If he's making the same mistake I did, it was reeling in the swivel so that the swivel made it past the guide (i.e., below the rod tip).
Then casting out...when the swivel goes past the guide on the cast...kabloeey. Cracked rod tip.
I did this on a brittle SiC tip, which resulted in a chipping that I didn't noticed. Every cast I was breaking off and I couldn't figure out why until I inspected the guide.
