Kuro Kage Shaft review

[Super Tuna]

Greetings all,

 

A few months ago Golfspy Matt made my ears (virutal) perk up when he mentioned there was a new shaft coming from Mitsubishi (MRC) called the Kuro Kage. Details at the time were spotty but it was known ahead of time that this was going to be more of a "budget" line, or at least from MRC's standard pricing models where most driver shafts are $360 retail. Given that I'm a huge MRC fan for shafts, this was certainly something I needed to try out.

 

Through various sources over the past month I've managed to aquire 4 hybrid shafts as well as a 70 and 60 gram wood shaft all in stiff flex. 2 of the hybrid shafts are Callaway Razr's the other two in Adams 1300SS. The fairway and driver shaft went into Cobra S2's.

 

I do have a bunch of LM numbers coming for you but I lost the sheets (ugh) and haven't had a chance to go back for a re-print of the results.

 

Normally, I'd split my comments across the hybrid, fairway and driver results and expectations but in this case, it really isn't required. MRC has really kept the same feel throughout the entire line, something I'm quite pleased with. It appears a lesson MRC learned well with the flow of the Fubuki line in the Alpha to AX F to AX H to AX I. Frankly I'm suprised they didn't make a AX P for the putter shaft for a lark and follow Matrix and Fujikura down that line but whatever.

 

When I was first hunting these shafts, details as I said above, were sketchy at best. What I managed to find out while they were coming in is that they are marketed from MRC as to have a stiff butt section, weaker mid section with a firm tip. They've also managed to reduce how much resin they required in the manufactoring process which allowed them to add more fibre in. The result is suppose to be less weight with more strenght.

 

Now, does that profile I mentioned above sound familair to anyone? If you've followed MRC's line at all you'll hear the echo of the Kai'li profile in that description. If you read the standard marketing out there, that's likely what you'll pull from the description. However that's not really how these shafts play. The butt section is not as stiff as a Kai'li. It will feel more like a Ahina/Whiteboard under your hands. Right after that though, it stiffens up a bit. The mid section gets gradually softer exactly like a Kai'li. Just before the tip section the shaft stiffens up and then has a softer tip section where as the Kai'li stiffens up considerablly at the tip.

 

The result means you get a solid mid ball flight with midish spin levels. You can certainly feel the tip kick through the ball nicely. The weaker mid section flings it through with a bit of vigour but even so, the launch is not overly high nor overly spinny. Both are higher then the Kai'li but neither reaches the level of the Ilima for example.

 

While fiddling with the driver shaft I constantly changed positions to see how the shaft would react. I believe the increased fibre strenght has allowed MRC to tighten up the radial profiles considerablly. If you're someone who is firmly on the side of spineing the shaft, I believe this is one you can get away with not doing or not worrying about it when you move it slightly from the spined position.

 

From other MRC models the torque is right in line as well. It's not loose but there's certainly a fair bit of feel throughout the shaft.

 

Who's it for? Good Question. In my opinion this is not a shaft for the smooth, flowing, swingers nor is it a shaft for the hard bashers. If you're too smooth, you'll likely find issues with loading it and not being able to square the tip up completely. However if you push it too hard through the transition the tip isn't going to keep up and the kickpoint isn't going to be your friend. I'd slot this in for the middle of the road swingers. Those with a decent speed and transition but not high either. Say those who fit in the 4 to 6 range for tempo on the Mizuno Shaft Optimizer presuming you swing your hybrid/fairway/driver with the same tempo across the board.

 

For what it's worth, I will be keeping these around and actually getting two more to try with other heads (Callaway Razr Fit driver and Razr Black 4 wood). I find myself much more able to swing within my self then my higher weight Kai'li's which has lead to much better course position. Distance has been worse, shaft for shaft but dispertion is up considerablly. And from that perspective, I've heard my lesson. Everyone who says they would trade 10 yards short but in the fairway, well, I'm fully aboard that train now. Choo choo!

 

This has got rather long winded for the moment so I'll cut it off here. If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate and I'll see what I can do to help out.

 

Cheers!

[Matt Saternus]

Great stuff, Tuna! I have a review in the works on the Kuro Kage hybrid and wood shaft...I'll be interested to see how my findings compare to yours.

 

I will say out of the gate that I have a different sense of the feel: to me, the Kaili is much smoother and "kickier" than the Kuro Kage. I've even had some friends say that the Kuro Kage felt boardy.

 

Great to get another viewpoint. Thanks.

[Super Tuna]

My bad Matt, I didn't realize you were going to get your hands on these so soon or I would have held off.

 

I think the kicking of the Kai'li, at least for me, really depends on the weight. I find the Kai'li 60 to kick like a mule for example but not so with the 70 or 80 which is what I've used in my driver/fairway. The again, other then the RIP Alpha I've never found a shaft that divides opinion about feel then the Kai'li.

[Matt Saternus]

My bad Matt, I didn't realize you were going to get your hands on these so soon or I would have held off.

 

I think the kicking of the Kai'li, at least for me, really depends on the weight. I find the Kai'li 60 to kick like a mule for example but not so with the 70 or 80 which is what I've used in my driver/fairway. The again, other then the RIP Alpha I've never found a shaft that divides opinion about feel then the Kai'li.

 

No no, I'm glad you didn't. Like I said, the more info and opinions, the better. That's what MGS is about.

 

I imagine you're correct about the weight influencing feel, and feel being very different from one to the next. That's why I try to give comparisons. Also, people who have read a few of my reviews probably have a sense of how I "feel" about shafts. They might know that what's smooth to me is loose to them, or something like that.

[JBones]

Great review, Tuna. Very informative. I just saw these shafts in the newest Golfworks catalog.