Aldila Synergy Blue Golf Shaft Review

Aldila Synergy Blue Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

The 2018 Aldila Synergy is the first golf shaft I know of to incorporate Graphene. What exactly does this material, that is one atom thick bring, to golf shafts. I looked it up at Wikipedia and learned that it earned its early researchers a Nobel Prize in 2010. Golf is not the first sports application, Head put in into tennis rackets in 2015. They are played by the worlds best tennis players. The racket reviews tell us that they bring new levels of stability to the racket frame. 

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Russ

KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

KBS Tour Hybrid Golf Shafts

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Hybrid KBS image

The KB in the KBS brand stands for Kim Braly. In the 80’s Kim and his father, Dr. Joe Braly founded Precision Shaft Corporation. Together, they created one of the first ever PGA Tour vans and did research on PGA players that established many of the core design principles of golf shaft stiffness. The company eventually became Royal Precision. At Royal Precision, Kim Braly created the stepless Rifle Golf Shaft and the Project X Golf Shaft. Those brands are now owned and produced by True Temper which acquired Royal Precision in the early 2000s.

In 2008, Kim Braly joined Femco Steel Company and the KBS brand was launched. The combination of FST manufacturing technology and Kim’s knowledge of golf shaft design quickly made the KBS brand one of the leading brands on the PGA Tour and among golfers of all skill levels. Shaft to shaft consistency is excellent, Radial quality is excellent. The designs are easy to understand and flight. They are club makers / club fitters shafts.

The KBS Hybrid shaft is what can now be though of as a first generation Femco Steel / Kim Braly design. It was the first stepless design produced by the partnership. Compared to later designs, it is softer. It is a great companion to lighter weight steel, like the KBS Tour 90. It has the same bend profile as all the KBS products, a consistent, stable change of stiffness from point to point down the entire length of the shaft.

The torque ranges from 2.3 in the R flex to 2.1 in the X flex. A very low number, found in very few graphite shafts. I have fit this shaft into the hybrids of some strong players. They gained control unlike anything they had ever experienced in their hybrids.

Hybrid KBS EiGj

In a discussion a the 2011 PGA Merchandise show with Kim Braly about Hybrid shafts for strong players he suggested the C Taper 2 iron shaft. A look at the EI and GJ profiles showed it to be a stiffer version of the KBS Hybrid. The torque numbers of steel are naturally low, and the KBS Tour C Taper torque ranges from 2.1 in the R flex to 1.6 in the X flex. Radial quality is excellent allowing the shaft to be installed in any orientation.

Iron fitting experience with this shaft has shown that I can ‘tune’ launch with flex. Having R+ and S+ sub flexes makes this easily to test during a fitting. If you are strong enough for this shaft in your irons, you will be amazed at how accurate your hybrids can be with STEEL.

UST Mamiya Elements Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya Elements – Earth – Fire – Wind Hybrid Golf Shafts

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

RollingElementsEWFThe USTMamiya Elements Golf Shafts have three different launch designs; Earth=low, Fire=mid and Wind=high. In the hybrid models, the difference between the Wind and Fire is weight and stiffness, The lower launch Fire is a 100g shaft while the higher launch Wind is a 90 gram golf shaft. The 80g Earth is a different design. The Earth profile is very similar the the UST Mamiya VTS Silver and Black design.
Elements Hybrid EiGj
TourSPXTransparetLogo.fw
The Wind and Fire designs are almost identical to the UST AXIVCore Black, one of my favorites for stable tip, mid-high launch hybrid shafts. Radial quality is excellent, several of the 9 shafts I measured were perfect, the worst of them was 99.3%.  This is as good as it gets.  Tip torques were around 1.9, butt torques 2.5.  This is a low dispersion design that offers the USTMamiya TourSPX dealer a wide range of fitting options. The graphics of the USTMamiya Elements is an interesting update of the UST Mustard and Black color scheme.

UST Mamiya VTS Tour SPX Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya VTS Hybrid Tour SPX

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Hybrid USTVTS image
TourSPXTransparetLogo.fwThe ATTAS VTS hybrid is available in low, medium and high torque models in different weighs and flexes. It lets the fitter explore your sensitivity to torque. This is not a shaft you buy off the shelf, it is designed for custom fitting by a UST certified Tour SPX fitter.

VTS Hybrid EiGjVTS Hybrid TorqueAs you can see from the profiles, each of the torque designs has a slightly different EI profile, resulting in slightly different launch tendencies. The Red is a Mid-High launch while the Silver and Black are Low-Mid designs.

These are tour grade shafts, the radial quality and shaft to shaft consistency is excellent. Each shaft is certified by UST with 20 measurements and laser etched with a serial number before it ships. Should you ever need a replacement, the certification document can be used to find a match.

UST Mamiya ATTAS Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya ATTAS Hybrid

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Hybrid ATTAS image
The ATTAS Hybrid is a premium shaft from UST Mamiya. It uses the same AXIV weave material in the butt section as the AXIVCore products. The mid and tip are made of ultra thin carbon graphite, allowing for more piles of material. This results in lower torque, smoother profiles and a long stiff tip.

The shaft to shaft consistency is excellent. Radial quality is excellent, torque ranges from 2.5 in the 85R to 2.3 in the 100 X.

It is a unique hybrid profile, modeled on the ATTAS driver shaft. A soft butt allows early loading in the downswing with a smooth, controlled swing. The quick loss of stiffness in the mid is complimented with a long uniformly stiff tip. It is a mid high launching shaft with low torque numbers that delivers tight dispersion. The profile is similar to the Nippon Modus3 irons shaft. This is has long been one of my favorite hybrid shafts.
Hybrid ATTAS EiGj

UST Mamiya AXIV Core Hybrid Black Golf Shaft Review

UST Mamiya AXIVCORE Hybrid Black

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Hybrid AXIVBlack image

The UST AXIV Core Tour Black Hybrid like the Tour Black Driver/Fairway shaft is a mid-high launch design. the aftermarket shaft is 100 grams. An 85 gram version with the same profile was offered in some stock hybrids. The 85 gram shaft has about 1/2 degree more torque than the after market version which ranges from 2.3 in the R flex to 2.2 in the X flex. The profile is found in a number of hybrid shafts, including some of the Mitsubishi models.

Tip torque at 17″ is 1.85, Butt torque at 37″ is 2.5.  Good numbers for a high launch design.  If your hybrids have a tendency to hook, a shaft with low tip torque may be the cure.  This profile is a classic, you will see it again and again in quality hybrid shaft designs.
Hybrid AXIVBlack EiGj