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.

If Cameron made a driver I'll bet it would be comparable.

SO you have an eBay account with your shipping address, you buy an item and it gets shipped to an address that is not your shipping address and eBay doesn't get involved and refund your money? Hmmm? Just what rating did this seller have before you did the deal? How many transactions are in his history?

I am a recent convert to the driver when necessary and only then school. I tried to play a round using the driver only on par 5 holes to see how it would affect my Fairway hitting. The results were great. And the lack of distance was offset by being in the FW for the second shot. The result? a reduction of 5 strokes. I'll keep trying this for a few more rounds to see if it's real or not. But the 3 wood is a lot easier to hit straight, at least for me.

And so with that I expect to see you out on a course somewhere in the Tampa area this spring right?

Read in the voice of Darth Vader: Darkhunter the force is strong within you, but you lack the experience to be a true Jedi Golfer. You must dedicate yourself to the journey we all embark upon, the search for oneness with the Force. To achieve the ultimate goal of scratch will require countless hours of effort. Go find a golf Yoda to guide you to your goal and remember there is no try, only do or do not.

Hi JW, where do you play?

My advice is no practicing on mats with irons ever! I will use my woods or irons on a tee if possible when confined to a mat for practice. But I never hit irons off the mat itself. I find it hides flaws in my swing allowing me to practice shots that won't work on the course. Second tip is to practice being on the course. Unless you are trying to learn to hit a certain shot don't use the same club for consecutive shots. You don't do it on the course so don't practice that way. If you visualize a hole you recently played, use the clubs you would use on the course in that order and aim for specific targets or yardage at the range.

Hey guys, heres a thought. The housing market in FL is bad, lots of homes available and more for rent. Maybe you should consider renting for a while, work on building your rating. You may find someone who will agree to a rent to own deal. That's how I started my ownership in 1991. Also the non profit credit counciling is a myth. They all charge, but the key is your rating gets worse for a while before it gets better. So if you are looking to improve your rating fast they are not the answer. Pay off the debts as fast as you can. If you don't need credit right away, debt counciling works like this: You stop paying all of the unsecured debt, they contact the lenders asking for settlement offers. Meanwhile you are paying into an account the councillors will use to answer any offers the lenders agree to make. It takes time to save enough to make the first offer and the councillor will take their cut in the meantime as will the savings institution your money is being saved in. During this time the lenders turn your account over to a collection agency and they come after you. Don't worry you will not be dragged into court over unsecured debt but you will get court papers advising of judgements. Each notice you get you send to the councillors and they make offers. After about a year you should have saved enough to satisfy at least one of the lenders and the process continues. You keep making the monthly payments, the lenders keep sending you letters and the collection agents keep sending you letters until you finally satisfy them all. The amount of time it takes depends on how much you owe and how much you can save each month. You have to learn to live off what you have left each month because you damn well shouldn't get more credit. Finally at the end of the process you will have releases from each of those Lenders and your credit score will have improved enough that you will start getting the offers of pre approved credit cards in the mail. But you should, by then, have learned to live with out credit cards and rip up any offers you get. And no I don't work for one of the councillors.

Champ and Tiger it was a lost cause. the land is owned by the Airport and they are under contract with FAA to have most of it available and paying for itself. Analysis shows the golf course has been losing money every year the past three and over the last ten years is in the hole over $500K. So they have to cut their losses and allow some development that will pay the Airport a positive revenue flow. Thanks for the support. I will be out there that last day it's open enjoying myself, May 15, 2011.

...your golf bag retails out for more than you paid for your first car So what is wrong with the above?