Club Champion Fitting - KBS Shafts Dilemma. (Regular or Stiff) Help!

Just went to get fit for a new set of irons at Club Champion.

My average Swing Speed with the 6 iron was 85.

After several tests dialed a shaft that i thought felt great and delivered the best numbers. (Ball Speed, Carry, Spin, etc)

Never cared to look carefully at it while testing different heads.

During all the fitting i assumed it was a Stiff Flex Shaft.

Really surprised at the end when i got my quote and found out that it was a Regular Flex.

This confused me a lot because i’ve always used stiff shafts and never thought they were to hard for me.

Also all the different online shaft fitting tools i’ve used before suggested Stiff Flex.

Now i don’t know what to do.

Buy the shaft that delivered the best numbers with the Trackman even though theorically it is not the right flex for me.

Or stick to the theory and get the shaft with the “correct” flex for me?

Any suggestions?

What kind of misses would i encounter if i go softer than what my swing really needs?

What do you think would happen if i go stiffer?

Anyone in a similar situation before?

What way did you go?

What was your experience?

All ideas and suggestions will be very welcomed.

The fitter wouldn't have recommended regular if he didn't think that is what you need. The scorecard doesn't care what flex you play.

I always played regular flex. At my last fitting the fitter recommended stiff. I couldn't care less. I told him just prior to the fitting that if I got the best results with pink, Hello Kitty shafts, I'd take them.

There is so much more to it than just swing speed. Tempo, release point, angle of attack, shaft weight, kick point and the brand/model of shaft all affect what flex fits best. I would not second guess what a competent fitter thought was best and what shaft gave you the best numbers.

Do you agree with the fitter that you hit this shaft the best?

If you're still unsure, go back and hit it again and hit the stiff shaft again in the same brand.

Unless you had a strong feeling the fitter was incompetent, I would listen to him. The old cliche of going to the doctor and telling him what is wrong with you comes to mind. Why did you go to the doctor if you’re not going to listen to him?

Doesn’t club Champion have some guarantee policy for a certain amount of time as well? If they actually are terrible for you I think they’ll make it right.

I swing slightly faster than you and have been put in KBS Tour R twice. I tried hard stepping and it felt different from straight in but not clearly better.

I’m a fan of playing the most flexible shaft you can control.

I like going a little stiffer then the fitting because once on a course my tempo isn’t as smooth.

Just my experience though.

Just went to get fit for a new set of irons at Club Champion.

 

My average Swing Speed with the 6 iron was 85.

 

After several tests dialed a shaft that i thought felt great and delivered the best numbers. (Ball Speed, Carry, Spin, etc)

 

Never cared to look carefully at it while testing different heads.

 

During all the fitting i assumed it was a Stiff Flex Shaft.

 

Really surprised at the end when i got my quote and found out that it was a Regular Flex.

 

This confused me a lot because i've always used stiff shafts and never thought they were to hard for me.

 

Also all the different online shaft fitting tools i've used before suggested Stiff Flex.

 

Now i don't know what to do.

 

Buy the shaft that delivered the best numbers with the Trackman even though theorically it is not the right flex for me.

 

Or stick to the theory and get the shaft with the "correct" flex for me?

 

Any suggestions?

 

What kind of misses would i encounter if i go softer than what my swing really needs?

 

What do you think would happen if i go stiffer?

 

Anyone in a similar situation before?

 

What way did you go?

 

What was your experience?

 

All ideas and suggestions will be very welcomed.

Wouldn't it be possible that the shaft that gave you the best results be "theoretically" the right shaft?

Way more than just swing speed... you can not compare online fitting tools to what Trackman is telling you. I swing driver around 105 but am finding I get good results on the course with some regular shafts, too... Unless you really hate the feel, I would play what is giving you the best results and leave your ego in the car.

Thank you all for your comments.

Anyone went through this kind of flex change before?

Suggestions?

Comments?

The fitter wouldn't have recommended regular if he didn't think that is what you need. The scorecard doesn't care what flex you play.

 

I always played regular flex. At my last fitting the fitter recommended stiff. I couldn't care less. I told him just prior to the fitting that if I got the best results with pink, Hello Kitty shafts, I'd take them.

How are you playing with the stiff shafts?

Unless you had a strong feeling the fitter was incompetent, I would listen to him. The old cliche of going to the doctor and telling him what is wrong with you comes to mind. Why did you go to the doctor if you’re not going to listen to him?

 

Doesn’t club Champion have some guarantee policy for a certain amount of time as well? If they actually are terrible for you I think they’ll make it right.

I totally agree with you.

Thanks.

There is so much more to it than just swing speed. Tempo, release point, angle of attack, shaft weight, kick point and the brand/model of shaft all affect what flex fits best. I would not second guess what a competent fitter thought was best and what shaft gave you the best numbers.

I totally agree with you.

Thanks.

I swing slightly faster than you and have been put in KBS Tour R twice. I tried hard stepping and it felt different from straight in but not clearly better.

Which setting worked better for you?

Standard or Hard Stepping?

What was your typical miss before having the Tour R Shafts?

What is your typical miss with the Tour R Shafts?

The internet must know more than what you experienced first hand? Go with the best performance.

Additionally, if I’m reading this correctly and it’s a KBS, moving to a stiff will add weight (how much depends on the model). That alone could be detrimental to your results.

The fitter wouldn't have recommended regular if he didn't think that is what you need. The scorecard doesn't care what flex you play.

 

I always played regular flex. At my last fitting the fitter recommended stiff. I couldn't care less. I told him just prior to the fitting that if I got the best results with pink, Hello Kitty shafts, I'd take them.

 

How are you playing with the stiff shafts?

Much better. My dispersion is tighter and I don't hit the ball as high.

Solution? Hardstep the regular shafts. It will get you slightly closer to stiff, but keep the same weight.

Other solution...listen to your fitter.

Thank you all for your comments.

 

Anyone went through this kind of flex change before?

 

Suggestions?

 

Comments?

Suggestion if at all possible would be to get a demo club onto the course and hit shots be it approaches or short par 3s and see how it works.

A year ago I was "fit" into graphite shafts and over the course of the season I struggled and I didn't know why until one of the pros took me aside and showed me a video of my swing on course. I was swinging too fast for the shaft and they told me to go and get fit again and get a demo club or two to try on course.

Mizuno were good enough to give me a few heads and "recommended" shafts based on a full fitting and I was able to play them over a few weeks... different courses, conditions, feelings.

The dynamic fitting showed one shaft to be the standout but from on course the stiffer flex one gave me the most consistent returns in terms of feel and ultimately score.

Try it and see!

Kbs tend to run a bit stiff, while smooth

I swing about same and prefer the regs over the stiff, don't let ego ruin it....you were fit hit em great and now your leary....

I hit ball a bit low too so prefer slightly higher flight

I can play almost any shaft and have

But too stiff feel gives me more problems than a bit softer

I have no insight on what is best for you. But, I was fitted last year after I was having trouble getting an acceptable load with my ten year old clubs (I'm 52 and have lost some clubhead speed). I was playing DG 300 Stiff. In the end, I hit the KBS Tour 110 far better than any other shaft. The fitter told me that the KBS Regular 110 was more like Regular Plus compared to a DG Regular. So the KBS was maybe somewhere in-between the DG Regular and Stiff. This is not fact, but it's what I was told and I believe the fitter was a competent guy. For me it was a measurable improvement, specifically with the longer irons (I was leaving them short and low with the DG 300 S).

I'll 3rd what Moo and Dunn have said. I played KBS Tour Regular's in my S55's for a few years and they're great shafts. I switched em out to Nippon 1050's in stiff and I honestly believe the Nippon Stiff's are softer than KBS Reg's.

I remember looking at Jim Furyk's WITB some time back and he had KBS Tour Reg's hard stepped. That says it all right there IMO. Peel the stickers off the shafts and you'll forget about the R in no time.

Order regular and ask them to put stiff stickers on them. That way you can get good performance and still play the "stiff" Shafts that you desire.

Is this really a performance question or do you just want to be able to tell people you play stiff Shafts.

You obviously got the fitting because something was off. You went to a place that does great fittings. You haven't mentioned hitting bad shots with the Shafts. You just really seem to struggle with the idea of hitting regular flex clubs.

I forgot about this. There is an old post from 2011 from the forum showing some data. The KBS Tour regular does appear to be stiffer than DG Regular.

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/496072-new-and-improved-shaft-chart/

As mentioned above the KBS Tour has a strong EI profile so you need to forget about the flex label attached and simply go with the feel and performance.

The other thing to consider is the KBS Tour S is not only slightly stronger but it is 10 grams heavier and this additional weight will have perhaps a bigger influence on the shaft’s suitability than the increase in strength.

Finally, if your confidence is reduced by the regular flex label, KBS supply the KBS Tour in R+ flex, exactly in between in R and S in strength and weight.

I forgot about this. There is an old post from 2011 from the forum showing some data. The KBS Tour regular does appear to be stiffer than DG Regular.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...ed-shaft-chart/

seems to be big differnce beween KBS in taper and parralel

the tipping instructions for the parallel are very handy

I have a KBS Tour 90 R which needed maximum tipping plus to get to 4.5 flex

Why not just call the fitter you worked with and talk it through with him?

After my CC fitting, I was really happy with the way I had hit the ball with the setup I was fit into, but I was concerned that the swingweight was higher than I’d played in the past.

I talked again with the fitter, and he talked me through the reasons the higher swingweight worked for my swing. He also offered to have me come in again to hit the clubs in the recommended setup, and also to play around with swingweight so I could see how higher and lower swingweight affected my results in this setup.

It turned out that I liked the recommended setup the best, and that’s ultimately how I had the clubs built.

OP

My experience only.

I had a set of JPX 825 Pro's with KBS Tour 120 stiff....I found the shaft a bit too stiff on the 5 iron.

I found a set of used Adams XTD A Tours really cheap with KBS Tour 110 regular.

I do find the regulars just a tad soft.....maybe R+ or the regulars hard stepped once would be ideal for me.

But the A Tours have more forgiving heads.....so I always wondered how the clubs would play if I had the regs in the Mizzy's and stiffs in the Adams.....I probably would have liked them.

I sold my JPX's.

My friend has the TM 770's with KBS 120 FLT stiff shafts....I love the feel and playability of those shafts....ask to demo them.

But the FLT plays a bit higher with more spin than the Tour shafts.

The fitter wouldn't have recommended regular if he didn't think that is what you need. The scorecard doesn't care what flex you play.

 

I always played regular flex. At my last fitting the fitter recommended stiff. I couldn't care less. I told him just prior to the fitting that if I got the best results with pink, Hello Kitty shafts, I'd take them.

Apple vs. Oranges.

If you're talking about the Diamana B Series???....at 65 grams that you got fitted for at the Cally trip......the stiff in those Diamana's would play/feel soft compared to any stiff steel shaft twice the weight...especially the KBS Tour shaft.

Very similar experience with a Club Champion fitting. Walked in with a set of Wilson FG V4's, shafted with DG Pro Stiff flex shafts. Was fitted into a Taylormade P790 with a very light regular flex graphite shaft. Did the full bag fitting and was also fit into Tour Exotic hybrids and Mizuno T7 wedges. I thought the guy was full of beans and walked away thinking I am never going to follow this advice...I've always played stiff flex shafts. My follow up thought should have been...Yes, and you've always had trouble striking the ball and you've always played like shat.

On the interwebs one day and saw the Tour Exotic hybrids and thought I would give it a shot. Ordered the 4 and 5 hybrids with regular flex Graphite Design shafts. Absolutely, night and day compared to the hybrids I had been playing. No trouble getting the ball in the air with a little draw and insignificant distance loss (or none). Hmmm

Ordered a regular flex shaft for my Mizuno driver, never driven the ball better. Now it's in my head

P790's arrive today

I am not saying I ordered the exact same shaft as they suggested; but with a little research I found ones that were very close to the same characteristics (weight, flex, torque, kick etc)

So maybe get one of your clubs re-shafted with the Club Champ. suggestion and see how it goes??? My experience is they were on the right track for my swing

hardstepped regular?

Update.

I was very confused and really wanted to get this right.

Went back to Club Champion.

Very simpathethic.

Helped me to make a blind testing between KBS Tour V Stiff - KBS Tour V Regular.

These are the numbers.