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The company that gave golfers the first high-quality sub-100-gram steel shaft today announced it will introduce a new 68-gram steel shaft, the lightest such shaft in the world.

The N.S.PRO Zelos 6 will be introduced at the PGA Merchandise Show, Jan. 24-26, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, and be available for purchase at retail beginning March 20.

The shafts may be tested between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at the annual PGA Show Demo Day on Teeing Area No. 8 at the Orange County National Golf Center.

“The Zelos 6 is the result of our continual effort to design shafts for golfers of all profiles,” said Hiro Fukuda, Sales and Marketing for the Japan-based company.

“The super-lightweight Zelos 6 is aimed at golfers who have driver swing speeds in the 75 m.p.h. range, and whose drives travel 175 yards or less.

“Unlike similarly-weighted graphite shafts, the Zelos 6 features a proprietary spring steel that gives the shaft the stability characteristic of steel.”

The Zelos 6 also features ease of launch, high trajectory and excellent spin, which helps shots to hold the green.

“The Zelos family of shafts grew out of our Nippon Shaft philosophy that we want our customers to Play Steel for Life,” added Fukuda.

The previous generation Zelos 7 shaft weighed 73.5 grams, 5.5 grams more than the Zelos 6, officials said.

In addition to the world’s lightest steel shaft, Nippon Shaft makes shafts twice as heavy for the world’s top touring professionals from the PGA TOUR and the European PGA Tour.

During the 2017 season, 195 players on the PGA and European Tours played steel shafts manufactured by Nippon Shaft in their irons and/or wedges compared with 137 the season before, an increase of 58 players, according to company officials.

In addition, Nippon Shaft added a travelling tour representative to the Web.com Tour, resulting in 42 players using the shafts on the U.S. developmental tour, up from just 10 a year earlier.

The company is now the second-most used shaft brand worldwide in major tournament golf.

The dominant shaft on the LPGA Tour continued to be the N.S. PRO 950GH, while some 15 players utilised the newer MODUS³ type of shafts.

Nippon Shaft products are available globally either as stock or custom shafts in many of the world’s top iron brands. In addition, Nippon Shaft products are available through Nippon Shaft’s dedicated global club fitter network.  Details of these can be found at www.nipponshaft.com.

Based in Yokohama, Japan, Nippon Shaft is the No. 1-selling steel shaft in Asia. Nippon Shaft is a privately-held subsidiary of NHK Spring Co. LTD, a Japanese automobile parts manufacturer. Nippon Shaft’s North American headquarters is in Carlsbad.