TPT Golf Shafts - 2024 Forum Review

[Hoyoymac]

Slept pretty well and after a rather just adequate hotel breakfast I’m up and at ‘em.  

The sun is shining and the birds are singing but it’s a bit frosty out. 46 degrees.  A bit of a shock from the 82 yesterday at home.  

Bundled up, though I imagine that I’ll be working up a lather soon enough.

Heading to the Texas Star golf course in a few minutes.

[Josh Parker]

3 minutes ago, Hoyoymac said:

Slept pretty well and after a rather just adequate hotel breakfast I’m up and at ‘em.  

The sun is shining and the birds are singing but it’s a bit frosty out. 46 degrees.  A bit of a shock from the 82 yesterday at home.  

Bundled up, though I imagine that I’ll be working up a lather soon enough.

Heading to the Texas Star golf course in a few minutes.

Enjoy!  Can't wait to follow along on this testing opportunity!  

[Hoyoymac]

Arrived at the course!

Pretty place.

[Hoyoymac]

Outside of Jon Sinclair’s fitting building and from the outside it is giving off vibes of “Secret Lair”!

[Hoyoymac]

Nothing going on here.  Move along.

Just professional golfers getting fit for the highest quality golf shafts ever made.

[Hoyoymac]

Didn’t bring all of my clubs.  Just a half set in a lightweight carry bag.

[Hoyoymac]

Inside the fitting studio.  Lots of equipment to measure, adjust and work on clubs.

This is where the magic happens!

[Hoyoymac]

Look who showed up!  Bill and Zack are in the house!

 

[Hoyoymac]

My fitting is over and very pleased with how everything went and the results that were achieved.

I’ll post more in depth about my fitting later today.

Bill came in and observed my fairway and hybrid fittings. 

We are both observing Zack’s driver fitting now.  Wow!  The sound the ball makes off his driver is different.  He just hit one with a TPT shaft that generated 170 MPH ball speed!

[Hoyoymac]

Watching Zack’s fitting is really cool.  
 

I was so absorbed in my fitting to see or notice everything.  Now I can sit back and watch and take it all in.

I’m relaxed and enjoying myself.  The only thing better would be if I had a cigar and a liquor drink!!

[William P]

11 minutes ago, Hoyoymac said:

My fitting is over and very pleased with how everything went and the results that were achieved.

I’ll post more in depth about my fitting later today.

Bill came in and observed my fairway and hybrid fittings. 

We are both observing Zack’s driver fitting now.  Wow!  The sound the ball makes off his driver is different.  He just hit one with a TPT shaft that generated 170 MPH ball speed!

Zack definitely can smoke the ball!

[Hoyoymac]

Rick has arrived.  The boys are all here!

[Hoyoymac]

After Zack’s fitting the four of us had a nice discussion with Jon Sinclair and were able to ask a bunch of questions.  Got a nice picture of all of us before we left with Jon.

[ZackS]

I had so much fun in the fitting and getting to meet @Hoyoymac @William P @RoverRick in person. Very happy with the fitting and so excited to get the shafts, but more on that later. Unfortunately my plan to video the fitting to put together backfired as it stopped on my 5 minutes in so really only got the swings with my shaft before going to sleep and didn't realize until the driver portion was pretty much over. At that point I was not going to take Jon out of his process while I figured it out. But I did get the trackman report so I will do a right up with that. Here is a quick video of one of my swings to see the environment.  

 

 

[Hoyoymac]

Fueled up the rental car, got it returned then took the shuttle to the Terminal.  Checked my golf bag and went through security.

First trip after getting enrolled in TSA Precheck and it definitely sped things up.

Never ate lunch today.  So was pretty hungry.  Sat down at Pappadeaux’s and had a Bllue Moon beer with the Salmon burger and fries.  Just wonderful.  Service and food were great.

Had a chance to unwind a bit while eating, review a few things from the fitting and get caught up with the rest of the world.

[William P]

58 minutes ago, Hoyoymac said:

Fueled up the rental car, got it returned then took the shuttle to the Terminal.  Checked my golf bag and went through security.

First trip after getting enrolled in TSA Precheck and it definitely sped things up.

Never ate lunch today.  So was pretty hungry.  Sat down at Pappadeaux’s and had a Bllue Moon beer with the Salmon burger and fries.  Just wonderful.  Service and food were great.

Had a chance to unwind a bit while eating, review a few things from the fitting and get caught up with the rest of the world.

Safe travel Jordy! It was a pleasure to meet and get to know you a little today. Fairways and greens!

[Josh Parker]

1 hour ago, Hoyoymac said:

After Zack’s fitting the four of us had a nice discussion with Jon Sinclair and were able to ask a bunch of questions.  Got a nice picture of all of us before we left with Jon.

Awesome that you all got to meet and experience this process. 

[William P]

1 hour ago, ZackS said:

I had so much fun in the fitting and getting to meet @Hoyoymac @William P @RoverRick in person. Very happy with the fitting and so excited to get the shafts, but more on that later. Unfortunately my plan to video the fitting to put together backfired as it stopped on my 5 minutes in so really only got the swings with my shaft before going to sleep and didn't realize until the driver portion was pretty much over. At that point I was not going to take Jon out of his process while I figured it out. But I did get the trackman report so I will do a right up with that. Here is a quick video of one of my swings to see the environment.  

 

IMG_2708 2-2.mov 15.74 MB · 0 downloads  

 

@ZackSIt was a pleasure to meet and watch you go about your business swinging the club today! Maybe later in the year we can find a time to get everyone somewhat local together and play a round. If @Hoyoymac, Jordy, makes it back this way in the future maybe we can set up an alumnus outing and dinner.

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Your guys fitting experience is so awesomely unique. It's been great following along and the testing has not even begun. Great stuff guys  

[RoverRick]

@Hoyoymac is 100% correct. While going through the process it’s tough to realize what's going on while it’s happening to you, but watching others go through the process is very enlightening. I’ve already given my opinion of the process, so other than to say how great it was to meet everyone, I’ll leave it at that. 
 

Also, for the record, @ZackS had the putter when I left so if it’s missing it wasn’t me.

[ZackS]

The Fitting:

The fitting started with talking with Jon and typical misses and that despite my recent trend being a left miss that my normal longer term miss is right. He also asked which shape I would prefer. My shot with the current shaft were inline with what I have been doing which has been a pull draw with occasional pull hook or over correction push. We then bounced around between 17Lo, 16Lo, 16Hi, and 15Hi in the Nitro range hitting a few then swapping and circling back to previous to verify results. He even through in the Ping G430 10K head at one point. Things where very close between the 15Hi and 16Hi. I had my fastest ball speed on any swing at 170 mph with the 16Hi but when going back and fourth between shafts the Nitro 15Hi was more consistent and still averaged 167 ball speed. Here are some screenshots from the Trackman report.

 

Dispersion chart with all to see how it moved around with different shafts:

Current Shaft:

Fitted Shaft:

Driver Dispersion of current and fitted:

(Note: Green is current, red and purple are both the fitted with different wight position)

Also one note I got from Jon over and over especially with the driver was he kept telling me to give him everything I got and stop guiding it. He also noted that he thinks I will continue to raise my ball speed as confidence grows with it. 

 

Next as we where getting into the 5 wood we started talking about gaping which lead him to have me hit both my 4 hybrid and 4 iron to get distances. We found that my carry with 4 iron was 218, 4 hybrid was 225 and 5 wood was 251. This lead him to move to the 4 hybrid fit next instead of 5 wood with the goal of 240 carry. We tried both 15Lo and 14Lo and moved the loft sleeve down 1.5 degrees. He then added a half inch of length to the shaft in the 15Lo and got 238 carry.

Current Hybrid:

Fitted Hybrid: (Note he mislabeled the shaft the first time so this is split into 2)

Hybrid Dispersion: (Note he mislabeled the shaft the first time so this is split into 2)

At this point having got to know me and looking for 260 he gave me a 15Lo and first swing was 259.2 carry. I hit 5 shots total with the carry average being 259.2 with the longest being 265 when I hooked it and 250 when trying to hit a high cut which is exactly what I am looking for. A note on the 5 wood is I still was favoring a pull with it but Jon is having TPT send him the shafts directly so he can build them and it going to put the flat Callaway adapter in it as he says TPT cannot get these adapters themselves. He also slid one on a shaft really quick so I could address it and make sure it looks good and not to flat. I also play my 5 wood at 42 inches and was having to choke down a bit on the test shafts so in this process he is also going to tip the shaft a half inch.

5 Wood Comparison: (note: blue current and green fitted)

5 Wood dispersion: 

 

Fitting TLDR: The fitting was through hitting some shafts multiple times to confirm result. Even got into gapping which had us increase both 4 hybrid and 5 wood carry distances. Final fitted shafts, Driver = Nitro 15Hi, 5 wood = Power 15Lo, 4 hybrid = Power 15Lo.

Edited March 31 by ZackS

[ZackS]

3 hours ago, William P said:

@ZackSIt was a pleasure to meet and watch you go about your business swinging the club today! Maybe later in the year we can find a time to get everyone somewhat local together and play a round. If @Hoyoymac, Jordy, makes it back this way in the future maybe we can set up an alumnus outing and dinner.

I would definitely be up for that. 

[rkj427]

Great write-up of your fitting @ZackS

Keep us updated once everything is together and you get some time out on the course.

[Hoyoymac]

It is taking me awhile to process everything that happened yesterday. Kind of a whirlwind 24 hours.

I got home around Midnight and this morning it has been tough to get going.  

Back is sore from 150 or so swings followed by several hours of car rides, shuttle buses, airport trains, waiting area seats and cramped, full flights.

My body is also a little out of whack from the disruption to my normal routines with meal times and bed times being skewed by travel and time changes.

Despite all of that, I would gladly head to the airport right now and do it all over again!

That is how good of an experience I had as part of this TPT Golf shafts adventure.

Something that wasn’t planned, not part of the program and just sort of accidental that happened yesterday turned out to have a big impact on me.

It is hard to convey how meaningful it was to have  Bill, Rick and Zack all be there yesterday.

It really created an Esprit de Corp amongst us all.  Being part of a group on a shared journey elevated this experience to another level.

 

On to the fitting itself.

@ZackS@William P and @RoverRick have done a really good job of describing the process of the fitting.  

At the beginning of my fitting I told Jon that the three clubs that I was being fit for have been working extremely well for me.  

We started with my Driver.  Cobra LTDx LS 9 degree with a Diamana ZF 60S shaft playing at close to 46” with the Arccos sensor in the grip.  Set in the Standard draw setting and playing at D4 swing weight with a 14g weight in the heel and a 3 gram weight in the toe.

After a number of shots he told me that I hit the driver very well and that it would be a challenge to beat.  It seemed to get him fired up.

My highest single swing speed of the day was with my current driver at 104 MPH and my average Driver swing speed during the fitting was hovering right around 100 MPH +/- 1.

We cycled through a number of shafts.  Nitro 16 HI, Nitro 17 LO, Nitro 18 LO, Power Range 17 HI, Power Range 18 LO.

At the end he encouraged me, like he did with Zack to not hold back, because he wanted to see what happened when I went after one. 

Here are the dispersion circles of the final recommendation: TPT Power Range 18 LO at 45” in green compared to my current shaft in White.

When I hit the last shot with the TPT Power Range 18 LO at 45”, Jon said, “I think we found your Driver shaft.”  This is the screenshot of the Trackman optimizer of that shot.

He was able to beat my current set up despite using a shaft that is about an inch shorter. But the shorter shaft gave me better efficiency due to a more consistent strike location and my already good left to right dispersion became insanely good.

 

The Fairway wood that I brought for the fitting is the Cobra LTDx 15 degree set at 16.5 with a Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S shaft at 43”.  

This club has been a game changer for me.  I’m extremely confident with this club and one of my playing partners has even told me to “Never take it out of my bag.”

I really went into this part of the fitting with low expectations.  How could Jon beat my favorite club in the bag?

It didn’t take long.  We tried the TPT Power Range 18 HI, 18 LO, and 17 HI.  Within a few shots we found that the 17 Hi set at +1.5 at 43” was a real winner!

Here is a comparison between my current setup and with the 17 HI:

 

The reason there are only two shots captured on Trackman with this set-up is that Jon wanted to go outside and confirm things off the turf.  I hit two off the ground and two off a tee and they were so good that I was literally giggling like a little child and told Jon that we didn’t need to hit anymore.  It was ten yards longer and if you threw a beach blanket down it would’ve covered all of them!

The hybrid fit was a bit hampered by not being able to plug and play shafts directly into my Cobra LTDx 24 degree hybrid with a Fujikura Fuel HY 85 Stiff shaft because it has a bonded hosel.  Jon devised a workaround and we hit the Power Range 18 LO, 17 HI and 17 LO.

The 17 LO was just an instant winner.  We went outside to the grass and I hit a couple off the turf and a couple off the tee and we were done.

I believe I was the only one of the four of us to be fit into 3 different shafts: Power Range 18 LO for Driver, 17 HI for Fairway wood and 17 LO for hybrid.

If I had tried to fit myself and buy these shafts on my own just based off of the published specs and comparing to what I’m playing now I might have gotten one or two of them right, but definitely not all three.  I would have probably gone too stiff on the driver shaft for sure. 

 

How did the fitting compare to other fittings I’ve had?

The pre fitting conversation and warmup were quite similar.  Essentially, Jon gathers information so he can understand who and what he’s working with and start to mentally narrow things down to a few shafts to start with.

Some key differences emerged though.

Jon was very good at setting expectations at the beginning of the fitting.  He was very clear that he was not going to talk much at all about what he was handing you to try.   He really just wanted you to hit them and then give him your feedback on the shaft and whatever feelings you had about it.

He is super focused on what you are doing and how you are reacting to the changes he is making.

Jon Sinclair exhibited a quiet confidence throughout the fitting.  He has a clear plan in mind based on the information he had gathered and his initial observations of your swing. But he is not rigid in his thinking.  As the fitting goes along and he sees how you are reacting to things he adapts and comes up with new solutions.

It was very obvious when a shaft felt right and performed well.  Within a shot or two sometimes.

He was extremely quick to take something out of your hands.  He recognized immediately by what you did, said or how you reacted that you were uncomfortable with something and he did not want me to start adapting my swing to make the shaft work.

He would cycle back to a shaft that worked to confirm that it was a good fit.

The Driver fitting took the longest for me, the fairway wood fitting was pretty quick. The hybrid fitting was last and although a bit hindered by not having an adjustable hosel plug and play hybrid we got it sorted out pretty quickly.

Jon told me that I was extremely sensitive to shaft torque.  One of the most sensitive golfers he’s worked with.  I had begun to suspect as much over time but was happy to have someone confirm it.

He shared that in the golf shaft industry there are a variety of thoughts currently regarding torque with many companies claiming that torque is mostly just about feel.  He disagrees, “Torque is not just feel, it is real!”

He also was concerned with Swing Weight,  recording all of the club specs of your current set-up and was especially careful about confirming all of the specs with the final recommendation for the build.

Jon Sinclair told us after Zack’s fitting that he took us through exactly what he does with visiting PGA Tour players.  The only difference being is that after their fittings he builds up their shafts on the spot and they leave with them that day.

Finally, as I mentioned yesterday, being able to watch Zack’s fitting after going through mine was extremely helpful.  

During the fitting you kind of get lost in the fog of everything and being able to step back and watch really helped me gain perspective on what I had just gone through.

After yesterday I’m extremely excited to get these shafts in hand and put them into play.

[BallsLeon]

Really cool that everyone got together for this testing, and the fitting seems first-class! 

[RoverRick]

@William P@Hoyoymac @ZackS , it truly was a pleasure meeting you, and even though I was familiar with the process, it was educational to see you guys go through it also. Although I don’t see anything that has not been already discussed.  

[GolfSpy_BNG]

Great write ups @RoverRick @Hoyoymac @ZackS @William P  Love the insight with the fittings. 
 

 

[RoverRick]

And shout out to the MGS Staff, which Jon also mentioned. While we may have been limited geographically, they selected a wide cross-section of golfers. Basically, 85, 95, 105, 115 mph swing speeds. 

Also of note, 2 of us have long game needing work, while 2 already have a good long game. I’m very excited to see what happens, and have already seen improvements from information from Jon.

Although, Jon did mention that he was not a fan of our grips since at least 3 of us used JumboMax grips. I think that’s because TPT factory couldn’t build the shafts and adjust the weight accordingly with anything but standard shafts. Getting the weight perfect is important to Jon. For me, I suck either way, but I may learn it makes a huge difference. 

 

[Josh Parker]

14 minutes ago, RoverRick said:

And shout out to the MGS Staff, which Jon also mentioned. While we may have been limited geographically, they selected a wide cross-section of golfers. Basically, 85, 95, 105, 115 mph swing speeds. 

Also of note, 2 of us have long game needing work, while 2 already have a good long game. I’m very excited to see what happens, and have already seen improvements from information from Jon.

Although, Jon did mention that he was not a fan of our grips since at least 3 of us used JumboMax grips. I think that’s because TPT factory couldn’t build the shafts and adjust the weight accordingly with anything but standard shafts. Getting the weight perfect is important to Jon. For me, I suck either way, but I may learn it makes a huge difference. 

 

It has been great seeing everyone meet and I am def following along. I have looked at these for some time now and seeing the fitting process with Jon has been great. 

[BreakfastBall15]

Great write ups everyone. Those fittings sound both intense and awesome. Really looking forward to you guys getting these shafts in hand and into the course!