lost 25yd on driver over night? do shafts wear out?

[niconico]

i have an old ping rapture v1 head on mitsu blueboard shaft..... and i love everything about it.... my average distance was around 285 and sometimes downwind with a good bounce i was hitting 315....

 

just this past weekend ive discovered my bombs were maxing out at 270 and averaged 240 ----

 

my irons are still the same., if not longer.... i practice alot.... lots of range balls.... and the shaft is 2-3 years old....

 

do they all of a sudden start to flex more>? or less? i havent gotten anything tested yet,,,, just thought someone on here could shed

some personal experience .....

[FutureScratchGolfer]

Graphite shafts all break down. Ive heard more about them breaking down with irons because they are used more often than a driver. A good friend of mine had stiff flex graphite shafts that ended up playing weaker than regular flex after two years (we play A TON). It is an older club so maybe the face could have lost its "pop" I've seen it happen to another friends driver. Honestly I'm not sure my man.

[MadGolfer76]

Don't mean to be blunt, but I doubt it is the club.

[radiman]

[quote name='niconico' timestamp='1312167598' post='3440412']
i have an old ping rapture v1 head on mitsu blueboard shaft..... and i love everything about it.... my average distance was around 285 and sometimes downwind with a good bounce i was hitting 315....

just this past weekend ive discovered my bombs were maxing out at 270 and averaged 240 ----

my irons are still the same., if not longer.... i practice alot.... lots of range balls.... and the shaft is 2-3 years old....

do they all of a sudden start to flex more>? or less? i havent gotten anything tested yet,,,, just thought someone on here could shed
some personal experience .....
[/quote]


I'm going through the same thing this year with my driver. I put in a lot more practice early on this season and picked up some yards with my irons and fairway woods. For some reason though I lost a great deal of distance with my driver. I tend to believe however that it is something that has changed in my swing that I haven't found yet. I don't work out nearly as much as I used to and I think that may be playing a large part. But I don't know if a shaft would wear out like that, unless you were playing an insane amount of rounds. Did this drop in distance happen from early this season until now, or is it something that seeemed to happen overnight.

[circa3182]

Any other variables worth looking at? Temperature, humidity, winds, ball, etc...

[Ace2424]

Honestly with as good of graphite materials that have been used in the past several years I HIGHLY doubt that its the shaft........ With that said it could very well be the driver head as it is much more susceptible to failure ie microscopic cracks that makes the club lose some of its "pop" or spring effect......

But the most likely case is that it is something within your swing........ So I would give it a solid week of play/ practice b4 jumping to buying a new club.....

A good idea would be to go to Dicks or Golf Galaxy and compare yours to the new drivers..... that would give you some solid info on if its the club or the swing

Hope you figure it out!!!!

[kg92lefty]

ITS THE SWING, not the club.

[Awalkspoiled]

More likely to be the clubhead than the shaft. Has the sound of impact changed at all? Your swing is definitely strong enough to accelerate breakdown of the head, either in the face or at the Carbon-Ti join.

[abc]

Do shafts wear out overnight? Not usually.

But good golf swings do LOL.

[3step]

[quote name='niconico' timestamp='1312167598' post='3440412']
i have an old ping rapture v1 head on mitsu blueboard shaft..... and i love everything about it.... my average distance was around 285 and sometimes downwind with a good bounce i was hitting 315....

just this past weekend ive discovered my bombs were maxing out at 270 and averaged 240 ----

my irons are still the same., if not longer.... i practice alot.... lots of range balls.... and the shaft is 2-3 years old....

do they all of a sudden start to flex more>? or less? i havent gotten anything tested yet,,,, just thought someone on here could shed
some personal experience .....
[/quote]


Factors that can influence a dramatic change in driver distance include-

A change in the weather, switching clubs, switching balls, our swings, a face caving in.

Typically, if you experience a sudden drop in distance on the driver, and not the irons, you have slightly altered your delivery of the head into the ball, which is harming the relationship of the ball speed, launch and spin on your driver, but not on your irons.

However, there is zero chance that the cause of your distance loss is your graphite shaft.

3step

[moonshine]

[quote name='kg92lefty' timestamp='1312169776' post='3440581']
ITS THE SWING, not the club.
[/quote]
Highly doubt this to be the case, most likely the club head as mentioned above. I have seen cracks in drivers, or been shown them, in the face and not been able to discern a difference. However, said golfer claimed huge loss in distance.

I don't beat balls with my drivers...try and save bombs for the course. Good luck!

[Ben B]

I had the Cleveland COMP 460 and loved it, but went through 3 of them. All of the failed right where the Titanium and the carbon meet. If you hold it up in a strong light you will most likely, but not guaranteed to see where it has failed (if it has). I would venture to say this is the cause for the overnight loss of distance. You don't just loose 25 yard consistently overnight, especially if your irons may even be long. However, I thought the same thing too when it happened to me the first time. If I were you, I'd find a place to demo a driver side by side with yours, either on the range or on the course. That will tell you for sure.

[Qegurezi]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1312168115' post='3440451']
Don't mean to be blunt, but I doubt it is the club.
[/quote]

Could well be the head. I've read a few times of suddenly skewed results coming from a very minor crack in the head.

First thing to do is dunk the head underwater. Not foolproof, but a start at least.

[ronsc1985]

Check the club face for:
a. cracks and
b. cave in i.e. the bulge and/or roll is flattening out.

Both the above are common with Titanium driver heads after much use.

[Masse1369]

I am averaging 4 extra putts per round!! Do brain cells wear out?!?!?

OK sorry for being mean but I couldn't resist. Your swing is probably just off and you're not making as solid contact.

[Dizz]

If the club face had a crack in it, you would know. The ball wouldn't all of a sudden fly 30 yards shorter. It will usually knuckle out there and you will lose considerable yardage.

[Dizz]

If the club face had a crack in it, you would know. The ball wouldn't all of a sudden fly 30 yards shorter. It will usually knuckle out there and you will lose considerable yardage.

[Vindog]

It could be anything mentioned in this thread, but even a minute difference in the angle of attack will play into the ball flight. It could be that you are hitting just a touch down instead of straight through/up.

That won't affect the irons, and it doesn't necessarily mean you swing has turned bad, but just a small change through the impact area will make a huge difference.

[Jc0]

[quote name='Dizz' timestamp='1312210850' post='3441763']
If the club face had a crack in it, you would know. The ball wouldn't all of a sudden fly 30 yards shorter. It will usually knuckle out there and you will lose considerable yardage.
[/quote]

You could have flat faced it. You have had the club for a while and have a decent club head speed. So while the face has no visible defects unless you look carefully, you can loose 10-20 yards.

[lukesmurf59]

I believe it is the carpenter, not the hammer. if this happens in all sorts of conditions, your swing is off. Shafts do break down, but not overnight.

[Tad]

I have experienced over night loss of distance (30-40 yards)with my driver..took me a few days to figure it out! Found a hairline crack on top of the crown of my Adams driver. Crack was faint but it caused me to loose distance, plus the driver did not sound the same as usual..

HTH,
Tad

[mosesgolf]

Hit another comparable cannon and see how that goes. It's either the shaft or head. In this case, I believe it's the arrow and not the indian.

[mozgolf]

I had the same problem with my driver, shaft just wore out overnight, I lost about 30m, it was shocking. Went and worked on my swing for a few weeks at the range and miraculously my drivers shaft had repaired itself. Fact is stranger than fiction!!

[reg1900]

Rapture V1 is a composite club, I'd say could be a crack in the clubhead, like has been mentioned before, take it to a store with a launch monitor and compare it to another driver.

[DLiver]

First of all, it is highly unlikely the shaft. It is probably your swing, but also might be the driver head.

Earlier this year, I got this vague feeling that my drives were going as far as they used to (but no change in my iron distances). This wasn't a huge loss in distance, but my "bombs" were getting out there as far as usual. Then in the middle of a round while I was waiting to tee off, I noticed a crack in my driver. My driver head had started to fatigue and wasn't generating the kinds of ball speeds that it had before. I switched to my backup driver at the turn and I was instantly hitting drive my normal distances.

I also had another instance where my drives started sounding funny and were much shorter than normal. I had that clubhead checked. In that case, the clubhead was fine--the problem was me!

So it's hard to tell....

[jewofgolf]

Test for a crack in the driver by submerging it in water. If bubbles come up, there is a crack and ping needs to be contacted. It's not the shaft in all likelihood.

[V-twin]

I think you are right about the shaft, but its not breaking down. Check your shaft angle at address.

[niconico]

wow, thanks for the overwhelming response....

as far as my swing goes, i will get that checked -

and for the contact comments... sure, i know what good contact feels like, and Im not counting the shanks... I am referring to hitting it as pure as possible and still ending up 20-30 yards short-

on my way to a bucket of water to test for cracks....

my opinion (which is just a guess until i get it checked) is the ball off the club face is spinning way too much.... it still goes straight, but i was guessing the flex in the shaft has led to this....

oh well, thanks for the input....

[OrangeCrush]

I agree it's the head. I have a backup driver, a 9.5* 975D with a S300 for those shorter/tighter courses. I hit my current driver 285 +/- and I can only get that 975D in the 265 range at most. My dad gave me his 975D to tinker with and you can hear it in the pitch of the club that mine has lost it's pop. I'll still use it because it's longer then my 3 wood and I can still use it when I need it.

Demo a newer driver and see if you are back in the area where you are used to driving it.

[TLT_Dan]

[quote name='OrangeCrush' timestamp='1312415565' post='3449216']
I agree it's the head. I have a backup driver, a 9.5* 975D with a S300 for those shorter/tighter courses. I hit my current driver 285 +/- and I can only get that 975D in the 265 range at most. My dad gave me his 975D to tinker with and you can hear it in the pitch of the club that mine has lost it's pop. I'll still use it because it's longer then my 3 wood and I can still use it when I need it.

Demo a newer driver and see if you are back in the area where you are used to driving it.
[/quote]

These big driver heads will fail and it may not be visible. The face is so thin and can loose its structural integrity.