Back to KBS, But Which One?

[mwink822]

Well, I finally got green lit to get back to playing golf after having broken two metatarsal bones, tearing my TFCC and ulna ligament back in August and having surgery at the beginning of October. Despite loving the feel of my Mizuno JPX 900 Tours, I'm still not in love with the look of the shorter clubs and I prefer the look of a blade. After wrapping up with a client on Saturday afternoon, I stopped by my local Golf Galaxy to check out some of the new irons that are out there.

 

I swung the Titleist 718 MB (probably due to be replaced during 2019), the Taylormade P730, the Callaway Apex MB, and the Mizuno MP18. Of the lot, I was getting the best results with the Titleist and the P730 both with different KBS shafts in X, S-Taper in P730 and the tried and true Tour in the 718. They only had a glued demo of the Apex MB, so not a totally fair comparison since it had a Project X 6.5. I played Project X 6.0 years ago, and despite it giving me a good flight, I just never was in love with the feel of them. Admittedly I didn't try the MP18 with anything other than the Modus 120X which I didn't care for on the feel side and didn't try any other shafts in it.

 

With the above in mind, I didn't notice a ton of difference in numbers between the S-Taper and the Tour, but the S-Taper did have a little bit different feel, almost the way I imagine the Tour would feel if soft stepped. Numbers wise, both were in fitting 7 irons using one of my personal Pro V1's. Swing speed with both was hovering between 80 and 83 MPH, ball speed was between 114 and 117 MPH, launch on both was between 20* and 23*, spin was hovering around 6200 and my carry distance was around 161 yards on their GC2. What I did notice was that the S-Taper was consistently a the higher launching and spinning of the two, but it also wasn't apples to apples as it was in a different head. Both heads share the same loft specs, but I can't speak to whether their CG's are located differently. With all of this in mind, is it really worth dumping the extra couple hundred bucks for the S-Taper or would the Tour be adequate?

[5hort5tuff]

I dont believe in spending big bucks on steel irons shafts. You can read endless threads about iron shafts and results vary. Many people see their best results with ping awt shafts for example.

 

I play an old set of Nippon 950gh and have found them to work best.

 

I would play the Tours, even soft step them once, and dont look back

[spooky]

I didn't find the S Taper to be significantly different to the Tour - if there is less spin then it's marginal. I tried the 120 though and perhaps the heavier 130 would have been better for me. Personally, I don't think they are worth the additional money, although they look nice in black.

 

I've still got them in some of my irons but I'm currently playing around with alternatives and I'll probably end up back in C Taper.

[williaza]

If anyone has seen my last other thread...I am currently contemplating switching to KBS...ive hit and few and took consultation with KBS themselves and my golf pro...I am trying to decide between KBS Tour S KBS Tour S+ and CTL in X

[Banker]

I loved the KBS Tour S 120 in my i25’s & just had the tgi 95’s put in my iblades because I’m getting old and things hurts now. Hoping the graphite keeps the feel of the kbs tour and helps the elbows and wrists.

[Jagpilotohio]

The S Taper is specifically supposed to spin LESS than the tour’s. You got odd results.

 

I’m with the previous posters that say they aren’t worth the money. I think KBS made a giant mistake pricing them above $50 bucks.

 

The black version does look cool and they do feel good, but are they worth $54.95 a pop??

 

I’ve played the Tour V 120 X for 30 months now and it’s great, but it is a low spin, slightly lighter weight shaft. It May not work for you as your spin is already fairly low.

[mwink822]

The S Taper is specifically supposed to spin LESS than the tour's. You got odd results.

 

I'm with the previous posters that say they aren't worth the money. I think KBS made a giant mistake pricing them above $50 bucks.

 

The black version does look cool and they do feel good, but are they worth $54.95 a pop??

 

I've played the Tour V 120 X for 30 months now and it's great, but it is a low spin, slightly lighter weight shaft. It May not work for you as your spin is already fairly low.

 

It wasn't an apples to apples comparison as they were each in different heads.

[5UnderPar18]

I’m brand new to posting but have been reading here for years and love to see everyone’s feedback. I’ve played the KBS Tour in stiff and X, the Tour V in stiff and X, the FLT 130x, and this year the $Taper in 120S in a set of P790s and currently using the KBS $Taper 130x in the Srixon Z785s. The KBS $ Taper 130X shafts so far are the BEST shafts I have ever hit. They are stable but not boardy. They hit the ball on the line I want with tight dispersion but off center strikes don’t feel overly punishing to the joints. I’m 50 now and that matters to me at this point. I’m a scratch golfer and played in the USGA 4ball and still comfortably hit 8iron 160-165 yards. I’ve wanted to play X again in my irons for the last 4 years but mis hits just hurt. Finally I have X flex again that feels smooth, loads nicely, launches mid height, and holds the green. Disclaimer: while not necessarily apples to oranges I Have not played the $Taper 130 X shafts in anything other than the new Srixon Z785s and I have not played the new Srixon Z785s with any other shaft.

[SwooshLT]

I didn't find the S Taper to be significantly different to the Tour - if there is less spin then it's marginal. I tried the 120 though and perhaps the heavier 130 would have been better for me. Personally, I don't think they are worth the additional money, although they look nice in black.

 

I've still got them in some of my irons but I'm currently playing around with alternatives and I'll probably end up back in C Taper.

 

 

Funny you said this, as I re-shafted a good head for me with ctaper reg 1/2" and it's like I found gold! Ctaper allows me for some odd reason , to be as aggressive as needed but still hit those little shots I like....maybe regular flex is built differently but these work so much better for me than kbs tour, modus 105 or PX lz....those shafts mentioned have had moments in which I've enjoy the strike but none offer the height, feel and distance combination....yes I said height....again for some reason my launch, in particular off the deck, is very nice especially for this low launch, slow speed guy.

[ChipNRun]

You mentioned the PX 6.0 shafts and you not quiet meshing with them? Well, standard PX are some of the most robust steel shafts available, and are a half-flex stiffer than the KBS Tour stiff.

 

Here is the KBS spin-launch matrix for its iron shafts. From what you've said, probably just go with KBS Tour in stiff flex.

 

[Pepperturbo]

I have all sort of KBS iron sets plus a few C-Taper shafts left to test. As I go into the new year I am going to seriously test KBS C-Taper "S" and "R+", hoping the butt end is stiff enough to stay with my fast transition and hands at impact. Time will tell. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy & safe New Year all. :beach:

[mwink822]

In a moment of weakness, I stopped into my local 2nd Swing just for S&G, and decided I'd give the JPX 919 Tours a swing, and they felt quite similar to the 900 Tours that I currently play, They did plug in the shaft optimizer doodad which came back with a recommendation for X100 soft stepped, KBS C-Taper X soft stepped, or PX 6.5 soft stepped. Per their Trackman, my 6 iron speed was hovering between 88 and 90 which I suppose is a product of me getting some hand and wrist strength back as a product of my ongoing PT. I suppose I'll shelve the new irons idea until spring time when I'm actually done PT and will have spent some time playing again.

[dirtygooner]

I’m brand new to posting but have been reading here for years and love to see everyone’s feedback. I’ve played the KBS Tour in stiff and X, the Tour V in stiff and X, the FLT 130x, and this year the $Taper in 120S in a set of P790s and currently using the KBS $Taper 130x in the Srixon Z785s. The KBS $ Taper 130X shafts so far are the BEST shafts I have ever hit. They are stable but not boardy. They hit the ball on the line I want with tight dispersion but off center strikes don’t feel overly punishing to the joints. I’m 50 now and that matters to me at this point. I’m a scratch golfer and played in the USGA 4ball and still comfortably hit 8iron 160-165 yards. I’ve wanted to play X again in my irons for the last 4 years but mis hits just hurt. Finally I have X flex again that feels smooth, loads nicely, launches mid height, and holds the green. Disclaimer: while not necessarily apples to oranges I Have not played the $Taper 130 X shafts in anything other than the new Srixon Z785s and I have not played the new Srixon Z785s with any other shaft.

 

I have to say I've had the exact opposite reaction to this shaft. I initially bought a set of $ Taper 125 S+ because I'd been looking for shafts in the 125+ gram range with anything that could give me less spin than an S300. The $ tapers might feel a little smoother when flushed but actually play a little firmer than the shaft states IMO. It does offer less spin but for my fading ball flight it just turns into leaky shots