Do shafts wear out?

[Stillnumber1 61]

I golfed with a gentleman today who claimed that golf shafts "wear out" and need to be replaced every 4 years (assuming 50 rounds per year).

 

Can anyone (equipment junkies, club builders, club fitters, etc.) please chime in with your thoughts on this?

 

Is this a valid claim?

[MattF 9,910]

I think he might be full of ....

[cnosil 15,614]

Tell him to stop playing hickory shafts and to start using today's graphite and steel shafts.

 

I am not an expert and have never evaluated the playing characteristics of shafts after x number of round but I am pretty confident that and amateur player will not notice any difference in performance

[BGE89 14]

It was my understanding that a shaft will only wear out from cracks and if it has been stored at a freezing cold temperature.

 

I certainly don't claim to be any sort of expert on the subject though and am curious to see what others have to say.

[RookieBlue7 1,690]

Graphite does break down from being repeatedly flexed. Steel, no. But graphite absolutely does. Same as composite equipment in other sports. That's why Rory changes his shafts at least once a year. Lots of tour pros do their graphite with the same shaft.

[jaskanski 1,257]

Graphite does break down from being repeatedly flexed. Steel, no. But graphite absolutely does. Same as composite equipment in other sports. That's why Rory changes his shafts at least once a year. Lots of tour pros do their graphite with the same shaft.

 

Graphite will degrade eventually (mostly due to UV radiation) but the amount of stress needed to cause the plys to break down is generally a lot more than the average swing. I've got some graphite shafts that are over 10 years old and still perfectly playable.

I don't dispute that many pros change out their shafts on a regular basis, but they are probably paying zilch for the privilege and even if they aren't, they normally have enough coin not to worry about the cost.

[jlukes 13,201]

I've read stories about PGA Tour players using the same exact driver shaft for years.  Given how much practice and playing they do, I would say definitely no average player should worry about a shaft "wearing down"

[gaussman1 1,512]

I doubt that any of us junkies on this site would need to worry about using equipment through it's wear cycle.

[tony@CIC 17,409]

I golfed with a gentleman today who claimed that golf shafts "wear out" and need to be replaced every 4 years (assuming 50 rounds per year).

 

Can anyone (equipment junkies, club builders, club fitters, etc.) please chime in with your thoughts on this?

 

Is this a valid claim?

Sounds he's full of shafts

 

 

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[4NASH 6]

over time yes a shaft will start to become more flex then it used to be. tour players change out there shafts like every six months. normal golfers who don't swing as fast ware out in year or two. we don't need shaft changes that much or if u buy new clubs each year. tour players swing there clubs 2-3x more then we do in a whole year. grips always replaced every 4-3months. some of my grips already need replacing and had em for a couple

months

[jlukes 13,201]

over time yes a shaft will start to become more flex then it used to be. tour players change out there shafts like every six months. normal golfers who don't swing as fast ware out in year or two. we don't need shaft changes that much or if u buy new clubs each year. tour players swing there clubs 2-3x more then we do in a whole year. grips always replaced every 4-3months. some of my grips already need replacing and had em for a couple

months

Do you have a source for any of the information you just provided? Because I've read plenty of stories about just the opposite in regards to tour players changing shafts

[tony@CIC 17,409]

Deleted

[tony@CIC 17,409]

Deleted - sorry it was a duplicate

 

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[jdwjdw 2]

I had a set of dynamic gold x100 in play for about 15 years. They where in 3 different sets of heads and played great in all 3 sets. Personally it's the heads on the short irons that wear out hence the need to change clubs. Today's manufacturing process means that shafts last longer than the shafts of yesteryear. That being said I had an interesting test recently with an assistant pro who hit an old hickory mashie the same distance as his callaway 6 iron and said it felt great.

 

 

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[ee273 16]

I've never heard this and often the opposite that the shafts have a much longer life than the heads.  The "experts" I've talked to say the part that wears out are grooves and if you hit a lot off of mats that the lie angles of the heads can drift over time, especially with forged heads.

[txgolfjunkie 1,739]

Why do you have a club that long to begin with?!?!

 

Club Ho is life!

 

If you have a driver over two years, you're missing out on at least 1.7 yards. Time to sack up and buy a new driver! Shafts wearing out? Sounds like a personal problem to me. I have no idea if a shaft can wear out because I haven't had a club in my bag for over two years. 

[Thatginger96 148]

I never keep my clubs long enough to find out if they will wear out, my swing speed though is roughly in line with the Tour swing speeds so if I actually played/practiced more than once every two weeks I might look into this

 

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[Dave Cunningham 0]

I've had a set of Ping G10 irons, with graphite shafts, for about 10 years, but only played occasionally (c. 10-15 times a year). In 2019 the head came off my Lob Wedge on the downswing, and yesterday the 6 iron shaft broke. From the comments on here it seems that i'm just unlucky?

 

[jlukes 13,201]

11 minutes ago, Dave Cunningham said:

I've had a set of Ping G10 irons, with graphite shafts, for about 10 years, but only played occasionally (c. 10-15 times a year). In 2019 the head came off my Lob Wedge on the downswing, and yesterday the 6 iron shaft broke. From the comments on here it seems that i'm just unlucky?

 

Yup.  Could have broke for any number of reasons.  There are people that have brand new graphite or steel shafts break randomly.  Not common, but it happens

[McGolf 272]

Without empirical evidence it is hard to prove either point however I have seen a graphite shaft under a constant strain for a short period of time and the shaft remained in the same bend profile when the strain was removed. Does that mean the shaft will wear out? eh.

Yes I do believe the shaft will wear out. 200 rounds is pretty short imo. The would have to depend on the golfer. 1) how fast was the golfer swinging 2) how aggressive was the golfer swinging, 3) did the golfer make consistent strike not hitting the ground , you get where this heads. Obviously the more strain and shock placed on the club the more frequently it will need replaced. on the contrary, if the same number of rounds where played by a more relaxed player then the equipment wold last far longer. 4 years imo is too short but yes it can wear out. 

steel to can wear out but that is more from the affect of mother nature, sitting the garage of the winter and golf tendencies etc. again this is a very very long time