FAQs

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The KBS series was introduced into the golf equipment market in late 2007. Starting in early 2008, KBS shafts were put in play by a small selection of PGA Tour professionals seeing their first win mid-season at the 2008 Memorial Tournament. The KBS Tour shafts continue to demonstrate their performance as evidencedby their continued play and adoption by today’s premiere players.

Shaft selection, for any club, is an important decision for any golfer looking to advance his or her game. Shaft selection is particularly important for your irons because they are critical for approach and placement shots. Having the right shaft fitting ensures a golfer’s swing is loaded correctly at impact. Oftentimes, proper shaft selection will greatly enhance shot consistency, distance, ball flight, and player ‘feel’.

KBS is the premium shaft brand of parent company, FEMCO Steel Technology (FST). When designing the line, we thought it appropriate to use the initials of FST’s veteran designer, Kim Braly. Mr. Braly has been involved in the golf industry for over 30 years and is recognized for many of the popular designs used by top players in the world. His designs have won nearly every PGA Tournament.

The KBS series is designed for skilled golfers that demand performance as well as exceptional ‘feel’ from their irons. More recently, KBS has expanded its product line to include various flex, weight, and club options making the shafts available to any golfer passionate about his or her equipment.

KBS Tour steel shafts are available worldwide via a network of professional club builders and other aftermarket business partners. Additionally, the KBS Tours can be found in nearly every major OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) custom department as an upgrade shaft. Starting in late 2009, the KBS Tours also became the stock shaft in Taylormade’s all-new R9 iron program.

For a listing of custom fitters within the U.S, please visit our Find a Retailer link above. For international listings please contact the appropriate distributor on the international dealer page.

Frequency matching (FM) as a measurement of shaft stiffness was patented by Kim Braly and his father back in the mid 1970’s. Since then, the technology has developed to become a common practice used by club manufacturers and builders to match iron sets more precisely during fittings.

The KBS Tour shafts do incorporate frequency matching concepts. In essence, each flex in the KBS Tour series is constructed with the same design features where an increase in weight directly affects the shaft flex and frequency.

All other club components staying the same, switching into the KBS Tour shafts from other tapered tip shafts will often equate to a drop in swing weight by approximately 2 points (i.e.: D2 to D0). This is a result of a slightly higher balance point of the shaft which allows club builders to insert more mass in the clubhead or add up to ½” to the club length to maintain the same overall swing weight.

No. As explained in Q10 shafts in the KBS series have a unique center-of-gravity that maintains proportionality through the club. Whereas many shafts in the marketplace have ‘reinforced’ tips (added weight in the tip), KBS shafts have continual mass and taper rate proportionality throughout the shaft.

The KBS Tour shafts are manufactured in both parallel tip and taper tip to cover irons 1-PW. The parallel tip shafts are easily customized by various trim increments on the butt or tip end of the shaft. KBS has published trim charts for various frequencies under the ‘products’ tab. The taper tip KBS Tour shafts have some limitations; however, fitters can “soft-step” up to 2x to achieve a mid-flex. (For example: use a 3-iron shaft for the 4-iron, the 4-iron shaft for the 5-iron, etc.)

Hard-stepping to increase stiffness (or frequency) is a little more complicated and should be discussed with a custom fitter.

General swing speeds we suggest are as follows:

Please note that these swing speeds are only a basic consideration for being fit into KBS shafts. Visiting a custom fitter is best as they are equipped with the correct equipment and analysis techniques to provide an exact player fitting.

Custom fitters have an array of tools and equipment they use for fitting players but nothing is more valuable than your personal evaluation of the shafts. Most fitter’s found in our web database have demos available. For a listing of these fitter’s please visit our “find a fitter” link on the top navigation bar.

Some basic considerations fitters will often use are: swing tempo, swing length, swing speed, ball trajectory, dispersion, shot distance, and the feel in player’s hands.

For a listing of local fitters that specialize in KBS shafts please visit our “Find a Fitter” link above

The KBS Tours generally measure higher frequencies tha most competitive shafts due to the longer butt section length. These design characteristics equate to a stiffer measure in frequency but don’t necessarily mean the performance or feel will be stiffer. In fact, the longer butt length translates to more stability at contact.

Often when players switch into KBS Tour shafts, they remark that the shafts ‘feel’ softer though they perform with the characteristics of a stiff shaft. This is a result of the shaft geometry and design features (found on the technology page) that work collectively to transfer energy more efficiently between a player’s hands and the club head.

The effect of soft/hard stepping is approximately 1/3 of a movement between two flexes.  Aside from the change in stiffness (frequency), soft-stepping will usually result in a slightly higher ball flight;  conversely, hard stepping will  usually result in a lower ball flight.