KBS creates a tour shaft for all golfers

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KBS has added an all-round model to its range of shafts to suit a wide array of players, ranging from Tour professionals to amateur players. 

The new KBS Tour FLT shaft - standing for 'flight' - is designed for players looking for optimal launch capacity across the full iron set.

Following a testing session at the PGA Show Demo Day in Orlando alongside KBS' R&D and Tour operations director Kim Braly, we experienced a shaft that generates a separately-tuned ball flight for each club.

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There is a much lower ball flight with the scoring clubs and a higher ball flight with the longer irons, particularly from the 6-iron down. We also noted superb control from the short irons when using our fitted KBS Tour FLT in 120g.

"Our new KBS Tour FLT shafts are not pigeon holed to any particular type of player," said Braly.

"In terms of fitting, we are confident there is something here that is going to fit just about everybody."

Braly, who has dominated shaft design for the past 20 years and continues to set the industry standards, has seen his shafts win more than 6,000 tournaments across the world.

“There are many reasons why KBS is so popular, the main one being the pedigree of the guy who designs them,” said KBS' European Tour representative Paul Steels.

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“Kim is not a new kid on the block and he knows what he’s doing with the Tour players. More recently, his expertise has been benefiting the amateur players too.

“Another big factor is that when the shafts are put in play they produce immediate results, so the level of success has got people talking - from the ranges on Tour to golf clubs around the world. Now they all want to try KBS shafts.”

Since being launched in 2008, KBS shafts are now played by more than 150 professionals across the PGA, European and supporting Tours (of which around 20% of them will have new Tour FLT shafts in play).

That number is highlighted by more than 10 of the top 50 players in the world using KBS.

Typically involved with 25% of a regular PGA Tour field, Braly admits there is one player that always stands out from the crowd.

"There are probably 40 players out of the 140 on any given week using a KBS shaft, so we still have some way to go to become the number one, but we are only seven years old and have come on very quick," he said.  

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"Of all the players I work with, Phil Mickelson (uses KBS Tour-V 125x in his irons and wedges) is the best. 

"The way he goes about what he does is very methodical, and he is a lot smarter than most. He tends to get equipment, which is great, and that makes our life very easy.  If you pose a question to him, you better be ready for an answer!

"Some players don't get shafts at all, but generally we can help these guys. I have been involved in the golf shaft business long enough now to be able to see any glaring errors in a player's game and where one of our shafts can look to tighten things up a little bit."

As for the general importance placed in golf shafts today - a topic that appears to provide differing viewpoints across the industry - Braly was quick to define it as "the engine of the club."

"The shaft is what allows you to square the golf club, at the end of the day. Provided you are fit properly, you will find you will be able to square the club more consistently. All our products are designed specifically for fitting."

Any KBS iron shaft, in the eyes of Braly, will not only add distance to a player's game but more importantly improve the accuracy.  

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"It's all about dispersion with our iron shafts, it's not really about distance," he added.

"Saying that, I am confident our products will always go half a club further than our competition, at the same stiffness. 

"This is because the next 3-inch section on all our products have the exact amount of decrease in stiffness as the one above it, and that is from the butt all the way to the tip. So in terms of the flex, what goes on during the swing, it will do it more efficiently."

RRP: £22.49
Flex options: X, S+, S, R and R+
Weights: 110 to 130g (in five-degree increments)
Website: www.kbsgolfshafts.com

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