The Road Dog

Clinton was pretty active too, oh wait, that was still behind his desk

I have bought over ten drivers in the past two years. I've experienced two breakages. One from my 15 yr old Grandson mishandling the driver and subsequently snapping the shaft at the hosel. The second was also snapped at the hosel by my Son-in-law. I think he just hits too hard because he also busted the face of a different driver. Anyway during the period of the failures both had trouble with their swing and had hit the ground behind the ball on occasion. My experience tells me that with normal handling a graphite shaft will last a very long time unless subjected to a stress that is confined to a small area of it's length. I live on the Gulf and own over 15 fishing rod sets. The graphite ones are great but will fail if stressed by allowing the rod to touch the boat railing while under the stress of a strong fish. The concentration of a flex in the small area of contact with the rail is outside the range of what the rod is designed to handle and it snaps. I'm not an engineer but I think the same thing happens to a shaft if the head hits something that doesn't move during a full swing. But of course if delaminated or cracked at any point they are weakened and bound to fail eventually.

Not sure if it's cold enough in Chicago yet for balls sitting outside to gain that much density, and would suspect the driver face itself as being weakened by usage. So what were the temperatures involved?

Welcome to the site, have fun, and share. It has to be fun having your own courses where you're automatically a member. And you'll get used to the humidity.

Sorry to hear of your mishap. I suppose a safety cord could be made from some really thin SS cable a couple clamps and a spring hook. But that is up to you. I use plastic head covers on my Mizuno MP68s. And despite the flack received from the purists here who think bag chatter is part of golf I like my chrome irons to be free of nicks and scratches except on the face. The cover is replaced after every use and before the cart is moved so I guess my clubs would be protected from the kind of damage you experienced. So there you have two differing approaches to your issue.

Brian why complicate things? Use the same swing you are trying to perfect. The only choice should be whether to use a tee or not.

Nice story and congrats on the Ace. By the way how much did the round of drinks cost you after the game? You did take your friends out for a drink after didn't you?

What about sea level with hot air and high humidity?

Sounds like you may be gripping too hard. Also if you aren't a frequent golfer your hands may just be adjusting to the game. The grip should be just strong enough to keep the club from slipping from your hands. A strong grip restricts club movement because it cant be done without tensing the muscles in your arms. I suggest asking a instructor to check your grip and swing. For the gloves, I've found the more you pay for one the thinner the material, leading to them wearing out faster..

Priceless.

I'm curious, how/why is your current driver broken?

Being a family type guy, I go out with son in law and two grandsons regularly. I bought clubs for the left handed grandson so no problem there. The Son in law is a baseball hitter who always swings for the fence. He couldn't afford a modern driver so I scouted the local pawnshops, I found a recent Mizuno driver with an Aldila NZ shaft, nice item for $50. Well after about three rounds he tells me it isn't sounding good and the ball isn't flying very far. Uh Oh, sure enough there is a 3 inch crack on the crown at the face crown joint. Hmmm. Luckily, since I liked the way that Mizuno worked I had already bought a couple more of different lofts so I loaned him one of those. It worked well for a year and two weeks ago he snapped the shaft (Aldila) just above the hosel. His finances have improved since last year so this time he's on his own. The result is that he has learned to use eBay and picked up a new Adams 9032LS head and got a UST V2 Xstiff installed, oh and he had the Mizuno reshafted with a V2 in stiff to give back to me. So family can use my stuff and I'll buy stuff for them, who cares, I'm in it for the memories not the equipment. And being a club ho helps too. I will add a question to this thread, Why do you fret over the slightest mark on a new driver that will be replaced in a year or two and reject the notion of iron protectors for clubs that you will likely keep for 5 plus years and then try to sell or trade?

Soultones, Eat what, the crow or the Snickers?

Sounds like you're here for the right reasons, so welcome you'll fit it well.