KBS’ TD “Tour Driven” wood shaft is the company’s first entry into the driver/fairway wood market, and the line remains as relevant as it did at launch two years ago. 

As a refresher, the TD Graphite wood shaft has been designed as a mid-launch/low-spin performance Graphite golf shaft that is designed to optimize the maximum performance and efficiency of spin and launch angles at various swing speeds.

The KBS TD Graphite wood shaft plays lighter and stiffer than other graphite wood shafts on the market in design for excellent performance and superior feel – aided by the new KBS Category Swing Speed System to fit shafts off swing speed alone instead of weight and flex.

KBS TD: The creation

The shaft is designed to fit the widest range of players, with the concept centered around the Kim Braly (KBS R&D and Tour Operations Director) Signature shaft geometry. The shaft features equal reduction in stiffness throughout the length of the shaft for an efficient engine while also loading and unloading for players at an incredibly efficient rate. 

The TD driver shaft was designed with an El curve that applies the formulas from the KBS Tour iron shaft. The result is a driver shaft that produces a piercing ball flight, with a smooth, extremely stable feel as well as a tight dispersion. 

Instead of then applying the standard R, S and X “flex” principles, Kim Braly developed a fitting matrix that could be applied to fit players into their flex profile.

To do this, Braly looked at swing speed as the baseline while assuming that all other variables the fitters address are neutral, including tempo, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, angle of descent, distance and dispersion.

The result? The development of a matrix of weights and categories. 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 grams. And categories 1-5. The baseline swing speed chart is as follows: 

If a player then wanted to know what category represented what flex, it would be the following:

The system, though, as with other KBS shafts, is not designed or fit to a “flex” but a flex profile.

Speaking on the new addition and the first foray into the driver/fairway wood market, Kim Braly, R&D and Tour Operations Director stated

“I’ve been asked the question of when we were going to enter the wood shaft market for many years and my answer was always not until we’re 100% happy with the product and we can make an even bigger impact with a full set of shafts throughout the bag.

We’ve worked tirelessly with our Tour players and R&D team to perfect our first wood shaft which has all the characteristics of a KBS shaft. We’ve designed it to offer optimized spin rate and launch, which equals more power and distance on every shot with the driver and fairway woods.”

KBS 1 One Step putter shaft

In addition to the TD Graphite wood shaft, KBS has also recently introduced its new 1 One Step putter shaft.

Weighing six grams more than conventional putters at 130g, the 1 One Step Putter Shaft is a single bend, straight tip model .370 in diameter that provides golfers with more flexibility in creating a pure amplified feel and reduced vibration at impact for more accurate and consistent putts.

On the 1 One Step putter shaft, Braly had this to say

“On average, around 45% of strokes per round involve your putter, so we wanted to create a shaft with varying putter head weights per stroke that puts more confidence in the hands of those who currently aren’t that confident on the greens. 

“A lot of time and investment has gone into producing another putter shaft that can be played by a Tour pro or a higher handicapper. On the green it’s all about feel and the 1 One Step creates that pure feel, enabling a smooth stable stroke each and every time. The research we did saw many more putts holed, so I’m excited to see how golfers react to it.”

As the second putter shaft to be created by KBS, the 1 One Step shaft follows the popular CT Tour version launched in 2019 and comes in Chrome, Black Matte, and Black Gloss finishes.