Golf Shafts – WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU PLAY!?

Golf shafts can certainly be an intimidating subject.

For this Friday onion drop I’ve visited the KBS Experience in Carlsbad and brought the resident club fitter David Anderson onboard to assist. Follow along as we reveal an easy to follow road map that will expand your knowledge on the key components when it comes to choosing the right shafts for your game.

There isn’t a player type out there that Dave and myself haven’t encountered and our wide scope means there’s something in this content for all. We deep dive into feel and how that can impact players of certain ages V’s time playing the game and when should you genuinely look to seek out a shaft fitting.

Be sure to dive in those comments and I’ll do all I can to reply.

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leave your ego at the door we’re all
trying to get you out there to move away
from I need to play double X I need to
play X I need to play this I need to
play that not at all the difference is
this is a much much much stiffer shaft
someone who maybe lacks a bit of
Mobility this is going to give them
energy hey guys welcome back to the
channel we’re here at the KBS experience
I’m with Dave Anderson also known to you
guys as big wave Dave he does all the
fittings here we’re talking about iron
shafts this is going to be shafts for
dummies we’re even going to throw in
some woods so stay tuned hit that
subscribe two different types of players
out there two different Fitters that
have worked with all of them between us
we should be able to bring you
absolutely everything when it comes to
golf shafts and that daunting experience
to getting the perfect shaft for your
game and what it looks like I’ve worked
with a lot of tour players very
fortunate to have been in that situation
but you get get a baked product you get
a player that knows what they like and
like what they know now one of the
things that I think Dave is great at if
you do happen to come and experience a
fitting with him he often guiding the
player through right it’s a very
different experience when you get an
Amor they are looking to you to like
where do I go the thing I see and I
think you’ve seen with better players is
they want to feel and you give them that
and then you build around it with the
regular golfer a lot of times I’m giving
them a feel I’m teaching them what the
feel is so when it comes to golf shafts
and it comes to weights there’s some
golden rules that definitely are a very
overview basic that I’ve lent on over
time as I mentioned you get on tour and
people really don’t move out of the
family of golf shaft that they like by
that I mean they don’t come off the
weight they don’t come off the Ben
profile and they don’t come off how that
shaft is designed to flex and move and
talk for them so a rule of thumb and
it’s very general and Dave’s going to
expand on this for us but heavier
generally means lower ball flight less
turn to the left for the right-handed
golfer that’s generally the rule so if
you’ve got more speed you’d go into
heavier or I would base it if I’m
fitting amateur sometimes on time
playing the game their input when it
comes to them trying to direct the fit
where are they going with that and also
what age are they if someone’s grown up
playing blades and even as far back the
still guys have come and see me that
have had Pimon they’re going to want
heavy you know what I mean but I know
you’ve got a different opinion on this
well what we see in the regular golfer
and the fitting Bay is they they often
don’t know what their feel is they’re
not coming from a background of growing
up learning to do it one way and getting
very good at doing it that one way you
really start to play with the weight of
the shaft is one real big thing of
finding do they like light or do they
like heavy and often times it’s not them
liking it it’s more showing up in the
numbers of a full swing to show what is
actually working and how their swing
Works what’s their Tempo and what’s
their Rhythm what kind of release do
they have on the golf club they don’t
know often times tour players have a
little bit more of an idea and that’s
why the shafts work quicker through the
fitting process but when we go into the
different flexes and the weights it’s
often very different based on how the
golfer moves the club in a golfer’s
Journey when is the time to come and see
you to have this experience when should
they visit kbx experience and get these
answers I think there’s three important
times that you should get fit in your
career if you’re not a pro golfer the
first time you should get fit is when
you’re starting to swing the club when
you’re starting to swing the club we
need to at least get you in the right
range of shaft and right range of Club
heads if you’re a big bronnie played
baseball player your whole life probably
an off the rack stock stiff set of clubs
isn’t going to fit you well so there’s a
little bit of a a small fitting that you
can do right there most of the golfers
that come here are the guys that are
maybe in that range of breaking 90
they’re ready to move up into a little
bit better golf they’re trying to get
their equipment fine-tuned so it helps
them and pushes them forward in their
golf career and then that third time
that you want to really get fit is when
you’re breaking 80 you want to try and
get down to scratch we can really get in
and do some fine tuning maybe a little
bit more of the style that you do than
than I do on the everyday basis if you
see someone who is 6’4 tall plays an
inch over maybe cuz arms are you know
proportional so they’ve got to go inch
over do you then and I’m asking this
because this is something we fought with
on tour a lot do you then immediately go
for a lighter golf shaft stiff and light
to make up for the excessive swing
weight swing weight being balance point
I will concede it sometimes but I don’t
give too much to it as far as as the
regular golfer cuz often times I’m
already in a lighter shaft for that
person compared to a tour player okay
and why is that just because they don’t
have the control of their swing often
times if you get a shaft that’s too
heavy for a golfer and this is
especially true with Juniors too heavy
for a golfer can really start to throw
their swing in some funny directions
it’s funny you mention it cuz Juniors is
a huge one for me just in a whole
program with Taylor Made on this that
Jun J golf shafts junior golf clubs too
long too heavy ruins the golf the with
Juniors I’m I’m not so concerned on too
long the too heavy part is the one thing
that kills a Junior swing so I think
this is a great pivot point and entry
point for our Max HL which is a new
product from KBS that I do want to talk
about and we’ve got about four golf
shafts that we’re going to cover
specifically remember KBS offers a huge
range of golf shafts I’m kind of picking
my favorite four to go off with here so
Junior slower speed this new Max HL
would be where we’d go yeah we’ve had a
lot of success with it when you see a
junior and they’re they’re starting to
develop more speed than their strength
can handle is a big thing because you’ve
got to be able to give them something
that can hold up swing speed wise but
can’t get too heavy maybe I should be
playing the max HL cuz I got more speed
than I can handle it’s true it’s true he
says okay go on um
but we’ve got our Max HL and this one
this one shaft I’ve had a lot of success
with with Juniors it’s the 45 G stiff
flux now so the weight is down 45 G now
45 G doesn’t mean if I take this and
Bank on a scale it’s 45 G right it’s in
that region but I think people get
hooked on
oh 45 now right if you cut this down to
a three-wood length it’s going to be
less than 45 G so the 45 G is is the
range hopefully I’m asking good dummies
questions for you cuz this gol sh so
yeah don’t get to 100% tied on that
number being the exact number it really
depends on how you cut up the shaft
which is a great question so how do you
make you’ve got this listed as s how do
you make a 45 R for regular obviously
that means stiff but how do you change
the actual Flex profile so with this
shaft and actually we do our 40 G is our
senior a flex um our 42 G is the regular
flexx and the 45 is the stiff Flex so
for KBS by moving the weight slightly
which is going to be more fiber wraps
within the golf shaft if it’s graphite
is going to change the profile now
please understand that when we say stiff
Flex compared to our 60 G stiff Flex TD
shaft this is going to be a softer shaft
stiff Flex doesn’t just perfectly mean
everything’s the exact same stiff so
more weight generally means it’s going
to play Stronger AB okay I’m with you
I’m with you so that’s what we’re doing
in the scale of the max h L shaft our 40
G is our senior Flex our 42 G is our
regular and our 45 is our stiff again
this would be on the very very light
soft edge of a stiff Flex scale okay so
for someone who’s looking for if it’s a
Junior wants a bit more control cuz
they’ve got speed or if it is a lady or
a senior golfer or someone who’s regular
maybe lacks a bit of Mobility this is
going to give them energy yeah just just
think of that person that if you’re
doing the club fitting side of it you’re
looking at the person who just can’t
handle a ton of weight but has a little
bit more speed that they generate now
let’s get into the golf shafts I’ve been
playing I know from my clip data I’m I’m
pretty into these uh I’m going to hit
one for you just because of how into it
I am and I haven’t hit a golf shot for
about 30 seconds so I’m getting
withdrawals but this is the tour V
110 now I know there’s some T boys out
there using this much heavier than me m
does that mean this is no nowhere near
what they play or how can I relate to
that cuz sometimes we want it so anytime
you see a shaft in our lineup whether
it’s tour V tour ster it doesn’t matter
if it’s the light version the regular
version or the tour specs version
they’re the same profile shaft and when
we talk about profile of a shaft we’re
simply talking about where the stiffness
is in the shaft the stiffness in a tour
shaft is very much in the grip the
handle section the stiffness in our C
taper shaft is very much in the tip
section so what is that going to give
you so if so when you’re in a shop
asking if someone’s talking about the
bend profile being high versus low or
the stiff point or the feel being high
versus low what is that give you sure so
uh I always say the club fitting
Playbook would tell you something that’s
stiffer in the handle and softer in the
tip section is going to be something
that’s a little higher launching and
higher spinning I’m glad I’ve read that
book cuz I’m on the same page that’s
stiffer in the tip section is going to
be lower launching and lower spinning
okay now it’s not always true when you
get down into a fitting and you get in
there with a golfer how they release the
club how their what their Tempo is their
timing all these things can change that
but kind of the general 8020 rule is
stiffen the grip if it’s soft in the tip
section it’s going to be higher
launching higher spinning so ultimately
that point that Dave’s made there is
massive because that’s why these fitting
centers that’s why Dave’s here that’s
why why I’m here that’s why they make a
difference just because the profile of
something is what it is on the internet
doesn’t mean it’s going to play the same
way because you get some players who
release the club differently we’ve just
been talking a this morning about
extension early extension early
extending which is me for example but
how I come through the turf is going to
change and we actually had that
experience on how I went through a
fitting here and ended up coming back to
something that was lighter and you can
see when you look at it the step profile
is a little different to maybe the next
product that we can talk about which
before we get into C taper well no let’s
go SE taper um very sexy golf shaft from
you guys massively used on tour
absolutely it’s probably one of our more
popular shafts on tour um we see a lot
of players on tour like it because it
has that very firm tip section players
on tour like it cuz it’s got a m finish
yeah that’s true little finish brush the
Finish is very nice to it but the one
thing we see is a lot of tour players
almost like a little bit harsher feeling
because it feels like control to them
yeah if it feels loose and wobbly they
don’t like it because it feels like
they’re not controlling it very well so
definitely a little bit more swing uh
aggressive swing Styles prefer this kind
of shaft what is your lightest shaft in
play on the tour we do have some 15 G uh
stuff played so the SE taper comes in a
light version so still playing the haw
field the harsh field tip but our our C
taper Light extra stiff is 115 G where
our C taper the regular shaft is 130 G
so I see a lot of your 130s in this on
you get a few s pluses on at the 125 we
see we see on the tour it’s actually
kind of an even split between all the
brands of shafts KBS makes we see a
split between 125 and 130 grams of about
50/50 you’d think the Tour player would
naturally gravitate right to the 130 G
but a lot of the guys understand that
that is the that is the stiffest that is
the meanest that is the angriest shaft
with and you see a change in spin rate
when you see that bottom corner there
what or is it player dependent if
someone goes for an angry 130 C taper
what difference would you see in key
numbers here the one thing I see let’s
go back to the regular golfer when I get
a shaft like the C taper 130 and it’s
way too stiff for him if I would put
that in often times what we see is the
kind of the back of your brain realizes
it and you end up throwing and flipping
the club and you hit the C taper 130x
which is supposed to be our lowest
launching lowest spinning shaft you end
up hitting this High little spinny
floater because you’ve thrown it because
it’s way way too stiff for you it’s
interesting you say that cuz we would
see that on tour occasionally when
someone was playing something that was
too stiff you’d just get an anomaly and
you yeah some players it’s rare but it
would be one every sort of season I’m
the exact golfer of of in our lineup I
actually also play the tour V in the 120
version and when I’ve tried the Seer
shaft in my own swing I tend to throw it
I tend to spin it more so that’s why the
tour V out of the KBS lineup fits me
yeah all of our shafts are great but
when you come to a fitting for me I tell
you one KBS shaft is great for you yeah
so it’s kind of the difference of of of
what we’re trying to so let’s talk about
that one KBS shaft that for me put this
on the map in the tour it was an early
one that came out right and it had a lot
of success early on and like I say I
think it’s the flagship and the OG for
KBS it is so when when Kim brayy came on
and KBS was created in 2008 he this was
his baby this was his shaft he created
for the company that basically has an
even transfer of energy down the shaft
is kind of the idea the steps are all
space so the flex is an even called The
eii Curve when you start to measure down
the shaft the entire stiffness of the
shaft it’s a very even shaft but old
things you don’t need to be intimidated
by that’s important that’s for me and
him to know not for but even though and
that’s why I picked these four because
we’ve got Seer that should be your lower
launch stronger player dependent on
where you go with weight which now you
understand you’ve got the tour which is
your entry point if you really on no
idea where to go this is like if you
think about maybe it’s a smaller world
but surfboards this is your everyday
kind of all Mountain ski snowbo
absolutely this was in in all our shafts
in the in the lineup this is kind of the
0000 on theale there you go so that’s
where you start you look through then
we’ve got the TV which I’ve actually
gone into because just more feel for me
but that was me deciding where I wanted
to go I could feel the head a bit more
maybe don’t play as much golf as I used
to like the lighter feel and then if
you’re someone who drops way down the
scale and just need speed then Max HL
and go back when we when I was fitting
you in the video previous we were kind
of deciding between two shafts and one
was the one was the money taper shaft on
our lineup at 120 and we tried that out
and then we got to the Torv the lighter
weight is what you started to prefer
yeah for sure and I think it’s another
great lesson that ego needs to be
checked at the door weight doesn’t just
mean well you know from this video what
it means and what it translates to but
you could move between different ones
and I think just to talk wood shafts
here we have the TD I think the thing
that KBS do which I like but it does
take a bit of adjusting to as you look
at golf shafts is you list them as
categories not flexes right yeah
absolutely and and the categories are a
way of separating people from just
getting tied into oh I’m a stiff Flex
you know you run into the store you run
into one of the the big box stores and
and someone wants to buy the new driver
and they run in and go I’m a stiff Flex
well we can show you in these two shafts
our Max HL 45 and our td60 cat Category
3 these would both definitely be
considered the stiff Flex versions the
difference is this TD 60 G in our
Category 3 is a much much much stiffer
shaft mostly based on the weight
difference a little bit of profile
difference the max HL is going to be
stiffer in the grip section and very
soft in the tip section so we know now
from the SE taper story that’s going to
help you get some height should do based
on player dependent sure and the TD is
based of off of our tour iron shaft
remember that we just called that of 00
0 that’s what the TD shaft is it goes
right in line with our KBS tour iron
shaft it fits kind of in that zero it’s
a great starting point through all
flexes and all stiffnesses and all
weights so there you have it that’s why
I strongly recommend that you should go
through the fitting process learn about
your numbers leave your ego at the door
and understand that the reason that KBS
are listing these things as category is
cuz we’re all trying to get you out
there to move away from I need to play
double X I need to play X I need to play
this I need to play that not at all if
we can get you thinking a different way
so you don’t get solely hooked up on
these numbers with distance yes distance
is key but how do you get there you get
there by optimizing your numbers your
launch your Apex your descent angle and
of course the golf ball you play Dave
thanks so much mate thank you there are
some absolute nuggets in there be sure
to check everything out in the
description below to learn more about
Dave also about the KBS experience L
golf shafts we’ll put all the detail on
the website there check it out and
hopefully we’ll see you next time
[Music]
[Applause]