KBS TD Driver Golf Shaft Review

KBS TD Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

KBS has completed their matrix of carbon fiber shafts with a driver shaft. There are 15 models from 40 grams to 80 grams. The shafts are labeled with a weigh and a category. The category is stiffness. KBS has done a very good job of maintaining this stiffness rating across weights.

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Russ

AeroTech SteelFiber Constant Weight Iron Golf Shaft Review

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Aerotech SteelFiber Iron Shafts – constant weight taper tips

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

I have known Chris Hilleary, owner of AeroTech almost from the day I started club building. He has always been an active supporter of the club building & fitting organizations. When Matt Kuchar started playing and winning with Aerotech Steel Fiber iron shafts, the brand became better known.

The SteelFiber constant weight taper tip model is the most popular of the Aerotech iron shafts. It comes in five weights, 70, 80, 95, 110 and 125 grams. The profiles change slightly with each weight. The torque is slightly higher than steel, but certainly in range for tour grade iron shafts.

Aerotech SteelFibre shafts have a stainless wire wrapped over a filament wound graphite core, combining the properties of steel and graphite into the shaft. The construction of the ‘wire’, 1/10 the diameter of a human hair is illustrated here.

Having heard Chris say that the design of the Aerotech SteelFiber shaft eliminates ovaling in the shaft, I tested the claim. In golf shafts, the wall thickness near the butt end of the shaft is thin. In light weight shafts this creates ovaling. The shaft flattens, becoming elliptical when it is loaded. I clamped an 85 gram steel shaft and deflected it 5 inches. I could measure 0.005″ of ovaling. The 80 gram Aerotech SteelFiber shaft ovaled .001″. The combination of carbon fiber and a stainless steel wire wrap does virtually eliminates ovaling in the Aerotech SteelFiber iron shafts, even in the 80 gram version.

Perhaps more significant, Aerotech is one of the few, if not the only company, filament winding carbon fiber shafts. The material is wound around the mandrel much like thread is wound on a spool. Other carbon fiber shafts are made of sheet of material wrapped around the mandrel. That can create seams, which can create radial stiffness differences around the shaft. The radial consistency of the filament wound Aerotech Steelfiber review samples measured averaged

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

Overall this is a great iron shaft. If your looking to shed some weight from your irons, the 80 and 95 gram versions will do that without giving up dispersion control. With the success AeroTech is having on the professional tours, availability is now longer limited to custom fitters. AeroTech iron shafts are now available as upgrades from Bridgestone, Cleveland/Srixon, Nike, Ping, TaylorMade, Titleist and Wilson.

Mitsubishi Fubuki Z and Fubuki ZT Golf Shaft Review

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Mitsubishi Fubuki Zeta & Fubuki Zeta Tour Driver Golf Shafts
Callaway Big Bertha 2014 Stock Driver Shafts

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

Fubuki Z

Several years ago Mitsubishi Rayon began making high quality shaft models for the golf club manufacturers. These designs closely resemble the Mitsubishi Rayon premium shafts. The Fubuki Zeta and Fubuki Zeta Tour continue this tradition. The driver market has settled in on a $400 price point and most premium shafts range from $300 to $850. For some, these prices are justified by performance, for others, they are not.

The 2014 Callaway Big Bertha stock shaft is the Fubuki Zeta or simply Fubuki Z. For those that are familiar with Mitsubishi Rayon golf shafts, the shaft design is indicated by the little letter that is left of the weight.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

ACCRA Tour Z Golf Shaft Review

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ACCRA TOUR Z DRIVER SHAFTS

By Woody Lashen, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Pete’s Golf, Mineola, New York

ACCRA started in 2002 as a Canadian distributor for Royal Precision and UST. In 2004 they started into the shaft business licensing the ACCRA brand name from UST. In 2007, they purchased the brand name and embarked on independent development of premium golf shafts distributed exclusively through certified ACCRA fitters.

The ACCRA Tour Z is available in three launch designs; ST (stable tip) low launch, CB (counter balance) low mid launch and LS (low sping) mid launch. The Tour Z has an iridescent logo that changes color in the sunlight as the shaft is rotated. The weight and flex are noted near the tip. The raw shafts are market with the stiff and weak planes facilitating alignment for those inclined to do so. Our testing has shown excellent radial consistency, the ACCRA Tour Z is suitable for use in rotating hosels without regard for alignment.

I had a chance to talk to Gawain Robertson, co owner of ACCRA Golf, at the 2014 PGA Merchandise show about club fitting and ACCRA golf shafts.

ACCRA Tour Z CB Driver Shaft

The ACCRA Tour Z CB driver shaft is the latest addition to the Tour Z brand. Although it says “CB” in it’s name, this shaft is really not counter balanced. What ACCRA has done is raised the center of gravity (CG) to offer golfers a different “feel” and launch condition from their popular ST series.
The Tour Z CB series of shafts was patterned after the extremely popular ACCRA XE and XC lines of shafts using updated materials and new design concepts.

The tip section in this shaft is slightly softer that the Tour Z ST and the torque is lower combined with the higher CG it promotes a ball flight that is only slightly higher than the ST (Mid) a spin rate that would be considered mid to low.

As with all Tour Z shafts, the CB offers Constant Flex Technology, ACCRA’s super Thin Wall design and the platinum band around the cool matte black finish certainly makes this shaft distinctive. What really makes this shaft stand out is the unique feel that is created by the combination of many technologies in one shaft.

Radial consistency was 99.5% with a .3% standard deviation. It does not get much better than that. The ACCRA tour Z shafts FLO planes are marked on the butts. You can ignore them, these shafts are good to play in any orientation.

ACCRA Tour Z ST Driver Shaft

ACCRA’s first introduction in the Tour Z line was originally named Tour Z+, with the introduction of the CB and LS lines it was renamed ST in 2013. This shaft was originally designed for a specific PGA Tour player who was looking for a very stable shaft from top to bottom but still wanted “feel”. ACCRA’s engineers tested many combinations to accomplish this the final design features a super thin wall design, something that has been incorporated in all ACCRA Tour Z shafts. The super high modulus materials enabled ACCRA engineers to use these thin wall structures that enhance energy transfer and feel to the golfer yet maintains strength and durability.

From a playability stand point, this shaft certainly accomplishes what it advertises. The ST is Accra’s must popular shaft on tour with many players using the Tour Z ST 55 shaft as the stability of this shaft gives them the confidence of a heavier shaft in a 55 gram product that helps them generate more speed, without sacrificing control.

Once again, radial consistency was 99.2% with a .3% standard deviation. It does not get much better than that.

ACCRA Tour Z LS Driver Shaft

The ACCRA Tour Z LS series of shafts was originally patterned after the shaft that brought ACCRA to prominence in the premium golf shaft market. The ACCRA SE and SC series of shafts each featured a responsive tip section combined with very low torque. This was revolutionary 10 years ago.

The Tour Z LS takes that philosophy and uses the latest in design and manufacturing techniques to produce and updated version of these classic ACCRA shafts. The first thing that a golfer feels with this shaft is the responsiveness (or kick) in the tip section, this is followed by the realization that this shaft offers tremendous stability from torsional strength in the tip section.

As with all ACCRA Tour Z shafts, the LS features Constant Flex Technology and the Super Thin Wall design, enabling professional Club Fitters to perfectly fit a golfer to flex, weight, ball flight and feel. This shaft has become popular for many levels of golfers as a fairway shaft and has also become and excellent option for golfers looking for a mid-high launch/low spin option.

Radial consistency was 99.3% with a .7% standard deviation, outstanding.

The Tour Z family offers many options for all different types of swings, as with any shaft, getting fit for them by a top fitter is critical to getting the maximum performance for them.

Aldila RIP Nasty Long Golf Shaft Review

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ALDILA RIP Phenom Nasty Long

By John Dranschak
Dead Solid Perfect Golf Clubs, Columbus, Ohio

Like many designs from Aldila, the Rip Phenom Nasty Long has profiles matched fit to the anticipated use of the shaft weight. The 60 gram version is a higher launching design than the 70 gram model. The design profile is similar to the RIP line and the RIP NV,where we see a reversal of the mid stiffness, compared to the original NV. However the Nasty long takes this to a new level, with the mid stiffness staying constant or slightly increasing from about 25″ to near 15″. This gives a much stiffer mid and upper tip section before declining again as it progressed toward the tip. Radial quality is excellent and is suitable for the popular adjustable drivers. The low torques of the Tour shafts provides good tip stability for higher swing speeds.

Performance Testing

The performance of the Aldila Phenom Nasty long was conducted using a Foresight Launch Monitor. Joe Stago, a PGA Professional at Golftec (Easton) in Columbus, OH hit the 60S and 70S versions of the shaft. Joe’s comments follow:

Phenom Nasty Long 60S – This shaft really performed well with my normal swing. It felt a little stiffer than the RIP NV, which feels good, but it certainly gave me excellent performance. I like to hit a slight draw and I was able to hit that shot with little effort and it gave me the launch and spin I was looking for.

Phenom Nasty Long 70S – This shaft performed very well, but I had to work really hard to make it perform. I can make it work but it is probably a little too heavy for me with my normal swing. I prefer lighter feeling shafts and this would not be my first choice but it performed as well as the 60S, it just took a little more effort than I prefer.

Shimada Iron Shafts