Driver Shaft Cracking

[TeeJayH9]

Hey everyone.  I noticed this on my driver shaft yesterday.  Is this a crack in the graphite shaft or it just a crack in the paint or whatever the decal is made out of that covers the shaft?

[iacas]

A golfer on my team had a slight, small crack in the outer layer of his driver shaft for years. It's still working now.

But that's a much bigger crack, and I suspect that driver shaft is not long for this world.

Plus, the crack is across the shaft, which makes me think it was sliced or cracked on something.

[TeeJayH9]

I am a college kid and bringing the bag into my apartment takes up space that I don't have so I left my bag in my trunk of my car.  I know that's what the crack came from.  I'm just curious if the shaft is ok to use still or if it needs replaced.  I will have more space after graduation in a month so I won't have this issue again.

[billchao]

14 minutes ago, TeeJayH9 said:

Is this a crack in the graphite shaft or it just a crack in the paint or whatever the decal is made out of that covers the shaft?

Looks to me like the layers that the shaft is made out of are peeling from that gash. Almost looks like a cut more than a crack. You'll probably lose your clubhead on any given swing. If that was my club, I'd stop using it.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, billchao said:

Looks to me like the layers that the shaft is made out of are peeling from that gash. Almost looks like a cut more than a crack. You'll probably lose your clubhead on any given swing. If that was my club, I'd stop using it.

Yeah, I agree, that's not just a crack… something happened across the shaft.

[billchao]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah, I agree, that's not just a crack… something happened across the shaft.

I've broken several shafts. I've never had one fray like that.

[cooke119]

Replace the shaft.

 

[Bonvivant]

Doing a bit of a revival here because of what is going on with my driver. Short story long, I've had this driver (the one in my sig) since last winter time, replacing a 12 degree of the same driver (different shaft as well and will be my back up until I get an answer). Over the last 12 months, I've lost somewhere between 30-70 yards depending on the drive, and the ball is climbing like crazy. I know for sure my spin rate has to be over 4000 right now based on what the ball is doing.

Last weekend I noticed what appeared to be a significant split in my driver shaft on the 18th tee. I took 3 wood off the tee just to be safe. When we got to the parking lot afterwards, my group and I were talking about it, and it was mentioned that it could be cosmetic damage only. Today, I played my driver all day, until I got to the 17th tee and happened to look at it again. The single split from last week had turned into 5 splits of varying severity. The split from last week was the largest.

I am attaching pictures, but would like input on if a damaged shaft could cause a heavily inflated spin number. I have always had a fairly high driver shot, but lately I've been nicknamed "Luke Skyballer", with some of my drives only going 160-170 yards. It is possible that my swing is just that broken, but considering I don't take lessons and I've been playing for many years with fairly consistent results, I am leaning toward the shaft having a heavy contribution to my recent woes.

Any feedback would be great.

[iacas]

Is it in the shaft or just the paint?

It looks like it's the shaft. If so, replace it.

[Bonvivant]

Just now, iacas said:

Is it in the shaft or just the paint?

It looks like it's the shaft. If so, replace it.

Last weekend when it first happened I shoved a fingernail in to see what was going on. The cracked sections are probably 1 mm thick, which makes me think that it is structural.

I have a back up shaft that I am playing with tomorrow morning, and hoping to see some distance and proper ball flight come back. Will report back tomorrow, whether I am still short, or come back to 2/3 of tour distance lol.

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Last weekend when it first happened I shoved a fingernail in to see what was going on. The cracked sections are probably 1 mm thick, which makes me think that it is structural.

I have a back up shaft that I am playing with tomorrow morning, and hoping to see some distance and proper ball flight come back. Will report back tomorrow, whether I am still short, or come back to 2/3 of tour distance lol.

1mm is huge. The paint is a fraction of that.

[Bonvivant]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

1mm is huge. The paint is a fraction of that.

Thats what i thought too, but i was convinced into playing it again yesterday. Tee time in 40 minutes and hoping to see that distance return. 

[Groundhog34]

What is happening is the layers of the material the shaft is made of are breaking down. Some graphite shafts are made in a veneer like manner think of it as thin sheets of graphite are overlaid to create the shaft. Bottom line is the shaft need to be replaced. You can find replacement shafts on ebay that are inexpensive.