ZackS

WILLY Z!
I think this could be the year he breaks through for a major and he's had a lot of success at Augusta already.

The Olympics are well, the Olympics. The biggest gathering of athletes from all over the world, in one place, at one time, competing in events that get TV coverage frankly, once every 4 years. It is a spectacle like no other. Having professionals does not diminish golf's appeal. The format, however, is the downfall. A standard 72-hole tournament...boring. The NCAA format is better suited to an Olympic vibe. The team competition with match play for the individuals. Award team medals and then the individual champion medals.

People are going to watch the Olympics no matter what. Regardless of who is playing or participating. We don't know the names of hundreds or thousands of athletes participating in the various sports but still watch.

I have updated my testing post with my initial impressions. Go check it out, if you have any question let me know. 

I did some head to head testing with an Autoflex Dream 7. Have to admit that the dream did outperform the Newton, but it is in a sight class I prefer. 
I think if Newton ever lowers the weight of the 4 or 5 dot options they would be much more in line with what by swing prefers.

The think with the Edel fitting process is so do the whole thing you need at least an hour so hard to have any of the first 3. 
 
The main thing I think others should adopt is the aiming aspect of the fitting. Most fittings I see all talk about stroke and what type putter you need for that stroke. That is all important as well. But as someone who used to work in the industry mainly on the teaching side. Most issues come from compensations and the first and most common compensation I would see stemmed from alignment and putting is no different. 

As someone who hasn't been able to book an Edel fitting yet I would say it's probably not the most ideal process for other OEM's to copy.  If you want more people to be fit to your products availability and cost are huge factors.  I'm sure Edel will appear in more locations if the Array is a hit with consumers, but for right now it's difficult to find a fitter nearby and all of them or on the higher end of the scale cost-wise.
Ideally I'd like to see a tiered model for putter fitting:
Self trials at the big box stores - free 15 minute talk with employees - minimal cost and/or free for rewards members Any type of technology involved in a 30 minute fitting - moderate cost ($50?) Full fledged hour+ fitting at a specialty shop (Club Champion, Golftec, etc) = $100 Right now to get fit for an Edel Array your only option is the fourth bullet point.
 

My Club Champion was $125 and worth it , it’s much like most things you get done professionally, you get what you pay for most of the time .

Wasn’t always a15 but still have some good moves in me once in a while , if only I could do it every swing 😂

Spent a little time this Easter morning on my Birdie Ball practice green. I wanted to get a feel for how the B-1 aligns with the toe hang versus my gamer, which is face-balanced. I also wanted to get a sense for speed with the B-1. For reference, my BB is a 10-11 on the stimp. 
First, I did a drill where I had to make 12 in a row from just over 3 feet. It took me four attempts, usually biffing on the 10th putt. At first, I moved the ball forward in my stance for a few reasons, one of which was to prevent forward shaft lean.
After making my 12, I moved to about six feet. I found that my consistency dropped a lot. I also had a harder time with speed.
Finally, I putted from roughly eight feet. At this point, I moved the ball back to the middle of my stance. This was the result:

Every ball (except the one behind the hole) hit the cup. The first three caused the other six to deflect off. Pretty good.
I just ordered some putting gates. On Tuesday, I plan to do an accuracy test by hitting balls through the gates from various distances, both with the gamer and the Array. I also plan to test distance control.
Happy Easter to all!

A 15 making 3 hole in 1’s in 11 months, remind me not to get in a match with you.
Congrats!

I'm a little confused.   your diagrams show face consistently open at impact but you wrote you are closed at impact.   The path doesn't have a huge influence on ball direction and ball direction even shows it goes right.     Makes me wonder how you are pulling putts; everything shows they should be going right.  
 
 
 
I think Edel fittings are good,  but not everyone in the putting industry believes in the approach and not every player believes that the fitting will provide benefit.   For example, the putter or player analogy people would say that its not the putter and the  player should be able to putt with anything.  Players would also complain about looks even though the putter may perform significantly better than something that looks "good" to them.   All of this probably depends on where you fit in the mechanics vs. feel balance.   Lets look at someone like Tiger that sets up open and tries to hook his putts;  an Edel fitting would probably destroy his putting.   

Definitely something OEM could benefit from though it could result in fewer putters sold since a fitted putter would stay in your bag much longer - the aiming with the Edel after the fitting is so effective for me , I’m excited to get on with play and testing this coming week 

For all those who have done an Edel fitting - do you think other OEMs or companies should look at this process more closely and try to resemble it in some form or fashion? Do you think consumers in general would benefit from that?

It's truly amazing where technology has put us. In all aspects of golf!
15+ years ago we went strictly off feel and looks with putters. 
Seeing these data backed fittings is truly a wonderment to me!
Looking forward to how it all translates to real play for everyone!

The Fitting
So to summarize my previous posts on my current gamers, I'm not a terribly good putter with either of the face-balanced Odyssey's I've been gaming. The torque-balanced LAB was even worse. According to my fitting, it turns out face-balanced is all wrong for me.
Here are the screen shots from the fitting at Club Champion via S&M Lab.





 
On the very positive side, I'm exceedingly consistent in my stroke. However, among many other observations you can glean from these, I'm consistently aiming the face a bit closed at impact, my path is a bit outside in, and I'm delivering a LOT of loft at impact. As a result, I'm pulling putts and my speed control is suffering due to my putts being a little too airborne.
In turn, I've been fit into an F-1 putter head, with a slant neck. The putter will be 2 degrees upright and lofted at only 1.5 degrees to help get the ball rolling earlier.  What will that look like?  Stay tuned, cuz get what arrived today...

 

Picked the right day to play the Chrome Tour X again. It’s the last of the lot that I received so I’ve been hoarding it.  For only the second time a ball made it all 18 holes. Performance wise it was great. All my distances were spot on, and trajectory was what I like to see. There was some abrasion to the cover.
I didn’t hit any trees or cart paths so the abrasion is just wear and tear. Aside from the one spot the rest of the ball held up good. 

Introduction:
Let me start by saying how much I appreciate this opportunity and big thanks to MSG and TPT. Also to John Sinclair for his time in for the fitting. My name is Zack, I was born and raised the Dallas TX area and lived here most my life other then a few years in California for college. I worked in the golf industry throughout most of my 20’s primarily in a teaching role where I was a lead instructor for a city course teaching both adults and kids then an indoor facility with Edwin Watts. I have moved into IT engineering for my career and I am a single dad. My son is starting to have some interest in the game so I get to do some practice with him but the majority of my golf is sneaking out after work when my son is at his mom’s.

 
My Game:
A little on the history on my game. I started playing 24 years ago in high school. I picked up the game pretty quickly and was constantly shooting in the 80s by end on freshman year. My last few years of high school was was consistently in the high 70s. My game was at its best in college where I got down to scratch. Throughout my time in the industry I didn’t keep a handicap but my average score was mid to low 70s with a bad day being high 70s. After years of averaging about 1 round per year I played a handful of time last year and have got the bug again. I still don’t keep a handicap but currently averaging about 8 over par when I play. For a few reasons, I still don’t get play as much as I would like so I practice more than I play currently but with my analytical, perfectionist mindset, I enjoy practicing.
 
Manufacturer claims and My Thoughts:
TPT has a proprietary manufacturing process that allows for ……..You know what they explain it better then me. So give it a watch, I’ll wait 😆
This has me very excited as if this it true I should see a noticeable difference in dispersion and hopefully from this distance due to the added confidence and ability to play a softer/ligher shaft.
 
How I plan to test:
Going to start by comparing the shafts in the SIM bay against my current for launch, spin, ball speed, distance and dispersion.
Current shafts:
Titleist TSR3 Driver - Graphite Design AD DI 6X and Accra TZ6 55 M5
Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond 5 Wood - Graphite Design AD TP 7S
PXG 0317 Gen2 22 degree Hybrid - Aldila NV Blue 90S
And obviously I will have to put them to the test on the course and what performance benefits it can provide. For these to stay in my bag the primary thing would be dispersion as that has always been the weakest part of my game. But of course some added distance along with that will be welcome.
 
Final Review 5/4/2024
 
Initial Impressions: (10 out of 10)
Since Jon our fitter had the shafts sent to him so he could build them I was able to just pick them up so there was no unboxing. But Jon also let me know how much head weight needed to be added or subtracted from each club while there. Since I knew the weights I had in the driver and 5 wood I knew I had what I needed already at home and Jon gave me what I needed for my driver. I will need to find some wights for my PXG Gen2 hybrid but for now I have just removed a few of them to get the correct weight. Overall my initial impressions are very high. I love the looks, I am sucker for good matte finish which these have just a few layers of clear coat so you can see the graphite which has a unique look I am assuming it due to their patented manufacturing process. Add to that the matte yellow that really pops and makes them standout.

The feel and performance during the fitting and the first range session are great and confidence inspiring. Here are quick highlights from the range.
Lastly even though getting fit from Jon Sinclair is not something everyone looking at these shaft will get to do but I was lucky enough too and it was a great experience. You can see more detail on that here
Aesthetics: 19 out of 20
With shaping and other things like that not really being a thing with shafts there is not a lot to discuss on aesthetics. That said I love the looks, I am sucker for good matte finish which these have just a few layers of a matte clear coat so you can see the graphite. The graphite has a unique look I am assuming it due to their patented manufacturing process where they sand the graphite down to create the flex profile.

Also the matte yellow that really pops and makes them standout. The only thing I would change is make it orange instead of yellow because I like orange.

I am sure some won’t like the look but I though the QR code they have on the shaft that take you to a page to be able to register your shafts and a few other things including this document which give some more info on shaft profile. https://linktr.ee/tptgolf_QRCode
 
The Numbers: (17 out of 20)
I will start by saying that I am grading on a scale where a full 20 out of 20 would be that it was better is every single way. That said my current shafts where pretty good for me already and in terms of sheer numbers (launch, spin, ball speed, distance, etc) thing were similar as you will see from examples below. I did a multiple sessions to make sure it was not just a good day with one shaft or another for some reason. Also this allowed me to get a decent sample size and not having to make a bunch of swings all at one were I would inevitably end up being tired and a shaft would get the short end of the stick in the comparison.
Driver: 
One note from the first session is I hit double the amount with the TPT shaft, half being me trying to swing faster and the dispersion is still better.


5 wood:
You will notice in the 2nd session I was all over with my swing with this club so number are down and dispersion is wider but the TPT was still more consistent


Hybrid: 


Where the TPT shafts did standout was dispersion. In every session weather swinging good or bad dispersion was better with the TPT shafts. Also the consistency numbers especially in spin where better in almost all cases.
 
On Course: (16 out of 20)
I will again preface this score by saying that on my scale a 20 out of 20 would be the shafts were completely game changing. Since we already established that base numbers are very similar so so can’t classify it as game changing on that front. While I would say I am seeing the same improved dispersion on course that I have seen in the SIM comparisons. I can’t say the shafts completely eliminate big misses or have gotten rid of my left miss with my 5 wood “my issue not the shafts” and unfortunately shafts can’t fix my brain, haha. Though I will say my confidence is growing with that have the shafts especially the driver. One example of this is in one of my rounds on a whole that is a hard dog leg left around the river and the tees. Where up a box from normal and I decided to. Be aggressive and took a driver over the river and trees and put it 40 yards short of the green.

Which if that trend continues could be become game changing as they has always been a weak point of my game. And while I didn’t get to play as much as planned due to weather and schedule not matching up well in some cases. But it can’t be ignored that over the 46 holes I was able to play doing the testing period I was a total of 4 over par. This did have a good amount to do with good putting and short game but what good rounds don’t. But since I started getting back into golf over the last about 2 years I have mainly been in the 6 to 12 over par per round range. This has been my best stretch of golf in a long time. The rounds during the testing include a even par 72, a 9 hole 4 over 40, a 9 hole even par 36 from the very back tees to test my tee game and a 10 hole even par day. If you would like to see some details on these see the links below.
 
 
The Good, the Bad and in-between: (8 out of 10)
Overall my experience with the TPT shafts has been all good. I love the looks and the feel on of the shafts. On the feel side I don’t notice a difference whether I try and smooth one or really go after it which is confidence inspiring. They just load and unload very nice and consistent. The in-between for me is base numbers (launch, spin, distance) are very similar to my current shafts. The only thing I would classify as bad is they are pricy and not a widely available as some other shafts. The availability is not really their fault and I do understand with the propriety process, super tight tolerances and high end material is not cheap still at the end of the day $400 for the Power range and $650 for the Nitro is not something everyone can afford and you don’t get the benefit of it being offered as a up charge option from a manufacture where it can be a little less expensive.
 
Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20)
This one is pretty easy for me as despite not seeing a big jump in distance I have seen a difference in consistency and dispersion which is the main thing I needed. So from what I saw during this testing there is absolutely no reason I see to take these shafts out of the bag and as mentioned in other sections my confidence is growing especially with the driver so I am thinking they could get even better for me.
 
Conclusion:
TPT claims that through their proprietary manufacturing process that is completely automated that creates a shaft with no spine and zero off-axing when bent. What is allows for is greater consistency in strike and dispersion allowing you to play a softer shaft and gain distance. During my testing I have found the claims of consistency to be true. As far as distance goes my numbers for launch, spin, ball speed and distance as very similar across. On that front when it comes to hybrid and 5 wood I don’t need more distance I need them to go a certain distance for gaping. On the driver I think this could be that I really didn’t go softer in flex. We did try one softer I didn’t get a little faster ball speed but had a little worse dispersion as well. Though I still think I could see improved distance as my confidence to swing harder with the TPT shaft in the driver is growing. The other claim from TPT is 3 shafts one feel with the Power Range of driver, fairway and hybrid shafts. I ended up with the Nitro shaft in the driver but still found this claim to be true with the like profile but I could feel a slight difference in between the Hi and Lo shafts. But to be honest I don’t think I would without hitting them back to back. Bottom line is these are very good shaft that I feel for the most part live up to the claims. There is the consideration of price as all this technology comes a price that while not out of the realm of other premium shafts are right there with most premium shaft in the Power Range and on the higher end of the spectrum in the Nitro Range. That is a decision that each person has to make and with my normal budget I can’t guarantee you I would purchase these on my own. That said if you are in the market for premium shaft and doing a fitting you should certainly have the TPT shafts on your list and I would argue it should be at the very top of that list.   
 
Final Score: (90 out of 100)

I also got a surprise text from Jon today. Wish I could say I was going to hit them like @RoverRick but will get some time with them this weekend for sure.
 
Snapped this really quick before going back to work. Will get some better pictures soon. 

I found a TSR1 5-wood (18º) on Facebook marketplace last night. Shot the guy a DM and after a little bargaining I was able to talk him down to a price I was happy with. 
The club looks practically brand new in the pictures and has a Tensei blue stiff shaft on it. Going to keep it around to swap with my 2-iron depending on course and weather conditions.
I really love my TSR2 3-wood so I think it'll be great to have these two together in the bag.

Introduction:
Let me start by saying how much I appreciate this opportunity and big thanks to MSG and TPT. Also to John Sinclair for his time in for the fitting. My name is Zack, I was born and raised the Dallas TX area and lived here most my life other then a few years in California for college. I worked in the golf industry throughout most of my 20’s primarily in a teaching role where I was a lead instructor for a city course teaching both adults and kids then an indoor facility with Edwin Watts. I have moved into IT engineering for my career and I am a single dad. My son is starting to have some interest in the game so I get to do some practice with him but the majority of my golf is sneaking out after work when my son is at his mom’s.

 
My Game:
A little on the history on my game. I started playing 24 years ago in high school. I picked up the game pretty quickly and was constantly shooting in the 80s by end on freshman year. My last few years of high school was was consistently in the high 70s. My game was at its best in college where I got down to scratch. Throughout my time in the industry I didn’t keep a handicap but my average score was mid to low 70s with a bad day being high 70s. After years of averaging about 1 round per year I played a handful of time last year and have got the bug again. I still don’t keep a handicap but currently averaging about 8 over par when I play. For a few reasons, I still don’t get play as much as I would like so I practice more than I play currently but with my analytical, perfectionist mindset, I enjoy practicing.
 
Manufacturer claims and My Thoughts:
TPT has a proprietary manufacturing process that allows for ……..You know what they explain it better then me. So give it a watch, I’ll wait 😆
This has me very excited as if this it true I should see a noticeable difference in dispersion and hopefully from this distance due to the added confidence and ability to play a softer/ligher shaft.
 
How I plan to test:
Going to start by comparing the shafts in the SIM bay against my current for launch, spin, ball speed, distance and dispersion.
Current shafts:
Titleist TSR3 Driver - Graphite Design AD DI 6X and Accra TZ6 55 M5
Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond 5 Wood - Graphite Design AD TP 7S
PXG 0317 Gen2 22 degree Hybrid - Aldila NV Blue 90S
And obviously I will have to put them to the test on the course and what performance benefits it can provide. For these to stay in my bag the primary thing would be dispersion as that has always been the weakest part of my game. But of course some added distance along with that will be welcome.
 
Final Review 5/4/2024
 
Initial Impressions: (10 out of 10)
Since Jon our fitter had the shafts sent to him so he could build them I was able to just pick them up so there was no unboxing. But Jon also let me know how much head weight needed to be added or subtracted from each club while there. Since I knew the weights I had in the driver and 5 wood I knew I had what I needed already at home and Jon gave me what I needed for my driver. I will need to find some wights for my PXG Gen2 hybrid but for now I have just removed a few of them to get the correct weight. Overall my initial impressions are very high. I love the looks, I am sucker for good matte finish which these have just a few layers of clear coat so you can see the graphite which has a unique look I am assuming it due to their patented manufacturing process. Add to that the matte yellow that really pops and makes them standout.

The feel and performance during the fitting and the first range session are great and confidence inspiring. Here are quick highlights from the range.
Lastly even though getting fit from Jon Sinclair is not something everyone looking at these shaft will get to do but I was lucky enough too and it was a great experience. You can see more detail on that here
Aesthetics: 19 out of 20
With shaping and other things like that not really being a thing with shafts there is not a lot to discuss on aesthetics. That said I love the looks, I am sucker for good matte finish which these have just a few layers of a matte clear coat so you can see the graphite. The graphite has a unique look I am assuming it due to their patented manufacturing process where they sand the graphite down to create the flex profile.

Also the matte yellow that really pops and makes them standout. The only thing I would change is make it orange instead of yellow because I like orange.

I am sure some won’t like the look but I though the QR code they have on the shaft that take you to a page to be able to register your shafts and a few other things including this document which give some more info on shaft profile. https://linktr.ee/tptgolf_QRCode
 
The Numbers: (17 out of 20)
I will start by saying that I am grading on a scale where a full 20 out of 20 would be that it was better is every single way. That said my current shafts where pretty good for me already and in terms of sheer numbers (launch, spin, ball speed, distance, etc) thing were similar as you will see from examples below. I did a multiple sessions to make sure it was not just a good day with one shaft or another for some reason. Also this allowed me to get a decent sample size and not having to make a bunch of swings all at one were I would inevitably end up being tired and a shaft would get the short end of the stick in the comparison.
Driver: 
One note from the first session is I hit double the amount with the TPT shaft, half being me trying to swing faster and the dispersion is still better.


5 wood:
You will notice in the 2nd session I was all over with my swing with this club so number are down and dispersion is wider but the TPT was still more consistent


Hybrid: 


Where the TPT shafts did standout was dispersion. In every session weather swinging good or bad dispersion was better with the TPT shafts. Also the consistency numbers especially in spin where better in almost all cases.
 
On Course: (16 out of 20)
I will again preface this score by saying that on my scale a 20 out of 20 would be the shafts were completely game changing. Since we already established that base numbers are very similar so so can’t classify it as game changing on that front. While I would say I am seeing the same improved dispersion on course that I have seen in the SIM comparisons. I can’t say the shafts completely eliminate big misses or have gotten rid of my left miss with my 5 wood “my issue not the shafts” and unfortunately shafts can’t fix my brain, haha. Though I will say my confidence is growing with that have the shafts especially the driver. One example of this is in one of my rounds on a whole that is a hard dog leg left around the river and the tees. Where up a box from normal and I decided to. Be aggressive and took a driver over the river and trees and put it 40 yards short of the green.

Which if that trend continues could be become game changing as they has always been a weak point of my game. And while I didn’t get to play as much as planned due to weather and schedule not matching up well in some cases. But it can’t be ignored that over the 46 holes I was able to play doing the testing period I was a total of 4 over par. This did have a good amount to do with good putting and short game but what good rounds don’t. But since I started getting back into golf over the last about 2 years I have mainly been in the 6 to 12 over par per round range. This has been my best stretch of golf in a long time. The rounds during the testing include a even par 72, a 9 hole 4 over 40, a 9 hole even par 36 from the very back tees to test my tee game and a 10 hole even par day. If you would like to see some details on these see the links below.
 
 
The Good, the Bad and in-between: (8 out of 10)
Overall my experience with the TPT shafts has been all good. I love the looks and the feel on of the shafts. On the feel side I don’t notice a difference whether I try and smooth one or really go after it which is confidence inspiring. They just load and unload very nice and consistent. The in-between for me is base numbers (launch, spin, distance) are very similar to my current shafts. The only thing I would classify as bad is they are pricy and not a widely available as some other shafts. The availability is not really their fault and I do understand with the propriety process, super tight tolerances and high end material is not cheap still at the end of the day $400 for the Power range and $650 for the Nitro is not something everyone can afford and you don’t get the benefit of it being offered as a up charge option from a manufacture where it can be a little less expensive.
 
Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20)
This one is pretty easy for me as despite not seeing a big jump in distance I have seen a difference in consistency and dispersion which is the main thing I needed. So from what I saw during this testing there is absolutely no reason I see to take these shafts out of the bag and as mentioned in other sections my confidence is growing especially with the driver so I am thinking they could get even better for me.
 
Conclusion:
TPT claims that through their proprietary manufacturing process that is completely automated that creates a shaft with no spine and zero off-axing when bent. What is allows for is greater consistency in strike and dispersion allowing you to play a softer shaft and gain distance. During my testing I have found the claims of consistency to be true. As far as distance goes my numbers for launch, spin, ball speed and distance as very similar across. On that front when it comes to hybrid and 5 wood I don’t need more distance I need them to go a certain distance for gaping. On the driver I think this could be that I really didn’t go softer in flex. We did try one softer I didn’t get a little faster ball speed but had a little worse dispersion as well. Though I still think I could see improved distance as my confidence to swing harder with the TPT shaft in the driver is growing. The other claim from TPT is 3 shafts one feel with the Power Range of driver, fairway and hybrid shafts. I ended up with the Nitro shaft in the driver but still found this claim to be true with the like profile but I could feel a slight difference in between the Hi and Lo shafts. But to be honest I don’t think I would without hitting them back to back. Bottom line is these are very good shaft that I feel for the most part live up to the claims. There is the consideration of price as all this technology comes a price that while not out of the realm of other premium shafts are right there with most premium shaft in the Power Range and on the higher end of the spectrum in the Nitro Range. That is a decision that each person has to make and with my normal budget I can’t guarantee you I would purchase these on my own. That said if you are in the market for premium shaft and doing a fitting you should certainly have the TPT shafts on your list and I would argue it should be at the very top of that list.   
 
Final Score: (90 out of 100)

I have updated my testing post with my initial impressions. Go check it out, if you have any question let me know. 

Been a long day but did get some time on the range today and took some pictures. I still need to get the pictures edited and can get up my initial impressions. 

@RoverRick Beat me to an explanation and did a great job so not much else to add. As he said TPT's claims are all around their manufacturing processes that produces a consistency others cannot. Both consistency in the the bending of the shaft with no off-axing. But the consistency in making the shaft exactly the same so the shaft you get will feel and perform exactly the as the one you were fit with. Or if you order another one years later for some reason will feel and perform the same as well. I know we have all heard the stories of someone saying the shaft they got was just not the same as the one they hit in their fitting. 

100% agree on the feel. Still get the feedback but overall vibration is less. On the air install other than the tour that has rubber inside, the foam doesn’t have enough friction on masking tape. I will keep you updated on my current method with the layer of athletic tape. I know it will have more friction, but if it’s enough for the long term is yet to be seen.