Abstract: Improved methods for manufacturing a shaft for a golf club, devices useful in such methods, and golf club shafts manufactured in accordance with such methods. A plug is detachably affixed to a distal end of a mandrel. A plurality of plies pre-preg composite sheet are wrapped around the mandrel and plug and, thereafter, heated causing the resin comprising the various plies to be cured. The mandrel is then removed from the formed shaft, leaving the plug as an integral part of the distal tip of the shaft.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for manufacturing shafts from composite materials, particularly shafts for golf clubs. An elongate mandrel, having a passage therein and having a plurality of holes between the passage and an outer surface of the mandrel, includes a flexible bladder, preferably latex, dipped and cured directly on the outer surface of the mandrel. A set of plies of pre-preg composite sheet is wrapped around the mandrel in a predetermined manner. The wrapped mandrel is placed in a mold, the bladder is inflated to a predetermined pressure. The pressurized wrapped mandrel is then heated for a predetermined period of time to cure the composite material to form a shaft, preferably for a golf club. While the shaft is cured in the mold, gas of a predetermined pressure is introduced through the passage in the mandrel to inflate the bladder and force the composite sheet against the walls of the mold.