Do shafts wear out/loosen?

[BELA]

I went to the range the other day and there was a Callaway demo/fitting day.

I overheard one of the fitters telling a costumer that you eventually have to replace shafts because they wear out/ loosen.

He said 2 years for steel shafts and 5 years for graphite aprox.

Is that any true?

Thanks for the input

[dlygrisse]

Complete and total rubbish.

[Z1ggy16]

> @BELA said:

> I went to the range the other day and there was a Callaway demo/fitting day.

> I overheard one of the fitters telling a costumer that you eventually have to replace shafts because they wear out/ loosen.

> He said 2 years for steel shafts and 5 years for graphite aprox.

> Is that any true?

> Thanks for the input

 

Sounds like the whole "change your oil every 3000 miles" mantra that oil companies spat at us for a long time. How does steel shaft "loosen up"? If true that's fine, but I'd like to see some concrete proof.

[Celebros]

Disappointing to hear that is coming from a fitter/OEM rep.

[Trying4Better]

Not sure why he would recommend, because most shafts most people buy are non-upgrades. Disclosure: Except for members of this site. lol

[drumdude96]

> @BELA said:

> I went to the range the other day and there was a Callaway demo/fitting day.

> I overheard one of the fitters telling a costumer that you eventually have to replace shafts because they wear out/ loosen.

> He said 2 years for steel shafts and 5 years for graphite aprox.

> Is that any true?

> Thanks for the input

 

Tell that to Bernhard Langer. Lol.

[kwcsports]

That's bull

[A.Princey]

The only issue I could see would be steel shafts and bent tips from tons of impact/divots, and possible rust degradation of the internal shaft wall, from moisture condensate due to temp changes. Any of that would theoretically change the characteristics of the shaft and cause possible breakage, but that idea that flexing over and over is the cause is foolish.

[bvmagic]

If that's true then my Fuji motore speeder 6.2 aged like a fine wine. I can't seem to find another shaft that I trust as much off the tee.

[Krt22]

I change my shafts at the same interval as my blinker fluid

[TheMagicStinger]

This is especially true for tour players. It's not uncommon to see them get their putter reshafted after every event.

 

 

/S

[hd.softail]

Right, I guess my 15 year old Dynalite Gold S-300 shafts are now classified as senior flex...

[halliedog]

I'm confused by why steel would wear out before graphite, but more confused by why my Lamkin UTx rubber grips have lasted 4-5 years with some basic upkeep? Your Rep must be from the Bizzaro world, where rubber lasts longest, followed by carbon-fiber graphite, followed lastly by steel in terms of longevity?

[cristphoto]

Steel shafts can rust out as years ago I had a shaft snap off at the ferrule. I could never prove it but the club storage guys would soak the irons in a bucket of soapy water prior to cleaning which probably wasn't good for the shafts.

[Howard_Jones]

> @BELA said:

> I went to the range the other day and there was a Callaway demo/fitting day.

> I overheard one of the fitters telling a costumer that you eventually have to replace shafts because they wear out/ loosen.

> He said 2 years for steel shafts and 5 years for graphite aprox.

> Is that any true?

> Thanks for the input

 

Publish his name and location, there should be given a warning against folks like him, stay away, he has no clue, and what ever brand he is representing should be very embarrassed having such a clown on their team, but its many of them out there, way to many....You can dismiss everything he said, what ever that was.

[Howard_Jones]

Look at this player, its not many of you that is able to stress a shaft like this man does (its one of my customers).

When he came to me, he played Graffaloy Blue 75X, but i had no shafts at home that was stiffer then the one he got, and his BLUE was 5 years old....so they dont wear out, they are the same until its broken. (Movie is from the British open 2009)

His DG Tour X7 was about 4 years old, they had some scratches, but was just like they should be. There is no human who is able to hit enough balls to wear out a shaft (steel or graphite) unless its breaking or for steel shafts get bent.

 

[Maximilian]

I remember reading something a few years ago from one of the wedge gurus, think it was Bob Vokey but might have been Roger Cleveland, who was talking about wedge shafts and said something to the extent of after a while of use, the shafts break in and get formed by a players swing. Think he meant this as a positive thing and that it could be troublesome for some players that are used to an old wedge shaft to change them even within the same model shaft.

 

I personally have no idea, just remember reading that and thought it was kind of interesting.

[Howard_Jones]

I would be very surprised if any one of them said such a thing.....

As late as May this year Tom Wishon wrote this, and its not the first time or place he did that.

 

by

Tom Wishon

Updated May 24, 2019

Generally speaking, a player will not have to replace his or her golf clubs due to the condition of the clubs' shafts **within their lifetime **because the graphite or steel that are usually used to make modern clubs are super-strong materials resistant to damage and deterioration.

 

Simply put, as long as the graphite shaft is not cracked or peeling and the steel shafts are not kinked or badly pitted or rusted, a player's golf clubs will last longer than a lifetime, though it is a commonly held misconception that the shaft will eventually wear out or suffer from fatigue to the point that it will no longer perform the same — which is only true if the shaft is damaged or bent.

 

As long as a player takes care of and maintains his or her clubs, protecting the shafts from damage, the lifespan of golf shafts isn't something one typically needs worry about.

 

https://www.liveabout.com/how-long-do-golf-shafts-last-1563344

[Howard_Jones]

adding one more..David Schnider from Fujikura

Question: Do graphite shafts wear out, or does the flex change?

Schnider: No, there is no fatigue factor. If you get something (a crack or fracture) inside the shaft (because of, say, airline travel), you will know it very quickly.

 

https://golfweek.com/2013/02/04/shaft-month-q-fujikuras-david-schnider/

[cmagnusson]

Graphite/Carbon Fibre is not naturally UV protective, and the layers of it used in graphite shafts are thin enough to allow light penetration to the epoxy layers underneath. Epoxy can be broken down by UV exposure over time, which is why it is not recommended for external applications in things like boat repairs.

 

Soooooo in theory, graphite shafts will fail over time secondary to UV exposure. However, when you hit your driver maybe 10 times a round, have it out of the bag for 2 minutes each time, and when the average golfer plays like 20 rounds a year, plus range time, you're getting 8-10 hours of exposure per season.

 

UV degradation of epoxy at normal outdoor temperatures is something measured in months, and that's for chronic/constant exposure. Again borrowing from marine experiences, you start to see significant breakdown in the average epoxy product in the 6-12 month range with 12-14 hours of sunlight a day (and that's with the bonus reflection from the water increasing exposure). Even taking the worst case scenario numbers there, you're looking at 2000+ hours to start to see a problem, up to 5000 hours at the high end.

 

 

So a graphite shaft will start to breakdown after about 200 seasons for the average golfer.

 

 

Steel is good forever, that's just stupid.

[BELA]

Thanks everyone. I also think that the dude had no idea what he was talking about and all was BS, but I just wanted to ask the experts

[Cwing]

> @"A.Princey" said:

> The only issue I could see would be steel shafts and bent tips from tons of impact/divots, and possible rust degradation of the internal shaft wall, from moisture condensate due to temp changes. Any of that would theoretically change the characteristics of the shaft and cause possible breakage, but that idea that flexing over and over is the cause is foolish.

 

This ^

 

 

[Howard_Jones]

> @cmagnusson said:

> Graphite/Carbon Fibre is not naturally UV protective, and the layers of it used in graphite shafts are thin enough to allow light penetration to the epoxy layers underneath. Epoxy can be broken down by UV exposure over time, which is why it is not recommended for external applications in things like boat repairs.

>

> Soooooo in theory, graphite shafts will fail over time secondary to UV exposure. However, when you hit your driver maybe 10 times a round, have it out of the bag for 2 minutes each time, and when the average golfer plays like 20 rounds a year, plus range time, you're getting 8-10 hours of exposure per season.

>

> UV degradation of epoxy at normal outdoor temperatures is something measured in months, and that's for chronic/constant exposure. Again borrowing from marine experiences, you start to see significant breakdown in the average epoxy product in the 6-12 month range with 12-14 hours of sunlight a day (and that's with the bonus reflection from the water increasing exposure). Even taking the worst case scenario numbers there, you're looking at 2000+ hours to start to see a problem, up to 5000 hours at the high end.

>

>

> So a graphite shaft will start to breakdown after about 200 seasons for the average golfer.

>

>

> Steel is good forever, that's just stupid.

 

So, a professional player who plays like 4 times more than the average player, and still plays True Temper Ei 70, might consider changing his shafts in about 10, maybe 15 years from now, if he played it on the tour for the last 40 years?

 

With the life span we see on todays driver heads, it seems like shafts is "more than good enough", and thats a large understatement.

 

[cmagnusson]

> @"Howard Jones" said:

> > @cmagnusson said:

> > Graphite/Carbon Fibre is not naturally UV protective, and the layers of it used in graphite shafts are thin enough to allow light penetration to the epoxy layers underneath. Epoxy can be broken down by UV exposure over time, which is why it is not recommended for external applications in things like boat repairs.

> >

> > Soooooo in theory, graphite shafts will fail over time secondary to UV exposure. However, when you hit your driver maybe 10 times a round, have it out of the bag for 2 minutes each time, and when the average golfer plays like 20 rounds a year, plus range time, you're getting 8-10 hours of exposure per season.

> >

> > UV degradation of epoxy at normal outdoor temperatures is something measured in months, and that's for chronic/constant exposure. Again borrowing from marine experiences, you start to see significant breakdown in the average epoxy product in the 6-12 month range with 12-14 hours of sunlight a day (and that's with the bonus reflection from the water increasing exposure). Even taking the worst case scenario numbers there, you're looking at 2000+ hours to start to see a problem, up to 5000 hours at the high end.

> >

> >

> > So a graphite shaft will start to breakdown after about 200 seasons for the average golfer.

> >

> >

> > Steel is good forever, that's just stupid.

>

> So, a professional player who plays like 4 times more than the average player, and still plays True Temper Ei 70, might consider changing his shafts in about 10, maybe 15 years from now, if he played it on the tour for the last 40 years?

>

> With the life span we see on todays driver heads, it seems like shafts is "more than good enough", and thats a large understatement.

>

 

Pretty much.

 

I recall an interview I read a few years ago, maybe in Golf Digest, about whether or not balls wear out over time with repeated compression. The answer was in the realm of "Oh absolutely they will, but there's not a person on earth that will ever hit the same ball enough times to see it happen"