Iron Shaft Help!!!

[SacGolf89]

Ok guys I have a bit of a plight here.  I recently added (couple months ago) some TaylorMade RAC HT Irons to my bag and I absolutely love them, but I'm thinking of switching out the shafts as the ones in them are the stock TaylorMade S shafts.  I'm torn between 4 options, 2 of which are the usual suspects.  These are the options I'm looking at...

1. Project X 6.0 or 6.5 shafts (non-flighted)

2. True Temper S300

3. Rifle Tapered Shafts 6.5 (non-flighted)

4. KBS Tour Stiff Shafts

I'm leaning more towards either KBS or Project X, but still not sure.  I'm looking for something to help give me a little bit lower flight though for sure.  Also, does anyone know what the tip diameter is for my irons, and if they are tapered or not.  Thanks guys.

[DufnerDip]

i prefer the dynamic gold shafts but the kbs are nice too, very smooth on both of those. never tried the others

[SacGolf89]

Thats the only shaft I've ever hit in my irons (tt) and i like them, i think I'm just looking for something new maybe. On a side note, the shafts in my HT's are TT, but a made for. I wonder if just doing S300's will change it up ball flight wise.

[DufnerDip]

you could get them tip stiff or have them hard stepped as well

[tristanhilton85]

What is your current ball flight? What kind of ball flight are you looking for?

[LuciusWooding]

The shafts you have now are extremely soft compared to any of those. Stiff would be like a regular or senior + flex when compared to tour weight shafts, since they're only 95 grams and designed by TM to go into their distance irons.

KBS would be my recommendation; they are only 120g in stiff, should be a mid flight compared to the others and feel nice and smooth. Maybe consider the S+ or soft/hard stepping, personally I love the brand and would recommend them.

Dynamic Gold is worth trying, but it will be a big difference because they're 130 grams. I would hesitate to go that heavy unless you try them first, but flex wise they should work OK. Project X are considered harsh by some, and rifle are not shown much love.

As I read your profile though...If you actually hit that 8 degree R11 with a Fujikura Motore F1 75x, you're either a vain individual who's hitting a lot of worm burners or you have quite decent speed. If you actually like or were fitted to that shaft, then go right ahead and try the different 130g X flex shafts. Many players do prefer softer iron shafts, but if you're playing such a low lofted driver with a legitimate X shaft like the fuji then at least try X. I'm honestly kinda confused why you're only considering S flex in your irons.

Remember that Project X steel will play about 5.5= DG S300 and 6.5= DGX100, while the KBS will be about the same as the dynamic gold flex wise. The Project X 6.5 is a lot more stiff than anything else on the list. However while DG are all the same weight, KBS and PX are progressively heavier.

Personally I use C tapers in X flex soft stepped once, so they're 130 grams and tip stable but play similar to a typical X flex shaft. C tapers are really low spin/launch so they play half a flex stiff normally.

[SacGolf89]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

What is your current ball flight? What kind of ball flight are you looking for?

Ridiculously high, and I'm looking for more of a mid to low-mid flight,

Originally Posted by LuciusWooding

The shafts you have now are extremely soft compared to any of those. Stiff would be like a regular or senior + flex when compared to tour weight shafts, since they're only 95 grams and designed by TM to go into their distance irons.

KBS would be my recommendation; they are only 120g in stiff, should be a mid flight compared to the others and feel nice and smooth. Maybe consider the S+ or soft/hard stepping, personally I love the brand and would recommend them.

Dynamic Gold is worth trying, but it will be a big difference because they're 130 grams. I would hesitate to go that heavy unless you try them first, but flex wise they should work OK. Project X are considered harsh by some, and rifle are not shown much love.

As I read your profile though...If you actually hit that 8 degree R11 with a Fujikura Motore F1 75x, you're either a vain individual who's hitting a lot of worm burners or you have quite decent speed. If you actually like or were fitted to that shaft, then go right ahead and try the different 130g X flex shafts. Many players do prefer softer iron shafts, but if you're playing such a low lofted driver with a legitimate X shaft like the fuji then at least try X. I'm honestly kinda confused why you're only considering S flex in your irons.

Remember that Project X steel will play about 5.5= DG S300 and 6.5= DGX100, while the KBS will be about the same as the dynamic gold flex wise. The Project X 6.5 is a lot more stiff than anything else on the list. However while DG are all the same weight, KBS and PX are progressively heavier.

Personally I use C tapers in X flex soft stepped once, so they're 130 grams and tip stable but play similar to a typical X flex shaft. C tapers are really low spin/launch so they play half a flex stiff normally.

It's not set on 8*, it's setup for 7.5*, and I still hit that higher than most people hit a 9.5-10.5, but still getting around 300 yards every drive (give or take 10 yards).  When I swing my irons though, I don't obviously swing as hard as my driver, but I try to have a more controlled swing.  With that being said, the slightly lighter, softer flex shaft to me feels better only for the fact I can control the club more, whereas if I go heavier, and stiffer, I have to swing a little harder and therefore would not be in control so much.

[Pblock45]

The Dynamic golds in s300s is a mid launching shaft for me thats why i picked them you said your a higher ball hitter so that might bring it down. TO be honest though you could smoke them to the moon still. I like a very high ball flight thats why i have the tt gs95 s300 but hey who knows.

[jmanbooyaa]

I saw the comparison listed above, how is it that a project x 5.5 is = to Dynamic golf s? Is that different than project x flighted 5.5? I saw that the 5.5 project x flighed are listed as regualar. Can someone who understands iron shafts explain the differences.

[saevel25]

I prefer project X flighted golf shafts, i think they produce a much more consistent ball flight

[SacGolf89]

Ok guys I'm bringing an old thread back from the dead, but I now have a new iron set and am looking at doing thus again but more seriously. I picked up a set of Nike VR Split cavity irons with stock S300's in them. I like the ball flight but they do tend to "spin up" and balloon half the time. I've been researching and was considering the DG X100 tour issue shafts for them to realistically give me the penetrating ball flight, and to not balloon. The flight I have now, minus the ballooning, is mid flight which is fine but want it slightly lower. Would these shafts work out for what I'm looking for? Thanks in advance.

[saevel25]

Try out KBS TOUR or KBS C-Taper. I had the same issue, the dynamic gold would start off lower and balloon up. I got the KBS shaft and the flight was much better. Also check out Project X Shafts, they will be in between KBS and Dynamic Gold.

[WUTiger]

SacGolf,

Here are the shaft specs for the five models you are talking about. We can then compare the shafts on specific factors.

Shaft	Weight (gr.)	FCM	Tip	Launch
ProjX  6.0 Rifle (non-F)	120	6.5	Med-Firm	Mid-flat
ProjX  6.5 Rifle (non-F)	125	7.0	Med-Firm	Mid-flat
Rifle Taper 6.5	130	6.5	Firm	Mid-Low
True T S300	130	5.8	Firm	Low
KBS Tour Stiff (taper)	120	6.0	Med-Stiff	Mid-Low
FCM = Frequency Coefficient Matching, which can be used to measure comparative stiffness among different shaft models

It appears that the Royal Precision Rifle shafts last appeared in component catalogs in 2012 (RP also made Project X before True Temper bought it). If you can find any RP Rifles, they are slightly heavier and a half-flex softer than the PX 6.5. Unless somebody has some RP Rifles in the back room, I don't know if you can find them.

The PX Rifles are an interesting shaft. They give the ball a little extra height on launch, but then flatten out for a more boring ball flight. Also, the PX Rifles play about a half step stiffer than the shaft rating. So, PX 6.0 has FCM = 6.5

For the TM RAC HT, the MPF = 701, on the line between GI and SGI. The Vertical Center of Gravity is about average, so it's not like the heads are ballooning the ball.

I would suggest you get on a launch monitor and get fitted. All the shafts you list are reasonable for testing, but none really jump out as the one .

You might also get a swing check, and make sure your set-up doesn't encourage too high a launch.

[k-troop]

C-Taper is the way to go for lowering flight.

[Mr. Desmond]

C-Taper is the way to go for lowering flight.

Yes, from what all have said; and if it's too low, they just came out with the Tour V

http://kbsgolfshafts.com/shafts/kbs-tour-v

[96p993]

I play KBS Tour in S+ softstepped...I also hit my ball simply WAY TO HIGH, I have a  6 iron C-Taper on the way to see how I like it. I used to play the Project X 6.0 flighted but I dont think they can hold a candle to the feel of the KBS Tour. If you try the C-Taper and they are too low you could look into softstepping which will supposedly raise the ball flight a bit.

[k-troop]

I play KBS Tour in S+ softstepped...I also hit my ball simply WAY TO HIGH, I have a  6 iron C-Taper on the way to see how I like it. I used to play the Project X 6.0 flighted but I dont think they can hold a candle to the feel of the KBS Tour. If you try the C-Taper and they are too low you could look into softstepping which will supposedly raise the ball flight a bit.

C-Taper has a pretty dead feel as well, nothing like the Tour. But the ball flight is awesome.

[MPtheKid]

Looking to test out some new shafts for my irons as well. I have always had a high ballflight but my SS has increased a lot recently so I think I need to move to a different shaft from my DG S300s. Not really sure what direction I am going to go in but I have heard nothing but good things about the C-Tapers. I definitely want to test them along with KBS Tours S+, PX 6.0/6.5, and DG X100s. Used a bunch of the online fitting tools with some of my updated info and these seem to be the shafts that come out as recommendations. Obviously, I need to get on a launch monitor with a proper fitter and see what works best. Only downside to all of this is that it seems to pretty expensive to re-shaft my whole set. DGs are a little less expensive but it doesn't seem like it's going to be a cheap undertaking no matter which direction I go.