The skinny: For the first time ever, KBS is adding a driver/wood shaft to the KBS product line (read our full launch story here). The KBS TD is a lighter and stiffer driver/wood shaft with characteristics of the original KBS feel. It is the perfect complement to their already proven performance-driven line of golf shafts. According to founder Kim Braly, “TD is the culmination of my years of shaft design being put into the most exciting club in your bag. The KBS TD will change the way you look at driver shafts.”

Our take on KBS TD shafts

The TD series is really a shaft connoisseurs dream; allowing not only a range of weights (40 to 80 grams) and stiffness 1-5 (yes numbers, not letters) but also up to four inches of tipping. This is an important nuance because with the right equipment and expertise, shafts can be very specifically matched to players.

For testing, KBS provided three shafts. To help me, I enlisted the help of my friend (and world-class fitter) Lyndon Wilson. Lyndon, owner of Golf Studio 360 at Orange County National in Orlando, Florida, is a world class fitter and builder with a resume that includes working with a wealth of PGA Tour players. Together with a FlightScope and Digiflex 2.0.

The first thing that struck us was the quality of the product: the shafts had tight specs on frequency and weight (no surprise here!). However what was really cool was Lyndon’s ability to move frequency slightly to really create shafts that would be tailored to my game. Based on our relationship, which includes playing a lot of golf together, he made up two shafts

1.  50g, category 2 tipped an inch to play 6.0 to test in my driver at 45 inches
2. 69g, category 2, not tipped and playing 5.5 for my 3 wood to test at 43.5 inches

Side note: watching Lyndon work, it is clear that these shafts, in the right hands, offer fitters a tremendous opportunity to perfectly fit each and every player.

But there’s still the big (and most important) question: how did it work? As one would expect, this is where KBS shines; performance.

In my opinion, KBS has hit another home run: producing a high-quality product that maximizes feel and consistency.

For more on the KBS TD shafts, check out Ryan Barath’s launch story.