breaking drivers in quick succession

[graff]

little help please!! i recently broke my howson prodrive driver from the howson prodrive package and decided to replace it with a forgan red square (graphite shaft). however on the day i got my new shiny driver i then proceeded to lop the head off of that one too after about 10 hits.

Both drivers heads came off and flew onto the grass and broke off between the hosel and ferrule.

now im not the best hitter in the world but i do at least hit the ball. Im not someone who is shunting the club head into the ground. i suspect that i may be hitting the ball with the hosel or ferrule but can a club really break after about 10 hits? i find that somewhat ridiculous and cant help but feel ripped off by the club maker. if it is indeed possible to ruin a club in 10 shots are there any tips for improving my swing so that i dont go and waste more metal and cardboard shipping. god knows that everyones damn scared of destroying the environment as it is.

any opinions would be appreciated.

[Big_M]

Both drivers heads came off and flew onto the grass and broke off between the hosel and ferrule.

explain how they broke... did the shaft break, or did the heads just fly off. Also, I notice that the Forgan is some component head, did you buy it assembled? What shafts were in these drivers? If it's just the heads flying off they may have been assembled half-a$$. If the shafts broke, you might have struck the shaft, and/or they may be crappy shafts.

[Williamevanl]

I was at the range once and a younger guy brought over range balls and asked my friend and I if we wanted the rest of his balls because he had already broken two drivers. He was holding on to two shafts and I wondered ever since if its actually possible to swing so hard or wrong to where you break the head of a driver off. I snapped the head off of a 4-iron once but the club was older than me.

[Ruckus]

What brand of shaft were on the drivers? I am not familiar with the brands you mentioned (Howson and Forgan), but regardless of price and quality of the brand, there is no reason this should be happening, unless you have a swing speed of 140 and a serious case of the shanks. What are the warranties like on those clubs? Also, how much did you pay? You might be better off buying reputable used drivers, which you can find for minimal damage.

[extremeld]

if you swing at over 140mph a lot of clubheads will cave in, but rarely in my experience do they fly off! they crack the collapse but dont fly off.

k

[graff]

Cheers for the responses so far.

to clarify: both drivers broke so that the shaft has sheared to leave 2 parts: one part being the head (which flies onto the nice big landing patch that is the driving range - much to my embarassment) and the other is the shaft ending at the ferrule. Maybe pictures will help to explain (on the left is my howson 3 wood, which is a steel shaft and I've bent that one. On the right is whats left of the howson driver. i never got the head back!)

The forgan driver also broke in the same way as the howson driver which leads me to suspect its something to do with my swing.


about the clubs: they both came preassembled and both have graphite shafts. The howson was a howson shaft but the forgan came with an Apollo shaft if that means anything to anyone? Both are regular flex. (You might as well know that the Howson was 10degrees and the Forgan 12degrees - if that helps?!)



@ Ruckus: The Howson brand is a sub-brand of Hippo Golf but Forgan seems to be a bit of a mystery brand. All I could find was this website: http://www.precisionmadegolf.com/forgan.asp

Maybe that'll teach me for buying cheapo clubs! Anyway I got the Howson as a part of a set which was $150 and the Forgan was $60 on its own.

If you managed to read my entire post then cool and please help me!!

[blkdiamond]

Years ago I had bought a Dunlop Loco driver from Sports Authority and managed to break the heads off of two of them. Sports Authority replaced the first one, but after the second one broke I just got my money back. I never had a probelm with a driver (or any club for that matter) before or since.

[extremeld]

having just noticed your handicap i would imagine you are not striking the ball with the correct part of the club, playing of 36 its unlikely it is raw power that is breaking the clubs, they are either faulty, cheap or you are hitting it wrong, get a pro to watch you swing and he should be able to answer your question straight away.

if you dont want to do that by strike strips, these will show you where you connect

kenny

[graff]

hi kenny, cheers for the advice, tho my handicap isnt 36. in fact it actually might be.... :0 anyway i appreciate that it probably is my swing but should a club break after 10 swings?? Please bear in mind that I did hit the face of the club properly because it made a wonderful pinging sound. I think that I only didn't hit the face properly a couple of times.

Is that enough to break a club?? and if it is.. what a con!!!

[extremeld]

a driver is made to be hit of the clubface - NOWWHERE ELSE - anywhere else could be considered ABUSE of the club.

the driver is designed to be hit hard and of the proper part of the club, if you hit it off the sole, then the crown then the toe then the shaft, there will be damage as you shouldnt be hitting it there

i reckon its cheap clubs and inconsistent strike - i personally wouldnt touch either driver


kenny

[jr001280]

Hey that kind of break is actually fairly common. I work in a golf store and we have people come in all the time with breaks like that. However, it is not very common after ten swings but i've seen people come back after only a couple swings so it's not unheard of. In your pictures, the one on the right may just be that the apoxy didn't hold. real quick and easy fix. yet another reason is because you may be hitting way on the heel. which could do it to.

[neudi]

It could have been a weak shaft that they put in...even miniscule cracks in the graphite make a huge weak spot and the possiblity of a break, I have broken my fair share of shafts and even caved in the face on 2 of my drivers :(

[JaY_B]

Agree with Neudi, I very much doubt its through any fault of your own, just happens to be coincidence that two drivers broke, although admittedly neither brand is known for their quality.

[AnalogAG]

I broke my old Nike T-40 wood 5 after just a couple hits on the range, maybe ist was a monday early mornig model...

I got it replaced by the shop and never had a problem ever since!

My advice is to buy a used driver from a well known brand and try this one. A club shouldn't break just because a few misshits!

[Dent]

i broke my driver by throwing a ball up in the air and hitting it.

[osean79]

I've actually broke 2 drivers in 2 different occations. Both times as a very fresh beginner and both times broke it within 2-3 swings. The drivers were broken at the same spot your's seems to be broken at, and I did not know what i did but my friend who was with me told me i hit the ground on the downswing. i thought i had hit the ball but I guess I did not have much of a feel for the club head back then and probably couldn't tell whether I hit the ground or the ball... And yes I was swinging very very hard. =)

[graff]

ok cheers all for the feedback. It all helps!

so would any of you recommend i try a steel shafted driver instead, cos I don't wanna be shelling out for driver after driver if I'm just gonna be snapping them!

On the subject of getting a better branded second hand club, can anyone recommend some forgiving clubs for a relative novice? Although it's probably very difficult could anyone give me a rough price:age/condition ratio so I don't get ripped off!!!


LOL@dent did you even try to get a refund?!? Would have liked to see you try and explain that one to the shop assisstant.


===@osean79 - i guess i could be hitting the ground too, though would the club head fly into the air roughly following the ball flight onto the grass as mine did?? did that happen to you? I'm thinking that if I hit the ground before the ball, the ball would shoot up high and the driver head would scuff along the ground?

Also i wasn't really swinging "very, very hard", at least i didn't feel as though I was putting in anymore power.===

(Also just read, for anyone who cares, that the new Bond film is gonna be called Quantum of Solace. How lame does that sound?!?!)

[rangerat]

I suggest that you get some impact tape and put it on the face of the driver to see where you are making contact (as you said you might be nailing the hosel).

I have a fast driver swing speed, clocked as high as 130 and I caved in the face of my old Cobra SZ 440. I did break a shaft once but it was on an iron and it was from hitting the ground.