Equipment

Tech Talk: KBS C-Taper Lite iron shafts

Published

13 years ago

Jun 6, 2013

With the name C-Taper Lite, most golfers will assume that the biggest difference between KBS’s newest shafts and the company’s original C-Taper shafts is the weight. But even though the new shafts are between 5 and 15 grams lighter depending on flex, weight was actually a secondary concern in the design of the shafts.

Kim Braly, the man who designs KBS shafts, says there’s no reason golfers should change to lighter iron shafts based on weight alone. While he admits that changing from heavier iron shafts to lighter ones usually gives golfers a few extra yards at first, over time Braly has noticed that golfers tend to go back to hitting their iron shots about the same distance.

“You see it all the time on tour,” Braly said. “Guys go to light-weight iron shafts and hit it a little farther. But then a few months later they go back to hitting it their old distances. Their bodies acclimate to the lighter weight.”

So if the C-Taper Lite shafts don’t give golfers extra distance, what do they do?

The new shafts fill a hole in the company’s lineup, which is between KBS’s low-launching, low-spining C-Taper and KBS Tour shafts and the company’s high-launching, high-spinning KBS Tour 90 shafts. They offer a similar feel and the same efficient energy transfer as the C-Taper shafts, but in a profile that is much easier for slower swing speed players to load properly. That gives them the best chance to hit long, straight shots.

To create the new shafts, Braly had to experiment with different shaft geometries, just like he did when he designed the tour-only shafts that Phil Mickelson is currently using, the KBS Tour V2.

Mickelson didn’t care for the feel of KBS’s original C-Taper shafts — he preferred the softer feel of the KBS Tour. But the KBS Tour shafts spun too much and launched too high for him. So Braly spent almost two years working with Mickelson on the design of the KBS Tour V2, which are actually lighter than KBS Tour shafts, but are lower launching and lower spinning.

Can you tell which shaft is a KBS Tour V1 and which shaft is a KBS Tour V2? A KBS Tour V2 shaft (left), has a larger outside diameter and thinner walls in the tip section, which gives it a more penetrating trajectory.

It seems impossible that Braly could make a shaft that was both lighter and had a more penetrating trajectory, but it’s actually fairly simple to do. Because changing a shaft’s outside diameter (the fatness of the shaft) has three times more effect on stiffness than changing a shaft’s wall thickness, Braly was able to increase the outside diameter of the V2’s tip section to make it stiffer and get the lower-launching, lower-spinning performance Mickelson wanted.

Notice how the KBS Tour V2 shafts, when paired side-by-side with the KBS Tour V1 shafts, have longer steps (in both pairings, the V1 is on the left and the V2 is on the right). This change, combined with the change in wall thickness and outside diameter, gave Mickelson the launch, spin and feel he was looking for in his iron and wedge shafts.

For a change that simple, why did it take two years for Mickelson to make a change? According to Braly, getting the right performance from a shaft is often much easier than getting the right feel. That’s why the V2 shafts are five grams lighter than the KBS Tour shafts. To make up for the stiffer tip, Braly was forced to extend the lengths of the steps of the shafts and subtract from the thickness of the walls to give Mickelson a KBS Tour-like feel with the performance that he wanted.

Like the tour-only KBS Tour V2 shafts, the C-Taper Lite shafts were able to be made lighter by decreasing the thickness of the shaft’s walls and tuning the shaft’s diameter to create the mid-spin, mid-launch conditions he was looking for from the shaft.

Just how important does Braly think the C-Taper Lite is to his company’s shaft lineup?

“I’m really into custom fitting and I wanted to have a complete product line,” Braly said. “I want to be able to fit golfers into the best product I possibly can. With this new product, I can’t imagine that there are many golfers out there that we won’t be able to fit.”

The C-Taper Lite shafts have KBS’s brushed satin finish, and are available for order now with shipping starting July 8. The R-Flex C-Taper Lite shafts weigh 105 grams, with the S-Flex weighing 110 grams and the X-flex weighing 115 grams. They’ll cost around $39 per shaft.

Related Topics:KBS shafts

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14 Comments

Pingback: KBS Adds New C-Taper Lite Shaft with Parallel Tip | Golf Gear Select
Dolph Lundgrenade

Jun 14, 2013 at 8:40 pm

With counterbalancing about to be a major aspect of the fitting process (owing to the recent exposure that many players are using it…and Jack used it) I expect a shaft line-up to be double the options. For KBS’s line-up I believe we will see a B-spec version of each shaft in a lighter configuration with the same profile. For example, don’t be surprised to see a C-taper that is exactly the same in terms of performance, but 10-20 grams lighter per flex… or, as another example, being able to buy a KBS Tour X stiff shaft that weights 115g. In this manner the fitter can counterbalance 15 grams of weight without increasing the overall weight of the club.

That’s just what I see for the future… but I’m right so often you may just count on it.

Reply Report comment
Ryan

Jun 11, 2013 at 12:41 pm

Wonderful intuitive article. I play the Tours but can’t wait to try the C-Taper Lite Stiff!

Reply Report comment
lefty

Jun 10, 2013 at 9:20 pm

Yea but my Honma 5 stars cost more and are graphite. I have gold in my irons too.

Honma driver 5 star 1700 dollars
Honma 3 wood 5 star 1500 dollars
Honma irons 3-AW 5 star 12,500 dollars
Cameron California prototype, 1 in existence 25,000 dollars
Honma Corinthian leather golf bag 5500 dollars
Custom Club Car cart 22,000 dollars
Golf swing .50 cents
Okay guys I am being fecetious but I actually saw this on ebay

Reply Report comment
- Dave
  
  Jul 12, 2013 at 7:31 pm
  
  Surely you mean FACETIOUS? Since Fecetious must mean that there’s sh*t coming out of your mouth?
  Either way, what’s the point of your post?
  
  Reply Report comment
Blanco

Jun 7, 2013 at 11:42 pm

One of the best articles I’ve ever read on Golfwrx. Nice to hear about more about shafts than the usual weight, launch profile, fluorescent colors, and who’s playing it on tour. Informative, clear, great photography.

Please inject me with more technical shaft dope.

Reply Report comment
John Strathman

Jun 7, 2013 at 8:23 pm

I always thought there was a hole in selecting KBS shafts. I hit Tour’s with two iron sets and just went back to DG S300’s on my last purchase. Well there is always tomorrow…

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LK

Jun 6, 2013 at 7:42 pm

forget the c-taper lights, give me the tour v2s!!

Reply Report comment
- John
  
  Jun 6, 2013 at 9:42 pm
  
  Seriously wish they would, as this sounds like the perfect shaft I’m wanting. Kbs tour feel with a more dg like trajectory or even slightly lower spinning and I would pay big $$$!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - T
    
    Jun 7, 2013 at 11:57 am
    
    Huh? DG says it is LOW launch, so how can it be more like DG trajectory? You don’t know what you’re talking about. Why not use something like DG XP hardstepped a couple times?
    
    Reply Report comment
    - John
      
      Jun 7, 2013 at 7:38 pm
      
      Huh?? That’s exactly what I’m saying, if the KBS had a shaft with the SAME LOW launch of the DG with the FEEL similar to the KBS tours, with a possibly touch less spin than a DG.
      
      Reply Report comment
  - Yo mama
    
    Jun 9, 2013 at 8:54 pm
    
    I don’t want to pay big bug I want them
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Kridian
      
      Jun 16, 2013 at 9:45 pm
      
      $39 per shaft!? There better be GOLD weaved in there!
      
      Reply Report comment
Xander Walsh

Jun 6, 2013 at 6:20 pm

Great article. I enjoyed the read.

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Equipment

Putters that never made it: Check out some of the best tour builds that didn’t make the cut

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Alistair Cameron

Arguably, the best perk of being a professional golfer on the PGA Tour is the ability to request or even just be handed pretty much any club you could think of. It happens more often than you think, usually with putters around the practice green from one event to the next. Come Wednesday, the Tour bags lining the edge of the putting surface become resting places for fallen flatsticks that never made the cut.

So let’s take a look at some of the best we’ve seen out on Tour this year that never made it to the competition. (You may notice none of Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Scotty Cameron putters made this list. There are too many.)

Let’s start with this custom Damascus Milled Odyssey Rossie made for Ryo Hisatsune. Featuring a single line and the short-slant hossel, we’ve seen plenty of Number 7 and jailbird heads featuring the Damascus Milled insert, but this is the first and only one we’ve spotted in a Rossie. Hisatsune primarily putts with an Odyssey Black Series iX #9, but we have seen him recently with a TaylorMade TP Collection SOTO, so there could be potential that the Damascus Milled Rossie could end up in the bag.

Everyone wants to be Cameron Young right now. We’ve had Justin Thomas and Tom Hoge both game the Scotty Cameron 9.5R prototype. Well, for the PGA Championship, Brooks Koepka nearly joined that list after requesting the same style of putter, with the full-length alignment line. But the Scotty Cameron reps took the request a step further and made one specially for Koepka with a Teryllium insert, similar to one in his previous Newport 2 gamers. The reason why this one didn’t go into play, though? Because it was too heavy.

Harry Hall was the third-best putter on Tour last year, so when Bettinardi made him a custom proto, you know it was going to be good. The custom BB28 blade features VDF face milling, a custom-welded single-bend shaft, and the owner’s initials – HH – on the sole of the putter. Hall, who usually games an Odyssey O-Works #7 W, has dabbled with a TaylorMade Spider Tour X already this year. Maybe there’s a chance this Bettinardi might make his bag.

Honestly, this one doesn’t need a description. It’s Kieth Mitchell’s custom Scotty Cameron Napa. One Scotty Cameron face stamp, two Scotty Dogs, two Scotty Cameron 7-Point Crowns and one Circle T. That is all. Oh, except for the Cashmere Cameron headcover.

Finally, and just for fun, how about we pour one out for this TaylorMade Spider Tour X made for Scottie Scheffler in its new torched finish. It’s unlikely we’ll see a putter change anytime soon from the best golfer in the world. In fact, he hit just two putts with it on the Harbour Town practice before going back to his trusty gamer.

Whats in the Bag

Patrick Reed WITB 2026 (May)

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 130 M.S.I. 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

7-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 Tour Rack (52-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-08M), SM11 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Rat 1.5 Tour Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

See more photos of Patrick Reed’s clubs here.

Equipment

Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 weeks ago

May 18, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been discussing their favorite major winning irons used by Tiger Woods. WRXer ‘golferdude54’ kicks off the thread saying:

“Mizuno MP 14/29. Titleist 681T. Nike Forged Blades. TaylorMade P7TW.

Among these irons that helped Tiger win 15 majors, which is your favorite in terms of looks?”

And our members have been naming their favorites and why in response.

Here are a couple of posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

SwingBlade: “I prefer the early blades he played and the more recent TM TW’s especially because after Tiger had his major behavioral setbacks, part of Nikes support payback was making Tiger play a Nike putter and cease using his beloved uniquely customized Scotty putter.”
ProjectX: “This (Nike Forged Blades) and there’s not even a close second.”

Entire Thread: “Which of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss”