Why Am I Breaking Driver Shafts at Hosel?!

[SupaR6]

Hey all, new to the forum and relatively new to golf as well so thanks in advance for any replies/advise.  Several friends and I decided within the last few months we'd take up the sport inline with disc golf, giving us a lot of options for outdoor activities here in TX.  I wanted to preface my next statement with just how new we are to golf but also that we aren't as bad as I would've expected and we practice, a LOT.  We play 18 holes once a week and 4 times at the range, specifically off grass (vs mat) and we have experienced (almost scratch) golfers playing with us about once a week.  I personally got bit by the "I must try various clubs to see how they hit" bug.  So, I have a bit of an investment in a range of forgiveness clubs, all a bit pricey.

Recently, I've somehow broken three driver shafts, almost all at the hosel, on pretty good swings.  Or so I thought.  All of these have happened at on the course.  All of them right off the tee.  What seems to happen is I tee up, go for a nice gentle backswing and controlled follow through and what feels like a good strike, just to look down at my club head dangling off the shaft, still attached by strings of graphite/shaft.  None of the drivers involved had touched the ground, which was easily detectable by the fact the tee was almost untouched and ground undisturbed.

The three drivers in question were a Callaway XR16, Callaway GBB (2016) and a Ping G SF Tech.  One was broke last week at the range off grass and two in a row (literally) at the course, again, none hit the ground.  Is it possibly my swing on the follow through?  Could topping the ball with a certain swing be my issue?  My club head speed tested ranged between 100 and 110.  I could believe a small fracture in the shaft from transporting the clubs around but one of the drivers (GBB) I just bought that afternoon and was transported separate in my backseat with nothing near it.

I appreciate any feedback and if someone has encountered this because everyone at the course that day said they hadn't seen anything like it.  I definitely need to work on my swing and many other things, so if that *could* be the cause, without smashing the ground (or even touching), I'll stop buying drivers and use an old G5 I picked up for nothing until it's better.  But, needless to say, I'm a bit timid on heading to my local PGA Store and buying a new GBB Epic, Ping G400 or M1/M2 if I'm going to break it.  As a side note, I have an older Callaway Rawr X Black that was my first purchase and hasn't had a single issue.  It's also been swung the most and was bought very used.

Thanks all!

[iacas]

You sure you're hitting them solidly and not catching them really far into the heel or hosel?

I've literally never seen this happen, and I've seen people hit drivers all over the face. Not once, but three times?

---

Disc golf, though, good for you. Big fan.

[billchao]

It could be your swing. Fast and possibly hitting it towards the heel causes excess vibration towards the hosel that can stress the shaft there. That's what I've been told by the guys at the shop. I've broken 3 driver shafts in the past and all at the same spot.

It's always worth taking the clubs back and seeing if they are under warranty.

[mcanadiens]

I've had two shafts break on drivers over the six years I've played. However, being on a very limited budget, I play rather old, used equipment and that may have something to do with it.

Probably three or four years ago, I was on the third tee of day one of my first-ever club championship and had the shaft in my old Taylormade R7 give way. The break was actually right in the middle of the shaft. Had to battle a long course the rest of the day with the 3W.

Oddly enough, it was the final range session before last year's club championship that saw the shaft on my Nike Covert snap. This one was near the hosel like you were describing. I had the time to get an emergency replacement (a VRS) and that served me well.

 

[Groucho Valentine]

Ive never had that happen to me with any club. Really bizarre. 

[satchmodog]

I've had it happen twice. Once on a brand new club, the other on a 15 year old. Both graphite shafts.

[NJpatbee]

I had (still sometimes have) a bad habit of leaving my clubs in my car for most of the Summer.  I have had club heads fly off but never had a driver head snap off.  Do you leave your clubs in extreme heat?  

[Vinsk]

49 minutes ago, SupaR6 said:

Hey all, new to the forum and relatively new to golf as well so thanks in advance for any replies/advise.  Several friends and I decided within the last few months we'd take up the sport inline with disc golf, giving us a lot of options for outdoor activities here in TX.  I wanted to preface my next statement with just how new we are to golf but also that we aren't as bad as I would've expected and we practice, a LOT.  We play 18 holes once a week and 4 times at the range, specifically off grass (vs mat) and we have experienced (almost scratch) golfers playing with us about once a week.  I personally got bit by the "I must try various clubs to see how they hit" bug.  So, I have a bit of an investment in a range of forgiveness clubs, all a bit pricey.

Recently, I've somehow broken three driver shafts, almost all at the hosel, on pretty good swings.  Or so I thought.  All of these have happened at on the course.  All of them right off the tee.  What seems to happen is I tee up, go for a nice gentle backswing and controlled follow through and what feels like a good strike, just to look down at my club head dangling off the shaft, still attached by strings of graphite/shaft.  None of the drivers involved had touched the ground, which was easily detectable by the fact the tee was almost untouched and ground undisturbed.

The three drivers in question were a Callaway XR16, Callaway GBB (2016) and a Ping G SF Tech.  One was broke last week at the range off grass and two in a row (literally) at the course, again, none hit the ground.  Is it possibly my swing on the follow through?  Could topping the ball with a certain swing be my issue?  My club head speed tested ranged between 100 and 110.  I could believe a small fracture in the shaft from transporting the clubs around but one of the drivers (GBB) I just bought that afternoon and was transported separate in my backseat with nothing near it.

I appreciate any feedback and if someone has encountered this because everyone at the course that day said they hadn't seen anything like it.  I definitely need to work on my swing and many other things, so if that *could* be the cause, without smashing the ground (or even touching), I'll stop buying drivers and use an old G5 I picked up for nothing until it's better.  But, needless to say, I'm a bit timid on heading to my local PGA Store and buying a new GBB Epic, Ping G400 or M1/M2 if I'm going to break it.  As a side note, I have an older Callaway Rawr X Black that was my first purchase and hasn't had a single issue.  It's also been swung the most and was bought very used.

Thanks all!

Stop using railroad spikes as tees.

[satchmodog]

[pgone]

Poor shaft tip prepping or poor countersink creating a sharp edge to cut shaft...Take your pick

[bones75]

I knew a guy who did this when he first started golf, but he knew exactly what was happening. He was hitting the ball w/ the shaft on some of his misses. It wasn't one strike that did it, but a series of misses would weaken/damage his shaft right near the hozzle... and later it could have been a good swing or a bad swing as the one that ultimately caused the now-weakened-shaft to snap.

Edited September 22, 2017 by bones75

[SupaR6]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

You sure you're hitting them solidly and not catching them really far into the heel or hosel?

I've literally never seen this happen, and I've seen people hit drivers all over the face. Not once, but three times?

---

Disc golf, though, good for you. Big fan.

Honestly iacas, I'm not 100% sure.  I'm acutely aware of my tendency to top the ball but I'd probably have trouble determining if I'm hitting so poorly that I'm even close to touching the shaft with the ball.  I went through a time period a few months ago where I was learning swing fundamentals in grip and swing plane and I could easily be found guilty of hitting dirt/turf entirely before the ball.  But for the issues I encountered yesterday, the strike on the ball where I broke my Ping G SF, then right after my GBB felt so good.  The feedback had told me I hit it perfect and should expect to be a nice distance.  Normally, I can tell when a hit is thin or thick or on the heel/toe.  That said, I'm searching for feedback so I'm obviously not extremely confident in my issues.   I've been into disc golf since I was a kid, mocking stick golf.  Now, I find my mockery as kid as ignorance as I've never enjoyed (or spent the $$$) a sport more.

 

billchao - that's what worries me.  If it's as simple as I'm nailing the hosel area of the shaft in my strike vs the ball, I can make efforts to fix or be very aware of that.  However, if it's my swing, I've got to tread cautiously as I'm already out about $1k in drivers thus far and it'd be nice to keep one longer than a few months.  I need proper lessons, but here in DFW, it's feast or famine.  Most of the coaches with good accolades and who operate at a range/course somewhat nearby are booked 3-6 months out.  I'm afraid of getting used to my bad swing and having to spend a ton of time fixing something that becomes natural.

5 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

I've had two shafts break on drivers over the six years I've played. However, being on a very limited budget, I play rather old, used equipment and that may have something to do with it.

Probably three or four years ago, I was on the third tee of day one of my first-ever club championship and had the shaft in my old Taylormade R7 give way. The break was actually right in the middle of the shaft. Had to battle a long course the rest of the day with the 3W.

Oddly enough, it was the final range session before last year's club championship that saw the shaft on my Nike Covert snap. This one was near the hosel like you were describing. I had the time to get an emergency replacement (a VRS) and that served me well.

 

Yeah mcanadiens, it was rouch out there yesterday.  This all happened on Hole 1.  While my buddies were all eager to help by offering up their drivers (heavy sarcasm), I wasn't too keen on breaking a friends club.  I ended up playing the remaining 17 with my hybrids and G Max 4 iron.  It's actually a bit crazy how far you can hit those Ping G Max irons, which I use for lower lofted irons (2-5) and G's/M2's for the higher end.

 

 

5 hours ago, NJpatbee said:

I had (still sometimes have) a bad habit of leaving my clubs in my car for most of the Summer.  I have had club heads fly off but never had a driver head snap off.  Do you leave your clubs in extreme heat?  

Actually, I have left them in my 4Runner a for a few really hot days this summer, which can get 99-102 in general temp during the day.  Who knows how hot in my truck.  But, it's not been consistently nor has it been frequent.  Mostly because I'm worried about someone breaking in my car at night and stealing what they can.  I live in a good area but kids are kids and money is money.  I'd bet out of 60 days, I've had them in my trunk area for 5 of those days.  Maybe 10.  Doe this heat up epoxy or brittle the plastic?

[billchao]

3 minutes ago, SupaR6 said:

I went through a time period a few months ago where I was learning swing fundamentals in grip and swing plane and I could easily be found guilty of hitting dirt/turf entirely before the ball.  But for the issues I encountered yesterday, the strike on the ball where I broke my Ping G SF, then right after my GBB felt so good.  The feedback had told me I hit it perfect and should expect to be a nice distance.

Yea, just like injuries to your body, the last thing you did with your club isn't necessarily the thing that broke it, just the straw that broke the camel's back. You could have been doing damage to your shafts for quite some time.

5 minutes ago, SupaR6 said:

If it's as simple as I'm nailing the hosel area of the shaft in my strike vs the ball, I can make efforts to fix or be very aware of that.  However, if it's my swing, I've got to tread cautiously as I'm already out about $1k in drivers thus far and it'd be nice to keep one longer than a few months.

Fixing where you tend to strike the ball is related to fixing your swing.

Like I said, I would at least try and bring the clubs back to the store you bought them from and maybe they can ship them back to the manufacturer for repair. Each time I broke a driver shaft, it was repaired for free. I just had to wait 3-4 weeks or whatever it was.

[SupaR6]

25 minutes ago, billchao said:

Yea, just like injuries to your body, the last thing you did with your club isn't necessarily the thing that broke it, just the straw that broke the camel's back. You could have been doing damage to your shafts for quite some time.

Fixing where you tend to strike the ball is related to fixing your swing.

Like I said, I would at least try and bring the clubs back to the store you bought them from and maybe they can ship them back to the manufacturer for repair. Each time I broke a driver shaft, it was repaired for free. I just had to wait 3-4 weeks or whatever it was.

I'll definitely try that as both were purchased from the same seller, who is a PGA certified reseller.  I appreciate the advise on this front as I almost refuse to spend another $3-400 to save these guys.  I do have my OG Razr X Black and Aeroburner ti fallback on.  If I'm striking at the shaft/hosel side, I'd guess I may reproduce that in my Aeroburner since the shaft is so damn long.

[WUTiger]

Circa 1980 I had the shaft of a persimmon-headed driver snap about 6 inches above the hosel. It was on a normal drive, hit the ball first. It was a pretty clean break - the clubsmith said he hadn't seen anything like it.

[Club Rat]

11 hours ago, SupaR6 said:

The three drivers in question

Question? Have the clubs been re-shafted, or are they stock shafts?

[DeadMan]

5 hours ago, SupaR6 said:

I'll definitely try that as both were purchased from the same seller, who is a PGA certified reseller.  I appreciate the advise on this front as I almost refuse to spend another $3-400 to save these guys.  I do have my OG Razr X Black and Aeroburner ti fallback on.  If I'm striking at the shaft/hosel side, I'd guess I may reproduce that in my Aeroburner since the shaft is so damn long.

Easy, cheap way to check your contact area: get a can Dr. Scholls foot spray and apply it to the face of your club. I'm guessing you aren't hitting it off the heel, because heeled drivers feel awful and I think you'd know it. But it might be worth $5 just to check.

[Buckeyebowman]

11 hours ago, iacas said:

You sure you're hitting them solidly and not catching them really far into the heel or hosel?

I've literally never seen this happen, and I've seen people hit drivers all over the face. Not once, but three times?

---

Disc golf, though, good for you. Big fan.

I have to agree with this. I have never, or ever seen someone, bust a shaft simply by hitting a ball! I have seen guys snap the shaft by slamming or throwing the club into the ground after a poor shot. Perhaps there was some pre-snap "abuse" of the club?