KBS Tour Reg vs Stiff

[Thelaminater]

Hi all, I am just getting back into golf and went to a club fitter and was fitted into a set of RSI 1s with KBS Tour shafts (regular stiffness). Before I pull the trigger on them, I was wondering if I should look into bumping them up to the regular + or stiff versions. My 6 iron swing speed is about 85 mph so I am afraid that the regulars might be a bit too soft for me. On the other hand, the fitter probably knows what he's doing so I don't want to just completely blow off his recommendation.

 

Any thoughts?

[dunn]

Basically gonna be ballflight and shaft weight. ....also you have to factor avg speed....very few golfer swing same speed everyday and every shot....I have similar swingspeed with decent angles and I can swing either.....the stiff is lil stout for my taste and longer irons fly lil low with stiff.....and I think Titleist is only manufacturer offering the half flexes from KBS.........the problem I had with kbs was weight on regs were too low but stiff was lil stout and wasn't crazy bout the way they kick.......but everyone different.......very hard for someone here to tell you which way to go.....personal preference

Softer shaft is more forgiving though......so days when your swingspeed is off or your angles aren't on point the softer shaft is easier to load

[Stuart_G]

What do you mean when you say you were "fit into them"? Did you actually demo the club with either of those shafts (reg and stiff)? I would hope so, but the fact that you question the fitting has me wondering. Even if you just hit the regular and may not have demo'd the stiff, was there any issue with how it felt or with the results in any way?

If you didn't hit either, what did you hit that resulted in the fitters recommendation?

Swing speed, is at best, ONLY a starting point for the fitting process and by no means the only or final determining factor for selecting a shaft flex.

[Nessism]

85 mph 6 iron with medium tempo and release lines up with a KBS Tour S. I wouldn't go R unless you are sensitive to feel and hate the feel of a stiff shaft. R+ would be okay if you have a smooth tempo and release too.

[jimb]

Furyk plays KBS Tour in R flex, hardstepped once. I have a similar swing speed to you, about 100 mph with the driver. When I went to the online fitting tool at the KBS website I was asked a series of questions regarding swing speed, carry distance with an iron and tempo. I was once fitted for KBS Tours in R, KBS Tour-V in X and also in KBS Tour-V in S depending on what info I gave the system regarding the ball flight I wanted. The fitting tool is a starting point. The KBS Tour R flex I think has a relative stiffness to a weak stiff in DGs. As Nessism said an R+ may be the ticket. It depends on your sensitivity to stiffness and the lighter feel of the KBS shafts in general.

[Thelaminater]

[quote name='Stuart G.' timestamp='1439630886' post='12141518']
What do you mean when you say you were "fit into them"? Did you actually demo the club with either of those shafts (reg and stiff)? I would hope so, but the fact that you question the fitting has me wondering. Even if you just hit the regular and may not have demo'd the stiff, was there any issue with how it felt or with the results in any way?

If you didn't hit either, what did you hit that resulted in the fitters recommendation?

Swing speed, is at best, ONLY a starting point for the fitting process and by no means the only or final determining factor for selecting a shaft flex.
[/quote]
So I demoed the club with the regular flex but not stiff. I don't think there was an issue of feel, I just was surprised to be fit into regular. I am a fairly "powerful" guy and am just worried that they could end up being a little soft. But I also know nothing about shafts and could be (and probably am) completely wrong.

[Bimmer1]

KBS Tour stiff is actually slightly stiffer than DG S300 and about the same as Project X 5.5

[Stuart_G]

[quote name='Bimmer1' timestamp='1439659014' post='12142882']
KBS Tour stiff is actually slightly stiffer than DG S300 and about the same as Project X 5.5
[/quote]

Butt end is stiffer but the tip is softer. Just looking at the just the butt frequences is never really sufficient to judge the stiffness of a shaft.

[dunn]

Only way to really know is play with them....transition and release are more important than actual speed....ballflight is huge though....I didn't find a huge difference between em cept for feel and ballflight.....

Like I said most manufacturers don't offer the + flexes in KBS so an R+ is prolly out of the question unless you want to foot the bill

[Thelaminater]

So would there be any downside to playing regular stiffness apart from feel? Would you guys rather have your shafts be too soft or too stiff?

[Stuart_G]

[quote name='Thelaminater' timestamp='1439699845' post='12146376']
So would there be any downside to playing regular stiffness apart from feel? Would you guys rather have your shafts be too soft or too stiff?
[/quote]

If you have a fast enough swing speed and a late enough release, the softer shaft might launch a little higher and spin a bit more. However, that's not necessarily a 'down side'. Other than that, it's all about feel. There are really no other down sides.

[DatSliceDoe]

I'm playing KBS S now and have about an 86-90 ss with a six iron. Driver is about 100-108 depending on strike. I am a better iron player than driver, so should I go with S+ shafts or just keep what I have.

I have swung both and really didn't notice a difference except that I have a feeling that the S+ will launch lower and may be harder to load in shorter clubs. Is that correct?

[dunn]

It's not as big a difference as alot of people tend to believe....have had numerous flexes by different mnfctrs and I did not find it to be much unless I really went to opposite sides of flexes and shaft types......

Weight and feel were 2 major differences, which can alter the swing based on what user is feeling.....if shaft feels heavy and stiff one tends to swing lil different to try and get same feel he is used too....and opposite for light and weaker shaft.....

It's still a feel thing though

[Thelaminater]

Thanks for the input all. I think I am going to go with the stiffs. However, if my fitting was "designed" around the regular stiffness, will the lie angle still be valid if I use stiff shafts instead?

[gopherguts]

[quote name='Thelaminater' timestamp='1440257388' post='12188964']
Thanks for the input all. I think I am going to go with the stiffs. However, if my fitting was "designed" around the regular stiffness, will the lie angle still be valid if I use stiff shafts instead?
[/quote]

Just read through this for the first time.

The only real way to decide is for you to TRY the stiff shaft.

While, as others have pointed out, SS isn't everything, your SS "fits" solidly in the stiff range. Why doesn't your fitter have a stiff you can test out ? Maybe you should find another fitter ?

I mean I swing the 6 about 80 and am using a C-Taper stiff and hit them just fine. For irons, I personally would use the stiffest shafts that both feel right and don't cost me a lot (if any) of lost yardage. I hit "X" and the ball feels very harsh and the ball is very short. I hit "R" and typically get less accuracy AND yardage than an "S".

You don't mention your handicap or prior competency but I wouldn't worry about lie angle for a slightly different shaft stiffness, especially since lie angle can be easily adjusted after the fact.

Good luck.

[Stuart_G]

Yes, changing the flex can potentially impact other specs of the build including lie angle and swing weight (stiffs are 10 gm heavier than the regulars) and even distance gaps.

IF you are interested in the stiffs then certainly go try them side-by-side with the regulars but it would be a very bad ideal to just go ahead and order the stiffs w/o trying them first - particularly after being fit into the regulars.

[mitchdoc]

I play the regular plus flex of this shaft in my cobra forged irons. I normally play Project X5 .5 in my previous that and I did not find these to be less controllable. Launch and feel are great this version is good and I have probably picked up about 3 to 5 yards in distance compared to other shafts.
For reference my driver swing speed is between 100 and 105 miles an hour and I had a six iron roughly 175.

[dk77fo18]

id say go with r+ since stiff is a bit much. i played reg flex and they are hard to control with the softer tip.
you can probably ge taway with stiff too.