TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review

[TJ Hall]

2 hours ago, RoverRick said:

My fitting is done. Details to follow. Now watching William P.  

Looking forward to the details…hoping it was a great experience!

[RoverRick]

It was a great experience, if you consider 140 driver swings fun.

Actually, it was very very fun. Jon Sinclair is knowledgeable and helpful. TPT between the Nitro and Power Range, Hi and Lo, and 8 different shaft profiles…. That’s 32 different shafts. I honestly lost track of what was what, and since he is the expert I trusted him. Since the TPT nomenclature is different from all others, knowing what I was swinging meant nothing to me. I don’t even know what he ultimately selected for me. 

I do know that the Power Range line fit me better than the Nitro Line  Nitro being a slightly lighter and different material than Power.

I’ll do an official write up, but it suffices to say, I’m tired. 
 

[TJ Hall]

2 minutes ago, RoverRick said:

It was a great experience, if you consider 140 driver swings fun.

Actually, it was very very fun. Jon Sinclair is knowledgeable and helpful. TPT between the Nitro and Power Range, Hi and Lo, and 8 different shaft profiles…. That’s 32 different shafts. I honestly lost track of what was what, and since he is the expert I trusted him. Since the TPT nomenclature is different from all others, knowing what I was swinging meant nothing to me. I don’t even know what he ultimately selected for me. 

I do know that the Power Range line fit me better than the Nitro Line  Nitro being a slightly lighter and different material than Power.

I’ll do an official write up, but it suffices to say, I’m tired. 
 

Sounds like a great experience, even with all the swings!  Any idea of how long until you get the shafts in your hands to officially start the testing process?

[ZackS]

4 minutes ago, RoverRick said:

It was a great experience, if you consider 140 driver swings fun.

Off to the gym I go to be ready for mine

[Josh Parker]

55 minutes ago, RoverRick said:

It was a great experience, if you consider 140 driver swings fun.

Actually, it was very very fun. Jon Sinclair is knowledgeable and helpful. TPT between the Nitro and Power Range, Hi and Lo, and 8 different shaft profiles…. That’s 32 different shafts. I honestly lost track of what was what, and since he is the expert I trusted him. Since the TPT nomenclature is different from all others, knowing what I was swinging meant nothing to me. I don’t even know what he ultimately selected for me. 

I do know that the Power Range line fit me better than the Nitro Line  Nitro being a slightly lighter and different material than Power.

I’ll do an official write up, but it suffices to say, I’m tired. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what everyone gets put in to. 

[William P]

5 hours ago, Dead Solid Bogey said:

Watch him like a hawk… While a wonderful husband and friend; supposedly he is easily distracted by bright shiny  objects. 

Who? Me!! In my defense it only happens when left without adult supervision....

[Dead Solid Bogey]

6 minutes ago, William P said:

Who? Me!! In my defense it only happens when left without adult supervision....

Plausible deniability…. The mainstay defense of husbands everywhere my friend… 

Hope you use  this research/testing gig  to play as much golf as possible.

[RoverRick]

1 hour ago, TJ Hall said:

Sounds like a great experience, even with all the swings!  Any idea of how long until you get the shafts in your hands to officially start the testing process?

We do not know simply because he does not know. They may assemble the in Switzerland to may ship him the shafts to assemble. He will let us know. 

[RoverRick]

1 hour ago, ZackS said:

Off to the gym I go to be ready for mine

I advise getting rest. I spent last night climbing 40’ of stairs 8 times, plus walking a mile across parking lots. I’m just thankful that I stayed in a motel 6 miles away instead of driving 150 miles back and forth. 

[GolferXY]

Nice intros, guys!  And paying your own way to get fitted?  Super Spy stuff there!

Please include a detailed summary of the fitting process if you will.  I'm always interested in those kind of details.  A fitting can make or break your experience with a piece of golf equipment, good or bad.

 

[William P]

As @RoverRick commented earlier it was quite an experience with Jon Sinclair today. Having been fitted for irons and drivers at the usual Big Box stores and CC last year I can say my previous experiences didn't compare. For one, until today, I did not have to break out the Alieve and rub the shoulder down with analgesic cream... While it sucks to get old it sure beats the alternative.  

Hitting approx 130 balls that were used in analysis, and another 20+ that couldn't be used due to poor swings had me wore out by the time we finished. 

The number of shafts tried during the driver fitting was 6 with two of them being reintroduced multiple times to verify results. I gave up trying to keep track during the 3 wood and hybrid testing. I ended up in the Nitro 17Lo in all 3 shafts. Jon advised that we both, Rick and I, while in different series shafts, ended up in the same shafts across the board and this was unique. Apparently, it is more common to have different series shafts for the different clubs.  

I will say that Jon wants and strives for maximum performance and pushes for every possible gain in club speed, carry, total yardage, and dispersion. I would also add that this push includes the shaft and the golfer. I Realized gains of 2mph club head speed, 4mph ball speed, and 10 yards of carry on average. When I could manage to strike the ball high in the club face the gains were 20+ additional yards of carry on top of the average gains. That issue is mine to resolve as I continue to fight a negative angle of attack which induces to much spin.

Jon's equipment is state of the art, TrackMan, for data collection and the ability to see your actual ball flight was, for me, a welcome improvement over sim screens.

Really enjoyed the session and definitely looking forward to getting shafts in hand and getting started. 

I will get a few pictures posted tomorrow after I figure out why I am unable to transfer them to my PC tonight.

Hope everyone sleeps well tonight in an effort to overcome the DST change. I know with that and the work out I got today I will have no problem...

 

Edited March 11 by William P

[ZackS]

I am even more excited, I can’t wait for my fit. 

[GolferXY]

1 hour ago, William P said:

As @RoverRick commented earlier it was quite an experience with Jon Sinclair today. Having been fitted for irons and drivers at the usual Big Box stores and CC last year I can say my previous experiences didn't compare. For one, until today, I did not have to break out the Alieve and rub the shoulder down with analgesic cream... While it sucks to get old it sure beats the alternative.  

Hitting approx 130 balls that were used in analysis, and another 20+ that couldn't be used due to poor swings had me wore out by the time we finished. 

The number of shafts tried during the driver fitting was 6 with two of them being reintroduced multiple times to verify results. I gave up trying to keep track during the 3 wood and hybrid testing. I ended up in the Nitro 17Lo in all 3 shafts. Jon advised that we both, Rick and I, while in different series shafts, ended up in the same shafts across the board and this was unique. Apparently, it is more common to have different series shafts for the different clubs.  

I will say that Jon wants and strives for maximum performance and pushes for every possible gain in club speed, carry, total yardage, and dispersion. I would also add that this push includes the shaft and the golfer. I Realized gains of 2mph club head speed, 4mph ball speed, and 10 yards of carry on average. When I could manage to strike the ball high in the club face the gains were 20+ additional yards of carry on top of the average gains. That issue is mine to resolve as I continue to fight a negative angle of attack which induces to much spin.

Jon's equipment is state of the art, TrackMan, for data collection and the ability to see your actual ball flight was, for me, a welcome improvement over sim screens.

Really enjoyed the session and definitely looking forward to getting shafts in hand and getting started. 

I will get a few pictures posted tomorrow after I figure out why I am unable to transfer them to my PC tonight.

Hope everyone sleeps well tonight in an effort to overcome the DST change. I know with that and the work out I got today I will have no problem...

 

That's a whole lotta balls, man!  Large bucket at my range, and all of them driver?!?!?! Whew!  Huge gains with the new guns.  I was so impressed by the improvement I saw with the fitters at PXG that I decided I need to invest in lessons to solidify the gains.  Now to find a good one.  Waiting to spring for new irons until I recover from minor surgery, maybe another 3 months or so.  Hope you enjoy the process, WP

[RoverRick]

Crap! I just spent 2 hours typing my fitting experience. While trying to upload the videos I lost it all. Even the original I typed in Word. 
 

I’ll try again tomorrow, but I’m pretty busy until Wednesday night. Sorry. 

[GolferXY]

If you had copied it to the chat box, it may be saved there.  I thought I had lost a bunch on my last review but managed to get it back by looking it up in the saved pages of my browser.  Hope this helps

[goodoldtime76]

Great! life is too short.

[RoverRick]

Fitting with Jon Sinclair

I’ve been to multiple fitting. There may be 3 heads and 3 shaft options, 4 swings with each, 24 swats with the clubs, and 30 minutes, and you are done. This was not that at all. Jon has more knowledge of the golf swing, mechanics, and shafts than everyone I have ever met, combined. 

I arrived at Jon’s lair on the back side of the range about 8:45. Morning pleasantries and a brief tour of the of the facility. A small waiting room, public area, a club building and storage room, a hitting bay with club measuring and Trackman, and 3D analysis equipment. Then the bay next to it was turned into a putting analysis room with a huge looked to be 10’x20’ PuttView green with an absolutely beautiful wall covering showing the TPT factory and Swiss Alps. 

Sorry, I have a video of the entire room, but can’t upload. 

We first talked about putting and the TPT putter shaft. He, of course, had seen my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. He extolled the virtues of the TPT shaft and promised an opportunity to putt after the fitting. I told him I was an excellent putter but sucked in the long game. I naturally was hitting down on the ball too much and had been making some swing changes, but I was concerned if I thought about swing changes, I would be changing my swing every time, and he would not be able to fit a moving target. (I should have had more faith in him.) He said, just swing, and I’ll tell you when to change. I chose the Moe Norman set up because while I currently have faults, it is very repeatable.

I also explained that since October my right leg very weak with Osteoarthritis in the knee and ankle and quadricep tendinitis. This meant that when I shifted my weight to the right, it stayed there. Also, arthritis in my left hand kept me from swinging as fast because if grip pressure. That I changed to JumboMax JMX Ultralight XS grips last Wednesday, but have not hit a ball with them yet, because of the weather. Additionally, I had a question about if the Ping G430LST 10.5° was right for me. Should I go to a Max 10K head. 

At that point, I began to warm up, and mercifully, I had a pretty good iron swing. High and straight and what I have come to think of as my new distance. (1 club less than last summer.)

Then it was my driver time. Ping G430 LST 10.5° +1.5° on a Tour AD DI 6S. I knew I was hitting down on it but not that much. 8.5° is too much for a wedge, yet I was doing it with the driver. But I have seen enough videos to know that fitters can work with a repetitive swing with solid middle-ish face contact. 

First, my “normal-bad” driver swing is generally 175-180 carry and 30-50 yards roll, but down the middle. When I start adjusting it, then it’s 200 carry with 20-30 yards roll, but can go any direction. I have a wealth of experience playing with this ball flight. 

What followed was a multitude of shaft changes, 3-5 hits, change the shaft, repeat. TPT has Nitro and Power Ranges, 8 weight, flex, and torque profiles, and high and low kick points. That’s 32 different shafts. I didn’t hit all of them, but it seemed like half of them. I didn’t count them. I didn’t pay attention. Jon was the expert, and I was the dummy. He would ask my thoughts on the feel. Since the number system on TPT shafts meant nothing to me, I didn’t pay attention. 

A quick aside on the Nitro and Power Range shafts. They are basically the same thing, but the Nitro is a lighter weight material, more expensive. This is only for the driver. Fairway and Hybrids are the Power Range. The only visible difference is the word “DRIVER” on the Nitro is yellow and red on the Power. 

After 2 1/2 hours of driver swings, Jon selected the Power Driver 18 Hi for my driver. Apparently, I needed the heavier shaft. 

We then moved on to the Ping G430 MAX 15° +1.5° on Tour AD DJ 7S. I purchased this head on Thursday, and because of the rain, the first time I hit this was in the bay Sunday morning.  The shaft was from my G425 LST 3w (RIP). Once again, there were 3-5 hits, shaft change, 3-5 hits, “How did that feel?”, repeat. Eventually, he chose the Power Fairway 18 Hi. The only real variation was we went outside and confirmed hitting that one off the grass. 

Unsurprisingly, the hybrid, Ping G425 19° Flat +1°, was a copy and paste of the others. And also, the shaft he picked was the Power 18Hi Hybrid. 

He later told William P. and I that it was unusual that a player ends up in the same shaft for all 3 clubs. I should have asked if the fact that both had the same brand of heads. Did I mention William came early and joined us after I had been hitting for an hour? (William took these wonderful videos that will not upload.) 

At some point, I asked about the G430 LST 10.5° being the right one for me. He said yes and we discussed the future adjustments that it offered and some swing changes I need to make and how the head is ideal for that. He also said the MAX 10K offered more forgiveness, but this wasn’t something I needed. I needed spin reduction and better angle of attack. While watching William P. I became completely at ease with this head. William had some difficulty, and Jon, who up until then hadn’t even hinted that there were other heads than the ones we brought, opened a drawer with all the latest heads and had William try them. This left no doubt that if Jon didn’t believe that was the best head for me, he would have pulled one out and tried it. 

After my fitting and before William’s, he explained how the shafts were made and the features, advantages, and benefits of TPT. And then we went into the putting room. 

I am thoroughly satisfied with my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. But he had a LINK1 with the TPT. 10 months ago, I tried the LINK with the standard shaft. Granted it was for 10 minutes, and the first LAB I had ever hit. This was an incredible putter. I sank the first three 18’ers on the flat level surface. He said, “You make this look too easy, let me turn this to the “Jon Rahm” setting. The green bent and flexed to where it was a double breaker rolling 15 stimp with 4.7° slope near the hole. I drained it dead center. He looked at me astonished until I admitted I was aiming at the center hole, and it went in the top hole. I never made that putt. But the shaft felt so good. 

This was an incredible opportunity, I feel I learned so much from Jon. He has over 200 pros captured on 3D video. He said there are only 3 common movements to all good golfers. 

1.      The hips have to move towards the lead side first. 

2.     The hips have to rotate as they shift.

3.    The trail foot moves towards the target through impact. 

Everything else is just matching up the face to path. He said what I needed to do was stack up on my left side, and stay there. I said, “Like Stack and Tilt?” He said “Stack and Tilt is great for teaching new golfers fast. In your case, any bad stuff it teaches you will not affect you adversely because you have decades of doing it a different way. “ 

At this point I would include information on how the shafts are made, but I’ve seen a multitude of posts in this thread already that have it. 

As I was typing this, I received a text from Matt at TPT saying they were assembling my shafts and asked if I wanted the standard grip or to have it sent without a grip. I said no grip, and he said “Done”. I expect the shafts to ship shortly. 

Edited March 11 by RoverRick

[TJ Hall]

Love the detail, wow.  Thoroughly impressed with the fitting process and the options available.  The knowledge of the fitters you are working with is awesome!

[cnosil]

@RoverRick, videos are best uploaded to YouTube and then post a link to the YouTube video.

[BreakfastBall15]

Sounds like it was a pretty awesome fitting experience @RoverRick. Jon seems like a wealth of knowledge and I'm glad he was able to put your mind at ease about the driver head. 

[RoverRick]

Jon is not “just a fitter” he is an integral member of the design team for TPT. 

One fascinating bit he said was that the shafts are made, and then the profile is machined into them. Because they are not painted they can add 20% more material into the shaft, and then there is sufficient material to machine. All shafts are exactly the same so that if I order another 18 Hi shaft, it will be the same feel. 

This is not a big deal to me, at this point, but he said pros typically have the same swing within 1/10th of an inch, but a different feel in the shaft can have them move 2” off of normal, he demonstrated at the top when he said this. My thought was, “Dang, I wish I could get just 2” variation in my swing.”

Im sure different tidbits of information will occur to me for days. I’m sure @William P will have more stuff. I intentionally left out some stuff because he had a better angle plus his daughter to video it all. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 hour ago, RoverRick said:

Fitting with Jon Sinclair

I’ve been to multiple fitting. There may be 3 heads and 3 shaft options, 4 swings with each, 24 swats with the clubs, and 30 minutes, and you are done. This was not that at all. Jon has more knowledge of the golf swing, mechanics, and shafts than everyone I have ever met, combined. 

I arrived at Jon’s lair on the back side of the range about 8:45. Morning pleasantries and a brief tour of the of the facility. A small waiting room, public area, a club building and storage room, a hitting bay with club measuring and Trackman, and 3D analysis equipment. Then the bay next to it was turned into a putting analysis room with a huge looked to be 10’x20’ PuttView green with an absolutely beautiful wall covering showing the TPT factory and Swiss Alps. 

Sorry, I have a video of the entire room, but can’t upload. 

We first talked about putting and the TPT putter shaft. He, of course, had seen my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. He extolled the virtues of the TPT shaft and promised an opportunity to putt after the fitting. I told him I was an excellent putter but sucked in the long game. I naturally was hitting down on the ball too much and had been making some swing changes, but I was concerned if I thought about swing changes, I would be changing my swing every time, and he would not be able to fit a moving target. (I should have had more faith in him.) He said, just swing, and I’ll tell you when to change. I chose the Moe Norman set up because while I currently have faults, it is very repeatable.

I also explained that since October my right leg very weak with Osteoarthritis in the knee and ankle and quadricep tendinitis. This meant that when I shifted my weight to the right, it stayed there. Also, arthritis in my left hand kept me from swinging as fast because if grip pressure. That I changed to JumboMax JMX Ultralight XS grips last Wednesday, but have not hit a ball with them yet, because of the weather. Additionally, I had a question about if the Ping G430LST 10.5° was right for me. Should I go to a Max 10K head. 

At that point, I began to warm up, and mercifully, I had a pretty good iron swing. High and straight and what I have come to think of as my new distance. (1 club less than last summer.)

Then it was my driver time. Ping G430 LST 10.5° +1.5° on a Tour AD DI 6S. I knew I was hitting down on it but not that much. 8.5° is too much for a wedge, yet I was doing it with the driver. But I have seen enough videos to know that fitters can work with a repetitive swing with solid middle-ish face contact. 

First, my “normal-bad” driver swing is generally 175-180 carry and 30-50 yards roll, but down the middle. When I start adjusting it, then it’s 200 carry with 20-30 yards roll, but can go any direction. I have a wealth of experience playing with this ball flight. 

What followed was a multitude of shaft changes, 3-5 hits, change the shaft, repeat. TPT has Nitro and Power Ranges, 8 weight, flex, and torque profiles, and high and low kick points. That’s 32 different shafts. I didn’t hit all of them, but it seemed like half of them. I didn’t count them. I didn’t pay attention. Jon was the expert, and I was the dummy. He would ask my thoughts on the feel. Since the number system on TPT shafts meant nothing to me, I didn’t pay attention. 

A quick aside on the Nitro and Power Range shafts. They are basically the same thing, but the Nitro is a lighter weight material, more expensive. This is only for the driver. Fairway and Hybrids are the Power Range. The only visible difference is the word “DRIVER” on the Nitro is yellow and red on the Power. 

After 2 1/2 hours of driver swings, Jon selected the Power Driver 18 Hi for my driver. Apparently, I needed the heavier shaft. 

We then moved on to the Ping G430 MAX 15° +1.5° on Tour AD DJ 7S. I purchased this head on Thursday, and because of the rain, the first time I hit this was in the bay Sunday morning.  The shaft was from my G425 LST 3w (RIP). Once again, there were 3-5 hits, shaft change, 3-5 hits, “How did that feel?”, repeat. Eventually, he chose the Power Fairway 18 Hi. The only real variation was we went outside and confirmed hitting that one off the grass. 

Unsurprisingly, the hybrid, Ping G425 19° Flat +1°, was a copy and paste of the others. And also, the shaft he picked was the Power 18Hi Hybrid. 

He later told William P. and I that it was unusual that a player ends up in the same shaft for all 3 clubs. I should have asked if the fact that both had the same brand of heads. Did I mention William came early and joined us after I had been hitting for an hour? (William took these wonderful videos that will not upload.) 

At some point, I asked about the G430 LST 10.5° being the right one for me. He said yes and we discussed the future adjustments that it offered and some swing changes I need to make and how the head is ideal for that. He also said the MAX 10K offered more forgiveness, but this wasn’t something I needed. I needed spin reduction and better angle of attack. While watching William P. I became completely at ease with this head. William had some difficulty, and Jon, who up until then hadn’t even hinted that there were other heads than the ones we brought, opened a drawer with all the latest heads and had William try them. This left no doubt that if Jon didn’t believe that was the best head for me, he would have pulled one out and tried it. 

After my fitting and before William’s, he explained how the shafts were made and the features, advantages, and benefits of TPT. And then we went into the putting room. 

I am thoroughly satisfied with my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. But he had a LINK1 with the TPT. 10 months ago, I tried the LINK with the standard shaft. Granted it was for 10 minutes, and the first LAB I had ever hit. This was an incredible putter. I sank the first three 18’ers on the flat level surface. He said, “You make this look too easy, let me turn this to the “Jon Rahm” setting. The green bent and flexed to where it was a double breaker rolling 15 stimp with 4.7° slope near the hole. I drained it dead center. He looked at me astonished until I admitted I was aiming at the center hole, and it went in the top hole. I never made that putt. But the shaft felt so good. 

This was an incredible opportunity, I feel I learned so much from Jon. He has over 200 pros captured on 3D video. He said there are only 3 common movements to all good golfers. 

1.      The hips have to move towards the lead side first. 

2.     The hips have to rotate as they shift.

3.    The trail foot moves towards the target through impact. 

Everything else is just matching up the face to path. He said what I needed to do was stack up on my left side, and stay there. I said, “Like Stack and Tilt?” He said “Stack and Tilt is great for teaching new golfers fast. In your case, any bad stuff it teaches you will not affect you adversely because you have decades of doing it a different way. “ 

At this point I would include information on how the shafts are made, but I’ve seen a multitude of posts in this thread already that have it. 

As I was typing this, I received a text from Matt at TPT saying they were assembling my shafts and asked if I wanted the standard grip or to have it sent without a grip. I said no grip, and he said “Done”. I expect the shafts to ship shortly. 

Great recap and thanks for sharing!

[jbern]

@William P & @RoverRick - great fitting posts! They were a fascinating read! Something like this sounds right up my alley and it's very cool that Jon spent a lot of extra time with you guys!

[TCMP]

Awesome recap on your fitting. Thanks for sharing. 

[arodrig29]

6 hours ago, RoverRick said:

Fitting with Jon Sinclair

I’ve been to multiple fitting. There may be 3 heads and 3 shaft options, 4 swings with each, 24 swats with the clubs, and 30 minutes, and you are done. This was not that at all. Jon has more knowledge of the golf swing, mechanics, and shafts than everyone I have ever met, combined. 

I arrived at Jon’s lair on the back side of the range about 8:45. Morning pleasantries and a brief tour of the of the facility. A small waiting room, public area, a club building and storage room, a hitting bay with club measuring and Trackman, and 3D analysis equipment. Then the bay next to it was turned into a putting analysis room with a huge looked to be 10’x20’ PuttView green with an absolutely beautiful wall covering showing the TPT factory and Swiss Alps. 

Sorry, I have a video of the entire room, but can’t upload. 

We first talked about putting and the TPT putter shaft. He, of course, had seen my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. He extolled the virtues of the TPT shaft and promised an opportunity to putt after the fitting. I told him I was an excellent putter but sucked in the long game. I naturally was hitting down on the ball too much and had been making some swing changes, but I was concerned if I thought about swing changes, I would be changing my swing every time, and he would not be able to fit a moving target. (I should have had more faith in him.) He said, just swing, and I’ll tell you when to change. I chose the Moe Norman set up because while I currently have faults, it is very repeatable.

I also explained that since October my right leg very weak with Osteoarthritis in the knee and ankle and quadricep tendinitis. This meant that when I shifted my weight to the right, it stayed there. Also, arthritis in my left hand kept me from swinging as fast because if grip pressure. That I changed to JumboMax JMX Ultralight XS grips last Wednesday, but have not hit a ball with them yet, because of the weather. Additionally, I had a question about if the Ping G430LST 10.5° was right for me. Should I go to a Max 10K head. 

At that point, I began to warm up, and mercifully, I had a pretty good iron swing. High and straight and what I have come to think of as my new distance. (1 club less than last summer.)

Then it was my driver time. Ping G430 LST 10.5° +1.5° on a Tour AD DI 6S. I knew I was hitting down on it but not that much. 8.5° is too much for a wedge, yet I was doing it with the driver. But I have seen enough videos to know that fitters can work with a repetitive swing with solid middle-ish face contact. 

First, my “normal-bad” driver swing is generally 175-180 carry and 30-50 yards roll, but down the middle. When I start adjusting it, then it’s 200 carry with 20-30 yards roll, but can go any direction. I have a wealth of experience playing with this ball flight. 

What followed was a multitude of shaft changes, 3-5 hits, change the shaft, repeat. TPT has Nitro and Power Ranges, 8 weight, flex, and torque profiles, and high and low kick points. That’s 32 different shafts. I didn’t hit all of them, but it seemed like half of them. I didn’t count them. I didn’t pay attention. Jon was the expert, and I was the dummy. He would ask my thoughts on the feel. Since the number system on TPT shafts meant nothing to me, I didn’t pay attention. 

A quick aside on the Nitro and Power Range shafts. They are basically the same thing, but the Nitro is a lighter weight material, more expensive. This is only for the driver. Fairway and Hybrids are the Power Range. The only visible difference is the word “DRIVER” on the Nitro is yellow and red on the Power. 

After 2 1/2 hours of driver swings, Jon selected the Power Driver 18 Hi for my driver. Apparently, I needed the heavier shaft. 

We then moved on to the Ping G430 MAX 15° +1.5° on Tour AD DJ 7S. I purchased this head on Thursday, and because of the rain, the first time I hit this was in the bay Sunday morning.  The shaft was from my G425 LST 3w (RIP). Once again, there were 3-5 hits, shaft change, 3-5 hits, “How did that feel?”, repeat. Eventually, he chose the Power Fairway 18 Hi. The only real variation was we went outside and confirmed hitting that one off the grass. 

Unsurprisingly, the hybrid, Ping G425 19° Flat +1°, was a copy and paste of the others. And also, the shaft he picked was the Power 18Hi Hybrid. 

He later told William P. and I that it was unusual that a player ends up in the same shaft for all 3 clubs. I should have asked if the fact that both had the same brand of heads. Did I mention William came early and joined us after I had been hitting for an hour? (William took these wonderful videos that will not upload.) 

At some point, I asked about the G430 LST 10.5° being the right one for me. He said yes and we discussed the future adjustments that it offered and some swing changes I need to make and how the head is ideal for that. He also said the MAX 10K offered more forgiveness, but this wasn’t something I needed. I needed spin reduction and better angle of attack. While watching William P. I became completely at ease with this head. William had some difficulty, and Jon, who up until then hadn’t even hinted that there were other heads than the ones we brought, opened a drawer with all the latest heads and had William try them. This left no doubt that if Jon didn’t believe that was the best head for me, he would have pulled one out and tried it. 

After my fitting and before William’s, he explained how the shafts were made and the features, advantages, and benefits of TPT. And then we went into the putting room. 

I am thoroughly satisfied with my LAB DF2.1 with the Accra shaft. But he had a LINK1 with the TPT. 10 months ago, I tried the LINK with the standard shaft. Granted it was for 10 minutes, and the first LAB I had ever hit. This was an incredible putter. I sank the first three 18’ers on the flat level surface. He said, “You make this look too easy, let me turn this to the “Jon Rahm” setting. The green bent and flexed to where it was a double breaker rolling 15 stimp with 4.7° slope near the hole. I drained it dead center. He looked at me astonished until I admitted I was aiming at the center hole, and it went in the top hole. I never made that putt. But the shaft felt so good. 

This was an incredible opportunity, I feel I learned so much from Jon. He has over 200 pros captured on 3D video. He said there are only 3 common movements to all good golfers. 

1.      The hips have to move towards the lead side first. 

2.     The hips have to rotate as they shift.

3.    The trail foot moves towards the target through impact. 

Everything else is just matching up the face to path. He said what I needed to do was stack up on my left side, and stay there. I said, “Like Stack and Tilt?” He said “Stack and Tilt is great for teaching new golfers fast. In your case, any bad stuff it teaches you will not affect you adversely because you have decades of doing it a different way. “ 

At this point I would include information on how the shafts are made, but I’ve seen a multitude of posts in this thread already that have it. 

As I was typing this, I received a text from Matt at TPT saying they were assembling my shafts and asked if I wanted the standard grip or to have it sent without a grip. I said no grip, and he said “Done”. I expect the shafts to ship shortly. 

This is some great info and detail. Hope the knee gets better soon. Thanks for taking time to write this all out! 

[ZackS]

I played today and hit irons good by timing with the driver wasn’t there. This is not abnormal for me though my driving has improved some. What was odd is the miss was mainly left. My only other round this year I was missing a little left as well but not my much and it was a great driving round. But still odd that I have had 2 rounds with the tendency being left as I have predominantly had a right miss for 15 years. Anyway, this just makes me even more ready for my fitting and to get testing. 

[GolferXY]

Very nice.  Thank you for the comprehensive review.  It sounds like Mr. Sinclair knows his products and fitting techniques.  Good luck with the shafts, hope they work out for you.

[William P]

TPT fitting with Jon Sinclair

Jon Sinclair's Golf Training Center is located at one end of the Texas Star Golf Course driving range and is nicely situated to afford a degree of privacy in a calm and quiet setting. The swing bay is nice in that it allows you to observe actual ball flight which I much prefer over a sim screen. The equipment is state of the art and as you look around Jon's shop you will find everything needed for teaching/coaching, fitting, club building, and alterations. TrackMan is the technology of choice for data acquisition during the fitting process. Jon is also sought after for his knowledge in the use of 3D technology and boasts the world's largest database of over 200 professional golfers.

I arrived early to assist Rick with pictures and video and was able to observe and get a feel for the process before it was my turn in the limelight. 

As Rick was finishing up and putting his clubs away Jon showed us his putting training area. Some kind of nice is all I can say! Fully programable bed with overhead graphics projection which are used to assist in teaching green reading. And the wrap around background of TPT home in Switzerland was cool too...

While Rick enjoyed a little putting practice, he is a dang good putter by the way, I started warming up during which Jon was observing intently and noting swing tendencies. I'm pretty sure I had his head spinning...   This would be the only part of the session I would consider normal in reference to previous fittings. From that point on, it was all business and I enjoyed it immensely! One significant note is that all balls used for fitting, Pinnacle range balls, are brand new out of the box.

I lost count of the number of shafts tested during the entire process, but the number used for the driver was 6 with two of them being reintroduced multiple times as a means to validate benchmarks as we progressed. Clearly Jon manages the process and is driven by a quest for optimum performance. 

Protocol was to make 3-5 decent swings, under his watchful eye and then Jon would make any head adjustment or shaft change he determined required, hand the club back and repeat the sequence. Of the total balls struck, approx.130 useable, I would estimate that roughly 70-80 were used on the driver fitting.

Jon took the time to explain all the data parameters he was monitoring and what results he was looking for. There came a point after the 3rd or 4th shaft that I was in a state of information overload for which there was no recovery... Just trusted in the fact that Jon knew what he was doing and looking for.

He commented that with shaft selection he could move the ball 2" up, down, left, or right. I was unable to strike the ball high in the face due to my AOA being fairly constant at about a negative 4-5*. Jon went, what I consider as, "above and beyond" in attempting to help me remedy this issue with potential equipment changes. We first tried increasing clubhead weight by 5 grams which didn't produce desired effect. He then went into his 2024 driver clubhead drawer and pulled out the TSR3 head and added weight to no avail. Next, we tried the Ping G425 LST and the G430 Max 10k heads with no success, so it appears I have another issue to add to swing improvements needed for 2024. This one is worth about 20-30 yards total according to Jon so it will be a priority!

Based on all the results Jon settled into the Nitro 17 Lo as the preferred shaft and moved on to the Fairway and Hybrid clubs using the same process. However, my angle of attack, while a little steep, is more favorable with these weapons and 50+ balls later we closed the fitting out with a quick review of the results. 

Driver:     NITRO   

                Model                                Flight                                  Weight                                    Torque                                Raw Length                      CPM           

Fairway: Power Range

Hybrid: Power Range

 

To say the time with Jon was interesting, informative, and fun would be an understatement. He is very knowledgeable of the industry and will take the time to answer any questions or offer any opinions.

Again, I want to thank the MGS Team, and TPT for this opportunity!

Also, a special thank you to my wife and daughter for taking their Sunday to support me on this journey!

Edited March 12 by William P

[RoverRick]

Another tidbit of wisdom from Jon Sinclair. I told you these things would continue to come to mind. There was simply too many pearls of wisdom to string together into a cohesive necklace the first time. I said that all my shots were to the left side of the fairway or the left side of the green. I rarely missed right. 

He said let me show you something. Then proceeded to drop a net that covered from “the center of the fairway” which was directly over the line of baskets left. 

You can’t really see because of my big butt in the way, but from my point of view, in order to hit one down the line and not hit the net, I have to aim to the trees on the right. 

I have noticed when watching the pros on tv with the camera directly behind the player, the ball usually seems to take off to the right. It’s really a perception thing. The ball appears to start right but goes straight. When the ball appears to go straight, it goes left. When it starts left, it usually goes right. 

I should look for a thread here from 10 years ago where I wrote about 7 o’clock is the perfect time to hit the golf ball. In it, I didn’t really reference time at all, just that if 12 o’clock was towards the target, 6 o’clock was directly away from the target, then striking the ball in the 7 o’clock position with the club face towards 12 o’clock would produce a slight draw to the target. 

Edited March 12 by RoverRick

[Dead Solid Bogey]

4 hours ago, William P said:

TPT fitting with Jon Sinclair

Jon Sinclair's Golf Training Center is located at one end of the Texas Star Golf Course driving range and is nicely situated to afford a degree of privacy in a calm and quiet setting. The swing bay is nice in that it allows you to observe actual ball flight which I much prefer over a sim screen. The equipment is state of the art and as you look around Jon's shop you will find everything needed for teaching/coaching, fitting, club building, and alterations. TrackMan is the technology of choice for data acquisition during the fitting process. Jon is also sought after for his knowledge in the use of 3D technology and boasts the world's largest database of over 200 professional golfers.

I arrived early to assist Rick with pictures and video and was able to observe and get a feel for the process before it was my turn in the limelight. 

As Rick was finishing up and putting his clubs away Jon showed us his putting training area. Some kind of nice is all I can say! Fully programable bed with overhead graphics projection which are used to assist in teaching green reading. And the wrap around background of TPT home in Switzerland was cool too...

While Rick enjoyed a little putting practice, he is a dang good putter by the way, I started warming up during which Jon was observing intently and noting swing tendencies. I'm pretty sure I had his head spinning...   This would be the only part of the session I would consider normal in reference to previous fittings. From that point on, it was all business and I enjoyed it immensely! One significant note is that all balls used for fitting, Pinnacle range balls, are brand new out of the box.

I lost count of the number of shafts tested during the entire process, but the number used for the driver was 6 with two of them being reintroduced multiple times as a means to validate benchmarks as we progressed. Clearly Jon manages the process and is driven by a quest for optimum performance. 

Protocol was to make 3-5 decent swings, under his watchful eye and then Jon would make any head adjustment or shaft change he determined required, hand the club back and repeat the sequence. Of the total balls struck, approx.130 useable, I would estimate that roughly 70-80 were used on the driver fitting.

Jon took the time to explain all the data parameters he was monitoring and what results he was looking for. There came a point after the 3rd or 4th shaft that I was in a state of information overload for which there was no recovery... Just trusted in the fact that Jon knew what he was doing and looking for.

He commented that with shaft selection he could move the ball 2" up, down, left, or right. I was unable to strike the ball high in the face due to my AOA being fairly constant at about a negative 4-5*. Jon went, what I consider as, "above and beyond" in attempting to help me remedy this issue with potential equipment changes. We first tried increasing clubhead weight by 5 grams which didn't produce desired effect. He then went into his 2024 driver clubhead drawer and pulled out the TSR3 head and added weight to no avail. Next, we tried the Ping G425 LST and the G430 Max 10k heads with no success, so it appears I have another issue to add to swing improvements needed for 2024. This one is worth about 20-30 yards total according to Jon so it will be a priority!

Based on all the results Jon settled into the Nitro 17 Lo as the preferred shaft and moved on to the Fairway and Hybrid clubs using the same process. However, my angle of attack, while a little steep, is more favorable with these weapons and 50+ balls later we closed the fitting out with a quick review of the results. 

Driver:     NITRO   

                Model                                Flight                                  Weight                                    Torque                                Raw Length                      CPM           

Fairway: Power Range

Hybrid: Power Range

 

To say the time with Jon was interesting, informative, and fun would be an understatement. He is very knowledgeable of the industry and will take the time to answer any questions or offer any opinions.

Again, I want to thank the MGS Team, and TPT for this opportunity!

Also, a special thank you to my wife and daughter for taking their Sunday to support me on this journey!

Well done and quite the grownup review . It really paid off having your female adult supervisory authority on hand. Nice touch having the daughter there to observe how mom gets things done in public. 
  Heard Jon was missing a couple of little bright shiny things… Do you know anything about them??