Driver broke, and now I can't swing with confidence

About a week ago I was at the driving range, preparing for my lesson by hitting a warm-up bucket. I started out with irons then woods, you know the usual routine. Anyway, I then pulled out my driver I had purchased about 3 months prior, the MacGregor MacTec NVG 2 Draw 9.5 ° , and hit a few shots. Then I saw my swing coach walking out, coming towards me, and I decided to take one more shot. I hit the ball dead center, but the shaft broke right at the base and the head flew about 80 yards out onto the range. I then proceeded to stop everyone from hitting any balls so I could go get it.

So ever since I broke my driver, I cannot swing any driver with confidence. Then when I got my club replaced, the salesman told me that even one shot on the hozzle of the club can crack the shaft, and the next shot can break the club, even if it is dead center. So that made it even worse. I always feel like it will break right on that very swing, even with different drivers. And I'm just a high school kid, so I don't have any extra money to be spending on new drivers.

So, I was just curious to know if you guys had any tricks or psychological techniques that I could use, or even just some positive reinforcement. It is near torture swinging with my driver now, and that keeps me from practicing with it, which is bad because that is the worst part of my game currently. Thanks in advance for all your help guys!

About a week ago I was at the driving range, preparing for my lesson by hitting a warm-up bucket. I started out with irons then woods, you know the usual routine. Anyway, I then pulled out my driver I had purchased about 3 months prior, the MacGregor MacTec NVG 2 Draw 9.5°, and hit a few shots. Then I saw my swing coach walking out, coming towards me, and I decided to take one more shot. I hit the ball dead center, but the shaft broke right at the base and the head flew about 80 yards out onto the range. I then proceeded to stop everyone from hitting any balls so I could go get it.

So ever since I broke my driver, I cannot swing any driver with confidence. Then when I got my club replaced, the salesman told me that even one shot on the hozzle of the club can crack the shaft, and the next shot can break the club, even if it is dead center. So that made it even worse. I always feel like it will break right on that very swing, even with different drivers. And I'm just a high school kid, so I don't have any extra money to be spending on new drivers.

So, I was just curious to know if you guys had any tricks or psychological techniques that I could use, or even just some positive reinforcement. It is near torture swinging with my driver now, and that keeps me from practicing with it, which is bad because that is the worst part of my game currently. Thanks in advance for all your help guys!

P.S. I tried posting this earlier, and I couldn't find it on the forum after I posted it, so this is my repost. Hopefully the first one didn't post haha.

I'm not sure if this is against the rules, but I really need some help with this issue because I am playing a round this weekend. Soooo... buuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmppppppppp

To be honest, I have never calculated my handicap, so I just put 12 haha. I just started playing golf a year ago and I've just recently found out how to calculate it, and what it represents, but I will have to play a few rounds first. But realistically, on some courses that are moderately hard, I usually shoot about a 98. And luckily I got golfsmith to replace the club, there was this one nice guy in there that warrantied it for me even though it wasn't under warranty. But there was this driver in my local driving range used for 50 buck, if I'm remembering correctly it was a Nike SQ Sumo 5000, but that's based of my memory of what it looks like. I was hitting the ball so far and well with it, but I also just got my swing altered a lot by my swing coach, so it may be a result of that. So I was thinking of hitting a bucket with the brand new NVG2 I have, and if I'm not hitting it as well, I'll sell it at a like new condition and get the sumo.

But also thanks for the positive reinforcement. Oh and does anyone have any mental tricks or some sort of statistic?

90% of statistics are made up on the spot.

I doubt it was a shank that broke your driver; certainly any shank that bad would have been memorable. Either you'd need to hit something harder and heavier than the ball, like cement, or a number of apollo 11 hosel rockets must have been hit over time.

If the club was less than a year old, it was defective. My friend let a buddy hit his 3 wood, and the head flew off at the range. It happens, especially in the cheaper brands. The salesman couldn't tell you the Chinese factory worker who epoxied the shaft did a lousy job, so he made it sound like it was your fault.

It wasn't your fault dude. And I'm not saying the name brands will be any better, they're all made in China anyway. It's the cheap shaft more than the clubhead, though. Seldom will you hear people who had an aftermarket shaft installed by a qualified pro snap their shaft on a shank.

As for the sumo, find out the specs and model, and buy a less worn model elsewhere if you can, rented clubs are usually not in great shape, especially models that are 4-5 years old IIRC. If you can't find one shinier or cheaper, 50$ is a good investment.

Thank you that helps psychologically a lot. And the shaft I used was a EPIC grafalloy 68 stiff. And about the sumo, I found the same club online I think, and it was on the callaway pre-owned site listed as "average" condition. Do you think that would be better than the one at the range? Also the club wasn't a rental I don't think, because they don't rent out drivers at that particular range. So it might have been one of the guys that worked there's old club, or maybe someone traded it in or something like that, but it looks like it's in good condition. I'll take a picture of it next time I'm at the range which will probably be tomorrow.

If it looks like it's in OK condition, it probably is. Check the shaft for chips: they aren't that big a deal, but the lack of chips indicates the previous owner took care of it. "Average condition" could mean anything, I'd say if the club you know is in decent condition, no need to gamble.

As for the grafalloy epic shaft: that particular shaft actually is special; it has a special install procedure.

http://www.grafalloy.com/newsite/pdf/2011_Product_Spec_Trimming_Guide_Online.pdf see the bottom left, final page.

It seems to be made of a special material, and doesn't like to be deformed by clamps. It also requires special treatment to ensure a proper bond; if the install wasn't done properly it would eventually work loose. Unless you actually shanked off the shaft itself, not the hosel, I still doubt it was your fault.

Don't let that scare you, though. If the shaft was installed properly then there's no need to worry about this model. But it seems to shed some light on why it might have failed.

Out of curiosity, did the shaft definitely snap, or did it just come loose?

Ok thanks man, but there are a few of us posting on the first one I posted, for some reason it comes up in my started threads now. Come join if you have any more opinion or ideas http://thesandtrap.com/t/55052/driver-broke-and-now-i-cant-swing-with-confidence#post_671454

It actually snapped, right at the bottom of the shaft where it meets the hosel. I would post a few pics but golfsmith took it when I got my other club. And yeah I really hope that golfsmith was putting that on right. If it happens again, which I'm sure it won't based on what you guys have told me, I'll reference them to that page and maybe they'll replace it again.

If it was Callaway Pre-Owned I think you'll be pretty happy. Everthing I've heard has been positive, clubs are usually in much better condition than what the buyer was expecting. Also IIRC Callaway regrips everything they sell pre-owned as long as it's a Callaway. The Nike Sumo probably won't be regripped as it is not a Callaway product but they might do it for an upcharge.

Ok well I went to the range today with my NVG2 and I tried out the Sumo again, and I will definitely stick with the NVG. I couldn't hit the Sumo at all for some reason, and when I hit it solid, which was harder because the face is smaller, it would be a maaaaajor slice. Which is why I had the draw driver to begin with. I mean, even with the NVG I was slicing pretty bad on some shots. I haven't actually sliced that much recently, but it was my biggest problem a while ago, and now it's back. Hopefully my swing coach will be able to give me an idea about how to keep that from happening, I have a lesson planned for this weekend. And also I am now swinging with more confidence, because even if the shaft does break, I can bring in the manual that Lucius posted, and they will most likely replace it again, hopefully with a different shaft.

Alright guys, it happened again. After only a month of having the brand new nvg2 which was the replacement for the first one that broke, the same, exact thing happened. Solid contact on the ball, head flew out onto the range, and it snapped at the same exact spot. I am going to golfsmith again tomorrow, and I am getting a store credit because there's no way I'll ever be able to hit that nvg2 again with any confidence whatsoever. After my driver broke, I used my buddy's driver for a while, and it was a rocket. 215-245 on almost all the shots, mostly straight, which is amazing because other drivers, I usually hit around 200-210. It was a Squared Nike Sumo I think, and hopefully they'll have a cheap one at golfsmith and I can pick one up. Or really any driver that I can hit well really. The only problem is the guy I talked to last time said it isn't really under warrenty, so he wasn't suppossed to replace it, but he did it that one time. He said he wouldn't be able to do it again. If he refuses to replace it/give me a store credit, I'll just call the manager and he'll probably help me out. Because honestly this is ridiculous. I know people who have been playing golf for 30+ years and they have never broken a club, and I've broken 2 int the past 4 months.

Id say it was just a defective shaft.  I wouldnt worry about it.  Swing away.  If your driver breaks again and you cant afford to fix it, just hit 3-wood.  You might find you shoot lower scores with a 3-wood anyways.

Yeah that is probably the case. I went in today and they told me the same thing, even though I brought in the paper that gave the special installation for the Epic Shaft that Lucius posted. They never told me if they were actually attaching it right. They just said it was my fault, because they saw a partial ball mark on the upper right corner, but that is still a good 2.5-3 inches below where the actual shaft starts, and they said that I hit the shaft on a shot, and it weakened it. (I let my brother-in-law hit my driver, and he was off center on a couple of shots, which is where the ball mark came from, but I was watching him hit it and he did not hit it off the shaft for sure.) I told them I have a pretty consistent contact, and the manager had a bit of an attitude. After I said I hit pretty consistently, he replied with "Yeah, your consistently all over the club." I dealt with the other manager from that point on. He was pretty nice and got me a store credit, and since I was demoing some clubs he said I get 20 dollars off for some reason. So the monitor said I was hitting this used Mizuno MX-700 really well, and it cost 71. So I got the 50 store credit, (since I got a really good deal on the nvg 2) and 20 bucks off, so I paid a dollar

I then played a round, and hit most fairways, with an average distance of 225-230. It is so much better than the nvg 2, its unbelievable.  If any of you guys want a review of the mx-700 just let me know, but I'll probably have to play a couple more rounds with it. But spoiler alert: It's a monster.

Hopefully, there is another retailer/outlet near you somewhere.  I would never go back to that store again, especially a place that has more than one "manager".  If the ball marks are still on the actual face of the club, and he made a wise crack like that to me........there would be bigger issues at hand.

Hahaha yeah I basically told him I would not be coming back to his store if I did not at least get a replacement. And when I came in to the store I was pretty pissed. Which is understandable in my opinion, because I have had 2 faulty products of theirs in the past 4 months, but I didn't come in insulting anyone or yelling or anything. All I did was have an irritated tone; at MOST. He didn't react well to that, as you could see above. Looking back on it, I wish I would have told him off a little more haha.

Also, if anyone has had any experience with the mx-700, post here and tell us what you think.