Shaft recommendations for new clubs

[Partinobodycula]

About a year and a half ago I decided to take up golf again, having played quite a bit when I was younger, and currently living on a golf course it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I decided that I would buy a set of irons just to see if I could still actually hit the ball. So I bought a 5i,6i,7i,8i,9i,PW. Callaway RAZR X's with steel Uniflex shafts. Mind you I haven't actually played a round of golf yet, but I have spent a lot of time hitting golf balls on the range. I'm considering investing in a complete set now, but one thing concerns me...durability. In just over a year of hitting golf balls I have snapped the shaft on my 7i three times, the 6i three times, and the 5i two times. Callaway was nice enough to reshaft them for me at no charge for the first year, but now they're out of warranty, so having to reshaft half a dozen clubs a summer isn't very inviting. Especially since there isn't a Pro Shop within 75 miles, so I have to box them up and send them back to Callaway to get them reshafted. I have no idea what my swing speed is, but at my age I only hit the 7i about 155, although I constantly work on increasing my distance. I played my last set of steel shafted clubs for fifteen years and never snapped a shaft. So why do these Callaway shafts snap so darn easily? Also, I live in a small town and there is no such thing as a Pro Shop or fitting center within 75 miles so I was hoping to just buy a set of clubs online with a standard lie and flex and be happy hacking it around the course. That is of course so long as I don't have to reshaft one every month. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Mostly I'm looking for advice on shafts. Keep in mind though that I'm more concerned about durability than playability. I can play fairly well with just about anything, thanks mostly to having a very good short game.

[boogielicious]

Welcome to the forum.  Only using your 7 iron distance, I would place you in between regular and stiff for a normal weight shaft like Dynamic Gold R300-S300 or for Project X, a 5.5.  If you want a lighter shaft, Dynamic Gold SL, Nippon 950GH, KBS Tour 90, etc, then go for the stiff shaft because the lighter shafts tend to play about a half stiffness less from my experience.  The above shafts are ones that I am familiar with and of course there are many others.

I don't know why the Callaway shafts broke as I have not played them.  The heavier shafts, Dynamic Gold, KBS Tour (not 90), Project X, should be durable.  I have never broken as shaft I have played the Nippon 950GH for three years now.

[WUTiger]

Could you find a golf demo day and try out different shafts?

Also, if  you're getting more serious about golf, you might drive 75 miles to the golf shop, spend the night, and get a good chance to try out differents shafts, and get fitted for clubs.

As for the multiple broken iron shafts, what is the quality of your driving range? All those broken shafts indicate the mats may be low grade. Name-brand golf shafts are durable enough to survive many golf and practice rounds, unless you're hitting shots off concrete.

[Partinobodycula]

That's the really strange part, the range is grass, and I almost always hit off of a tee. I hit so many balls that if I didn't use a tee there wouldn't be any grass left on the range. Even when hitting off the ground I tend not to take much of a divot, been that way since I was a kid. When I was a kid my dad would always say "Hit the dang ball" and he wasn't talking about the white one. But I did the same thing with my last set of clubs and never snapped one of those shafts. It's just something about the Callaway Uniflex shafts. As for custom fit clubs I really don't think that they're as big of a deal as people make them out to be. Just my opinion. My last clubs were hand me downs from my brother that he had custom made in high school back in about 1970. As for my current RAZR X's I really don't like them, but I doubt that I would have known that by hitting just a few practice shots. As I point out I tend to hit a lot of balls, and it takes me awhile to figure out just what it is that I do and don't like. I'm not looking to win the Masters, just get around the course in a reasonable number, and I've always been pretty good at doing that. My only real concern at the moment is not getting another set of clubs in which the shafts are consistently breaking. If I can do that then I'll be happy.

[PirateJim]

Custom fitted clubs are, indeed, as big a deal as people make them out to be, in my opinion.  Now, if you are a real 'average' person with a real 'average' swing, perhaps the standard configuration that a set of irons comes in will perform averagely for you.  But a lot of people benefit from at least having the lie angle adjusted else they will be pulling or pushing shots because of it and end up making some weird compensation with their swing to rectify the 'problem' they are seeing.  However, one of the biggest benefits of a proper fitting is shaft selection, not so much to find shafts that won't break (that problem strikes me as really odd), but to optimize ball flight and performance.  It is amazing how much different shafts can change club performance.

Whether or not you choose to get a fitting is totally up to you, it's your game, your clubs and your money.  But most find that it really does make a difference.