KBS Tour One Step Putter Shaft
I promise that you will not find another steel putter shaft on the market that’s anything like the KBS Tour One Step putter shaft. With a one-step design that gives the shaft a unique look in your putter, KBS aims to “amplify” and improve the feel and also make your putter more accurate. More importantly, KBS wants to get you “One Step closer to perfecting your putting game”.
The Looks
Though the picture above is somewhat unassuming, the look from address with the KBS Tour One Step putter shaft is certainly different. Fair, it’s not the first time I’ve seen a similar effect in a putter shaft, but I’ve never seen it in a “plain ol’ steel” shaft. A wider upper half quickly tapers at the single step in the shaft to a narrow tip section. I’m aware that visual preferences are subjective and will vary, but I didn’t find it difficult to quickly adjust. My eyes even sort of zeroed in on the ball better with the transition from thick to thin. To be fair, I also think the matte black finish going into a matte black head played a role in that.
Speaking of finish, the One Step putter shaft is currently offered in three different color options. I built my putter for testing with the matte black PVD finish, but there are chrome and glossy black PVD finishes available as well. Also be aware, at the time of publishing, the One Step shaft is only available in .370 tip and straight. Know your putter’s tip size requirements unless you want to bore out your hosel. Word to the wise, Scotty Cameron uses a smaller tip size than .370. That said, I would bet good money that KBS will offer a smaller tip size down the road like they did with the CT Tour putter shaft.
How Does it Feel?
Feel is far and away the top priority for KBS with the One Step putter shaft. Kim Braly designed the One Step to look unique, sure, but there is a very real functional purpose. The thicker top half almost makes the tip portion seem “needle like”, but it helps to greatly reduce the vibration in the shaft from impact. With the absence of the vibration in the shaft, you get a clearer sense of how you struck the ball. I imagine this is exactly what KBS means when they say it has an “amplified feel”. You don’t have as much “lost feedback” from the actual strike being masked by vibration in the shaft. Simply put, distortion is removed from the overall feel.
There is an excellent sense of balance as well. At least in my setup with a 350 gram head, the 130 gram One Step shaft, and a SuperStroke. We’ll discuss the impact on stability in the next section, but so far, I’ve experienced an extremely smooth putting stroke with it. There was also minimal head twist. A little extra weight in the shaft toward the top counter balances the putter a bit and will theoretically help balance out a wider range of modern heavier putter heads. I could see players using old school 320 and 330 gram heads and possibly not experiencing the benefits from the One Step shaft as much. But I haven’t personally tried a real light head yet, so take that with a grain of salt. I could very well be wrong.
On-Course Performance
The combination of the amplified feel in the hands and the overall balance from the KBS Tour One Step make for one pretty smooth roll. Stability is a main focus of the One Step’s design which means it’s minimizing twisting throughout the stroke, especially at impact. While I didn’t putt with the One Step on a SAM or some similar monitor to scientifically confirm that, I felt that the putter seemed easy to keep square and under control on my putts. As a result, I had an extremely clean roll on the ball and was able to consistently hit my targets. (Aka, I was accurate with it.) With confidence coming from the reliability of controlling the putter face, distance control was a breeze as well.
Final Thoughts – KBS Tour One Step Putter Shaft
Am I “one step closer to perfecting my putting”? I’m not sure yet, but the KBS One Step putter shaft certainly has my attention. Put it this way, the One Step was rolling really well and will definitely get further consideration from me over the start of the golf season. The One Step is a comfortable weight with a nice “Goldilocks” feel that falls between dampening and precise, and there’s definitely something here that works for me. It’s also more affordable than other competitors in this area of the market which absolutely makes the One Step shaft worth considering.
I’m a big believer in the Breakthrough Golf Technology Stability Tour shaft after having played it for the past year and seen improvements in my putting statistics and a lowering of my handicap as a result. KBS shafts are also a favorite of mine. Been using the KBS shafts in all of my irons and wedges for the past 5 years. If KBS is able to duplicate the results of the BGT Stability shaft at a much lower cost then they will have a real winner. Since I am using the Odyssey O-Works Black #7 putter with a double bend shaft it is not possible to do a head to head comparison with the KBS shaft. That comparison of identical putter heads and grips with the two different shafts utilizing the SAM Putt Lab or Quintic would be very interesting.
I don’t think you’ll find the two shafts to quite be apples to apples, but the concept is indeed very similar.
How does this compare to the ct tour?
Apples to oranges. CT Tour is an updated modern take on a standard steel putter shaft. We have a review for it on the site as well.
Does this come in a single or double bend shaft?
Not at this time as I understand it.
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I have a toulon odyssey memphis putter, does this putter shift work on this putter?
Assuming your Toulon uses a straight shaft and not a double bend, it depends on the required tip size. As of not, I believe the One Step only comes in .370 and I don’t know what size Toulon uses.