We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Driver fatigue?

SuperStroke
Vegan702

Vegan702

New member
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Messages
2,493
Reaction score
16
Location
Las Vegas, NV
Handicap
Exploding
Is there any evidence of a driver face losing its springiness? Getting worn out from usage? Most of these drivers have very thin faces and just wondered if over time say 2-3 years of considerable use they lose some of their performance.
 
Not usually. The metal they make is strong enough to resist most swing speeds; only pro swing speeds can really hurt the metal, which is why they don't generally keep drivers for more than a year. Although yes, there will be slight degrading just from normal frictional impact, but not enough to really affect the springiness of the face.
 
The metal will fatigue eventually but only after thousands and thousands of hits. Unless youre a tour pro, you likely wont ever hit a driver enough to fatigue the face enough to notice a difference.
 
I know the feeling. After hitting a few drivers the past few days I can tell you I haven't felt that spring off my driver that I felt yesterday in awhile.

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious, does swing speed = distance. With a good launch angle and a ball fitted to that player.
 
I once asked a club repair expert this question about the possibility of metal fatigue in my titanium-faced/headed driver. He replied that yes, the titanium face will fatigue, but it will take about 2,000 years.....
 
Slammin'SAM said:
I once asked a club repair expert this question about the possibility of metal fatigue in my titanium-faced/headed driver. He replied that yes, the titanium face will fatigue, but it will take about 2,000 years.....
Click to expand...

Yup.

The shaft on the other hand, espcially lower quality ones is generally the problem. They can start breaking downm bent out of shape through dings and lose their elastisity.
 
Yes eventually the face of a driver can wear and lose its springiness. It is very very rare to see it happen and usually when the driver seems to lose its power it is something other then the face that is the cause (like a crack).

Unless you hit rocks though you dont have to worry about it.
 
Thechosen1 said:
I know the feeling. After hitting a few drivers the past few days I can tell you I haven't felt that spring off my driver that I felt yesterday in awhile.

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious, does swing speed = distance. With a good launch angle and a ball fitted to that player.
Click to expand...

Every mph increase= 3 yards , so I've heard

I tapatalk better then I tapaputt
 
I cracked the face in one a couple of years ago. But it wasn't showing any symptoms of losing the spring effect or anything else.
I just hit it one time and made a strange sound, when I looked at it, it had cracked near the bottom of the face.
 
Thechosen1 said:
Kind of off topic, but I'm curious, does swing speed = distance. With a good launch angle and a ball fitted to that player.
Click to expand...

To a point... Swing speed=ball speed=distance. If you're hitting the center of the club face that is.


---
- I wish golf was as easy as Tapatalk.
 
Thechosen1 said:
I know the feeling. After hitting a few drivers the past few days I can tell you I haven't felt that spring off my driver that I felt yesterday in awhile.

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious, does swing speed = distance. With a good launch angle and a ball fitted to that player.
Click to expand...

I say only to a point. More to it than just SS. Loft, shaft, shaft length, launch angle, ball, swing arc, timing, tempo....
 
fishymehta said:
Not usually. The metal they make is strong enough to resist most swing speeds; only pro swing speeds can really hurt the metal, which is why they don't generally keep drivers for more than a year. Although yes, there will be slight degrading just from normal frictional impact, but not enough to really affect the springiness of the face.
Click to expand...

Agreed 10000%. Except for that I had never seen a driver head come flying off, until this last week, which I have seen it twice in 7 days...
 
Slammin'SAM said:
I once asked a club repair expert this question about the possibility of metal fatigue in my titanium-faced/headed driver. He replied that yes, the titanium face will fatigue, but it will take about 2,000 years.....
Click to expand...


So approx 90 generations from now my PING K15 driver head will be alive and well, being gamed maybe somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy ! Dang !
:alien2:
 
BulldogsGolf said:
Agreed 10000%. Except for that I had never seen a driver head come flying off, until this last week, which I have seen it twice in 7 days...
Click to expand...

If you see someone slam the head of their club on the ground they have just stressed it in a way it is not made to resist and it can loosen the head or even break the shaft. Slamming a driver straight down onto the ground after a bad shot is a definite mistake.
 
Thechosen1 said:
I know the feeling. After hitting a few drivers the past few days I can tell you I haven't felt that spring off my driver that I felt yesterday in awhile.

Kind of off topic, but I'm curious, does swing speed = distance. With a good launch angle and a ball fitted to that player.
Click to expand...

Yes, generally speaking. It is not a simple equation but generally speaking if you swing faster with any club and can still make solid contact the ball is going to go farther. Some people confuse faster with harder, so they tense up and end up hitting a worm burner or sky ball or worse. My theory is that you can speed up a good swing as fast as you want but a bad swing breaks down almost immediately beyond a certain minimum increase in speed depending on how athletic or gifted you are.
 
Drumdog said:
I cracked the face in one a couple of years ago. But it wasn't showing any symptoms of losing the spring effect or anything else.
I just hit it one time and made a strange sound, when I looked at it, it had cracked near the bottom of the face.
Click to expand...
Likely that was the result of a manufacturing flaw than was it the result of metal fatigue though.
 
How does anyone really know the answer to this without a machine hitting the ball with a LM? I can guess, but sounds like a question for JB to ask a club company professional on one of his radio show's.
 
You can damage and possibly weaken the face of your driver by hitting range balls sometimes... The sand they use to top dress the tee areas will stick to the range balls & cause pitting on the face, which can weaken it.
 
BulldogsGolf said:
Agreed 10000%. Except for that I had never seen a driver head come flying off, until this last week, which I have seen it twice in 7 days...
Click to expand...

LOL I broke my driver head off at the hosel. I hit the ball fat, and my driver head went flying about 60 yards. I had to wait 2 weeks for it to get back from Nike, but luckily the nice people at the course loaned me a demo until I got it back.
 
thedue said:
How does anyone really know the answer to this without a machine hitting the ball with a LM? I can guess, but sounds like a question for JB to ask a club company professional on one of his radio show's.
Click to expand...
Golf Digest did an article about it a few years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top