Breaking Clubs

[IlliniBoy]

I've been playing for about three months now, and in that time I've managed to break three clubs, all 3 woods.  The first was a new TaylorMade club that broke about five days after I purchased it.  The clubhead went flying onto the driving range and I never got it back, so that was about $200 wasted.  I bought a refurbished Ping next.  That club broke in the middle of a class on driving, but I at least got the clubhead back on that one, and Ping was nice enough to send a replacement shaft.  Now this morning I've broken that replacement shaft.

Is there something about my swing that could cause this? I thought at first the problem might be me putting too much weight on the club while leaning over to tee the ball, but I've been extra careful not to do that with the latest shaft.  My coach thinks it could be from hitting the shaft with the ball on occasion and creating a weakness that presents on a later swing, but I don't really shank any shots (I have a million other problems, but shanks aren't really one of them).  After three breaks in less than three months I think I can rule out bad luck.

I attached a picture of the latest clubhead and shaft below.  All of the breaks have been pretty similar.  Any ideas?  The fear of breaking another one is starting to mess with my swing, and this latest break isn't going to help matters.

[Mike Boatright]

I have never had a club break unless I was pissed and applied the damage myself.

[IlliniBoy]

This definitely isn't anger related. I was actually pretty happy with how the range session was going, all things considered. And then THWACK.

[saevel25]

Is there something about my swing that could cause this? I thought at first the problem might be me putting too much weight on the club while leaning over to tee the ball, but I've been extra careful not to do that with the latest shaft.  My coach thinks it could be from hitting the shaft with the ball on occasion and creating a weakness that presents on a later swing, but I don't really shank any shots (I have a million other problems, but shanks aren't really one of them).  After three breaks in less than three months I think I can rule out bad luck.

I think PING has had a few issues with their shafts breaking like that. My dad's G15 broke right near the hosel as well. It could be the way you strike the ball. I know a guy who takes a divot with his driver. The shaft is graphite, and it's pretty long which amplifies the force near the hosel. 

 

[Fairway_CY]

Just based on looking at the photo, it appears that you aren't making consistent contact in any general area... so, I'd assume that you've probably clanked one or two off the hosel and/or shaft area that has weakened it.  

I had that happen with a 7 iron during a warm-up for a tournament round awhile back.  I hit one off the heel and then 2 swings later, the club head went flying down the range.  

I doubt it's coincidence, honestly.  It's got to be something that you're doing (obviously unintentionally) that's causing this to happen.  

I'm shocked you couldn't get the head back from the range on the first club.  I'd have probably run out there after it... but I'm very attached to certain clubs, so... I'm not really 'realistic' about things like that.  

CY

[TimS65]

I think PING has had a few issues with their shafts breaking like that. My dad's G15 broke right near the hosel as well. It could be the way you strike the ball. I know a guy who takes a divot with his driver. The shaft is graphite, and it's pretty long which amplifies the force near the hosel. 

 

Looking at the ball strikes on the face, there are a lot VERY high on the face. This suggests striking down on the ball which possibly means hitting the ground hard regularly? As mentioned here, the driver shouldn't be taking divots...

 

[IlliniBoy]

If taking the occasional divot with my driver is causing this, then I'm going to break a club a month for the rest of the time I play this game.

[leo3]

Judging from the picture, and the amount of ball marks high on the face and on the crown, you might be hitting a little too steep, and making hard contact with the ground.

[vangator]

If taking the occasional divot with my driver is causing this, then I'm going to break a club a month for the rest of the time I play this game.

The driver should never make contact with the ground unless you are hitting from the fairway.  In over 40 years of golf, I have never broken a wood shaft like that.  When the shaft is replaced in the head, the hosel has to be coned and deburred or it will break the shaft.  I would think OEM clubs would already have this done.

[IlliniBoy]

Thanks everyone. This is becoming a very expensive hobby.

[ncarlsongolf]

Usually breaks from anger are in the middle of the shaft, breaks from contact with the ground are about 2-3 inches about the hosel.  Breaks from weakened shafts are inside the hosel.  So as everyone else has said, its the strikes inside on the heel of the club or high inside.  You can work on getting consistent contact with some drills. the best one being the three tee drill.  

Put, three tees down, the middle one is going to be the one you want to hit obviously, and the other two are just outside the width of the club head.  Clearly if you hit the middle tee and the one to the toe side, that means you are hitting the middle one off the heel of the club.  If you can try to hit the middle one and the heel side tee you can train yourself to get contact back to the middle of the club.  Hopefully that helps!

[IlliniBoy]

Nice. I'll try it when I go to the range, hopefully tomorrow.

[Tat14]

You may not remember a shank, but I would bet you hit a few with these clubs before they broke. That damage is from hosel hits at high speed.

I suffered from this a long time ago; when the Callaway drivers were S2H2 with essentially no hosel. Shank a Big Bertha Warbird once or twice and then see the steel shaft pinched at the point of connection with the club head.

Back then, I went back to a (any) model with a normal hosel and ferrule set up and that helped clear my mental picture. Then I learned a little more about the driver, but I digress.

My suggestion is to find a good "stop the shanks" drill or try adopting the 5SK approach early in your golfing career. It's going to be an expensive thing regardless, but this could alleviate the shame of returning clubs on a regular basis.

Good Luck!

[BuckeyeNut]

I've been playing for about three months now, and in that time I've managed to break three clubs, all 3 woods.  The first was a new TaylorMade club that broke about five days after I purchased it.  The clubhead went flying onto the driving range and I never got it back, so that was about $200 wasted.  I bought a refurbished Ping next.  That club broke in the middle of a class on driving, but I at least got the clubhead back on that one, and Ping was nice enough to send a replacement shaft.  Now this morning I've broken that replacement shaft.

Is there something about my swing that could cause this? I thought at first the problem might be me putting too much weight on the club while leaning over to tee the ball, but I've been extra careful not to do that with the latest shaft.  My coach thinks it could be from hitting the shaft with the ball on occasion and creating a weakness that presents on a later swing, but I don't really shank any shots (I have a million other problems, but shanks aren't really one of them).  After three breaks in less than three months I think I can rule out bad luck.

I attached a picture of the latest clubhead and shaft below.  All of the breaks have been pretty similar.  Any ideas?  The fear of breaking another one is starting to mess with my swing, and this latest break isn't going to help matters.

Looking at wide dispersion of impacts..........some are high on the hosel.   I would say this must be a contributing factor.