The shaft is the engine of the golf swing. It simply transfers the energy and direction from your swing into the club head for the desired result.
And, no secret every company is trying to come up with technology to tweak the shaft for better and more consistent performance. One of the issues with shafts is that of a “spine.” In this case, a manufacturing point where layers or materials overlap making an area where the shaft does not flex and restore energy as in the rest of the shaft.
Enter TPT Golf, a Swiss company with the same penchant for craftsmanship as many fine watches from that country. And maybe a better idea and manufacturing approach. Until this point, most golf shafts have a discernable spine. In the case of TPT, their shafts have a perfectly concentric, seamless design. In other words, the shaft is basically a perfect circle with no discernable spine, and no discernable points where the shaft does not oscillate or move true to the golf swing.
How they did it was simple in theory, but difficult in engineering application. They created extremely thin layers, which they terms “thin-ply winding, which means any over laps have an effect of not producing a spine. And to make it more precise, they use robot winding to make sure their shafts are consistent. In fact, the process is so unique, it is not just better, but has a patent pending. So, you get a regular with a mid launch, and the next one you get is exactly the same. That also ensures something important to most golfers, what you try and tweak in a fitting session will be the exact shaft you get in the club.
Testing for shaft spine and effects is normally done on a bench, with cycles per minute (CPM) as the standard to shaft flex. In testing, the TPT shafts were consistent all the way around the circle with only a small deviation of 2.4 CPM. Other shafts with pronounced spines varied as much as almost 8 CPM. That is quite a bit when you are looking for a consistent launch with a driver or a 3 wood, and even more important to a consistent direction.
This is the direct result of TPT Golf’s fully automated manufacturing process called “Thin-Ply Winding,” which gives TPT Golf the ability to independently tweak each shaft design parameter. This revolutionary, robot-driven process ensures unrivaled consistency and unlocks superior performance for golfers of all abilities. Unlike other shaft manufacturing processes, the patent-pending Thin-Ply Winding Method enables TPT Golf to create shafts that are exactly the same time after time.
At present TPT Golf only works through club fitters and makes driver shafts. In 2018, and at the PGA show, expect the unveiling of the same technology for woods and hybrids. And, they make shafts to specific swing speed and torque specifications. Tour level precision for the rest of us? It appears so!
