What swing faults cause shafts to break from the club head at the hosel?

Answer 1

Assuming the broken club is a driver, the area on the shaft just above the hosel impacts at a teed up ball rather than the club face. The stationary weight of a Golf ball is sufficient to strain the tensile strength of a graphite shaft. With a club head attached at the very end of the club, it further increases the momentum of a downswing. This is mostly caused by addressing the ball too close to the body and an incorrect swing plane going back. For an iron, a breakage could be mainly caused by hitting the toe of the club into a relatively hard surface in the down swing. This usually happens to a graphite shafted game improvement iron. The reason being that game improvement irons have larger and wider club face area, in which when it is swung at a particular speed with only its toe part hitting the surface, the tensile strength of the shaft at the hosel is at its most vulnerable. This is mostly caused by the use of a non-custom fitted iron where certain compensations (maybe due to shaft length and body height not ideal) in a swing occur. Also may be caused by incorrect swing plane.

Answer 2

Hitting the head against the ground, throwing the club, or backing over it with a golf cart are all ways you can break a shaft...but hitting the ground with the head on your swing is the most popular way.