TPT Red Driver Shaft Review

Leave a reply

TPT Red Driver Shafts Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

TPT, Thin Ply Technology, has its roots in America’s Cup yacht racing. They developed carbon fiber sails for America’s Cup yachts. They shaped carbon fiber into sails that maintained their shape. After successive America’s Cup wins, TPT moved their innovative carbon fiber processes to other industries, automotive, aerospace, aviation, snow sports and golf. They construct their own prepreg from the best fibers. Then form it into structures.

TPT makes their shafts out of carbon fiber ribbon cut from the prepreg sheets they make. The ribbon is wrapped around the shaft mandrel. The result is a seamless shaft with uniform stiffness in all orientations. That was verified in my measurement, Radial Quality, shown below. It is the best in the business.

Most shafts are hand wrapped resulting is shaft to shaft variance. TPT shafts are CNC wrapped around the shaft mandrel. This eliminates shaft to shaft variations. The shaft you are fit with is exactly the same as the shaft that will be installed in your driver.

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

Nippon Wedge Shafts

4 Replies

Wedge Golf Shafts – Nippon WV Shaft

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Nippon WV ImageNippon makes a great dedicated wedge shaft, the N.S Pro WV. It was introduced in 2009 and has been one of my custom fitted wedge shafts since that time. It is one of the higher launch, therefore higher spin wedge shafts available. It is offered in three weights which correspond to increasing stiffness. Those weight options align well with the weights of the N.S Pro line of iron shafts. Using the wedge shaft that is just slightly higher than the weight of the iron shafts have proved to be a good fit.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

Nunchuck Golf Shafts Review

1 Reply

Nventix Nunchuck Driver, Nunchuck Hybrid, Nunchuck Iron

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Nunchuck Driver Shaft

The Nventix folks are Dallas based as am I. The CEO, Mike McCall lives less than a mile from me. I have known about this shaft since its early days. The design idea comes from Bruce Devlin, a nine-time PGA Tour/PGA Senior Tour winner. Create a shaft with a stiff handle and tip, focusing all the flex in the middle of the shaft. An extensive discussion of the science is presented on the Nventix web site with a detailed explanation of the concept in the frequently asked questions tab.

NunchuckDriver_EITBTb
The stiff tip facilitates less shaft related head movement as you approach impact. That is a good thing. A 103 gram driver shaft raises my eyebrows. But, for many, adding a counter weight to a shaft is going to accomplish much the same from a total weight perspective. And I and fellow fitters have put a great many players into counterweights.

NunchuckDriverImage
Radial consistency is 99.4%, orientation in rotating hosels is a non issue. Before you look at the profile and wonder how such a severe change in stiffness will even be playable, look at this next image. This is the translation of EI into deflection.

Variations of this EI profile are seen in a few other shafts. Not exactly, but much closer than I had thought. What is rarely seen is the weight in a driver shaft. And that is something you will have to try for yourself. The butt stiffness is off the charts. That illustrates the inherent flaw in using butt stiffness to rate shafts. Feel comes from many factors. The rate and amount of loss of stiffness down the shaft as well as torque combine to produce feel.

It is fairly well known among radar equipped fitters that shaft stiffness reduces dispersion. To the degree that stiffness does not change your swing, it is a good thing. The Nunchuck driver shaft is stiff by all measurements, deflection, load, frequency. It has an EI profile that we are new seeing in a number of iron shaft designs. A rapid loss of stiffness in the middle of the shaft followed by a long stable tip. If you can handle the weight, it is now becoming a popular design.

Nunchuck Hybrid Shaft

The Nventix Nunchuck Hybrid shaft came along a year to two after the introduction of the driver shaft. The design is similar. The automatically enhanced graphic below does a bit of injustice to the actual design, but is comparable to the rest of the images on this site.

NunchuckHybridImage

NunchuckHybrid_EITBTbRadial consistency is 99.7%, outstanding, orientation in rotating hosels is a non issue. Once again, remember, EI profiles show the sitffness of the 36 ‘springs’ we measure that constitute a golf shaft. When these springs are interconnected, the deflection profile is smooth. On this shaft, I see a weight range that is without question acceptable in many bags. The stiffness is in the range of many shafts I fit strong players into. The unique design is one of the lowest launch propensities I know of.

Nunchuck Iron Shaft

NunchuckIronImage

 

NunchuckIron_EITBTb

Like all the Nventix shafts, the radial consistency of the iron shaft is exceptional, 98.9%. It is an unusual design with a unique trim pattern. The typical shaft of this style, a single shaft often called parallel blanks get trimmed from the tip, creating increasing stiffness as the shafts get shorter in response to the heads getting heavier. The Nunchuck is a taper tip design, and a single shaft is used to create the set, trimmed from the butt. That is an unusual approach but I have build a few of these on request for some good ball strikers.

KBS Wedge Golf Shafts

3 Replies

Wedge Golf Shafts – KBS Tour, KBS Hi-Rev, KBS CTaper, KBS Tour V

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Golf wedge shafts, unlike driver shafts, do not get updated every year. When some prototypes arrived recently I realized I had not looked at wedge profiles in several years. Nothing had changed during that time. This year, the KBS Tour V and the Modus3 Tour 130 brought an entirely new profile to iron shafts. This profile is very interesting as a stand alone wedge shaft. Before we get to it, lets look at the KBS golf wedge shafts.

KBS Tour Wedges EiGjTb
The KBS Tour was the first shaft introduced by Kim Braly. The wedge shaft from that model is offered as a stand alone wedge shaft. It is a mid high launch design. The KBS tour is available in 5 weights, R, R+, S, S+ and X. starting at 110 grams and ascending in 5 gram increments. When the new groove rule was introduced, Kim introduced the KBS Hi-Rev wedge shaft to get back some of the spin lost from the softening of the wedge edges.

The KBS Tour C Taper came next. It is modeled on the Project X which Kim Braly designed at Royal Precision. It is stepless and is designed to create a lower launch lower spin ball flight. While not offered as a stand alone wedge shaft product, the wedge shaft in the sets is a great choice for someone looking to lower wedge ball flight. Like the KBS Tour, the KBS Tour C Taper is available in 5 weights.

KBS Tour Wedge EI ProgressionKBS Tour shafts have consistent bend profiles from flex to flex. The R is the same design as the S, just a little heavier and a little stiffer. With 5 flex/weight combinations, I fine tune flight and feel by moving up or down between weights. This illustration shows the KBS Tour wedge stiffness progressions. The same relationships are true for all KBS iron golf shafts. The KBS Tour 90 is a lighter weight version of the KBS Tour, adding two more weight options. Likewise, the KBS Tour C Taper Lite adds 3 additional weigh options to the C Taper design.

KBS Tour HiRevvsX8iMany years ago I learned in Royal Precision Rifle Shaft Certification class how to create the Rifle Spinner Wedge Shaft. The formula was simple, go up a flex and use the 8 iron. The Rifle Golf Shaft has a parallel tip, designed to be trimmed by the club maker. I now use constant weight taper shafts exclusively. But, that lesson prompted me to look at closely at the design of the KBS Tour Hi-Rev Wedge shaft when it was introduced. And I found the designer of the Rifle product, Kim Braly, used the same principle in constant weight shafts. Knowing this, I have built countless ‘Spinner’ wedges in sets applying the same principle with all of the KBS shafts, C Tapers and C Taper Lite’s included. The feedback from my customers is universal, they love the feel of the wedge shafts on partial shots.

KBS Tour V Wedge Shaft

KBS Tour V Wedge EiGjTbIn 2014 the KBS Tour V design was introduced. The KBS Tour V is available in three weights, 110, 115 120. There are also two professional club maker, only KBS Tour V Tour weight/flex models, 125 and 130 grams. This chart shows the 130 gram V X flex and the two Tour flex models. This is a unique design. When Mark Maness tested the Tour V design his immediate reaction was to change his release because he did not like the height of the ball flight. The Tour V design is a high launch, high spin shaft. It promotes a drop and stop ball flight. That makes it an interesting wedge shaft choice.

KBS TourV Deflection Here is a look at the deflection profiles derived from the EI profiles of the KBS Tour, KBS Hi-Rev and the KBS Tour V wedge shafts of similar weight and flex. There is not a lot of difference between the KBS Tour and the KBS Hi-Rev. But, the Tour V deflects significantly more. Based on our experience, the KBS Tour V creates a higher flight. With higher flight come more spin. That combination creates the drop and stop shot we look for from our wedges. If you are looking to add trajectory and spin to your wedges, the KBS Tour V shaft will deliver.

Hogan Apex Lightweight Golf Shaft Review

Leave a reply

Iron Golf Shafts – Hogan Apex LightWeight Steel

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

In my search for a replacement shaft that was no long available I was referred to J. J. Hill by my friends at UST Mamiya. J.J. has been in the club fitting and club repair business for 25+ years in Southern Minnesota and the Central US. He visits courses in the area with his trailer conducting fittings and doing club repair. During a long discussion of the history of shafts, J.J. told me he had a stockpile of light weight Hogan Apex iron sets.

EIVersion6A box arrived at my door a few days later and after sitting on the to do pile for months I decided to profile them on the redesignd EI instrument. That instrument has now moved from proto to manufacturing and will be available in a few weeks.  We have repositioned the gauge, giving us more consistent and accurate readings. The weigh and weigh bearing surface are now machined. The shaft guides self center the shaft. The updated instrument is faster and more accurate. Most current owners are upgrading their instruments.

In May, Perry Ellis International announced that the Ben Hogan brand will return to the business of club-making in 2015 via a licensing agreement with EIDOLON Brands, LLC. Terry Koehler, president and chief executive officer of EIDOLON Brands, is a lifelong Ben Hogan devotee and former director of marketing of the Ben Hogan Company. He is also the architect of the SCOR Golf wedges and set-match short irons. This re-introduction of Ben Hogan golf clubs coincides with the 60(th) anniversary of the first Ben Hogan irons in the fall of 1954. Terry Koehler has assembled a world class Research and Development team based in Fort Worth, Texas, where Ben Hogan golf clubs were first produced. The new Ben Hogan clubs will be introduced in 2015.

It was that announcement that got that box of shafts from the to do pile into the shop. I am told the Lightweight Apex iron shaft was introduced by the Hogan company in 1968. The sets of shafts I tested were made for Callaway when it took over the Hogan brand. We believe these were made around 10 years ago. Much has change in steel shaft manufacturing over that time. The radial integrity of the shafts I tested was excellent, 99.8% with a 0.1% standard deviation. It does not get much better than that. Aligning these is a waste of time and effort.

HogenApexLightweight_EiGjTbHogenApexLightweightSetCertificationThe numbers speak for themselves. This weight has proven to be a good fit for many golfers today. I ran the S Flex set through the certification process available from club builders equipped with the Fit2Score EI instrument. Respectable results, a slight anomaly on the 8i shaft. I have seen worse in current products. This highlights why you should have your iron shaft sets tested.  The radial quality of this set is perfect, alignment will do nothing for this set. But that 8i is likely to launch a little higher than the rest of the set.

My primary interest in any new set of shafts I look at is howthey compare to the shafts I know. Looking up the EI profile gives a fitter the insight of his experience with familiar shafts when he first encounters a shaft he does not ‘know’.

HogenApexLightweightvsXP105The lightweight Hogan Apex iron is a very close match to this years True Temper XP105. The XP105 is about 10 grams lighter and therefore a little softer. When I looked at hard stepping the XP105 S flex twice it came very close to the profile of the LightWeight Apex shaft.

 

If you are interested in this shaft, J.J. Hill has them available. He can be reached at jjhillgolf@yahoo.com or by phone at 507 271 2215. He is also a good resource for UST Mamiya shafts that are no longer available. Thanks JJ for making this little piece of shaft history available.

 

Nippon Zelos7 Golf Shaft Review

2 Replies

Iron Golf Shafts – NIPPON N.S.PRO Zelos7

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

NSZelos7_Image

The Nippon Zelos 7 is now available in the US. Quality carbon fiber shafts dominate the lightweight iron shaft market. The NSPro 750 was the lightest steel shaft available from Nippon. The very thin walls of the butt of the shaft had to be reinforced with a woven graphite fabric. The Zelos7 is about 5 grams lighter than the 750. The graphite butt wrap is gone. Nippon is one of the largest manufacturers of automotive valve springs. They are using their metallurgical expertise in the design of golf shafts. The Modus3 shafts are one of my favorite steel iron shafts. The deliver great feel and exceptional dispersion control. The Zelos7 has quickly become a top seller in the Asian market. Using new alloys, Nippon design a 72 gram steel shaft that is stable. It is targeted at the slow smooth golf swing that is best fit into a light weight club.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

I glued the review samples into some 6 iron heads and took them to the range. I was expecting a great deal of whippy dispersion from a shaft that had 4 pounds less stiffness than my current gamer. That was not the case. The S flex version was surprisingly stable and easy to control. The ball flight was higher, but that is to be expected with a shaft that is significantly softer than your ideal fit. I had no trouble controlling the Zelos7 and moved the samples immediately to my fitting system. If you are looking for a light weight iron shaft, you should be testing the Nippon Zelos7.