Newton Motion Shaft Review
Way back in 2022, THP was on the forefront of reporting about putting instrument manufacturer Sacks Parente acquiring their own shaft production facility. While that was interesting, initial thoughts of many went to their proprietary ULBP putter shafts, but they had bigger plans all along.
Later last year, we brought readers the introduction of their first production shaft design from their facility, a driver shaft as a matter of fact, the Newton Motion. We were recently able to get two of the new designs in hand for a thorough testing experience.
Newton Motion Shaft - Quick Take
With Sacks Parente the name behind the Newton Motion golf shafts, you have to expect something that turns away from traditional design premises and seeks to pave a different path. From the unique “dot” system to designate flex/weight to the spineless and elongated bend profile, the Newton shafts are not overly active, but extremely fluid feeling. With the proper fit, there is a lot of performance to like at a very enticing fully built price.
The Newton Motion Driver Shaft
Although I had seen pictures of the Newton Motion shafts prior to them arriving here for review, I was still thoroughly impressed when I unboxed them. Graphically, they are extremely understated with just the specific dot designation of the shaft as well as the Newton Motion wording. It is the finish which does the talking here, as the multi-color fading iridescent paint is eye-catching without being gaudy. It is one of the coolest looking driver shafts I’ve ever reviewed aesthetically.
You notice I keep referencing the Newton Motion in the plural, that is because I was able to get their 5-Dot and 6-Dot versions in hand for this review and to test them both in the same Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver head. Newton has decided against using the “traditional” flex designations on their shafts because they believe there is a lot of ego over fit when it comes to driver shafts. The idea here is six different profiles, each a “Dot”, and each a specific profile.
The brand is still including broad “speed designations” for each profile, for example the 5-Dot here is 105-115 MPH while the 6-Dot is 115+. I think that is just them acknowledging that they have a different take on it all and want to allow people to be fit to what works best, but also know how golfer’s brains can work if they have no sort of demarcation. For me, I very quickly in my head just adapted to the more dots being more stout, because it was, and that filled a traditional designation.
Performance & Feel
What stood out after hitting both shafts in the same driver head is how, for me, they were two notably different experiences. Newton Motion is built around their spineless “Symmetry360” design which seeks to eliminate variances as well as the “Elongated Bend Profile”. According to the company, they have lengthened the profile so that it will bend over a longer span of the shaft. That plays into the “Kinetic Storage Construction” to optimize energy transfer. I’ll admit, because of those things I was expecting something wildly active akin to some of the trendy designs out there right now like Autoflex. That isn’t what is going on here, so put that out of your mind.
Turning the attention first to the 5-Dot, which based on the guidelines is the one that would fit me more ideally, it was a unique experience. Throughout the swing with the 5-Dot there was an almost elongated feeling that seemed to never end. What I mean by that is there was a smoothness that never really dissipated, I could tell there was good speed being generated through a solid load, but there was simply never the hard kick I expected. The 65 gram weight 4.0 torque rating clearly is part of that, but I also believe the bend profile is showing out and the more committed I was in trusting the profile, the more consistent the data.
When it came to the 6-Dot though, things got a little beefier. Besides the bump in weight getting into the 70+ gram realm, the torque is a little lower as well hitting 3.7. However, the feel difference from the 5-Dot surprised me, the main reason for that being this one I could feel unload. Part of that might be that the 6-Dot made me work at it a little through the swing to keep playable, and even then, in the head at standard it was on the low side. Speed was definitely there though, keeping up with its lighter sibling, something I didn’t expect.
Both shafts showed me a very consistent launch pattern where each kept a flatter trajectory as they worked to their apex, with the added spin I saw in the 5-Dot compared to the 6-Dot hitting a different window. All that said, even with the spin differences between the two shafts it stood out how straight they wanted to be on the course. Speed wise, there were no jumps for me compared to other shafts, but it also didn’t lag there. Truthfully, this is a very solid beginning for Newton and Sacks Parente.
The Details
The Newton Motion shafts are available both as uncut or ready to play with the adapter of your choice (eight different brands) at a $250 price point. This is an impressive offering no matter how you break it down, especially with six different Dot profiles. The shafts are available right now at www.newtonshafts.com and even come with a cool 30-day guarantee for money back or exchange to a different Dot.