Talamonti Shafts

[RookieBlue7]

Now that I own all of the shafts in the Talamonti line-up, I feel I can write a full comprehensive review, especially with having range and course time with all of them.

 

First, a little background on the company's founder, owner, CEO, name a hat and he wears it, Phil Talamonti. Phil's one of the most genuine and honest individuals you'll meet in the business. He's worked in a whole lot of jobs in the industry, working with players of all calibers, from your weekend hack (me, in his help deciding on shafts, flex, etc) to multiple major winners, world #1's, Vardon Trophy winners, player of the year winners, money list end of the year leaders, etc. He's been the president of Wood Bros golf, VP and GM of Softspikes, the founder and CEO of Advanced Shaft Dynamics, and the President and one of the developers of SST, which encompasses their Pure system. The man knows the golf industry inside and out.

 

How, exactly, he started his own shaft company, I'm not certain of. I'm not best friends with him, I have never even met him. I've only had conversations with him regarding his product and through a few avenues. I had never even heard of his product until a year or so ago. I read positive review after positive review and figured, hey, let's see what they hype is about. This was also right about the time my new driver search began as well.

 

I'd had a driver I was pounding on. I dropped it one day, on accident, and nicked the bottom. Didn't effect play at all, just a paint scrape. But, it was tarnished in my mind, and I subsequently quit pounding it and started hitting balls everywhere but in the fairway. So it was dumped. I tried my old, trusty driver as well. Hit it good, but just not as I'd became accustomed to with the one I dropped.

 

Over the next 3-4 months, I had 13 drivers, including my current one. I tried everything on the market, some 2 different times. I eventually settled on the R11 TP that's in my bag now. I liked it with the TP Blur but I didn't think I was maximizing the potential. I tried 3 shafts besides the Blur and none seemed right. Then I remembered the Talamonti reviews I'd read and decided to give it a shot.

 

WOW, am I glad I did. First, I contacted Phil through the eBay auctions he had up because I really had no clue as to where I'd fall into his flex rating system. At the time he had version 1 of his shafts only. I'd read that they were softer than a lot of shafts on the market, but I wanted to be sure, so I asked him about his product. He advised me the flex I was thinking, but he also asked for data about my swing. I told him my swing speed, how hard my transition is, all of that kind of stuff that's pertinent to the flex and loading of the shaft. This is where his experience came in. He then advised me to tip it x amount for my swing and an additional 1/2" to account for the R11 tip. Apprehensive, I still listened to him and tipped it to his recommendations, after all, his knowledge far surpassed mine. What a difference it made in my driving. Im not just saying it was a little better, the difference was night and day. I'd found my swing and the distance I was giving up and everything clicked. Since the change to his shaft in the driver, which is close to 20 rounds now, I've averaged 68% fairways hit(I still have my ugly miss, but a shaft isn't going to fix a swing fault). This shaft truly is the cat's meow.

 

With that in mind, I also had an R11 3 wood (I swapped to it and the Rescue11 when I bought the R11 driver because I'm fickle and like my top end to match). After 10 or so rounds, I wanted to see if lightening would strike twice. I again contacted Phil, this time via his Facebook page he'd since put up (sales were growing). He also had extensively tested the version 2 shafts (current version) and was releasing them to market. We had the same sort of conversation as with the driver and he'd recommended tipping instructions, and I had another shaft on the way. Not one to give it a second thought after it working perfectly the last time, I chopped the recommended amount off the tip and prepped it, then waited 2 more days for the R11 tip I was installing it in to arrive. Yeah, he ships fast too. I had a tournament coming up and I stuck this in the 3 wood and took it with me, never once hitting it on the course. Got to the range, and it was missle after missle, he was spot on again. This one has found a home in the bag for 10 or so rounds now as well, and I'm hitting it as good as I've ever hit any 3 wood I've ever owned, and then some. Distance and trajectory are spot on.

 

Lastly, I have now tried the H100. This one, I actually won in the Facebook giveaway that Phil did at the launch of this product. I didn't initially win. He redrew, 3 times, and I won. People kept failing to claim their shaft they'd won, and Phil kept redrawing. Finally, my name came out of the hat and I claimed it within the hour. I'd already been looking to purchase but since I won the shaft, it made it even more bittersweet. Again, Phil and I had a conversation as to where to go with flex. I'd already fell in love with the x flex PD70 and PD80 but I'd been playing an S flex RIP That had been tipped to play between s and x. I don't swing as hard, naturally, with my hybrid. I knew I wanted the heavier H100, but I was thinking more along the lines of the s flex version. Phil convinced me to go with his recommendation of the x flex and to tip it the appropriate amount he suggested to account for SS and the R11 tip adapter. This one, I really wanted to second guess because of what I'd been playing, but I trusted him with my gut and the knowledge that he hadn't steered me wrong yet and I went with it. I had a tournament Friday and this came in early in the week (initial impression opening the box was WOW this is bright. Fearless Yellow described the color perfectly.) but my tip adapter got caught up in shipping. It arrived Thursday and I had to go to dinner with family in town from Germany. I came home and slapped everything together at 12:00 AM. I put it in the bag and went to bed. The next morning I got to hit it on the range. I liked what I saw there but would it hold up under pressure? I got to find out quickly, as the first hole was a dogleg left par 4 and I pulled the Rescue11 off the tee. I hit one of the prettiest tee balls I could've imagined to the apex of the dogleg that had a beautiful draw. It settled around 80 yards out. I stuffed a lob wedge to 5 feet, made the birdie and went onward. I ended up hitting it 6 times in the round and every one of them was spot on with what I wanted to do. From 235 and in, I fully trust this club to get the job done now. The flight is penetrating and lands like a butterfly with sore feet on the green.

 

So yes, I can fully say I'm a Talamonti convert. The entire top end of my bag has Phil's company name on it. I've had the driver in the bag for about 3 months now, and the 3 wood for 2.5 or so months. The hybrid is the newest, and I forsee it being a long marriage as well.

 

What's even more amazing? Phil's knowledge of shafts and his work developing the SST Pure system gives him an even bigger advantage. His shafts have what he refers to as MOI Optimization. He has marks on the shaftbands (2 dots, one top and one bottom), and a painted dot on the shaft in line with the shaftband dots (so you can still have the position marked if you remove the shaftband). These MOI Optimization dots go at 12 o'clock orientation and the shaft sits in it's optimal orientation in the club. The main advantage, as I understand both systems, is to have the shafts play the same across the set and to minimize toe droop at impact (a killer in graphite shafts). Regardless of my understanding of the entire tech, Phil's system flat out works. The clubs feel identical at impact from my driver through the hybrid. I'm finicky about feel and similarities, and these are spot on.

 

Lastly, Phil has a business model that's as unconventional as it gets in this niche market. He doesn't sell through a dealer or buy advertisement. He's streamlined the business model and has a word of mouth and social media advertising model. He also sells player direct through his site (talamontishafts.com) and via eBay. This eliminates middle man mark-ups and advertising overhead. Instead you get high performance at a player direct pricing level. There's not another company out there with this model, and with this pricing for this quality of shaft.

 

If I had to describe his shafts, in comparison to anything else out there, I guess I'd say there's nothing else like them. They're a blend, for comparison's sake and brand familiarity's sake, to me, of a Diamana Blueboard and Whiteboard's flight (between them) in launch and spin, coupled with the feel of a Matrix TPHD, all in one package. I've played a ton of high performance shafts out there, across every pricing structure, and this one has to be one of my favorites. The added bonus is you can easily talk to the designer and owner to get his recommendations on what to do to get them to fit you(and if he doesn't think his shafts are right, he'll tell you that too, as I've seen several persons say that he's told them his shaft isn't right for them, who wouldn't try to sell you something anyway except a man with high integrity?). Top that off with the low prices and the no frills marketing and you've got a winner. And look for one or two of Phil's shafts on Tour soon. I know one player(recent winner) has them in his hands currently to test/demo and decide on. I have a feeling after he hits them, they're not coming out of his clubs.

 

[Dave]

I'm killing the PD80 in my driver as well.

[Moecat]

Thanks for the review ... very interesting info!

[JBones]

I've been thinking about getting a PD70 to throw in my driver and after reading this, I might end up getting the PD80 for my 3W. I don't think I can part ways with the Aldila DVS thats in my hybrid though, I hit it way too well.

[JBones]

I just ordered a PD-80 Tour X to stick in my Cobra. After shooting some emails back and forth with Phil, I've got the instructions to get it just right for me. I'm really excited to give this a go. If it fits well, I'm going to be looking for a 9064LD 7.5* to put on it during the offseason.

[RoverRick]

I ordered a Talamonti PD80 Tour X today for my Callaway Razr Fit. I have been playing heavier shafts in my irons the last month or so and distance and accuracy are greatly improving. I was striping my Razr Fit for three or more months but then all of a sudden it became more and more uncontrolable. I checked my swing speed and had increased 5 to 10 mph over the past 4 months. The GD Tour ADDI 7 stiff just was not cutting it any more. I thought about tipping this shaft but after reading this and talking to some others on the forum I came across this shaft on eBay. It is a close out model but for the price I could not pass it up.

 

 

While I expect to have the shaft tomorrow, I do not expect the tip until next week so I will have to wait until then to review it.

[RookieBlue7]

Rick,

 

The version 1 plays slightly softer than the version 2. I'm really familiar with his product, as I have a lot of it and have used it extensively. Before installing it, do yourself a favor and contact Phil (85bears seller on ebay is him, you can also contact him here when he's on or direct through his site or on Facebook) and ask him for any tipping recommendations he'd have for the shaft. Make sure to provide him with swing speed off of a launch monitor, spin, distance (carry), side spin, and launch angle. The two most critical being launch angle and swing speed, but the more data the better. I've yet to see him miss a tipping recommendation when provided proper and accurate data.

 

For example, in a version 1 PD70 in a driver, my tipping was 1.25", in a version 2, the tipping was 7/8" for me. Both were spot on. Also, his shafts are recommended at a 1/2" tipping for an adjustable sleeve. Make sure you include what club it's going in when asking him for his tipping recommendation. You can try it straight in, but I'd leave it longer than you play it at if you're going to try it straight in first.

 

Great product and a great guy to deal with, and I have a feeling you're going to be very pleasantly surprised with the value for your money.

 

Oh, and what did you ever do with the Graphite Designs Tour AD you got with it initially? I'd be interested in it if you were wanting to get rid of it. Don't need the sleeve, but that shaft could work well in a Superfast 2.0 v2 LCG I have on the way (course now Phil has a high launch low spin shaft on the way as well, so I may see if I can get my hands on one of those too).

[RoverRick]

Rick,

 

The version 1 plays slightly softer than the version 2. I'm really familiar with his product, as I have a lot of it and have used it extensively. Before installing it, do yourself a favor and contact Phil (85bears seller on ebay is him, you can also contact him here when he's on or direct through his site or on Facebook) and ask him for any tipping recommendations he'd have for the shaft. Make sure to provide him with swing speed off of a launch monitor, spin, distance (carry), side spin, and launch angle. The two most critical being launch angle and swing speed, but the more data the better. I've yet to see him miss a tipping recommendation when provided proper and accurate data.

 

For example, in a version 1 PD70 in a driver, my tipping was 1.25", in a version 2, the tipping was 7/8" for me. Both were spot on. Also, his shafts are recommended at a 1/2" tipping for an adjustable sleeve. Make sure you include what club it's going in when asking him for his tipping recommendation. You can try it straight in, but I'd leave it longer than you play it at if you're going to try it straight in first.

 

Great product and a great guy to deal with, and I have a feeling you're going to be very pleasantly surprised with the value for your money.

 

Oh, and what did you ever do with the Graphite Designs Tour AD you got with it initially? I'd be interested in it if you were wanting to get rid of it. Don't need the sleeve, but that shaft could work well in a Superfast 2.0 v2 LCG I have on the way (course now Phil has a high launch low spin shaft on the way as well, so I may see if I can get my hands on one of those too).

 

I have done nothing with it so far, except play it all weekend. I kind of thought I would see how this shaft goes before I do anything with it. My biggest issue with the launch monitor numbers are that after the two + hours in a car I do not have anything that resembles my normal swing. But I did think I would contact him, depending on what comes with the shaft in the way of instructions.

 

I am glad it plays softer because I may not need the PD80 XS. but at $25 who can pass it up. Phil is trying to get rid of the Version 1's