put one higher shaft in each iron so that each one plays a little stiffer. The lengths where they are at with the hardstepping is perfect for me. And in reality, my irons are 10 years old and have more traditional lofts. My 4 iron is like everyone elses' 5 irons, so it works out great.

Very good, thank you. I was just curious.

 

[Jersey Nate]

As per pmoa's request, I took some stills of a 7i swing to try and show the shaft load. I will do the same again when I'm swinging the Tour 90s.

At the top:

Downswing:

Impact:

 

[Jjmorris]

That is awesome JN. It will be interesting to see if the 90's look any different.

 

[JF]

JN, what kind of camera do you have to do that with? My digital camera is 12megapixels, could I get that shot with it?

If it stops raining I will be going to the range tonight to get a video of my ball flight before I swap the shafts out. I plan on taking a video with the 4 iron, 7 iron, and pitching wedge.

 

[pmoa]

JN, That is awesome! Can't wait to see if there is a difference in the KBS

 

[SharkHat]

JN, what kind of camera do you have to do that with? My digital camera is 12megapixels, could I get that shot with it?

If it stops raining I will be going to the range tonight to get a video of my ball flight before I swap the shafts out. I plan on taking a video with the 4 iron, 7 iron, and pitching wedge.

In terms of catching images of action shots, the resolution is less important than the shutter speed. If your camera has a selector for shot type, and one of the options is a sports mode, that might be your best bet.

 

[Jersey Nate]

JN, what kind of camera do you have to do that with? My digital camera is 12megapixels, could I get that shot with it?

If it stops raining I will be going to the range tonight to get a video of my ball flight before I swap the shafts out. I plan on taking a video with the 4 iron, 7 iron, and pitching wedge.

I did that using my HD video camera and took stills from the VLC media player and cropped them. It will be tough to get those "action" stills with a still camera.

 

[ddec]

Icemann - on the shafts you received are they labeled as to which club they are for? Meaning does the 8 iron shaft say it's for an 8 iron, or is it more just the same shaft that you tip trim to play at the flex per club?

 

[Thechosen1]

I know I'm not an official tester for this but I figured I could join this group seeing as my R11s(4-AW) have the KBS 90s in them...

I was fitted for these and ever since changing from the stock burner 1.0 irons,I previously was battling a draw/hook with my burners but it was due to the stock shafts and it created more bad shots. Sure slowing the swing down helped but I would lose distance or be less consistent, in which weren't fit for me anymore, I have seen a more mid to high ball flight(something I prefer) but mainly on my strikes I won't have a hook but more of a straight ball flight. I was fit for the Xstiff but the rep thought I would be fine with these. I can't tell you how much of a difference the right shaft will make- I used to be a guy that thought the player kept the ball straight not the shaft. Ever since I got these shafts/clubs I have been more confident in my three rounds with them then I was in the past 3 years. I'm just settling into these clubs but man it feels great.

 

[impistolpete]

I have these in my cb2's. They really really helped raise my ball flight. I wish I could put them in my ap2's but the tips don't match up

 

[JF]

In terms of catching images of action shots, the resolution is less important than the shutter speed. If your camera has a selector for shot type, and one of the options is a sports mode, that might be your best bet.

I have no idea what the shutter speed is. It's a Sony digital camera, that much I know. I'll try sports mode if I have one on it. I only use it for some course photography and to take pictures of my eBay items, so performance has never been important to me.

I did that using my HD video camera and took stills from the VLC media player and cropped them. It will be tough to get those "action" stills with a still camera.

I'll have to try taking a video with my digital (still) camera and see if I can take a frame out of it.

Icemann - on the shafts you received are they labeled as to which club they are for? Meaning does the 8 iron shaft say it's for an 8 iron, or is it more just the same shaft that you tip trim to play at the flex per club?

The shaft going into my 4 iron says 5 iron on it, the 5 iron says 6 on it, etc... Length is not an issue, they are the right length as is really. And in reality I'm not doing anything different than anyone else, because my irons are older with higher lofts my 4 iron is like everyone elses' 5 iron.