KBS MAX Iron Shaft Review

KBS MAX 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 continues to make graphite iron shafts. KBS started with a very popular Hybrid shaft. The KBS TGI iron shaft launched the following year and again was very successful on the professional tours. I noted in the review otf the TGI shaft that it was as stiff as the stiffest of the KBS steel shafts albeit 20 grams lighter. The KBS MAX is targeted to the recreational golfer.

If you do not follow my YouTube Channel, Devoted Golfer, you may have missed this video. We shot the 2019 KBS presentation to golf club fitters at the PGA Merchandise show. It covers the entire product line. After the slide show, Kim Braly comes to the podium and talks about tour acceptance of 2018 KBS shafts and the new 2019 shafts. The discussion about KBS graphite iron shafts starts at 19:25. The audio dropouts remove professional player names.You will hear Kim Braly talk about the target golfer for the KBS MAX.

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Russ

Fujikura EXS Golf Shaft Review

Fujikura EXS Driver Shaft

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

The EXS line from Fujikura is an Economy line of shafts available from Fujikura Charter Dealers. It features High, Mid and Low launch versions.That is unusual in an economy shaft.  When budget is an issue and a golfers fit indicates a particular shaft profile, the Fujikura EXS is available in a wide range of weight and flex.. The colors match the Fujikura Motore Speeder, also available in high, mid and low launch versions.

Having recently profiled the Motore Speeders, the Fujikura EXS line have a great deal in common with the Speeders.  Not all weights and flexes match exactly, but I can find close matches with a little hunting.  If the Speeder is a budget buster the EXS deserves a hard look.

Fuji EXS EiGj

Fujikura EXS Red

Fuji EXS Red Image

Fuji_EXS0_Tb

Average radial consistency of the review samples was 99.2 with a 0.4% standard deviation

Fujikura EXS Blue

Fuji EXS Blue Image

Fuji_EXS1_Tb

Average radial consistency of the review samples was 98.5 with a 0.7% standard deviation

Fujikura EXS Purple

Fuji EXS Purple Image

Fuji_EXS2_Tb Average radial consistency of the review samples was 98.6 with a 0.5% standard deviation

KBS Tour C-Taper Lite Golf Club Shaft Review

 KBS TOUR C-TAPER LITE GOLF SHAFTS

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

KBS CTaper Lite Image

The KBS C-Taper Lite is a welcome addition the the KBS line of golf shafts for irons. the C-Taper is one of my favorites when working with a player looking for a lower launch, penetrating ball flight. The profiles are consistent from flex to flex, making it easy to change weight and stiffness while seeking a perfect fit for feel and flight.  The KBS C-Taper Lite profiles fall between the C-Taper S and S+.  One might say they are a C-Taper S on a diet. The C-Taper Lite is a great shaft if you fit best into a mid weight shaft and want the shaft to keep the ball down to the degree that a shaft can.

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Russ

UST Mamiya ATTAS3 and ATTAS4u Golf Driver Shaft Review

UST Mamiya ATTAS3 & ATTAS4u

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

TourSPXTransparetLogo.fwThe UST ATTAS3 and ATTAS4u driver shafts are ultra premium models made from ultra-high modulus, low resin content materials. This is the trend in professional quality driver shafts. The material cost and the price of this class of golf shafts is well beyond the retail price of stock drivers.  The MSRP on these shafts is $560, they are only available from UST TourSPX dealers. At this price, you would not want to invest in a shaft that had not been tested with your swing by a professional, launch monitor equipped fitter.

UST Mamiya ATTAS4U

USTMamiya ATTAS4u ImageUSTMamiya ATTAS4u EiGj

The model number, 5, 6, 7 & 8 accurately represent the weight of the shafts when cut to installed lengths. The balance points ranged from 24″ to 25″ not putting these into the category of counterweighted designs. Torques measured in the same range as the UST VTS Silver, marking this as a mid torque design. When I use that term, I am discussing torque in the range found in ultra premium golf shafts. That range is entirely different from what is typically found in off the rack golf clubs. Off the rack driver shafts start beyond what is found at the high end of the range of tour quality driver golf shafts.

The measurements of the ATTAS4u revealed two distinct profile patterns. The ultra-lite 5 is a different design than the rest of the models.  This is not an uncommon practice.  Ultra-lite shafts are used by a different swing speeds and styles. They should fit that style and the manufacturers are wise enough to model the designs to the player most likely to use them.  This shaft features a stiff mid, found by UST research to control dispersion.  Our testing found it to me a mid launching design with slightly lower spin than the companion ATTAS3.

UST Mamiya ATTAS3

USTMamiya ATTAS3 ImagecUSTMamiya ATTAS3 EiGj

The UST Mamiya ATTAS3 looks like a sibling of the ATTAS4u, the graphics are identical, only the color changed. Torque values are about one half a degree higher through the model when compared to the ATTAS4u.  We see multiple designs in the different weights. The ATTAS3 4 model is the first from UST in a premium ultra-lite driver shaft. The raw shafts weighted 48 grams, putting them around 45 grams installed. In this weight range, tip and butt torques of 3.1 and 5.1 set a new standard. This can only be accomplished with high modulus graphite fiber.

Balance points are the same as the ATTAS4u. It should be noted that the radial quality of these shafts is outstanding. Several of the review samples showed NO difference between hard and soft plane stiffness. At this price, one would expect no less. These shafts ooze quality.

USTMamiya ATTAS 34u7X.fwWe took the 7X versions to the range for testing by Mark Maness, Mark will be one of our shaft testers in future reviews. Mark was a PGA Tour member in 1988 competing in 28 events including the US Open. He is the Director of Golf Instruction at the Golden Bear Golf Center in Carrollton, Texas. Mark is a PGA Class A instructor and active in the North Texas PGA chapter.

USTMamiya ATTAS3 impact

We use Markit spray on the golf club face to document the impact pattern. High and low strikes will influence the launch and loft of the ball flight. A driver face rolls from top to bottom, changing loft as it does so. Most testing is done with a robot to get consistent ball strikes on the center of the club face. Mark Maness is every bit as good as a golf robot.  He has the additional advantage of being able to describe the feel, balance and responsiveness of the golf shaft he is testing.  The image shown above documents his 7 strikes with the UST Mamiya ATTAS3 7x.  As you can see, one was a little high, one was a little low, but the other 5 were dead center. Mark Maness, our own living and breathing ‘iron byron’.

FlightScope Reports

USTMamiya ATTAS3 TR
USTMamiya ATTAS4u TRA review of the best 5 of 7 strikes using range balls with a 45 degree left to right cross wind, coming  into Mark’s face shows a slightly lower launch lower spin from the ATTAS4u compared to the ATTAS3. This is consistent with what I was told to expect from the UST Mamiya fitter/tester at their Fort Worth US Headquarters.  Mark’s comments:
ATTAS4u “I feel a soft tip, my rhythm is too quick for this shaft, it would be a great shaft for a slower tempo swing”
ATTAS3 “I like the feeling I am getting from the tip. The weight of the club feels centered, that is how I sense the shaft loading.  I can feel it load from the center”

Remember when looking at these results, this is one golfers fit. Everyone interacts differently to these profiles and the only way to find the right shaft for your swing is with a professional fitter that understands golf shafts and is equipped with a wide range of shaft fitting options.

UST Mamiya Elements Driver Shaft Review

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

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

RollingElementsEWFTourSPXTransparetLogo.fw
The UST ATTAS elements released in 2012.  It is available in three versions, MK, DK and RK in the original green Asian version and Earth, Wind and Fire in the 2013 American graphics.  Offering different launch options in a single model is quickly becoming an industry standard.

The elements is the latest generation design based on the UST research that ranked shaft performance order of importance as tip stiffness, mid stiffness, torque and butt stiffness.  Their field testing is reflected in the higher torque design of the Earth, the lower launching version. The low launch version, the elements Earth has slightly higher torque than the mid and high launch elements Fire and Wind.The UST Mamiya elements profiles are consistent from weight to weight and flex to flex.  The radial profiles are exceptional, every shaft measured less that 0.5% difference in flex from stiff to soft side.  This means the shaft can be installed in any orientation in a rotating hosel driver.  The FLO was oriented to the label on every shaft I measured.

I personally like the return to the familiar mustard and black color scheme that has long been a hallmark of UST Mamiya on the PGA Tour.  The finish is multilayer spray paint I saw during a visit to the Fort Worth Texas US headquarters.  It took several passes/days through the finishing operation to apply the colors, silk screen graphics and clear finish coat.  You do not truly understand what is involved in making a golf shaft until you get to see it happen. When you realize how much of the operation is done by hand, you have respect for a product like the UST Mamiya elements that is so very consistent from shaft to shaft.

Elements Driver EiGj
The numbers:
Earth:  Tip torque, 60g = 3.0, 70g = 2.6  –  Butt torque, 60g = 4.3, 70g = 3.7
Wind:  Tip torque, 60g = 2.4, 70g = 2.0  –  Butt torque, 60g = 3.3, 70g = 2.9
Fire:  Tip torque, 60g = 2.3, 70g = 2.0  –  Butt torque, 60g = 3.4, 70g = 3.0
Balance points were 25 to 25.5 inches from the tip putting this in the category one might refer to as counter weighted. Raw shaft weight was generally indicated by the shaft number, 6=68g, 7=77g

When the UST Mamiya first appeared last year on Tour, I spent some time with Michael Guerrette, VP, Product Research & Tour Development, discussing the element, here is what he had to say.

During a recent visit to the UST facility in Fort Worth, Michael made an interesting point.  He said most everything we know about shaft design and shaft performance comes from observation.  “We have yet to develop the technology to get inside the tornado and truly understand what is happening.  But were working on developing the technologies that will get us there.”  UST Mamiya has taken some bold steps in the shaft business lately, first with the VTS line of shafts that gave their TourSPX certified fitters torque options and now with the elements offering flighting options.

Asian Graphics Elements Driver Asia Image

UST Mamiya VTS Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya VTS Golf Shaft

VTS Red – High Torque
VTS Silver – Mid Torque
VTS Black – Low Torque

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

ShaftImage_UST_VTS 2

TourSPXTransparetLogo.fw
The UST VTS shaft is available in three torque versions in each weight and flex. An enormous number of options for a fitter. Several years of research at UST found the order of importance in shaft fitting to be tip stiffness, mid stiffness, torque and lastly butt stiffness. The VTS shafts allow the fitter to test three levels of torque in shafts with identical profiles. Traditional designs have higher torque in lighter, softer shafts and lower torque in heavy, stiff shafts.

The UST VTS technology is available in two versions The silver gray tour version, available only through UST TourSPX fitters is certified in the UST Fort Worth US headquarters. The parameters are recorded, a serial number is etched on the shaft and the parameters are kept on file at UST.

This is a mid launching shaft design. Some players with smooth release swing dynamics have found the higher torque VTS Red model generates higher head speeds. The more popular mid and low torque VTS Silver and VTS Black models introduce torque related feel as a fitting option.
VTS Driver RSB EiGj
The VTS Black with tip torques of around 1.6 in the 70 and 80 gram models is a great fairway shaft.   The gradual loss of stiffness near the tip is good for tipping to control ball flight.