OBAN Kiyoshi Shafts Review

While the original OBAN Kiyoshi (we affectionately call it the Purple Haze) and Kiyoshi Black shafts have been out for a while, I decided to do a more thorough comparison of all of the Kiyoshi shafts, including the Kiyoshi White.  For the test, I built three Kiyoshi 65 shafts all to my specs of length, stiffness and swing weight.  The shafts were tested in an Adams Super LS 9.5 driver with the TaylorMade Lethal ball indoors using Trackman II.  I hit 10 balls and tossed out some bad swings with each shaft.  For this test, I paid particular attention to the feel of the shafts as they have distinctly different profiles.  As I would expect, there was no significant difference in swing and ball speed between the three shafts (91 and 134).  The launch angles were 14.2, 12.6 and 12.3 for the Original, White and Black respectively.  Spin rates were 2320, 2458 and 2533 respectively.  Carry distances were 202, 203 and 206 but because of the launch and spin characteristics, the Total distances were 235, 236 and 236.   I like a shaft that has a little “kick” at the bottom so for me the Kiyoshi Original felt the best, followed by the Black and finally the White.   As I mentioned in a previous review, the White has a distinctly firm feel.  So, once you get a shaft “fit” to your swing, especially in shafts that are designed as tightly as the OBAN Kiyoshi series, performance will be relatively similar but feel can be the deciding factor.  For me, Purple Haze, baby!