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Long time reader, first time post....

Those of you with kids who play in high level Jr events.... when kids transition for UL Us Kids drivers, what are most of them going to next?

 

Flynn shaft with OEM Head?

Which heads are most popular amongst better boys and girls? Seems as if head weight needs to get as close to 180-185 as possible!

 

 

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I think a lot depends on swing speed. Flynn shafts are a great way to experiment but no way are the best out there. My daughter who is 8 has better success using recoil f1 shafts (can find on eBay or Callaway for similar cost to Flynn) As far as heads go most heads these days are 190-205 with weights that can be adjusted to get the weight you are looking for. Not a great way to test heads with out shafts unfortunately. Ping, Taylor Made, Cobra all good options for juniors

 

However, the us kids ts3 driver is no joke. When we were at worlds it wasn't any shorter from an eyeball test on range then her ping setup. If you have a us kids demo give that a test drive as well. I'm not a fan of flynn driver at all. Very dead in my option vs the others we had and hit.

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For our standpoint my son is in between beginning and high level. He is what I would call an intermediate junior golfer (Averages somewhere in Mid 40s in practice rounds from USKids distances). At his age I was looking for two simple things in an OEM driver head for him: 1) Forgiveness 2) Confidence that he liked how it looked. To me the USKids TS2 driver was awful so we wanted to go OEM/Flynn combo and settled on a Callway XR16 due to the forgiveness and the fact that my son thought it looked really amazing and made him feel like a PGA Tour player and that is huge for a kid that age. As well, it was one of the lightest OEM offerings so I knew it would not fiddle up his swing.

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Check out this thread from the Junior Equipment section, link below. Use the search feature for to find more info. I know there is a lot of good info on several threads there that has been reviewed before. You can browse through that should be very helpful.

 

http://www.golfwrx.c...n-regular-head/

 

Quick summary of my experience with my 7 year old (8 in 2 weeks). After moving up from UL48 Driver.....

 

1- briefly had a TS51 (found at Play it again for $12!). Played well. Def longer than UL48, probably because tech and length

2 - Very briefly had a TS3 -51" that came with the iron set, so we gave it a shot. Very oddly, he hit huge slices with this club, even though his stock flight is a slight draw. It was weird, sitting in the closet.

3- After doing a lot of research and asking about 500 questions on this forum and to other members via PM, we settled on the Callaway XR16 head (used on ebay). It was lighter (189g I think) than some of the others and reportedly had good forgiveness & distance. We initially went with a Flynn Series 1 shaft at USKG 51" Length. It seemed too whippy and transfer to the ball seemed lacking. Then ordered the Flynn series 2(stiffer) shaft 2" longer. This was better, but still 'meh. Finally found the best combination with the Recoil F1 Shaft (used on ebay). Much better transfer to ball and dispersion was noticeably better. Averaged probably 15 Yards longer than USKG Tour Series off the tee. This is is current setup and still working well.

 

When we go to Regional and World tmnts, almost every kid in the 7 Year old division & up are playing OEM with either flynn shaft or some other Ladies or Sr. Flex. Undoubtedly half of these are doing it "just because", but certainly some have done some trial & errror. As darter mentioned, it is nearly impossible to do a proper fitting with these younger junior - nobody has shafts in these appropriate lengths to demo. its basically a trial & error game and you may end up with a closet full of unused shafts before it is all over. However, hopefully you will find some value in this forum to point you in the right direction and maybe even save some time & money.

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If you need to use Junior Shafts for a driver you best to stick with a driver made for a Junior. I personally think the TS3 and Flynn Drivers are pretty good for kids and a lot better then they were a few years ago. A few years ago there was a big different in just the materials of the drivers and kids drivers were literal junk. If you have the cheap US kids set look at getting the tour series as it a big step up.

 

There is no reason to jump to OEM driver unless they can swing as fast enough for a ladies shaft flex. Most women swing around 60-65mph some even less. If you kid is swinging 55 mph there just not generating enough club speed for a driver to matter much at all. Not only that if you swinging that slow your going to benefit from a lighter driver too.

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To the OP, lots of great input here from previous posters. Many have reported that prior generations of the USKG Tour Series drivers were not nearly as good as going to OEM. It seems that the new TS3 drivers from USKG are improved, but of course, not every kid will fit that driver so some results will not be good.

 

My 7YO son has had similar experiences to hangontight's (although we don't know each other personally). For reference, my kid turns 8 in 2 months.

 

1. When he turned 6, he played a USKG UL48 DV2 driver which came with his UL48 set. Hit it just fine.

 

2. At age 6.5, Dad finds a $15 TS51 Driver at Play-It-Again. Hits this even better than the UL48 DV2 even though he has to choke down an inch.

 

3. At age 7.25, moves on to Fly-Z+ adult head (ended up with no weights installed as the best setup after much trial and error) with Flynn JR2 shaft. Brief adjustment period but then hits it well in Summer Tour including his longest tourney drive of 160 yards (flat ground, center strike on face, quality swing). Even with the good driving, the Flynn JR2 shaft is too whippy and did cause dispersion issues IMHO.

 

4. Went looking for a new shaft and ended up finding a great deal on a Cobra BioCell Junior Driver and three (3) Cobra Junior Shafts (39", 41" & 43") on eBay for $150. He chokes down a couple inches on the 39" shaft with the BioCell Jr driver and has increased his maximum drive to 170 yards now. A poor drive (mishit on clubface, bad swing, etc...) is now anything less than 150 yards. Fly-Z+ head has been put on shelf and will come back to it when his swing speed hits 72+mph.

 

I should add that while equipment does help IMHO, we have been working on his swing speed methodically all of this time. We are on our 3rd cycle this year of around a 2-3 week period where I have him swing speed training club 3-4/week. We also focus on hitting it as far as we can (and as straight and best trajectory as we can) every time we hit the range. In addition to all of that, we play lots of other sports (baseball, basketball, swimming, tennis).

 

Anyway, all of this my experience and opinions. Not sure where you are located, but often you may find others from this forum around you with similar age kids that might be willing to let your kid take some swings with their driver setup at the range.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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Ts3 driver will have less carry but more overall distance than OEM. Just a low spinning driver that runs forever.

 

We've never been on a launch monitor to compare both of them , but for my son the XR16/Recoil Combo has both further carry and total distance than the TS3 (considering when he hits them both well). TS3 seems to launch too high. I am not a clubfitting expert, but the loft on the TS3 is 17* compared to 13.5* for the XR16.

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Long time reader, first time post....

Those of you with kids who play in high level Jr events.... when kids transition for UL Us Kids drivers, what are most of them going to next?

 

Flynn shaft with OEM Head?

Which heads are most popular amongst better boys and girls? Seems as if head weight needs to get as close to 180-185 as possible!

Welcome to the Forum.

- You have got some very good advice already but I know it would more beneficial if we knew a little more about you child's age/swing speed etc.

 

We went from ULs to Tour Series to Cobra Jr (did not like that), so moved back to TS then to TM R15 with Flynn shaft then a Flynn Driver and now we are on a Rogue with Recoil ladies shaft cut to his length etc.

 

A lot of these upgrade/downgrades changers were basically me buying second stuff on ebay and putting together; the hope was that he would gain that elusive long drive :).

 

For us, it was only after my son turned 10-11 did we notice a significant different between the TS, Flynn and OEM.

 

In terms of narrowing down a OEM driver, I bought a bunch of shaft online and then used the demos at my club to figure out which driver to purchase.. I think that is a personal choice but he hit the Rogue way better than a M4, Cobra or Ping.

 

Enjoy the journey but do not be disappointed if your child prefers the UL to the new driver :).

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Long time reader, first time post....

Those of you with kids who play in high level Jr events.... when kids transition for UL Us Kids drivers, what are most of them going to next?

 

Flynn shaft with OEM Head?

Which heads are most popular amongst better boys and girls? Seems as if head weight needs to get as close to 180-185 as possible!

Welcome to the Forum.

- You have got some very good advice already but I know it would more beneficial if we knew a little more about you child's age/swing speed etc.

 

We went from ULs to Tour Series to Cobra Jr (did not like that), so moved back to TS then to TM R15 with Flynn shaft then a Flynn Driver and now we are on a Rogue with Recoil ladies shaft cut to his length etc.

 

A lot of these upgrade/downgrades changers were basically me buying second stuff on ebay and putting together; the hope was that he would gain that elusive long drive :).

 

For us, it was only after my son turned 10-11 did we notice a significant different between the TS, Flynn and OEM.

 

In terms of narrowing down a OEM driver, I bought a bunch of shaft online and then used the demos at my club to figure out which driver to purchase.. I think that is a personal choice but he hit the Rogue way better than a M4, Cobra or Ping.

 

Enjoy the journey but do not be disappointed if your child prefers the UL to the new driver :).

 

There is 4 years apart from my oldest daughter and younger daughter. 4 years ago the US Kids driver was complete junk we didn't know this and started to do tournaments and were severely outdriven with OEM drivers. With my younger daughter I did not think the US kids stuff was good but I tried out the new TS3 set in PGA superstore. There is a huge improvement in these irons.

 

Seeing my 7 year old play with them there is no Way I would put a OEM in her hands until she a few years older. For $500 it cheaper then trying to customize a set and it just fits and I don't have to wonder if I have set up something wrong. I wish this was the case 4 years ago it would have save me a lot agony over what to use. Although I did learn a lot about clubs.

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You can purchase a M3 head and take out 1 of the weights or buy two lighter weights and get to optimal head weight.

 

If you leave either weight out they are then non-USGA compliant.

 

Are you certain of this?

 

The conforming driver list from the USGA lists the M3 and makes no mention of the weights needing to be there. It doesn't even mention weights in the description of the clubhead. Aren't the weight then optional?

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You can purchase a M3 head and take out 1 of the weights or buy two lighter weights and get to optimal head weight.

 

If you leave either weight out they are then non-USGA compliant.

 

Are you certain of this?

 

The conforming driver list from the USGA lists the M3 and makes no mention of the weights needing to be there. It doesn't even mention weights in the description of the clubhead. Aren't the weight then optional?

 

You can't have an open hole going into the head. Must be covered. I'm too lazy to go pull up the official page from the USGA site. Putting in lighter weights would be acceptable.

It's no fun when the rabbit's got the gun.

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You can purchase a M3 head and take out 1 of the weights or buy two lighter weights and get to optimal head weight.

 

If you leave either weight out they are then non-USGA compliant.

 

Are you certain of this?

 

The conforming driver list from the USGA lists the M3 and makes no mention of the weights needing to be there. It doesn't even mention weights in the description of the clubhead. Aren't the weight then optional?

 

You can't have an open hole going into the head. Must be covered. I'm too lazy to go pull up the official page from the USGA site. Putting in lighter weights would be acceptable.

Removing weights doesn't leave any open holes.

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You can purchase a M3 head and take out 1 of the weights or buy two lighter weights and get to optimal head weight.

 

If you leave either weight out they are then non-USGA compliant.

 

Are you certain of this?

 

The conforming driver list from the USGA lists the M3 and makes no mention of the weights needing to be there. It doesn't even mention weights in the description of the clubhead. Aren't the weight then optional?

 

You can't have an open hole going into the head. Must be covered. I'm too lazy to go pull up the official page from the USGA site. Putting in lighter weights would be acceptable.

Removing weights doesn't leave any open holes.

 

Most driver heads are hollow, and weights are attached with a screw. If you remove the screw the driver will be left with a hole, unless the back of the screw hole is blocked out.

 

Looking at the M3, it looks like the weights are on a rail, and the driver shell itself is enclosed. In which case, you can take a out both screws and it should still be conforming.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update....Bought the TS 51 and it is longer than her UL 48, but not by much right now due to the fact she can't swing it as fast yet. One concern I have with trying a recoil or any other ladies shaft cutdown is the size of the grip...what are your thoughts on this for kids with smaller hands. US KIDS grips seem to be more appropriate. Again, UL 48 will be in the bag until late winter, just working ahead...

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My son has Winn Junior grips through the bag

 

My son is 8- plays USKG TS3-51’s W-3w , XR16/recoil combo . The Winn’s are a good size and no trouble getting it on the cut down recoil shaft. Really I thought the TS3 grips were narrower than even the UL48’s he came up from. He mentioned the same so we went to the Winn’s top to bottom and he likes them.

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Bored at work and you guys have been very helpful so far...question for the people who have used the Recoil F1 shaft...is it the real shaft (golfworks.com--$285) or a stock offering in a Callaway xr 16 (currently a recoil f1 on ebay for around $40).

 

Also anyone try this shaft in a TM head with at least one of the sliding weights taken out?

 

Trying to compare TS 51 vs a few different OEM shaft combos...I promise a full report much later!

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Bored at work and you guys have been very helpful so far...question for the people who have used the Recoil F1 shaft...is it the real shaft (golfworks.com--$285) or a stock offering in a Callaway xr 16 (currently a recoil f1 on ebay for around $40).

 

Also anyone try this shaft in a TM head with at least one of the sliding weights taken out?

 

Trying to compare TS 51 vs a few different OEM shaft combos...I promise a full report much later!

 

I bought a few on eBay for around $25/each. They already had Callaway Connector so assume it was Call stock shaft

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