DG X100 users that switched to KBS Tour X

[stg113]

Okay, I'm going to order a set of Ping S56 irons in the next couple of days. I currently play and have almost always played Dynamic Gold and currently am playing Dynamic Gold X100's soft stepped 1 time. My driver ss averages about 110. I hit my 7 iron about 175. Primarily I hit a draw. Miss is a pull hook. I'm definately a digger with a pretty hard transition at the top.

 

I am thinking of ordering the KBS Tour in X and putting them straight in. The only time I've hit the KBS Tours was in a R9 TP demo 6 iron and it was stiff flex. Stiff was too weak, but I liked the flight of the KBS. Anyone else out there make the change from X100's to KBS Tour X. What are your impressions of the shaft? Should I soft step them. I already can balloon the X100's at times and I'm afraid with that if I soft step the KBS's the ball flight may get to high. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

 

 

[JinxyJ08]

[quote name='stg113' timestamp='1285932745' post='2722998']
Okay, I'm going to order a set of Ping S56 irons in the next couple of days. I currently play and have almost always played Dynamic Gold and currently am playing Dynamic Gold X100's soft stepped 1 time. My driver ss averages about 110. I hit my 7 iron about 175. Primarily I hit a draw. Miss is a pull hook. I'm definately a digger with a pretty hard transition at the top.

I am thinking of ordering the KBS Tour in X and putting them straight in. The only time I've hit the KBS Tours was in a R9 TP demo 6 iron and it was stiff flex. Stiff was too weak, but I liked the flight of the KBS. Anyone else out there make the change from X100's to KBS Tour X. What are your impressions of the shaft? Should I soft step them. I already can balloon the X100's at times and I'm afraid with that if I soft step the KBS's the ball flight may get to high. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.


[/quote]

Yepp i did.....then went right back to the x100's soft stepped. IDK what it is, but i just like the feel of DG and the KBS got cumbersome and a bit odd feeling on certain shots. I think x100's are THE shafts to use, wasn't a fan of the KBS X at all.

[CyberBob]

This is based on demo 6 irons of mizzy mp68 and Nike vr tw. I too likes the ball flight of the kbs but thought the DG shafts were a little more predictable and controllable. I was using kbs x; definitely felt more whippy than X100. Probably wouldnt need to soft step kbs x especially is u want lower ball flight. Just IMHO.

[Twiggy]

I have two sets of irons right now .. one with X100 and one with KBS TOUR X (and I've played both sets in other clubs as well).

The KBS have a softer feel and higher ball flight than the X100. I've noticed more than once that when I try to really go after the KBS, I will hook the ball more than with the X100. They definitely respond well to a nice smooth swing.

The weighting of the shafts are different as well. The KBS are more counter balanced and have a lighter overall feel than the X100, even at the same swingweight. This takes a little getting used to, but after a round or two, it's not really an issue.

Never been on a launch monitor to compare the X100 and KBS as far as spin rates, but I'd say the KBS have SLIGHTLY more spin than the X100. Again, no data to confirm this, but just what I've noticed from on-course playing.

I guess my final opinion is:
KBS = Higher ball flight and softer feel
X100 = Lower ball flight, firmer feel, better control (at least for me)

[Dukefan1]

[quote name='Twiggy' timestamp='1285947068' post='2723327']
I have two sets of irons right now .. one with X100 and one with KBS TOUR X (and I've played both sets in other clubs as well).

The KBS have a softer feel and higher ball flight than the X100. I've noticed more than once that when I try to really go after the KBS, I will hook the ball more than with the X100. They definitely respond well to a nice smooth swing.

The weighting of the shafts are different as well. The KBS are more counter balanced and have a lighter overall feel than the X100, even at the same swingweight. This takes a little getting used to, but after a round or two, it's not really an issue.

Never been on a launch monitor to compare the X100 and KBS as far as spin rates, but I'd say the KBS have SLIGHTLY more spin than the X100. Again, no data to confirm this, but just what I've noticed from on-course playing.

I guess my final opinion is:
KBS = Higher ball flight and softer feel
X100 = Lower ball flight, firmer feel, better control (at least for me)
[/quote]

What he said. Pretty much same results for me.

[FIJI]

I just made the switch myself:
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/413580-first-range-session-with-my-g15s-and-newly-installed-kbs/

[hayzooos]

I played the X100s in my 735s for a while, but went with Black Golds on a whim and loved those things. Anyway, back on topic...I now have a set of Wishons with soft-stepped KBS X's in them as well. I would have to agree with the guys above. I haven't had enough time to really test out the KBSs, but my experiences are quite similar. Bit higher flight, a little bit more spin which I'm not a fan of, but certainly does feel smoother. Not sure if that's the softer tip, the counter balance or what it is specifically.

I'm pretty sure I still have the X100s in my garage and I've thought about putting them in, but I really need to give the KBSs more time before I do anything drastic. Too bad the golf season here is about to wrap up in the next month or so

[stg113]

Thanks guys. I was leaning towards sticking with the DG's, but I suppose I'm just looking for greener grass. If it's not broke, why fix it. I definitely don't need more spin, so I think I will stick with the X100's. I may just go with them straight in though. I have a s57 Demo with a straight in X100 that I picked up for cheap coming, so I will give that a try first.

[XYB34A]

ok KB x flex are 7.0 on the rifle scale straight in. soft stepped one time, they are 6.7 on the rifle scale. which is what a DGX100 is straight in.

i play two sets of clubs primarily. one a set of nike victory reds with DGX100 straight in. they are 2 degrees upright and stand loft from factory.

the second set is a set of Ben Hogan Redline Apex 1988 model. i have KBX flex in the softstepped one time. they are 2 degrees upright and i have them bent to the same loft as the victory reds. which makes them about 2 degrees strong.

I called the KB factory and talked to them about what I wanted to do, January of 2009. They went thru all the rifle scale and how to get them to be the same.

As to how they play, they dont play the same. The KB shaft gets up faster, then flattens out, then falls straight down. The DG shaft goes up at an angle, and the ball falls at an angle. You get more spin on the ball with the DG shaft.


The KB shaft is much much tighter than the DG shaft. If i have a dispersion rate of 5 yards on either side of my target with the KB, then I have one that is 10 yards on either side of the target with the DG.

I am longer with the DG shafts. The KB shafts are counterbalanced.
I can hit my Nike 9 iron in the 155 range and even up to 160 when i step on it. I hit the Hogan 9 iron in the 150 range. The Hogan with the KBs are about 5 yards shorter on each club.

The KB shafts are a much better long iron shaft than the DG shaft. The 2,3, and 4 irons are much easier to hit with the KB shafts.

So I play the Nike clubs one month, with a set of wedges. Then I play the Hogan clubs the next month with a different set of wedges.

[FIJI]

I personally don't feel as if the KBS spins more than the DG based on what I've experienced. And I'll take the guy above me's word for what the KBS shafts rate on the rifle scale; again, they definitely feel better than the x100's. But if the x100's are really working for you then there is really not a huge reason to switch. The best thing you could probably do is get a 6 or 7 iron KBS shaft and try that and see if you like it in one of your clubs.

[Cwebb]

The KBS have a deceiving flex, if you base your opinion of them only from the butt frequency ("overall" frequency). They are very stiff at the top (5" clamp), but relatively soft through the middle and tip section.

Compared to Dynamic Gold taper tip and Project X, the KBS are not even close to the same stiffness through the middle and tip section. This is why they're described as very smooth.

If you look at this shaft rating chart, go down to page 24 on the PDF, and it shows the butt freqeuncy and "upper" and tip section flex ratings. It will give you a better feel of how much softer the KBS is vs DG's and PX.

http://blog.hirekogolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2010sfachapter5.pdf

[hayzooos]

I'm surprised at the rifle comparison numbers and how KBS soft-stepped once would come out to X100s straight in or 6.7 on the rifle scale. I had a session on the mizuno optimizer and it suggested three options: KBS X-flex soft-stepped (which is what I went with); PX 6.5 (straight in, I think, but I didn't like how they felt so only took a few swings with it); and DG X100 soft-stepped once.

I'll assume you're correct but if that is the case, then Mizuno needs to update their optimizer as they're too far apart to be suggesting the same shafts when it comes to KBS and DG. From what you're saying, the DG X100s soft-stepped would be closer to KBS S flex hard-stepped, which is actually what I wish I would've went with after hitting the KBS in my irons a few times now.

[ErnieMcCracken2]

[quote name='Mike1' timestamp='1285947434' post='2723337']
[quote name='Twiggy' timestamp='1285947068' post='2723327']
I have two sets of irons right now .. one with X100 and one with KBS TOUR X (and I've played both sets in other clubs as well).

The KBS have a softer feel and higher ball flight than the X100. I've noticed more than once that when I try to really go after the KBS, I will hook the ball more than with the X100. They definitely respond well to a nice smooth swing.

The weighting of the shafts are different as well. The KBS are more counter balanced and have a lighter overall feel than the X100, even at the same swingweight. This takes a little getting used to, but after a round or two, it's not really an issue.

Never been on a launch monitor to compare the X100 and KBS as far as spin rates, but I'd say the KBS have SLIGHTLY more spin than the X100. Again, no data to confirm this, but just what I've noticed from on-course playing.

I guess my final opinion is:
KBS = Higher ball flight and softer feel
X100 = Lower ball flight, firmer feel, better control (at least for me)
[/quote]

What he said. Pretty much same results for me.
[/quote]

[size="2"]My experiment with KBS is very similar to above posters. I had DG X100 in nike cci forged irons, switched to KBS Tour X then went back to DG. I like the feel and weight of the shaft but for some reason I wasn’t consistent with KBS and really did not like the sound at impact. [/size]

[hebron1427]

I've never tried KBS but was always curious. This forum makes me confident about staying with DG X100. I tried the project X for a little while and hated them. Thanks for all the helpful comments.

[hayzooos]

[quote name='hebron1427' timestamp='1287754181' post='2754031']
I've never tried KBS but was always curious. This forum makes me confident about staying with DG X100. I tried the project X for a little while and hated them. Thanks for all the helpful comments.
[/quote]

If you do your own clubwork (or if you don't, and don't mind spending a little coin) I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't try them at all. You could certainly order a single shaft and plop it into one of your heads and give it a shot and see what you think.

If the flight of the PX is what you hated, then you probably don't need to try KBS. If it was the feel of PX you didn't like, then you NEED to try KBS. Based on my limited time with them, they do fly higher than DG but they feel so much better than DG and PX (obviously).

KBS is coming out with some stepless satin shafts that are supposed to have the same feel of the KBS Tours but the flight characteristics of DG. If they can accomplish that and get consistency many people desire...the True Temper boys better figure something out quick.

[FrenchFries]

went back to x100
kbs worked great when I was swinging the club with a nice smooth tempo but it's not so often.
bad shots were ballooning with a lot of spin...

the x100 are more uniform from good shot to bad ones I think

one thing great with KBS is the feel you have around greens. They are really nice and smooth here.

[Sizzle]

I hit apex 5's for 10 years until '96, and have hit x100's since then (in Mizuno Mp14,33,and 67's), and I got the bug last winter to try the r9 tp irons with kbs tour x in a half inch over. I found them on ebay, new in the box, and played them for about 4 months. Then i made the mistake of putting them on my swingweight scale - i saw a few c-7's in there, and I was absolutely done at that point and had to sell them. A half inch over, x-flex iron should not be swingweighting at a c-7. period. This is probably the karma wheel comin' round to hit me upside the head (by trying to save a few bucks and ebay'ing a set), but he bottom line is - how does taylormade let these out of the house in the first place? I was wondering why everything felt so darn rigid and I didn't feel like i hit a truly solid iron shot in the four months I played with these irons. As soon as I dropped my old quarter inch over mp67s (x100) back in the satchel, i started to hit sweet spot again.

Now the thought is coming back at me - i really loved the look of the r9 tp heads and 'if' i got a set custom built to spec (with appropriate headweights and swingweight), would I feel different about the kbs tour x shaft? right now i'm a bit snakebit and if i were to order some fresh clubs, i'd be VERY inclined to stick with the x100 just because its a 'known quantity'....but, like any club ho out there, i see tour players ripping into shots with the kbs shaft, it does something for me: i want to follow in those footsteps.

[hayzooos]

Sizzle - Wait for the KBS Prototypes to come out next year and you may just get the best of both worlds...feel of KBS and flight characteristics of DG

[NWS Alpine]

I just ordered X100s to put in my irons after playing with KBS Tours for a couple months. Initially I felt like I like them but I need to lower the flight more. I can't wait for the KBS protos to come out to make a change as the WINDY season in FL is starting and killed me last weekend. I will test the protos when they come out since the ho in me can't resist.