KBS C-Taper... My thoughts vs. TT Dynamic Gold.

[rebby]

First I'll provide a little bit about my personal background, game and equipment. Then I'll get into my thoughts about the C-Taper shafts. If all you really care about is my thoughts on these shafts, skip a head a bit... Anyway, my golf game has been pretty limited this year for a number of family health issues. This review is not the place to get into the details but, in summary, my 1 year-old has some severe heart problems that will require ongoing surgeries and invasive procedures for the rest of his life (including 2 open heart surgeries this year). Somehow I've still managed to play and practice throughout it all. My handicap has held solid all summer (just a touch under 1) and, once again, my iron game has been a big part of this. Speaking of my iron game, I made the switch to a forged blade some time ago and have never looked back. My iron of choice is the Miura 1957 "baby blade" and I have 2 sets of these irons. One set of irons is shafted with hard stepped Dynamic Gold S400's with SensiCore and the other contains S+ KBS C-Taper's installed straight in . Both sets swingweight out to D4 and all shafts were spine aligned. The S400's did this naturally, the C-Taper's required 4g tip weights. The static weight of the S400 irons is higher. I haven't weighed them but based solely on specs they should be at least 10-15g heavier. Suffice to say, it's enough of a difference that the feel is obvious. Alright, so enough about myself and my irons. Let's talk about the shafts... [b]Testing Process[/b] I've been working with the C-Tapers for about 6 weeks now. As I mentioned above, I have 2 sets of (basically) identical irons with the exception of the shafts. I've hit these side by side on the range and on the course. I've carried a mixed bag of irons as well as swapped back and forth between sets. This is as apples to apples as I could make it. Although a blind test would be ideal, that's not really a possibility considering how different in appearance these two shafts are. [b]Look[/b] I've played DG long enough that they have a look that I've really grown accustomed to. The steps look right to me, the labels, everything. Although I usually keep shaft labels intact, I have been known to play "satinized" DG shafts to cut down on a bit of the glare. The C-Taper's have a very nice satin finish to them. It's very matte and looks almost aluminum in nature. As the name indicates, these are a constant taper shaft. The look is very slick and the satin finish goes a long way in cutting down glare. FWIW, I installed mine with the labels down. [b]Feel[/b] I'm somewhat of a feel Nazi. If the feel isn't right, I have a hard time getting past that and looking solely at the results. I prefer a softer feeling iron and played the Dynamic Gold shaft long enough that it's a feel that become very accustomed to. I usually play the softest shaft that I can control, based mainly on feel. I also like the way a heavier iron feels in my hands and that's one of the reasons that I tend to install SensiCore inserts (~4g of additional static weight w/the inserts). I also have a strong preference for a soft golf ball and am currently playing a TaylorMade Penta. Based on my experience with Project X, I was somewhat concerned about how the C-Taper would feel. The original, satin, PX shafts was also a shaft designed by Kim Braly and, despite quality performance numbers w/PX, I HATE them. They feel terrible, harsh, stiff, etc, etc. That said, the C-Taper is like the anti-PX. It feels so much like my Dynamic Gold's that I caught myself looking at the shaft between shots to determine what shaft I was swinging on a given swing. The feel of the C-Taper is great. I've been very happy with them in this regard and don't yearn for the feel of the S400's when I'm swinging the C-Taper's. The static weight of the C-Taper is lower than that of the S400's and this took some time to get used to. Enough so, that I've been considering adding some SensiCore inserts to my C-Tapers just to bump of the weight a little bit. The more that I hit the C-Taper's however, the more that I get used to the weight. Don't get me wrong, the C-Taper's aren't exactly light weight at 125g, I'm just used to (and prefer) a heavy iron shaft. [b]Performance[/b] One of the claims to fame of the C-Taper is the 5/5/5 Performance Report, 5% less spin, 5% lower trajectory, 5% more distance. They don't spell out who the "competition" is but it's pretty obvious that they are referring to Project X. KBS hasn't confirmed this, but they haven't denied either. So what do the numbers look like next to my S400's? More like 5/-2/4, 5% less spin, 2% higher trajectory, 4% more distance. I'll discuss each of these attributes in more detail below. [b]Spin[/b] The spin is not super low in comparison to the S400. Shots that would suck back w/the S400 are now staying put, not sucking back but not rolling out either. This is a nice advantage for me. I prefer a ball to land, hop and stop. I have a much easier time hitting that shot w/the C-Taper than I did with the S400. Shot shaping is still easily doable with the C-Taper but, as I mentioned briefly above, the ball doesn't drift quite as far as before. The more that I play w/the C-Taper's though, the more that I learn how they react as far as shot shaping goes. The difference in workability isn't huge, my 5 yard draw is now more like 3, the same can be said with my fade. As you'd expect, overall dispersion is slightly tighter with the C-Taper's. I've really grown to enjoy the "hop and stop" performance that I'm seeing into the greens with the C-Taper's. This has been pretty consistent throughout my bag too. For example, here is the result of a 5-iron shot that I hit from 198 yards earlier tonight; [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/171180/width/640/height/700][IMG]http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/171180/width/640/height/700[/IMG][/URL] If you look close, you can easily see the ball mark. This is the exact "hop and stop" performance that I relish and strive for with every iron shot. As a frame of reference, that shot left me with about a 7 footer for birdie. I saw similar performance from various other irons in my bag as well. With my S400's, I'll usually get something similar with my long irons but as my irons get shorter, the ball has a tendency to suck back (as much as 20+ ft on soft/fast greens). [b]Trajectory[/b] For the most part, I'd say that trajectory is mostly unchanged. Long irons appear to be going ever so slightly higher w/the C-Taper using a stock swing. Mid and short irons are virtually unchanged, perhaps a touch higher. The difference is very minimal at best. Trajectory does appear to "flatten" a bit though and the ball is a lot more stable in the wind. The extra stability in the wind is a huge benefit for me. I've been known to hit as much as 2, sometimes even 3, extra clubs into a hard wind. High winds have always wreaked havoc on my golf ball. With the C-Taper however, this is no longer the case. This is easily the biggest benefit that I'm seeing with the C-Taper. Shots into the wind that require 2 extra clubs with my S400's now only require 1 and, much to my surprise, I've even airmailed a few of these shots (as a result, I've been taking an extra club and chocking up on it a bit instead, this has worked out very well). The additional stability in the wind is taking a bit of time/practice to get used to. So far though, it's worth it. I now welcome the wind more so than ever. I've actually come to believe that heavy wind is an advantage for me over my competitors. Talk about making a 180. Controlling trajectory isn't difficult either. I generally won't try to hit a ball higher than normal but getting the ball down can be a challenge with many shafts. This is where the hardstepped S400 really did the trick for me but, in high winds especially, it would still spin to much. The C-Taper takes care of that issue for me. When I try to get the ball down, ball flight will drop along w/the spin. The ball doesn't fly quite as low as w/the S400 but the spin is lower and the ball flight is more stable and more penetrating (as I've mentioned above, shots into the wind are retaining more distance than they did w/the S400). [b]Distance[/b] I am seeing an increase in distance with the C-Taper's, about 1/2 club top to bottom. I'm attributing the extra distance to the lower static weight (and, as a result, a slightly higher swingspeed) and decreased spin. This is somewhat unfortunate though. Unlike an "average" golfer, I'm not looking for more distance out of my irons. Heck, my irons even have (somewhat) traditional lofts, especially when compared to the latest releases. I want more control. If it's controllable distance however, I'll take it. I'll learn my new yardages, fit them into my game and enjoy the fact that it might take me a few more years to get to the point where I WANT more distance with my irons. [b]In Conclusion[/b] I'm making the change to the C-Taper. I like how much more stable the C-Taper is in the wind. I also like the slightly lower spin that I'm getting with the shaft. The added distance is a nice perk and I am getting used to it. In summary, I think that KBS really hit a home run w/these shafts. The more time that I spend with them, the more that I like them. [b]Next steps?[/b] I have 2 other sets of S+ C-Tapers. One of these sets is going to make it's way into my other set of 1957's. In fact, I'm strongly considering fitting them with some SensiCore inserts as well (to bring up the static weight). I won't do this until sometime over the winter though. Perhaps my additional time with the C-Taper's this fall will lead me to decide against the inserts. Only time will tell at this point. That said, I'm keeping my S400 pulls. The first set of pulls already made it into my black chrome Titleist 680's, the second will likely spend some time in storage, you know, just in case. [b]Disclaimer[/b] I feel inclined to note that I did win a set of C-Taper shafts in one of the giveaways that KBS did a while back. Ironically, I had already purchased 2 sets prior to being selected by KBS (the epoxy was drying in one set when I was notified). However, I still feel that I should disclose that I did receive one of my three sets free of cost. Free shafts or not, the truth lies in the performance and I would have had no problem selling the freebies rather than playing a shaft that would be detrimental to my game. I've tried to be as verbose as possible but please let me know if you have any questions. Obviously I can't tell you how these shafts will work for you but, hopefully, this will help you decide if they're worth a try... Play well.

[wmiller]

Thank you for the excellently written review. While I'm not as good as you, nor as long (my 5 iron only goes 190), we are similar enough that I can take much of what you said and apply it to my situation.

I recently acquired two sets of irons, one came with AWTs in X flex, and the other, S400s. The Xs are too stiff although I do like the accuracy, and the S400s are too heavy for my aging swing. Or at least they feel too heavy when I'm out on the back nine and walking in 100+ degree heat... :)

I tried a set of KBS Tours a while back, and really liked them (we also share a similar opinion on PX shafts). How do you think the Tapers would compare to the Tours? Thanks.

[rebby]

Thank you for the excellently written review. While I'm not as good as you, nor as long (my 5 iron only goes 190), we are similar enough that I can take much of what you said and apply it to my situation.

I recently acquired two sets of irons, one came with AWTs in X flex, and the other, S400s. The Xs are too stiff although I do like the accuracy, and the S400s are too heavy for my aging swing. Or at least they feel too heavy when I'm out on the back nine and walking in 100+ degree heat... :)

I tried a set of KBS Tours a while back, and really liked them (we also share a similar opinion on PX shafts). How do you think the Tapers would compare to the Tours? Thanks.

With my S400's, my ideal distance with my 5-iron is 192-194 yards. I've been hitting it about 198-200 yards with the C-Taper. A nice little bump in distance that's taking a little bit of time to get my head around. I wish that I could help you on how the C-Taper compares to the Tours. Unfortunately, I haven't spent adequate time with the Tours to offer any insight. I've hit them a few times here and there but not the extent that I would be able to offer any type of accurate comparison.

[wmiller]

Thanks for replying. I may try them anyway, as I need to replace these x-flex shafts at the very least.