Will a swing from a golf club break a leg bone?

Basenjichaos

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I am working on a scene where I need my female character incapacitated in such a way that she is assumed to no longer pose a threat of escape. My thought was that since this takes place in the home of a social climbing couple, my guy could grab a golf club (because OF COURSE they have a club membership) from the bag left by the door, chase the much smaller person down, swing the club, and break her shin-ankle-whatever. Is this plausible? I don't play golf. Would a club do that, and if so what kind? Would it break the club?

What else might I need to know?
 

cornflake

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Sure. Wouldn't break the club; they're metal. I'd use a wood, personally, but it's about the force and the angle, not so much the particular club. I mean it's possible, not guaranteed, thus it's not like 'this club would, this wouldn't. I think you'd be likelier to crack an ankle than a tibia though.

Fun sports anecdote: an NHL goaltender who was known for using his stick as a weapon also had a thing about being touched while he was preparing to play. One night, he was standing in the runway waiting to step onto the ice, when the team doctor's wife happened to be there, and patted him on the shoulder, like, 'good game.' He didn't look back to see who it was, just swung his stick back at the person -- and broke her arm. Goal sticks are heavy, but, back then, wooden.
 

raelwv

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I would think so long as the club head itself hits bone, it certainly could. Maybe not so much the shaft, since it's less strong and flexes a little bit.
 

blacbird

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You need to be more specific about the bone. You wouldn't likely break the humerus, which is protected by a thick sheath of muscle, but the tibia (shin) is a near certainty, if nailed directly. If you hit the back of the lower leg, you might break the fibula, which is a common football injury.

caw
 

Roxxsmom

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You need to be more specific about the bone. You wouldn't likely break the humerus, which is protected by a thick sheath of muscle, but the tibia (shin) is a near certainty, if nailed directly. If you hit the back of the lower leg, you might break the fibula, which is a common football injury.

caw

I think you meant femur, since the humerus is in your upper arm, but I also doubt a golf club swing alone would break the femur in a healthy, active adult with normal bone density. The tibia is a possibility, though. It would certainly hurt like hell.
 

Haggis

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Absolutely it could. Clubhead speed can get over 100 MPH. Prolly not for me anymore, but back in the day. I'd also be inclined to use an iron rather than a wood because you'd have the same force but spread across a narrower plane. I don't speak physics, but hopefully you know what I'm talking about.
 

talktidy

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Do you need the character totally lucid and in command of herself? If not you could have the bad guys whack her over the head. That should make her less mobile.
 

blacbird

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I think you meant femur, since the humerus is in your upper arm, but I also doubt a golf club swing alone would break the femur in a healthy, active adult with normal bone density. The tibia is a possibility, though. It would certainly hurt like hell.

Yes, correct, dammit. I meant femur. Nouns are such bastards to get correct. Verbs too, the sonsabitches.

caw
 

neandermagnon

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The tibia doesn't break that easily - at least in my personal experience. Back in the days when I used to play ice hockey, while clowning around on the bus on an away game, I fell from the ceiling of the bus (don't ask!) onto one of the arm rests of the chairs below, which was thick plastic (it felt like steel) and my tibia took the entire impact. While it certainly felt like it ought to be broken, it wasn't. There was no damage at all besides bruising. I could walk within about 2 minutes (albeit limping because it bloody hurt). I'm female, fairly athletic with good bone density and I'm not very tall. A less sporty woman and/or a taller woman's bones would probably break more easily (longer bones are easier to break and regular exercise, especially sports that involve strength such as ice hockey, increase bone density). It's not impossible to break someone's tibia with a blunt object if you hit them hard enough, but it would take a lot of force and there's a risk it won't work and they'd be able to walk away in a few minutes when the worst of the pain's died down.

It would make a lot more sense to me if he went for her ankles rather than her shins. Or maybe her knees. Joints are much more vulnerable to injury. For example, kneecapping someone - well there's a reason they went for the knees rather than the leg bones and that is that you're much more likely to do sufficient enough damage to incapacitate someone. Plus joints have ligaments and tendons - injuries to these can be just as incapacitating as broken bones. So while it's not impossible to incapacitate someone by whacking them in the shins, it's a lot more likely to work if he goes for the knees or ankles. Or both.

In the film version of Misery by Stephen King, Annie incapacitates the main character by smashing his legs up, (albeit only because they didn't have the CGI technology for her do do what she did in the book, which was way worse).
 

GeorgeK

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Fibula, easily, patella, reasonably easy, tibia, not so much, femur almost never, but of course the victim could have osteoporosis and the attacker could be a very good aim with a strong swing.

Broken tibia or femur and they will not be walking away. Broken Fibula would hurt to run on it but someone really driven could do it. The fibula doesn't really provide much of any structural strength in terms of standing or walking but some muscles are attached to it so it will hurt when the muscles pull on the broken bone
 
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Joseph Schmol

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Grab the sand wedge. It's the heaviest metal club and will do the most damage.
 

Jason

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The tibia doesn't break that easily...

Where was this knowledge my freshman fall semester, spring semester, and sophomore fall semester of college. Worst friggin luck of my collegiate days :e2beat:

LOL
 

GeorgeK

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Where was this knowledge my freshman fall semester, spring semester, and sophomore fall semester of college. Worst friggin luck of my collegiate days :e2beat:

LOL
Dude, get a bone density scan
 

autumnleaf

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How old is your character? Osteoporosis is fairly common in postmenopausal women and can lead to bones that break easily.
 

Tsu Dho Nimh

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If you hit the middle of the lower leg with a full golf swing at right angles to the bone, your chances of breaking the tibia are quite good. Especially if the target is standing with their weight on that leg.