I Keep Breaking Shafts…

[RickK]

Ok, I will ask the OP a really dumb question since it seems all other possibilities have been discussed.  First I will relate the instance that brings up my question.

Several years ago, was on a trip out of town and took my clubs along.  Had a rental car.  Played the round and the bag drop guy cleaned off my clubs and put them back in the trunk of the rental car.  Smaller trunks, I generally always put the club end in the trunk first and then the butt end of the bag.  He did it right the opposite but did not ring a bell with me at the time.  

Got home, and went out to play.  First swing, the head of the driver came off.  I would almost bet that he bent the shaft of the driver just enough putting the clubs in the trunk to cause the shaft to break.

Could something like this be your problem?

If not, I have to agree with everyone else...you almost have to be hitting the ball with the shaft at some point in time.  Get an old club and have someone film you swinging zooming in on the ball and see if it is making contact with the shaft.  

 

 

Edited May 10, 2016 by RickK

[SavvySwede]

53 minutes ago, Rainmaker said:

Yeah - but the OP has broken 3 different shafts within 5 large buckets.  I think even Jamie Sadlowski could hit my driver 500 times without breaking the shaft.  The clubhead, yeah . but probably not the shaft, I don't think. 

 

Check this out.  This is *not* how I broke my driver that one time, lol.  Notice, though, the shaft is fine until it hits his back.

 

That video probably explains things in my case. I will have the Greg Norman shaft bouncing of the shoulder follow through when I really go after it. It almost looks deliberate in this video with the way he yanks his hands forward at the end.

[Rainmaker]

49 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

That video probably explains things in my case. I will have the Greg Norman shaft bouncing of the shoulder follow through when I really go after it. It almost looks deliberate in this video with the way he yanks his hands forward at the end.

Ya know . .I was almost going to say the exact same thing . .that it looks like he broke the shaft on purpose, .  I stopped short because . .well, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. So . .it's obviously something I know nothing about, lol.

[paininthenuts]

All I can think of is that you are teeing the ball up high, and hitting low. This would cause the shaft to make contact with the ball. 

[David in FL]

It might be worth noting that the thread is 3 years old and the OP has not been active here since he posed his initial question...

[SavvySwede]

33 minutes ago, David in FL said:

It might be worth noting that the thread is 3 years old and the OP has not been active here since he posed his initial question...

Shhh. 

[bones75]

I know a guy who went through the exact same thing, broke a shaft on his first time at the range, similar results (shaft break close to the club head)... and he also did it twice in hist first day.  I don't know what clubs he was using, but am sure they were old and/or beginner.  He was teeing it high, had a super fast swing (again, also a very good athlete, NCAA D1 baseball) and.... he was hitting the ball w/ the shaft.  

I would say mystery solved, except for one thing, he 100% knew he was doing it (his bad shots he could clearly tell he was hitting the ball w/ the shaft).  It's pretty easy to tell when you're missing the ball completely and hitting it w/ the shaft and not the clubhead.  But if on your other swings (the ones where it didn't break), you didn't notice it, then that's odd.

[Al B Tross]

Are you taking the balls out of the bucket before you hit them?

Kidding aside, I was thinking equipment defects with the Adams set until you had the same happen with a borrowed club. I'd go with the suggestions above that perhaps you're making contact with the ball at the shaft/hosel connection point. Are you taking repeat practice swings that make contact with the ground enough to weaken that connection point enough that a few solid strikes seal the deal?

7 hours ago, David in FL said:

It might be worth noting that the thread is 3 years old and the OP has not been active here since he posed his initial question...

Ahhh crap!  Hate when I don't notice that...

[aidanritt]

Same thing here I'm 13 and I broke my driver and 8 iron. The driver was a normal hit I didn't hit the ground and the club head was just sitting on the ground next to me. My second time golfing and in the range I take a swing with the iron and I see a great hit until I see the head flying. It's rediculous it must be something with the Adams clubs.

[Ralph N]

I just broke a graphite shaft. I am not a strong golfer with fast speed...I am 70 and score below 100 maybe 1/3 of the time. Here is what makes it strange: the shaft broke inside the grip about 2 in into the grip on the shaft end.

This is the thickest part of the shaft ! Note that this was my first swing with the club after regripping them. The shaft broke in my fore stroke after hitting ball (cleanly). It stayed connected to grip so the head just swung around an hit me in back pocket...felt weird, then noted grip was at right angle to shaft.

The pro shop said nothing they did could have caused failure.  Could this just be a coincidence? How can the shaft break just below my hand at one of its thickest parts.

I feel they probably clamped it down and cracked it pulling the old grip off.

[Double Mocha Man]

I once broke a metal shaft in my 5 iron, inside the grip.  Turns out it had rusted.  But that's not your problem with a graphite shaft.  I'm curious how that turns out.

[Bonvivant]

6 hours ago, Ralph N said:

The pro shop said nothing they did could have caused failure.  Could this just be a coincidence? How can the shaft break just below my hand at one of its thickest parts.

 

6 hours ago, Ralph N said:

the shaft broke inside the grip about 2 in into the grip on the shaft end.

 

6 hours ago, Ralph N said:

Note that this was my first swing with the club after regripping them.

If you regripped them yourself and used a razor to cut off the old grips, it is possible that you created a weakness in the shaft with a razor nick. Graphite is fairly strong, until a weakness is introduced by outside forces. Once the weakness has been introduced, failure comes quickly.

[NM Golf]

22 hours ago, Ralph N said:

I feel they probably clamped it down and cracked it pulling the old grip off.

You don't clamp the shaft on the grip because you wouldn't be able to get it off of it was clamped. It may have been damaged during installation when pressure was applied while installing the new grip. The thing is, if thats the case there was probably a preexisting issue. How old was that club?

Edited November 6, 2020 by NM Golf

[Esox]

My 20 yr old son just got into the game, and he broke the shafts on three woods in his first month. It was due to a too steep swing plane, and very high club speed (Measured at 122-124 last month). He hit the ground behind the ball and the shaft just couldn't take it.

[Double Mocha Man]

15 minutes ago, Esox said:

My 20 yr old son just got into the game, and he broke the shafts on three woods in his first month. It was due to a too steep swing plane, and very high club speed (Measured at 122-124 last month). He hit the ground behind the ball and the shaft just couldn't take it.

Sounds like we share the same son!  Wylie, at 17 (now 22) broke 3 drivers... snapping off the head, in the same fashion.  Two were hand-me-downs from me and the 3rd was a demo from a pro shop.  Kudos to the pro... he didn't charge us... said he'd return it to the vendor as defective.

[PLJB]

The graphite shaft on my MacGregor disintegrated, after a number of years, and they replaced it, I lost a Taylor made 3 wood, where the shaft went on the back swing.   It was also a few years old, and I bought a replacement from Golfbidder. 
How you break three in a short period of time, is way more than should happen.  So you must be doing something.

 

 

 

[saevel25]

I only ever had issues with KBS Tour golf shafts. I had a wedge break off at the range and a 6 iron break on the golf course. Both were right after impact with the clubhead going flying forward like 20-30 yards. The golf shaft broke right at the hosel, like it was cut with a saw across the top. I just wonder if water got down there or something to rust the inside. You'd think it would rust near the butt end since the clubs sit upside down 99% of the time when in the golf bag. 

I think its more stress fractures from impact. The golf shaft will continually just flex slightly back and forth. Like if you bend a paperclip back and forth, it will break. 

I've only had two golf clubs break that way ever and both happen in the same year. 

[billchao]

8 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I only ever had issues with KBS Tour golf shafts. I had a wedge break off at the range and a 6 iron break on the golf course. Both were right after impact with the clubhead going flying forward like 20-30 yards. The golf shaft broke right at the hosel, like it was cut with a saw across the top. I just wonder if water got down there or something to rust the inside. You'd think it would rust near the butt end since the clubs sit upside down 99% of the time when in the golf bag. 

I think its more stress fractures from impact. The golf shaft will continually just flex slightly back and forth. Like if you bend a paperclip back and forth, it will break. 

I've only had two golf clubs break that way ever and both happen in the same year. 

I think there was an issue with those shafts and I don’t know for certain if they resolved it, but I’ve read multiple accounts of people either breaking them at the hosel or pulling them for whatever reason and finding that the shafts are slightly bent at the tip.

My last two sets of irons have KBS Tour shafts and they haven’t been an issue for me, but there are some advantages to not hitting the ground 😉

Sometimes it is the product and not the user that’s the problem. I’ve broken two Aldila RIP shafts within the same year. They’re the only two driver shafts I have ever broken.