Bigger Stores and Club Work

Is it a bad idea to have a store like Golf Galaxy put a tip on a driver shaft? I’m always a little nervous about who I have work on my clubs since I have had a club head fly off twice when I was high school aged (one driver and one iron, luckily didn’t lose the club heads to ponds, had to fish the driver head out of the edge of one with a ball retriever though)

very hit or miss for me. I have a PGA supestore and GG across the street from each other.... I go there for convenience but overall the work usually isn't great. I had my lofts adjusted at GG this past year and somehow ended up with a 48* 9i, 43* P, and 17* 4i

Tips on driver wise I dunno what epoxy PGA uses but last year with my m5 I went back 6 times in the summer on 3 different shafts bc the adapter kept coming loose. I know not to leave clubs in the car during summer so that wasn't the issue.... All of a sudden id look down at my grip and the lettering is almost sideways bc the hosel is loose

This is exactly why I learned to do pretty much all my own club work using the info on this site. The only thing I use Golf Galaxy for is to pull adapters from graphite that I intend to reuse because I don't have a shaft puller. Installing an adapter is pretty simple...I would encourage you to do some research here (there are plenty of threads) and attempt the DIY if you feel comfortable with it!

Plan B would be a local club builder and my last resort would be a big box store. Some are better than others, just depends on who works there and their skill level so it's almost impossible to know until you try them. Where are you located? Maybe someone here has had personal experience with the store in your area or can recommend someone local.

Ask a local pro at an actual course for a recommendation.

Ah that’s the kinda story I was worried about. Looks like I’ll call around and see if any of the club pros do/know a builder to do equipment work. I recently moved but I might have to make the drive to get my clubs work done by my guy I trusted if I don’t find anyone closer.

You can totally handle it yourself and I would bet do a better job than a big box store because you give a d--n about your clubs. Just need some sand paper, acetone, epoxy, and a hack saw or rotary tool to cut the shaft need be.

And once I have the space (hopefully the next time we move) I’m definitely putting in a workshop to my own club work. I can change grips but you can pretty much do that anywhere easily, but I’d like to be able to tinker with shafts from the comfort of my home haha

There is usually 1, maybe 2 guys who actually know what they’re doing and have lots of experience. Just make sure they do the work, not the weeknight part timer who thinks he knows everything because he watched a YouTube video. I had GG reshaft a 3 wood for me and I told the guy label down. He replied “oh yeah, I always do them that way.” I pick it up the next day and the label is pointing straight up. ?‍♂️ Turns our the guy I talked to didn’t do the job and didn’t make a note about label down.

There is a tip on the shaft already, so would I need a shaft puller as well? That’s my only issue, I’m sure I could figure out how to do it other wise but I have no real way to get the old tip off of it

That being the case, you may want to just ask on here if people have a recommendation for club work where you live.

The vast majority of GG or other shops can correctly epoxy a tip or an iron shaft. Sometimes your time is not worth it to DIY especially if its not a hobby of yours like many of us it is :)

Im not sure what the situation really is?

You have a club where you want to change the shaft, and already have the new shaft, but no connector/adapter?

You can both buy shafts with the adapter installed, or loose adapters, so you dont really need to pull the one from the shaft you have.

If you already have the "new" shaft, just buy the adapter thats right for your head, and do it all yourself, just ask here for guiding

If you can change grips, you can do this too, its actually easier....

I have the shaft, but it currently has a Callaway tip on it, and I just got a Taylormade head that I want to try the shaft in. Sorry for the confusion. I’m sure I could do it if it didn’t have a tip on it already but I have no way to remove the Callaway tip off of it.

Sorry I should be saying adapter instead of tip, I think that’s what was leading to the confusion. The shaft has a Callaway adapter on it, and I need a TMag adapter, that’s the only reason I haven’t given it a try myself.

Removing tips from graphite shafts is not hard, but it can be a bad idea if you lack the correct tools to do so. You want to pull it off strait with an extractor, and you want to use as little heat as possible.

If you don't want to invest in the tools (which is 100% OK if its not a hobby for you), paying say $50 for someone to swap tips will save you money. If you want the tools, a budget shaft extractor is $90 or so, and a baby butane torch kit $20 or so.

Where are you?

The store size doesn't matter IMO. There are good and bad club techs everywhere, just need to find a good one