Mitsubishi KuroKage Driver Golf Shafts

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

The Mitsubishi Kuro Kage (Black Shadow) shipped to dealers in Mid March, 2012. The pregreg has less resin and more fiber, making a design that was not possible in the past.  This was the first of the Mitsubishi shafts to use high density prepreg. High density prepreg was later used in the third generation Diamana B.

The Kuro Kage TiNi is a tour quality shaft Mitsubishi. It exhibits the extremely smooth profile and low torque one would expect in a $400 product.  The KuroKage Black and Silver are budget priced $175 shafts from Mitsubishi. Like the second brand of a vineyard, a great shaft, but not quite the tight torque typical on the premium models.

All of the KuroKage’s measured had excellent radial consistency.

 KuroKage Proto TiNi

The KuroKage Proto TiNi is available only through selected Mitsubishi dealers. The profile is very similiar the the ilima, launching just a little lower and spinning a little less. A special stiffer version of this shaft is now in the bag of the #1 player on the PGA tour. His shaft is panted to look like a KuroKage Silver. A full review of the KuroKage TourEdition aka Proto is now available.

KuroKage Black

The KuroKage Black has the same profile as the KuroKage TiNi, until it gets to the tip. There is where we can see the difference. The stiffness humps slightly at 12 inches, then turns softer.  Tip torque ranges from 5.0 in the 50A to 2.2 in the 70X.  Butt torque ranges from 5.2 in the 50A to 2.9 in the 70X.  The 70 gram shaft is the stock shaft in the Adams Golf 2013 Super S fairway.  The low tip torque numbers of the 70 gram versions indicate a low dispersion shaft in a fairway head I regard as one of the best in the business.

KuroKage Silver

The KuroKage Silver release a few months after the KuroKage Black.  Its profile is a close match to the original Diamana White Board. It is a low launch design, differing from the Diamana White board in torque.  The KuroKage 60S tip torque is 3.1 compared to the original White Board at 2.0. In late 2013 TiNi wire was added to the tip. A full review of the upgraded KuroKage Silver TiNi is now available.