What clubs does you junior golfer carry in their bag

[HWGOLF]

My daughter is 5 - will be 6 in January and currently has a set of US Kids 45 inch ultra light clubs. She currently has a lofted fairway wood, 7 iron, pitching wedge and putter. I am curious to know when you started adding clubs to your kids bag and what clubs you added. I want to keep it super simple for now but am curious to hear peoples thoughts.

 

Thanks

[heavy_hitter]

Started adding clubs at 8.

 

It is will be different from kid to kid depending on development of their swing. Do not rush adding clubs to their bag.

[tiger1873]

At 5 an 6 it really doesn't matter how many clubs you the basic US kids have everything you except perhaps sand wedge. I haven't added anything yet to my 6 year old and probably will buy her a another couple of sets before she is old enough to get better clubs. They will outgrow whatever set you buy them at this age fast so don't worry about how many clubs.

 

My older daughter didn't have a full set until she could swing above 60mph on her driver and fit into ladies shafts. It will be very obvious that you need to get better clubs and full set. Even if you have a kid who can really swing don't expect this to happen until 9 or 10. Most kids are probably older then this too.

[Noles]

You have to figure it out with her. When my son was 6 we went to his first US Kids tournament with the US Kids starter set. I was amazed at what the other kids had. I didn't even know they made drivers for kids that age. I immediately added the driver and SW. Then slowly added single clubs based on what he seemed to need as we played. At age 7 when I got the next set it had 14 clubs in it. Although the 3 wood very quickly become a club that was never used.

[darter79]

It depends what you are going for. Is she playing in tournments? My daugther who is now 7 started earlier this year. Started with a us kid set, then there were a lot of gaps as her swing got better, added a driver, hybird, and then a SW. It helped especally the hybird. When she turned 7 I went with a full set wtih Flynn. Her scores dropped by 10+ strokes when I did that. I think it had to do more to do with being a bit more dialed in with yardages instead of only haveing a 6 and an 8 iron. Now she has Driver, FW, Hybird, 5-PW, GW, SW to me it closes the gap but only once they start stricking the ball better. Just my two cents.

[kekoa]

7 Yr old Veteran :taunt:

 

M2 Driver

M2 3 Wood

VT Max 5 wood

VT Max Hybrid

VT Max 5 iron

6-PW US Kids UL 48

56* VT Max Wedge

53* VT Max Wedge

Odyssey Works 1W Putter

[HWGOLF]

7 Yr old Veteran :taunt:

 

M2 Driver

M2 3 Wood

VT Max 5 wood

VT Max Hybrid

VT Max 5 iron

6-PW US Kids UL 48

[HWGOLF]

Kekoa - first off I can't figure out how to respond on here but I see your son on Instagram all the time. The kid is a stud and I am a fan. Seems like a great kid. I show my kids his videos and tell them to swing like that. We coming after you! J/K

[MikekiM]

Currently my 8yo is using

M2 Driver

Ping Moxie 3W

VT Max 5W

VT Max 5i

USK UL-48 6-SW

VT Max 52*

 

We've added clubs over the past year as we've found gaps in the yardage we wanted to fill.

[tiger1873]

I should also mention looking back I think I moved my older daughter up to too many clubs too soon. At the time I thought it made sense but even in tournaments if you are only 5 yards gap it isn't going to matter much.

 

Most kids play 9 holes so your not really talking about more then 100 to 200 yards a hole at a young age. Kids will learn to putt and vary there irons at a younger age if you have gaps.you may not score as low but at this age it not really a big deal.

 

Better clubs is a bigger deal then a full bag i my opinion.

[kekoa]

Kekoa - first off I can't figure out how to respond on here but I see your son on Instagram all the time. The kid is a stud and I am a fan. Seems like a great kid. I show my kids his videos and tell them to swing like that. We coming after you! J/K

 

LOL. Thanks!!! The more competition, the merrier. :superman:

[kekoa]

Currently my 8yo is using

M2 Driver

Ping Moxie 3W

VT Max 5W

VT Max 5i

USK UL-48 6-SW

VT Max 52*

 

We've added clubs over the past year as we've found gaps in the yardage we wanted to fill.

 

Mike, surprised to see that Jeffrey doesn't play a 56* or even a 60*.

[BloctonGolf11]

My son is big for a 7 year old (average 8-9 year old) and he is currently playing this set up:

 

Driver: US Kids 54 UL

3W: US Kids 54 TS

4h: US Kids 54 TS

6i-PW: US Kids 54 TS

52 and 56 Wedge: US Kids 54 TS

Putter: He bounces between a Nike Blade, a US Kids TS Sandhills Mid Mallet, or a Nike Ignite 006 Mallet

 

We moved up to the TS after a long discussion with his swing coach who said he thought it was ready. We keep him in the UL driver for now but he will probably move up to his TS driver pretty soon. He has pretty good gapping with his clubs so we like him having what is basically a "full setup."

[leezer99]

My son is big for a 7 year old (average 8-9 year old) and he is currently playing this set up:

 

Driver: US Kids 54 UL

3W: US Kids 54 TS

4h: US Kids 54 TS

6i-PW: US Kids 54 TS

52 and 56 Wedge: US Kids 54 TS

Putter: He bounces between a Nike Blade, a US Kids TS Sandhills Mid Mallet, or a Nike Ignite 006 Mallet

 

We moved up to the TS after a long discussion with his swing coach who said he thought it was ready. We keep him in the UL driver for now but he will probably move up to his TS driver pretty soon. He has pretty good gapping with his clubs so we like him having what is basically a "full setup."

 

You might consider finding an OEM driver if your boy is playing US Kids or any other tournaments.

[BloctonGolf11]

My son is big for a 7 year old (average 8-9 year old) and he is currently playing this set up:

 

Driver: US Kids 54 UL

3W: US Kids 54 TS

4h: US Kids 54 TS

6i-PW: US Kids 54 TS

52 and 56 Wedge: US Kids 54 TS

Putter: He bounces between a Nike Blade, a US Kids TS Sandhills Mid Mallet, or a Nike Ignite 006 Mallet

 

We moved up to the TS after a long discussion with his swing coach who said he thought it was ready. We keep him in the UL driver for now but he will probably move up to his TS driver pretty soon. He has pretty good gapping with his clubs so we like him having what is basically a "full setup."

 

You might consider finding an OEM driver if your boy is playing US Kids or any other tournaments.

 

Right now he prefers and swings better with the smaller head on the UL. Once he is ready to go back up to the 440 we may do some comparisons on the USKids TS Driver and some OEMs.

[heavy_hitter]

Taylormade M2 2017 Driver

Taylormade M2 2017 3W

Wilson FG Tour V6 Forged Irons 3-PW

Wilson PMP Wedges 52,56,60

Taylormade TP Collection Ardmore Putter

[Grimace45]

Started adding clubs at 10 and now a year later he has a full bag of 14 clubs. Cobra Driver and 3 wood, Adams hybrids (22* & 25*) the 5 - LW US Kids tour series 63". The issue is not really by age but when the child can start generating enough club head speed to benefit from different clubs. Most children do not see any difference in yardage between say a 7 iron and an 8 iron at a younger age without club head speed. My daughter is 8 and she is still playing a set of 6 clubs and a putter but staring to get to where she would benefit from another club or two.

[CTgolf]

Interesting to see many young kids hit OEM drivers/clubs

 

My son still uses TS clubs

 

At what age/size/swing speed do you think it makes a big enough difference? Are there advantages to playing OEM sooner/later?

 

I always figured if he could be competitive and win with TS then waiting to switch to OEM would only help him that much more in the future but would be open to switching sooner if there were other considerations and advantages other than just distance

[heavy_hitter]

Interesting to see many young kids hit OEM drivers/clubs

 

My son still uses TS clubs

 

At what age/size/swing speed do you think it makes a big enough difference? Are there advantages to playing OEM sooner/later?

 

I always figured if he could be competitive and win with TS then waiting to switch to OEM would only help him that much more in the future but would be open to switching sooner if there were other considerations and advantages other than just distance

 

Mine switched at 9/10. Wondered why everyone was 10-20 yards longer on a local tour because mine was always as long or in some cases longer than everyone there. Noticed after the 3rd tourney in the local that the kids out driving him were using OEM drivers and woods. Neighbor down the street had given me a Senior Flex RBZ 3W and it was just sitting in the garage. I cut it down that night. He went to an after school function the very next day (Monday) and was right around 10 yards longer with the cut down 3W than he was his US Kids Driver. I then had a used Jet Speed with a senior shaft two day aired to me from Global Golf.com. I cut it down on Thursday, he practiced with it on Friday, he out drove his opponents on Saturday and won. He was 15 to 20 yards longer with the Jet Speed than he was the US Kids. Been using OEM woods ever since.

[MikekiM]

Currently my 8yo is using

M2 Driver

Ping Moxie 3W

VT Max 5W

VT Max 5i

USK UL-48 6-SW

VT Max 52*

 

We've added clubs over the past year as we've found gaps in the yardage we wanted to fill.

 

Mike, surprised to see that Jeffrey doesn't play a 56* or even a 60*.

Hi SW is a 56*

[KMD]

Interesting to see many young kids hit OEM drivers/clubs

 

My son still uses TS clubs

 

At what age/size/swing speed do you think it makes a big enough difference? Are there advantages to playing OEM sooner/later?

 

I always figured if he could be competitive and win with TS then waiting to switch to OEM would only help him that much more in the future but would be open to switching sooner if there were other considerations and advantages other than just distance

 

Mine switched at 9/10. Wondered why everyone was 10-20 yards longer on a local tour because mine was always as long or in some cases longer than everyone there. Noticed after the 3rd tourney in the local that the kids out driving him were using OEM drivers and woods. Neighbor down the street had given me a Senior Flex RBZ 3W and it was just sitting in the garage. I cut it down that night. He went to an after school function the very next day (Monday) and was right around 10 yards longer with the cut down 3W than he was his US Kids Driver. I then had a used Jet Speed with a senior shaft two day aired to me from Global Golf.com. I cut it down on Thursday, he practiced with it on Friday, he out drove his opponents on Saturday and won. He was 15 to 20 yards longer with the Jet Speed than he was the US Kids. Been using OEM woods ever since.

 

We had the same experience moving to an OEM driver vs the US Kids. I got my son a Callaway XR used off of Callaway Preowned with a 45 gram senior shaft. Cut it down and he blew it at least 25 yards past the US Kids driver on his first swing. I have a scale in the garage for club building and the XR heads are 10 grams lighter than most.

 

I recently put a kids shaft in a Ping iBlade head to see how he would like it and it seems to have turned into an expensive mistake on my part. I built a 4 iron for him (he's 9 years old) and figured that if he could get that in the air he would have no issue with the rest of the set. Weight wise it was only about 5 to 10 grams heavier than the 5 iron in his US Kids Tour Series set. He fell in love with it - he was getting more height with it as compared to his 5 iron. Now he's begging me to pull all of the heads off my clubs to build him the entire set. At least it gives me somewhat of a valid excuse to go iron shopping for myself.

[tiger1873]

Interesting to see many young kids hit OEM drivers/clubs

 

My son still uses TS clubs

 

At what age/size/swing speed do you think it makes a big enough difference? Are there advantages to playing OEM sooner/later?

 

I always figured if he could be competitive and win with TS then waiting to switch to OEM would only help him that much more in the future but would be open to switching sooner if there were other considerations and advantages other than just distance

 

Mine switched at 9/10. Wondered why everyone was 10-20 yards longer on a local tour because mine was always as long or in some cases longer than everyone there. Noticed after the 3rd tourney in the local that the kids out driving him were using OEM drivers and woods. Neighbor down the street had given me a Senior Flex RBZ 3W and it was just sitting in the garage. I cut it down that night. He went to an after school function the very next day (Monday) and was right around 10 yards longer with the cut down 3W than he was his US Kids Driver. I then had a used Jet Speed with a senior shaft two day aired to me from Global Golf.com. I cut it down on Thursday, he practiced with it on Friday, he out drove his opponents on Saturday and won. He was 15 to 20 yards longer with the Jet Speed than he was the US Kids. Been using OEM woods ever since.

 

We had the same experience moving to an OEM driver vs the US Kids. I got my son a Callaway XR used off of Callaway Preowned with a 45 gram senior shaft. Cut it down and he blew it at least 25 yards past the US Kids driver on his first swing. I have a scale in the garage for club building and the XR heads are 10 grams lighter than most.

 

I recently put a kids shaft in a Ping iBlade head to see how he would like it and it seems to have turned into an expensive mistake on my part. I built a 4 iron for him (he's 9 years old) and figured that if he could get that in the air he would have no issue with the rest of the set. Weight wise it was only about 5 to 10 grams heavier than the 5 iron in his US Kids Tour Series set. He fell in love with it - he was getting more height with it as compared to his 5 iron. Now he's begging me to pull all of the heads off my clubs to build him the entire set. At least it gives me somewhat of a valid excuse to go iron shopping for myself.

 

Yes OEM clubs make a huge difference. If you play tournaments and don't use OEM clubs your kids will simply be having a hard time keeping up on the Tee and shorter then everyone else.

 

The move to OEM clubs will make you switch out everything very quickly because they will gain a huge advantage. A lot people will tell you to wait. What makes it harder is waiting probably makes a lot sense in the big picture. But at the same time who wants to see their kids lose tournaments because they didn't invest in equipment that will give them an edge. Sometimes if you want to compete that is the price a person needs to pay.

 

This is why sometimes you need to take a step back before you buy clubs and ask what are you trying to accomplish before you actually go out and buy a new set.

[CTgolf]

Interesting to see many young kids hit OEM drivers/clubs

 

My son still uses TS clubs

 

At what age/size/swing speed do you think it makes a big enough difference? Are there advantages to playing OEM sooner/later?

 

I always figured if he could be competitive and win with TS then waiting to switch to OEM would only help him that much more in the future but would be open to switching sooner if there were other considerations and advantages other than just distance

 

Mine switched at 9/10. Wondered why everyone was 10-20 yards longer on a local tour because mine was always as long or in some cases longer than everyone there. Noticed after the 3rd tourney in the local that the kids out driving him were using OEM drivers and woods. Neighbor down the street had given me a Senior Flex RBZ 3W and it was just sitting in the garage. I cut it down that night. He went to an after school function the very next day (Monday) and was right around 10 yards longer with the cut down 3W than he was his US Kids Driver. I then had a used Jet Speed with a senior shaft two day aired to me from Global Golf.com. I cut it down on Thursday, he practiced with it on Friday, he out drove his opponents on Saturday and won. He was 15 to 20 yards longer with the Jet Speed than he was the US Kids. Been using OEM woods ever since.

 

We had the same experience moving to an OEM driver vs the US Kids. I got my son a Callaway XR used off of Callaway Preowned with a 45 gram senior shaft. Cut it down and he blew it at least 25 yards past the US Kids driver on his first swing. I have a scale in the garage for club building and the XR heads are 10 grams lighter than most.

 

I recently put a kids shaft in a Ping iBlade head to see how he would like it and it seems to have turned into an expensive mistake on my part. I built a 4 iron for him (he's 9 years old) and figured that if he could get that in the air he would have no issue with the rest of the set. Weight wise it was only about 5 to 10 grams heavier than the 5 iron in his US Kids Tour Series set. He fell in love with it - he was getting more height with it as compared to his 5 iron. Now he's begging me to pull all of the heads off my clubs to build him the entire set. At least it gives me somewhat of a valid excuse to go iron shopping for myself.

 

Yes OEM clubs make a huge difference. If you play tournaments and don't use OEM clubs your kids will simply be having a hard time keeping up on the Tee and shorter then everyone else.

 

The move to OEM clubs will make you switch out everything very quickly because they will gain a huge advantage. A lot people will tell you to wait. What makes it harder is waiting probably makes a lot sense in the big picture. But at the same time who wants to see their kids lose tournaments because they didn't invest in equipment that will give them an edge. Sometimes if you want to compete that is the price a person needs to pay.

 

This is why sometimes you need to take a step back before you buy clubs and ask what are you trying to accomplish before you actually go out and buy a new set.

 

I still struggle with whether or not giving my son every advantage to try and win at a young age is the best thing to do for his long-run development.

 

He is winning tournaments (albeit in the less competitive northeast) with the TS equipment. Does it make sense to hold off upgrading to the absolute best equipment that will maximize distance?

[tiger1873]

 

 

I still struggle with whether or not giving my son every advantage to try and win at a young age is the best thing to do for his long-run development.

 

He is winning tournaments (albeit in the less competitive northeast) with the TS equipment. Does it make sense to hold off upgrading to the absolute best equipment that will maximize distance?

 

If he can win with TS equipment I would hold off for now. No need to upgrade yet unless the current clubs do not fit him. Plus if you live in the northeast your not going to play golf for a while so I would wait until spring to worry about it. If you need to buy a new set then think about possible getting him the best equipment that fits at that time.

 

If you were down south or looking to compete nationally though your going to need to look at better clubs so he doesn't get left behind.

[Thug Hunter]

Have fun with your kids and don't make this a job for them. I hope they don't burn out like I did with baseball. Don't push them and live vicariously through your kids.

 

Just felt the need to respond with this based on some of the responses.

[Yelwar]

What shafts are you guys using for the juniors who are using OEM irons? I'm thinking about new irons myself and thought I'd reuse my 714 AP2 heads for my son, but I haven't really seen aftermarket junior iron shafts. He plays Flynns now and I know Mike sells shafts, but I'm curious what others have used.

[KMD]

What shafts are you guys using for the juniors who are using OEM irons? I'm thinking about new irons myself and thought I'd reuse my 714 AP2 heads for my son, but I haven't really seen aftermarket junior iron shafts. He plays Flynns now and I know Mike sells shafts, but I'm curious what others have used.

 

I just ordered a set of Mike Flynn's shafts for the set I am building my son. I don't know of any other junior specific aftermarket shafts and have used either ladies or lightweight senior shafts for other projects.

 

Keep in mind that Flynn shafts are .370 (as opposed to .355). I checked and made sure that a .370 would fit before ordering.

[leezer99]

What shafts are you guys using for the juniors who are using OEM irons? I'm thinking about new irons myself and thought I'd reuse my 714 AP2 heads for my son, but I haven't really seen aftermarket junior iron shafts. He plays Flynns now and I know Mike sells shafts, but I'm curious what others have used.

 

Kuro Kage TiNi in A flex for my son's AP1's.

[tiger1873]

What shafts are you guys using for the juniors who are using OEM irons? I'm thinking about new irons myself and thought I'd reuse my 714 AP2 heads for my son, but I haven't really seen aftermarket junior iron shafts. He plays Flynns now and I know Mike sells shafts, but I'm curious what others have used.

 

Kuro Kage TiNi in A flex for my son's AP1's.

 

Kuro Kage shafts are great and hard to beat if your looking for something lightweight If you start looking there are a lot shafts out there and very lightweight. If you are needing to buy junior shafts then you really should not be buying OEM clubs. If a kid can swing above 60 mph then buying women's flex will work.

 

The only kids I know that were fitted with OEM clubs are lefty's because it used to be hard to get the better kids clubs for them. I don't believe that is an issue anymore.

[Yelwar]

What shafts are you guys using for the juniors who are using OEM irons? I'm thinking about new irons myself and thought I'd reuse my 714 AP2 heads for my son, but I haven't really seen aftermarket junior iron shafts. He plays Flynns now and I know Mike sells shafts, but I'm curious what others have used.

 

Kuro Kage TiNi in A flex for my son's AP1's.

 

Kuro Kage shafts are great and hard to beat if your looking for something lightweight If you start looking there are a lot shafts out there and very lightweight. If you are needing to buy junior shafts then you really should not be buying OEM clubs. If a kid can swing above 60 mph then buying women's flex will work.

 

The only kids I know that were fitted with OEM clubs are lefty's because it used to be hard to get the better kids clubs for them. I don't believe that is an issue anymore.

 

Being lightweight is certainly part of it but length was the other factor I wasn’t sure about. He is 10, so even the length of a woman’s shaft for irons is going to be too long. I think he will make it through the fall and next spring with this set assuming no major growth spurt. So this would be more of a the 11/12 year old set and I am just trying to think ahead.

 

My other pain is his younger sister is a giant for her age so this current set probably won’t work as hand me downs as she is as big as he is!