Mitsubishi Bassara UltraLite Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

Mitsubishi Bassara UltraLite Hybrid Golf Shaft – Second Generation 2011

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

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The Mitsubishi Bassara Hybrid is an ultra light shaft with weights ranging from 49 to 60 grams. The profile is similar to the earlier Bassara hybrid, but it is 10 grams lighter. And softer. Tip torque ranges from 3.1 to 2.4, butt torque from 4.1 in the 50L to 3.2 in the 60S. Not bad for so little material.

It is a mid launching shaft, and like all Mitsubishi shafts, the radial quality is excellent, meaning the shaft can be installed in any orientation. Ultralights are not for everyone, but if you feel you cannot comfortably handle a club in mid swing with the small muscles of your hands and are resorting to big muscles, it’s time to look into lighter clubs.
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KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shafts

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Hybrid KBS image

The KB in the KBS brand stands for Kim Braly. In the 80’s Kim and his father, Dr. Joe Braly founded Precision Shaft Corporation. Together, they created one of the first ever PGA Tour vans and did research on PGA players that established many of the core design principles of golf shaft stiffness. The company eventually became Royal Precision. At Royal Precision, Kim Braly created the stepless Rifle Golf Shaft and the Project X Golf Shaft. Those brands are now owned and produced by True Temper which acquired Royal Precision in the early 2000s.

In 2008, Kim Braly joined Femco Steel Company and the KBS brand was launched. The combination of FST manufacturing technology and Kim’s knowledge of golf shaft design quickly made the KBS brand one of the leading brands on the PGA Tour and among golfers of all skill levels. Shaft to shaft consistency is excellent, Radial quality is excellent. The designs are easy to understand and flight. They are club makers / club fitters shafts.

The KBS Hybrid shaft is what can now be though of as a first generation Femco Steel / Kim Braly design. It was the first stepless design produced by the partnership. Compared to later designs, it is softer. It is a great companion to lighter weight steel, like the KBS Tour 90. It has the same bend profile as all the KBS products, a consistent, stable change of stiffness from point to point down the entire length of the shaft.

The torque ranges from 2.3 in the R flex to 2.1 in the X flex. A very low number, found in very few graphite shafts. I have fit this shaft into the hybrids of some strong players. They gained control unlike anything they had ever experienced in their hybrids.

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In a discussion a the 2011 PGA Merchandise show with Kim Braly about Hybrid shafts for strong players he suggested the C Taper 2 iron shaft. A look at the EI and GJ profiles showed it to be a stiffer version of the KBS Hybrid. The torque numbers of steel are naturally low, and the KBS Tour C Taper torque ranges from 2.1 in the R flex to 1.6 in the X flex. Radial quality is excellent allowing the shaft to be installed in any orientation.

Iron fitting experience with this shaft has shown that I can ‘tune’ launch with flex. Having R+ and S+ sub flexes makes this easily to test during a fitting. If you are strong enough for this shaft in your irons, you will be amazed at how accurate your hybrids can be with STEEL.

UST Mamiya Elements Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya Elements – Earth – Fire – Wind Hybrid Golf Shafts

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

RollingElementsEWFThe USTMamiya Elements Golf Shafts have three different launch designs; Earth=low, Fire=mid and Wind=high. In the hybrid models, the difference between the Wind and Fire is weight and stiffness, The lower launch Fire is a 100g shaft while the higher launch Wind is a 90 gram golf shaft. The 80g Earth is a different design. The Earth profile is very similar the the UST Mamiya VTS Silver and Black design.
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The Wind and Fire designs are almost identical to the UST AXIVCore Black, one of my favorites for stable tip, mid-high launch hybrid shafts. Radial quality is excellent, several of the 9 shafts I measured were perfect, the worst of them was 99.3%.  This is as good as it gets.  Tip torques were around 1.9, butt torques 2.5.  This is a low dispersion design that offers the USTMamiya TourSPX dealer a wide range of fitting options. The graphics of the USTMamiya Elements is an interesting update of the UST Mustard and Black color scheme.

UST Mamiya VTS Tour SPX Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya VTS Hybrid Tour SPX

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

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TourSPXTransparetLogo.fwThe ATTAS VTS hybrid is available in low, medium and high torque models in different weighs and flexes. It lets the fitter explore your sensitivity to torque. This is not a shaft you buy off the shelf, it is designed for custom fitting by a UST certified Tour SPX fitter.

VTS Hybrid EiGjVTS Hybrid TorqueAs you can see from the profiles, each of the torque designs has a slightly different EI profile, resulting in slightly different launch tendencies. The Red is a Mid-High launch while the Silver and Black are Low-Mid designs.

These are tour grade shafts, the radial quality and shaft to shaft consistency is excellent. Each shaft is certified by UST with 20 measurements and laser etched with a serial number before it ships. Should you ever need a replacement, the certification document can be used to find a match.