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Hooking your hybrid too much? Here’s why the shaft could be the problem

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So, I have this recurring nightmare; I smoke one down the par 5 18th hole at my home course. Get to the ball and laser; 222 front, 227 pin. Perfect hybrid distance. I pull off the head cover, do my pre-shot routine and the ball takes off relatively straight. Then, it starts to curve left. Then it’s not just a curve, but a huge hook… and then SPLASH! In the pond short left.

Fed up with this dream, which is all-too-realistic based on my real game, I finally sought out answers while at a recent PGA Tour event. “Hey Kim! How are you sir?” I said.

“Brendan, how are you sir?” responded Kim Braly, my buddy and Director of R&D and Tour Operations at KBS Shafts.

“Well, not very good. As you know I love to play golf but have been struggling with my hybrid; I just seem to have the problem of duck hooking it at the worst times. Drives me crazy!” I responded.

“Look, next week at the Tour stop, why don’t you come spend time with me. It will be great to catch up and I think I might be able to help give you some insight into your problem” said Kim.

Day in the Tour Van? No snap hooks? Sold.

Arriving early, I was greeted at the Tour Van by Kim Braly and John Weber of KBS. “Welcome! Welcome, Brendan! Great to see you,” said Kim as I made my way up the stairs and entered the van. As we shook hands and greeted everyone, I handed Kim my hybrid for his thoughts and inspection. He quickly set it aside and said, “Brendan, what you have is a widespread problem with graphite because of the process of making the shaft. Unlike steel, which is a consistent material and easy to work with, graphite is complex. Graphite shafts are made through a process, which usually involves two or three sheets being cut and then woven together electronically to fit manufactures specifications. Although we have consistently gotten better at the process, graphite has limitations and it is very hard to make it stiff, light and consistent.”

I nodded and stopped, “Why is it so hard?” I questioned.

“When working with steel, you have almost perfect consistency and durability but have few options with weight (that’s why the lightest steel shafts are approximately 95 grams). With graphite you have greater problems with consistency; people want lighter, but it becomes hard to make stiff. As a result, many graphite hybrid shafts have large windows of frequency and they tend to be weak or soft. The result? Often that miss left you are struggling with!” explained Kim.

“So, does that mean that I need to change to steel? I will do anything to stop those quakers!” I responded.

“No. Most graphite companies are used to making wood shafts, not iron shafts. We have a ton of data to understand what players need in a hybrid shaft,” said Kim as he picked up my hybrid and walked towards the work bench. “The shaft we are going to test is our KBS Tour Hybrid Proto. It has very close to the same stiffness profile as our KBS Tour, which is what you play in your irons.”

“Oh, awesome! I love my iron shafts and honestly a lot of times I choose to hit 4-iron instead of my hybrid because I have a lot more confidence it will not go left!” I responded.

With meticulous precision, Kim worked on my hybrid. First, he applied heat and removed the head. He then cleaned the inside of the head and started the process of re-shafting the club. “We are going to ‘Pure’ this hybrid shaft, using this machine,” said Kim as he took the shaft and inserted it into one of the space-aged looking contraptions on the Van. He hit a button, the shaft spun and done. “That machine helped us to understand where the shaft should be placed to optimize performance. Now we need to get a ferrule, glue the club and have you pick a grip” he said as he opened Pandora’s box of grips.

My eyes went wide, and I started to look through the grips, finally settling on one, “how about this?” I said as I handed it to Kim.

“Perfect,” he said. “Let me put it on and we will be ready.” After about 15 minutes of letting everything dry, Kim presented me with my new weapon; it was beautiful! I thanked him and took off to the car, excited to test the club at my local club.

As I got into the car, I called my best friend Julian: “Bro, can you get an emergency 9 in? I just got a new KBS Proto shaft in my hybrid and I am feeling muy confident!”

“KBS Proto! Whaaaa? That’s a killer shaft. Phil Mickelson used one this year when he won. I’ve wanted one soooooo bad. Ya, I’m on the putting green. Let’s play!” responded Julian.

Of course, we headed off the back and on the 18th hole I smoked one leaving 216 yards to the pin. It was the moment of truth; hybrid time. Pulled the club, went through my routine and SMASH. “Pure!” said Julian as I smiled and watched the ball sail straight towards the green.

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Brendan Ryan, an entrepreneur and scientist, is a passionate golfer who loves his local muni. Armed with a keen interest in the game, a large network of friends in the industry, Brendan works to find and produce unique content for GolfWRX.

17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Pooter

    Aug 29, 2018 at 2:03 am

    We are all dumber for having read this. I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul.

  2. Nathan

    Aug 2, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    Why not just get your Driver shaft pured with a new KBS Tour Shaft? That way, you’ll hit it 30 yards further, leaving yourself only 190 in to the flag, where you can stiff your 6 iron (with KBS shaft)? Seems like a much better solution to me.

  3. Poot

    Aug 2, 2018 at 2:16 am

    This is why KBS is overrated, and I will never use their shafts as they all feel like cr!p

  4. JARED BRANT

    Aug 2, 2018 at 1:10 am

    Hate to say that I actually feel dumber now that I read and reread this article multiple times. I thought I missed a paragraph that may have explained something about the loft, grip size, stiffness, length or anything that would cause the ball to go left. I think it ultimately just said that I should buy a shaft made of “Pure Steel”?!

  5. Offcho

    Aug 1, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    This might be the worst article/click bait ever on GolfWRX. I want my wasted time back reading this garbage.

  6. woof

    Aug 1, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    lol look at all the true temper kids getting mad online

  7. Ron Swanson

    Aug 1, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    This story is awful, misleading and the statements being made by Kim Braly are embarrassing for someone in the golf industry whose business is shafts. Also, he knocks graphite, but yet their “proto” shaft is made of graphite, a material they have NO expertise in? First of all, his statements about graphite are grossly untrue. And also, if graphite is so inconsistent then why is it used in driver shafts for players with swing speeds upwards of 125 mph? Hybrids go left because they are almost always too upright from the factory, period. It aint the shaft. This article should be deleted as it is reciting false quotes and misleading your readers. This is embarrassing for GolfWRX to have on their website.

  8. Pete O'Tube

    Aug 1, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    Dreadful, overexcited journalism.

  9. PT

    Aug 1, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    What hybrid are you using? What loft?
    Terrible advertorial for KBS, this.

  10. JD

    Aug 1, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    I sure hope KBS didn’t pay very much for this article.

  11. stevez

    Aug 1, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    most hybrids are 1.5″ longer than the similar # iron, think Wishon has said the hybrid length should be similar to iron.

  12. DB

    Aug 1, 2018 at 2:59 pm

    Interesting info, just don’t know why you wrote the article as if your audience was 13 year-old girls.

  13. Max

    Aug 1, 2018 at 1:33 pm

    Hooking hybrids off the planet? Here are some reasons:
    -ball too far forward in stance
    -standing too far away from the ball, promoting an in to out path
    -club is too upright
    -club is too light
    -club is draw biased
    -stock shaft is a wet noodle piece of garbage

    • larrybud

      Aug 1, 2018 at 3:13 pm

      Bingo on all fronts. My main issue is too upright. I play 3 flat irons, and with the 3/4 hybrid they don’t get too hooky, but with the 5 the face is aiming left unless I open it up a bit.

  14. David

    Aug 1, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    Light, weak, high-torque shafts in hybrids (especially higher lofted hybrids) are what pretty much all OEM’s install in their hybrids. They want the ball to go “high and far” with hybrids. It’s a recipe for disaster.

    You want to hit your hybrids rock-solid? Get heavier, stiffer shafts in your hybrids than the OEM wants to put in them and you will be on your way to much, much better shots with your hybrids, and they will more faithfully replace the iron they are supposed to replace that way also. Just look out for lofts. a 23 degree hybrid is a 5-hybrid??? WTF?? You will hit that every bit as far (or farther) than a typical 4-iron.

    SMH at OEM’s….

  15. carl

    Aug 1, 2018 at 12:24 pm

    Yep you hooked your hybrid cause the shaft wasnt pured. HaHaHa

    Also calling people ‘Bro’ after you get your new $200 KBS hybrid shaft is a must

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Whats in the Bag

Chesson Hadley WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 70 TX

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (14.5 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX

Irons: Titleist T200 (3), Titleist 620 CB (4, 5), Titleist 620 MB (6-PW)
Shafts: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 105 X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG 2-Ball
Grip: Odyssey

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Check out more in-hand photos Chesson Hadley’s clubs here.

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Whats in the Bag

Gary Woodland WITB 2024 (March)

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Driver: Cobra Darkspeed X (8 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 70 M5

  • The white circle that appears at the top of the face a removable sticker that’s used for launch monitor tracking, and Woodland removes it for competition!

3-wood: Cobra Darkspeed X (14 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

7-wood: Cobra LTDx LS prototype (20 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TZ5 GW100 Prototype

Irons: Wilson Staff (18 degrees), Cobra King MB (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X

Wedges: Cobra SB (48), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-08F, 56-14F), Cobra King (60)
Shafts: KBS Tour C-Taper Limited X (48 degrees), KBS Tour V-Ten 125

Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 3.0P

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

See more in-hand photos of Gary Woodland’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Q&A: Martin Trainer on his Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers” putter, 6.5-degree driver, and “butter knife” 2-iron

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As unbiasedly as I can put it, Martin Trainer has one of the coolest club setups in professional golf. (At some point soon, I’ll put together a top-10 list of “coolest club setups on Tour,” but I know that Trainer will be in the top-10)

What a lineup. He plays a 6.5-degree Wilson prototype driver, a 13-degree Wilson prototype 3-wood, a true blade Wilson Staff Model 2-iron, and a Bobby Grace “Greg Chalmers Commemorative” putter!

 

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I mean, look at this 2-iron from address…

To quote the great author R.L. Stine: “Goosebumps.”

On Wednesday at the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open, I caught up with Trainer to learn more about his bag setup.

Here’s what he had to say:

You have the Internet going crazy over your bag setup, and your putter. Where’d you pick the Bobby Grace-Greg Chalmers putter up? How long have you had it?

MT: This was from when Bobby Grace came to my course in California: Cal Club. And for whatever reason, they just started having them in the shop. So then I took my buddy’s, started using it, and made, like, a million putts in a row, which is how every putter story begins, I guess.

And then, I bought a couple of my own, used it for years, got to the Tour with it, won on Tour with it (the 2019 Puerto Rico Open). Then, about a year later, started using another putter, did that for a couple years, but now it’s back in the bag.

When did it come back in the bag?

MT: December of this past year. So a few months ago.

What year would you say was the first time you threw that in the bag, or, like, when you bought it?

MT: God…Probably, 2016, maybe? 2018?

Do you remember how much you paid for it?

MT: I don’t know, actually. Maybe $100-150 bucks or something. I think that’s the only golf club I’ve bought between high school and now. Well, two, since I bought two of them.

The driver is interesting, too. What went into the prototyping process?

MT: That was a version of the current driver, but it was the prototype that they first came out with for Tour guys to try. And for whatever reason, I just never switched out to the new one.

It’s just 6.5 degrees, right?

MT: Yeah. Very low loft, yeah.

What kind of ball speed do you have with that these days?

MT: Like high 170’s.

Yeah, that’ll work. And then a 2-iron blade? We’re seeing fewer and fewer of those out here.

MT: Yeah. The butter knife.

Very cool thing to have in the bag. Have you done any testing with driving irons? 

MT: Yeah, I used to have a thicker one, but it was a little offset, and I never hit it that well. And then finally, I started messing around with the butter knife. And I remember the first time I looked down at it, I was terrified. And then I ended up getting used to it, putting it in play, and it’s been in place since. It’s a pretty good club for me.

How far do you carry that? 

MT: Like 235.

A good little wind club, I’m sure.

MTL Yeah, exactly. I can hit it very low. It’s great.

I love it. You have people shook looking at that. Thanks for the time, man. 

MT: Absolutely.

To see more photos and discussion of Trainer’s bag, click here.

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