Can shaft last a life time?

had my driver shaft changed and fitted almost 3 yrs ago. Wondering if the quality of the shaft deteriorate over time?

2008 wrote:

had my driver shaft changed and fitted almost 3 yrs ago. Wondering if the quality of the shaft deteriorate over time?

Yes it will. But 3 years, the quality do not change much. > 5 years yes.

in 3 years do you still have the same swing speed and swing?

i asked this question before. answer came back smthing like unless u swing the club like samson or a grisly bear, the shaft can last a long long long time lah. so for my swing speed, i dont need worry abt damaging my shaft and changing

okay, so save on my wallet..

tronos wrote:

in 3 years do you still have the same swing speed and swing?

more or less the same..

depends on whether you have been lending it around ... esp to guys who have a much faster swing speed ....

anyways ... getting fitted for a driver shaft is always a good thing ... so I guess u can consider after 3 years ... esp if you are starting to have doubts about it

gray made a good point. shaft will last >10yrs, but it's good to re-grip once a year.

I don't think the shaft quality will not last more than 3 year as the stiffness will decrease. You should measure the CPM ( stiffness of the shaft) and the stiffness that you want matches ....

Cheers

cwpei8888 wrote:

gray made a good point. shaft will last >10yrs, but it's good to re-grip once a year.

ummm ... IMHO ... I seriously don't think graphite shafts can remain consistent for that long ... it does not mean they can't be used ... just that they deteriorate and get more flexible and twist more with time

good point Cyp_PGA. i tot about it, tt;s why i started off with stiff steel shaft. hopefully as i'm reaching 50s when my bone and muscle will not work well, the stiffness as good as ladies graphite shaft

Got this from a guy who has a Masters Degree in Material Science that dealt with kind of materials used in golf shaft compositiona and construction:

"The only way for a shaft to get softer would be for the layers to delaminate, which would happen through impact damage or being subject to excessive repeated twisting (alot more twisting than occurs during the swing) or heat north of 300F. Also if the layers delaminated the shafts ability to remain in one piece would severely compromised (more so that the stiffness).

In short if your graphite shaft had undergone some kind of damage to make it play weaker it would have broken."

Also I read from Tom Wishon (renowned club builder in the US) that the graphite fatigue is a myth. "The idea that an undamaged shaft will "wear out" or suffer from "fatigue" to the point that it no longer performs the same after long-term use is a myth."

It seems like unless there is some damage done to the material make up of the shaft it should be good to go for a long time.

Hope that helps

awesome article man! as they say "if it aint broke dont fix it".

DRGjr72 wrote:

Got this from a guy who has a Masters Degree in Material Science that dealt with kind of materials used in golf shaft compositiona and construction:

"The only way for a shaft to get softer would be for the layers to delaminate, which would happen through impact damage or being subject to excessive repeated twisting (alot more twisting than occurs during the swing) or heat north of 300F. Also if the layers delaminated the shafts ability to remain in one piece would severely compromised (more so that the stiffness).

In short if your graphite shaft had undergone some kind of damage to make it play weaker it would have broken."

Also I read from Tom Wishon (renowned club builder in the US) that the graphite fatigue is a myth. "The idea that an undamaged shaft will "wear out" or suffer from "fatigue" to the point that it no longer performs the same after long-term use is a myth."

It seems like unless there is some damage done to the material make up of the shaft it should be good to go for a long time.

Hope that helps

Yup. Good notes.
I read somewhere on this as well. Hence as a general rule, check your shaft for fatique use and do change it after 5 years. (If you hide your clubs for 5 years, then this does not applies)

It's true, if its not broken, don't fix it. (Just enjoy the game of golf and continue to learn from others and do speak to a club fitter to understand more, make your own assessment there after)

Problem usually lies in "Me" not the shaft. I meant golf shaft.

Interesting ... but the CPM of my driver shaft actually dropped from the day that I first bought it to the day I had it changed ... is there some explanation for this?

Derek wrote:

Interesting ... but the CPM of my driver shaft actually dropped from the day that I first bought it to the day I had it changed ... is there some explanation for this?

I think it actualy depend on where you store it. A lot of golfers like to keep their club in the car which indeed maybe baking the club especially if you always park under hot sun. Although unlikely it will change any properties of the graphite, it may have some minor impact on the flex itself.

There is also some other factors on CPM measurement as well, example like clamping at which length of the shaft, changing of different head weight and measure at different orientation....... all these may contribute to different CPM reading on a same shaft (Hope I am right )

I think a shaft will last quite some time if we take care of it

save $ Bro

Mine was a graman 5 fitted by Eric almost 3 yrs back. Happen to past by OCC and check with the staff, was told usually advisable to change about 3.5 yrs. I didn't ask him for the reason though..

2008 wrote:

Mine was a graman 5 fitted by Eric almost 3 yrs back. Happen to past by OCC and check with the staff, was told usually advisable to change about 3.5 yrs. I didn't ask him for the reason though..

likely your swing speed changed and u need a stiffer shaft.

i found my last post

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t9989-life-span-of-shafts?highlight=shaft+life+span

read dg mans explanation lah

Gray wrote:

i found my last post

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t9989-life-span-of-shafts?highlight=shaft+life+span

read dg mans explanation lah

Thanks. That's explains all. So bottom line is, no need to change.

for me, the bottom line was more "so its safe to buy 2nd hand clubs" especially steel shaft ones.

Gray wrote:

for me, the bottom line was more "so its safe to buy 2nd hand clubs" especially steel shaft ones.

You may wanna note that most steel shaft will rust inside over time. At least for once I saw when my friend broke one of his Nippon Steel.

2008 wrote:

Gray wrote:

i found my last post

http://www.golfrepublic.org/t9989-life-span-of-shafts?highlight=shaft+life+span

read dg mans explanation lah

Thanks. That's explains all. So bottom line is, no need to change.

I think there's generally no need to change clubs unless your swing or style of play has changed over time. However, 'want' typically overrules 'need' most of the time