TPT Golf shafts may not be what you think they are.
For instance, if you think TPT Golf shafts are just another high-priced upgrade that offers no real benefit, they may not be what you think they are.
Then again, if you think all driver heads are the same and the shaft makes all the difference, TPT Golf shafts may not be what you think they are.
If you remember TPT Golf shafts as the shafts that kept breaking back in 2018, we have to tell you:
They’re definitely not what you think they are.
Those breaking issues, which we’ll discuss later, caused TPT Golf to reevaluate itself back in 2018. Up to that point, TPT had been the darling of club fitters and PGA Tour pros. World No. One Justin Rose gamed a TPT that year as did two-time winner Jason Day and three-time winner Bryson DeChambeau.
TPT is back. Day won the Byron Nelson last year using a TPT shaft while Lucas Glover gamed TPT during his late-season run. Just this month, Richard Bland had a TPT in his bag when he won the U.S. Senior Open.
So all of this does beg a rather obvious question. If TPT Golf isn’t what you think they are, then what, pray tell, are they?
Maybe more importantly, why should you care?
Who is TPT Golf?
TPT Golf is the golf division of a company called NTPT, one of the more interesting entities you’ve never heard of.
Headquartered in Switzerland with manufacturing in Poland, NTPT is a leading manufacturer of custom composite materials. NTPT stands for North Thin Ply Technology, a name that perfectly describes its patented technology. The company’s ultra-thin carbon plies create incredibly lightweight, exceptionally strong and very consistent composite materials.
Founders Francois Mordasini and Gerard Gauthier first used their technology to make highly efficient composite sails for competitive yacht racing. NTPT made immediate headlines when its sails powered Swiss challenger Ernesto Bertarelli’s Alinghi to victory in the 2003 America’s Cup.
“We are present in the world of composite materials,” TPT Golf Shaft Engineering Leader Nicohlas Cunche tells MyGolfSpy, “but only for very specific applications and only for very high-performance markets. That’s where our thin-ply material is best used.”
We’re talking about some high-tech stuff here. NTPT’s material is used in other marine applications such as hydrofoils and racing boats. It’s used to make high-speed trains and lightweight buses. It’s also used in aerospace and aeronautics applications. The company also collaborated with Solar Impulse in 2011 on the first round-the-world solar-powered flight.
Other NTPT markets include Formula 1 racing for body panels, luxury Swiss watch components, electrical motors and prosthetic devices.
So how does a company like this get into golf? Remarkably, quite by accident.
Thin-ply golf shafts
Founders Mordasini and Gauthier had no previous connection to golf, other than they liked to play it.
“Our founder (Francois Mordasini) was playing golf with some friends,” says Cunche. “One of them said he should try making a shaft with his material because it was so amazing.”
At first, NTPT partnered with an Asian company. NTPT supplied them with its thin-ply material and left them to do the actual shaft-making.
“They produced the shafts themselves with a core-wrapping process,” says Cunche. “That’s the traditional way of making graphite shafts.”
The NTPT thin-ply material yielded excellent shafts but it ultimately proved problematic. The material is 50 percent thinner than standard material, so more layers were needed to make a shaft to the proper thickness. The process proved to be too labor-intensive to be viable
If thin-ply material had a future in golf shafts, NTPT would have to do it themselves. Thus, TPT Golf was born.
“We found there was potential in golf that we wanted to explore,” explains Cunche. “Our founders always want to push the limits so we started a journey to create our own automated shaft production process that would handle our thin-ply graphite that wasn’t as labor-intensive.”
To do that, TPT Golf developed its own fully automated shaft-making machinery and proprietary operating software.
“But I’m talkin’ ‘bout shafts…”
Making a traditional high-performance golf shaft is a hands-on job. Graphite sheets, or flags, are cut into various sizes and shapes, depending on the design of the shaft. These flags are impregnated with an epoxy resin and then hand-rolled around a tapered mandrel. The mandrel dictates the inside diameter of the shaft. That diameter, plus the fiber makeup of the flags and the number of wraps, determines the weight and stiffness of the shaft.
Once the wrapping is done, the shaft is heated to cure and harden the epoxy resin and flags. The steel mandrel is then removed and, voila, you have a golf shaft.
The TPT Golf method is a little different. First, the thin-ply material it uses comes in tape form as opposed to flag form. It’s also 50 percent thinner than conventional graphite. TPT’s automated process wraps the material around the mandrel in one continuous wrap, creating a shaft with no spine. Conventional shafts using multiple flags may have as many as 10 or 11 starts and stops in the wrapping process, which TPT says can lead to stiffness and thickness variations. That process can also lead to what TPT calls angle off-axing, meaning some wraps and fibers can be off-axis.
“In traditional methods, as the shaft tapers, the wraps can go off-axis,” says Cunche. “When the shaft bends during your golf swing, if the fibers are off-axing, you’ll have both torsion and bending.”
Parasitic twisting
Angle off-axing leads to what TPT calls “parasitic twisting.” You know the shaft is going to bend when you swing. But angle off-axing can cause the shaft to twist a little while it’s bending. No matter how consistent your swing is, parasitic twisting could twist the shaft just a tiny bit. That means the club head could also twist, just a tiny bit.
If you’re one of the chosen few who hits the center of the face and the center of the fairway every time, you’re excused if your first reaction is, “so what?”
If you’re a human, however, the benefit could be anywhere from slightly to legitimately helpful. TPT says its technology can reduce parasitic twisting that can throw the clubface slightly off-kilter.
We’re not talking about a cure for a chronic slicer here. Swinging the club so the face is square to path is your job. TPT says if you do your job, the shaft won’t throw any parasitic surprises your way. For most of us, that could mean the difference between the right side of the fairway and the right rough.
Or the right rough and the right pond.
“We did some tests where we put stickers on club faces and compared golfers’ shafts with TPT shafts,” says Cunche. “With their shaft, they’d have contact all over the face. With ours, impact was closer to the center.”
Closer to the center, as we all know, can mean straighter, longer and more consistent. The big advantage, says Cunche, is that consistency could allow you to play a softer, lighter shaft.
Soft parades and light brigades
One way in which traditional shaft manufacturing controls parasitic twisting is through weight and stiffness. The heavier and stiffer the shaft, the less parasitic twisting you’ll likely get.
However, there’s often a tradeoff between stiffness and weight on one side and speed, distance and playability on the other. A softer, lighter shaft might give a golfer more speed and distance but consistency and dispersion go out the window.
Cunche, however, says TPT’s manufacturing methods allow golfers to use softer and lighter shafts than they may be used to.
“We don’t want the golfer to box himself into a flex or a weight,” he explains. “We don’t want golfers to have any preconceived notions about what may or may not work for them.”
Exhibit A, says Cunche, is TPT’s recent dominance on long drive tours. At any given event, more than half the field will use a 40-gram TPT Nitro shaft, the lightest and most flexible shaft in TPT’s lineup.
“These guys are strong and normally play really stiff shafts,” Cunche says. “The problem with soft shafts and those swing speeds is dispersion. But because our manufacturing method produces no angle off-axing, they get the distance they want and keep the ball on the grid even with a softer shaft.”
TPT has chalked up 13 long-drive victories around the world since 2022.
Now about 2018…
TPT Golf was enjoying a breakout year in 2018. It was, however, short-circuited in the worst way possible.
Its shafts were breaking.
In reality, it wasn’t a lot of them but once the stories start rolling it’s hard to rein them in. MyGolfSpy broke two TPT shafts during testing, as did other equipment testers. The issue became a tempest when John Senden had a shaft break mid-round at the 2018 Australian PGA Championship.
“It was a really tough period for us to learn our shafts were breaking,” says Cunche. “We focused our resources and looked at it as a big challenge.”
Everything was put on the table and poked. TPT looked at its fibers, resin, fiber placement, shaft design and even the design of its mandrels.
“We looked at and improved every step of the process one by one, one step at a time,” Cunche explains. “That led to the new generation of Power and Nitro shafts.”
Does TPT feel the problem is licked? Cunche gives a resounding yes.
“When you have half the field in long-drive competitions, people with amazing swing speed playing the softest shafts we make, and they don’t break? That proves the issue is behind us.”
TPT Golf shafts: rebirth complete
With 2018’s issues put to bed, TPT’s rebirth is complete. The company can claim 70 wins on various worldwide tours, including the PGA, LPGA (four majors), Korn Ferry and DP World. Its two new-generation shafts are starting to make some noise.
The new Power line includes driver, fairway and hybrid shafts while the Nitro line is driver only. TPT also makes putter shafts (it collaborates with L.A.B.) and is developing iron and wedge shafts.
You won’t find X, S, R or L on any TPT Golf shaft. Instead, you’ll find numbers. The Nitro HI and Power HI come in 14 through 21, the Nitro LO in 14 through 18 and the Power LO in 14-19. The numbers reflect a combination of weight and torque. Higher numbers are lighter and play softer. Lower numbers are heavier and play stiffer. HI and LO reflect trajectory.
“Power is for people looking for consistency and stability,” says Cunche. “Nitro is for people who want to push the limits and gain distance and precision.”
Cunche says the numbering system promotes a consistent feel across your metalwoods. For example, if you fit into an 18 Nitro for your driver, you can be confident that an 18 Power in your hybrid and fairway will perform similarly and provide a consistent feel.
TPT is not available as an upgrade with any OEM, although talks are ongoing. The company does have certified fitters throughout the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. TruSpec and Cool Clubs are the most common in North America. TPT Golf also offers an online fitting tool that asks for swing speed, desired trajectory, shot shape and preferred weight. It’ll then spit out a shaft with tipping recommendations.
TPT Golf: The elephant in the room
TPT Golf considers itself premium and is priced accordingly. A Power range driver shaft will run you $380 while a fairway shaft runs $350 and a hybrid shaft is $290. The Nitro range (driver only) runs $650. Your choice of adapter plus a Lamkin Crossline grip is an extra $55.
Are TPT Golf shafts worth it? That is a loaded question.
Four MyGolfSpy Forum members recently had the opportunity to review the TPT Golf Power and Nitro ranges. The group was split on distance gains but each reported noticeable improvement in on-course dispersion and consistency.
Look, shafts aren’t magic. If you’re in the wrong driver head for your game, no shaft is going to make it the right head. Additionally, a shaft that works for you in one head won’t necessarily work for you in another head. But put the right shaft and the right head together? That’s a potential game-changer.
Our testing shows that TPT Golf shafts can tighten up your dispersion, improve your consistency and potentially help you with distance. Whether that makes it worth the money depends entirely on why you play golf and what you’re trying to accomplish.
The only golfer you have to justify any expenditure to is the one looking back at you in the mirror.
This article was written in partnership with TPT.
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