excellent
thank you
Golf club shafts....
So, here in Barb City we started with some aluminum and fiberglass ski shafts. The fiberglass self destructed pretty quickly the aluminum holds up pretty well. Problem is hard to get ski pole shafts within a 50 mile area. Got my hands on some cheap steel, made in the USA driver shafts. Used a grinder to cut a nick into the pole then used a drill press to push rest of the way through. Lightish, shiny, and seems like when you wallop them the flex in the shaft gives a little extra push. Seem to be a little tougher on the hands and flexes when you use it to support a lean (though flexes tight back) Has anyone else tried this type of shaft? (Got the shafts through a friend who quit a golf course)
I've used golf-shafts since I started a couple of years ago.. first 'cos I had no choice then because I preferred the feel. In my experience they either break in the first 2 games or last for ages. (I had one for 18 months that went missing at the worlds...still going strong somewhere in europe?) They do flex nicely and give me extra pop on some shots. Not really enough to recommend them over anything else but I prefer them.
ps. I tend to go for old school 8 irons for good strength to weight.
These were cheap (read "thick") and they have been run over, knocked off the fifth floor of the parking garage and walloped in various ways, not to mention supporting the weight of a 240lbs rider leaning against it, though there was some flex. We scored some more NOS ski poles so going to cut them down to same specs as the golf club shaft. Then spend full day to compare and contrast. Local bike shop threw our way some old grips which when slid over the hockey tape stay nice and snug, beef up the width of the grip, and take some of the sting out of the steel.
Okay, so the company that they came from is Diamond Tour Golf, based here in Dekalb, il. Looks like on the website the shafts are about USD 5.
Here is the link (http://www.diamondtour.com/dt-lite-iron-shaft-p-468.html).
The specs are
Available Flexes Bend Point Launch Angle Shaft Length Weight (gr) Tip Diameter Butt Diameter Parallel Tip Section
Senior/Lady Low High 40" 123 .370 Parallel .56 13"
Regular/Stiff Mid Mid 41" 130 .370 Parallel .605 12"
Flex Chart Flex 5 Iron Swing Speed (MPH) Carry Distance (Yards)
Lady 40-60 100-135
Senior 60-70 135-155
Regular 70-80 155-175
Stiff 80-90 175-195
looking at these numbers I realize I was mistaken when I said driver. They are iron shafts. There is definetly a nice pop and flex in the swing that I do not feel with the aluminum ski poles. (I broke the mallet head on mine and so started playing with a ski pole till the other one is prepped.
After drilling the head (since the whole shaft tapers to the end it is nice because after going through the head with a smaller bit I use a borer (auger?") to widen the top whike keeping the bottom hole smaller so when I put the shaft in I hammer it through nice and tight) I mark where the drywall screw will go through the shaft and grind a hole through the steel (otherwise your drill bit or screw will burn out tryin to pierce the steel). Then I dip the tip in some water, squeeze in some gorilla glue with some sand mixed in inside the shaft, then pound in a 4 inch piece of dowel rod (though for one I dropped one of my girlfriend's old paintbrushes backwards through, since the brush handle is tapered it fit like a glove) let the whole thing sit for 12 hours to cure (the glue expands quite a bit so I figure with the sand in there then it will be more grippy as well) I put the head on and sink the screw.
If you are heading to Boston in January for the LockDown I would be more then happy to scoop some up (it is literally down the block) and bring them with.
Cheers
Tyler
The poles Drizz cited are most likely your best bet. Do a bulk order, build lots of mallets, share with friends.
Some other ideas...
SF has a guy using EMT conduit; the stuff contractors use for electrical wiring. It's readily available in hardware stores, around $1.50 per foot, generally sold in 10' sections. My guess is it has about zero flexibility and is a bit heavier than other polo shafts.
Nedderweevil has been playing great polo with bamboo shafts and 1.5" ABS heads. If you can build it right bamboo may be stronger and more flexible than aluminum. Not sure about availability of bamboo in DeKalb. Talk to Nedderweevil or Dabby on this board for info on construction -- I haven't tried one yet.
Just talked to my guy at a shop, he can get me the shafts for 2.20 (that is a 41 inch shaft)
SWEET!!!
I used to have one built with a putter shaft. It was straight shaft and not rifled (steps down in the shaft) like most iron and wood shafts. i would suggest against a driver or wood shafts, in golf those tend to have way more flex to them than an iron shaft. If you had to chose from an iron set try for the lower numbers (3-5) because they will be longer and usually more durable.
I went through a stage of using golf club shafts.
The steel ones (most old clubs) break pretty quickly but I found one alu club that was amazing and lasted ages. Super whippy and great for shots.
Eventually it died and seeing as they were hard to find I moved back to ski poles but I did love it while it lasted.
I was looking for ski poles at a local thrift shop and came across a golf bag full of headless, graphite golf shafts ($7 bought 10 and the bag...). The guy who sold them to me said they had been brought in with the heads all separated and someone grabbed up all the heads but left the shafts. He couldn't imagine what someone might want with ten graphite rods.
So many rolled eyes from my partner later, I had a mallet built up with a 2" ABS head, capped with a TPL cap...
I've yet to use it in game play. The overall build is super light and snappy.
I would suggest starting with a small drill bit, and progressively enlarge the mounting hole, as the graphite is easy to split. I slid some heat shrink tubing over the rod after drilling it out so that the rod was stiffer - and in case the shaft splinters, I don't blind or spear a friend (or foe)...
I'll let you know how it all works out when I post photos.
I am all for mallet to mallet contact that said my experience with is that Graphite is great right up to the point where someone catches you in goal not looking and you have full weight on the shaft, because they will cut the shaft in half. Graphite does very poorly with side impact. If you play with a group that does not have a lot of mallet to mallet contact it will last, you might fall in love with it but eventually it will become a liability in an important game when someone cuts your mallet down and you have to pick up the pieces and get a new mallet. Enjoy it while it last.
this topic has been covered several times in various threads on this site, but in case you missed:
most players (and by most i mean people who play regularly, travel for polo, and compete in tournaments) use aluminum ski poles as their only material for mallet shafts. a lot of people won't even use a pole unless it's 7075 aluminum. i have seen mallets made of various other materials, including golf clubs, at pickup sessions and smaller tournaments, but that was mostly in parts of the country that 1. either haven't been playing that long or 2. don't have access to ski poles. the consensus is that golf clubs are too weak to last more than a few matches. should you use them? sure. until they break and you get tired of replacing mallets every week. when that time comes, there are a few companies that sell aluminum ski pole shafts specifically for polo and they will ship them to your door:
ben's cycles (milwaukee, wi)
fixcraft (lawrence, ks)
1/8 inch (appleton, wi)
if what these companies have to offer seems too pricey, contact someone on here that lives in a place where used ski poles are easy to come by and work out a deal with them.
here are some threads that touch on your topic:
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/gear/2009/11/02/photos-of-good-ski-poles
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/gear/2008/07/07/where-do-you-score-you...
http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/gear/2008/11/18/this-is-the-mallet-i-u...
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carve. smash. eat shit.