Mitsubishi Tensei Pro Red Golf Shaft Review

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

The last profile added to the Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei Pro family of driver shafts is the Tensei Pro Red. Like the other Tensei Pro driver shafts it has a carbon Fiber Kevlar woven material place just below the hands. As you can see in the chart, this material substantially increases hoop strength in this area of the shaft. Hoop deformation in carbon fiber golf shafts is a function of wall thickness. The wall thickness in the butt end of a golf shaft is thin. Therefore the shaft deforms more. This has classical be called ovaling. Ovaling is thought to create dispersion. I have seen various materials use in this area to stabilize driver shafts. I have never seen as dramatic an effect on hoop deformation as I see in the Tensei Pros. Take note, the OEM shafts have only 4″ of this material which is little more than cosmetics. The Tensei Pro models have 11+” and the hoop deformation profiles are dramatically lower in this area.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

Mitsubishi Diamana Thump Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

2 Replies

Mitsubishi Diamana Thump Hybrid Golf Shafts

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

The Diamana Thump hybrid golf shaft is the most exotic hybrid golf shaft I have experienced. The price is more than most stock hybrid golf clubs. It is appropriately named, thump, for the feel in your hands as you watch your ball scream towards a distant green. If this review sounds biased, it is, I play this shaft in Miura hybrids. The control is worth every bit of the $200 hybrid shaft.

The butt torque is 2.3 in the 93 gram S and 2.2 in the 103 gram X, making it close to steel. Tip torque is 1.7 in both models, akin to light weight steel. Dispersion control is excellent. If you get tired of hooking your hybrids when you go after a shot, and don’t want to play steel, this shaft is the cure. Radial quality is as good as it gets, making shaft orientation a non issue. It is a low-mid launch design.

In 2012 Mitsubishi announced this shaft would be custom order only and not stocked in the US. It is still available through Mitsubishi dealers, however it is no longer shown in the current brochures. Caveat Emptor, the feel is addicting, Thump, interesting choice of words for a hybrid golf shaft model.

Mitsubishi Bassara UltraLite Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

Leave a reply

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

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.

Miyazaki C.Kua Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

Leave a reply

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

Leave a reply

KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shafts

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

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.

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

Leave a reply

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

The 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.

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.