KBS Tour– V - Constant Contact

KBS Tour
Tour–– V
“Dispersion with the Tour-V is some of the tightest
we have ever seen and it maintains our signature
smooth feel at impact.” KBS
T
he latest KBS shaft to hit the market is the Tour-V. The
shaft has been played on the PGA Tour since 2012, most notably by Phil Mickelson. KBS has added the Tour-V to fill a gap
between the Tour and the C-Taper. The Modern Golf Team
recently tested the Tour-V against the C-Taper, Tour, and CTaper Lite.
KBS has aimed to create a
light weight shaft with the
same “tight shot dispersion”
and feel as the KBS Tour but
with lower spin rates. The
shaft comes in 3 flexes and
subsequent weights: regular
100g, stiff 110g, x-stiff 120g,
but is currently only available in a taper tip option.
The x-stiff flex of each shaft was tested using a Titleist 712 CB
and data was collected by Trackman. Data is comprised of 6
“well struck” shots with each shaft. We have focused our review on dispersion, launch characteristics, and feel.
712 CB
Club
Speed
Ball
Speed
Smash
Fac.
Dyn.
Loft
Attack
Ang.
Club
Path
Face
Ang.
Launch
Ang.
Spin
Rate
Land
Ang.
Dispersion
(yrd)
Distance
Control (yrd)
Height
(ft)
Carry
(yrd)
Total
(yrd)
KBS Tour-V
C-Taper
95.1
95.0
132.7
132.8
1.40
1.40
22.6
23.4
-5.2
-4.1
-1.0
-0.8
-0.1
-0.2
18.1
18.9
5917
5889
51.5
52.4
6.7
8.6
4.9
3.4
121.7
126.6
189.8
189.6
195.6
194.9
KBS Tour
C-Taper Lite
94.9
94.8
130.4
130.3
1.37
1.37
23.5
23.5
-4.8
-5.5
0.1
-0.1
0.9
0.5
18.8
18.7
6035
6164
51.8
51.8
6.9
14.2
6.6
7.9
121.3
120.6
185.2
184.4
190.7
189.7
Dispersion
KBS has stated that the KBS Tour-V creates, “up to 20% better shot dispersion than leading PGA TOUR shafts”. We compared both dispersion and distance control of all four shafts. The two best shafts for dispersion were the Tour and Tour-V at just under 7 yards. However, for distance control the C-Taper was the best at just 3.4 yards. It is clear from the data and graphic above the Tour-V creates both excellent dispersion and distance control.
Launch Characteristics
To test the Tour-V’s performance we analyzed the shafts launch characteristics which include: launch angle, spin rate, and ball speed. The
Tour-V launched at 18 degrees slightly lower than the other shafts. It created an average spin that was slightly lower than the Tour yet
slightly higher than the C-Taper, which is exactly what KBS has promised. In terms of ball speed the Tour-V and C-Taper are at the head of
the pack at 133 mph. It is clear that the Tour-V creates the launch characteristics KBS has guaranteed with the shaft fitting in nicely between the Tour and C-Taper.
Feel
KBS has stated that the Tour-V will have the brands “signature smooth feel”. When testing each club the Modern Golf Team rated the
feel of each shaft from least desirable to most. The consensus was: C-Taper, C-Taper Lite, Tour-V, Tour. It was noted that the Tour-V and
Tour felt almost identical to one another. However, there was a noticeable difference in weight between the 130g Tour and 120g Tour-V.
Overall, the Tour-V does deliver KBS’s “signature smooth feel”.
www.MODERNGOLF.ca
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