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Failed Experiments


leezer99

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Hey parents, how many of you have had a failed experiment with your junior golfer in regards to equipment, instruction or whatever? How quickly did you realize and abandon ship?

 

I had my son try a GAPR for a couple of rounds and realized he was less accurate off the tee with it than hitting a fairway wood or hybrid. Smother hooks or big blocks ensued so that thing ended up back in the used bin.

 

Any stories to share where you were like, "NOPE, that's not the answer!"

There's definitely something more important that I should be doing.
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Mallet putter for my son. We tried a Spider and it was very quickly a big no for him. For the way he aligns and putts he needs a blade or something in between (B60 style) with minimal or no alignment aid. After one round with the mallet we both agreed that was a big fat nope!

Strangely enough we tried a driving iron earlier in the year and shelved it quickly now he loves it. (Callway X Utility Prototype)

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Same here. Had the GAPR in the bag for maybe a day and sold it for a huge hit. That thing is a bit intimidating for a 9 yr old. Hell, I couldn't hit it very well either.

 

Going forward, I'm not going to change his bag up much. I pretty much know what works now and what doesn't. I've experimented a lot on my own and learned the hard way.

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I spent way too much on a very custom putter, I left it in her bag because of how much I spent for about 18 months or so thinking oh it will get better its custom fit. Changed her putter she start putting a heck of a lot better and scores drop. Now I test and retest equipment before pulling a trigger hard enough with juniors with how fast they grow.

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Speaking of wedges that brings up a mistake I made a few years ago now. I brought the lightest shafts and wedges I could find only to find out that they were actually too light . We blamed everything but the wedges only to find out a super heavy wedge with a stock shaft worked better. Ended up buying new wedges and never looked back.

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I truly believe you have to be big and strong enough to swing them to get any use out of them.

 

My kid went through the same thing as yours. I also believe that if it messes up their swing then their swing needs fixing anyway.

I am GenX.  If you really think I care about what you have to say, I don't.

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Always get fitted for clubs. It doesn't matter what you think, get fitted.

 

My kid is going from a players iron to a game improvement iron. Yep. He gets 10 mph more in ball speed, 17 yards more distance with 7i, more spin, higher elevation with a 29 degree 7i than a 35 degree 7i, and better dispersion.

I am GenX.  If you really think I care about what you have to say, I don't.

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Unless your getting free clubs it's almost impossible to have the correct shaft for a junior that is growing like crazy. Get the perfect shaft and the minute there used of the clubs and playing the next tournament you realize the shaft is not stiff or heavy enough. Anyone who has any experience fitting juniors and wants to protect your investment in clubs will oversize them and make them a bit too stiff.

I noticed that a lot kids between 10-13 generally have clubs that are not really fit well that are actually growing. I also noticed that a lot the kids who win at this age are actually late bloomers so they tend have clubs that fit to them which kind of makes sense . My daughters tends to be tall and pretty strong for her age and it has very unique challenges..

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This is true of essentially any sport from baseball, to golf, to running, to football. Growth spurts throw everything out of whack for a kid. I am much more a running coach than golf coach and you see it all the time in our sport. Kids will go from being a state champion to dropping out of the top 10 because a growth spurt threw them all of whack. However, it is more pronounced in golf than any other because of the massive amount of equipment.

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I am not saying you should tinker and not get fit by a fitter. Just make sure the guy who does it works with juniors. Most fitters I used and know others have used all tend to fit a little longer and stiffer shafts then are ideal to allow some growth.

I am talking about younger kids though. If we are talking about older kids say 14-17 the growth they get are not going to as great and I have to believe that you can easily fit them with the correct equipment at that age.

One huge issue and a big reason a fitter helps is every shaft is not that same when it comes to stiffness. UST recoil regular may actually be a senior shaft in Project X shaft or vice versa. A lot OEM shafts have what I call Vanity stiffness because guys tend to want say they play stiffer shafts then what they really need.

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That's why you never judge it for stiffness, weigh is a better indication. Taking juniors out of it I can swing an X flex in steel at 105 but not at 135. Flex is one of the most over rated metics out there and I'm sure everyone will disagree. If you give me a senior at 45 and a ladies at 48, the senior will play softer.

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I think I agree with this assessment a lot and tend to look at the total weight more than anything too. I learned the hard way with those stupid junior steel shafts that were supposed be great in US kids clubs. The flex was good but boy they were heavy. It was an easy mistake to make when you listen to big box retailers salesman who pretend they do fittings.

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Fitter didn't get him the right shafts in the club and didn't check the lie angle. Everything is out on the toe in a quarter sized dot. He has had his Wilson's with the stiff shaft for about 6 months. He is not the longest of hitters and while he can hit them the clubs/shafts aren't helping him any. 7i is 35 degrees which on the flight scope says he is getting 141 average carry. 7i with his new Grandpa Irons (that is what he is calling them) is 158 carry with 10 mph better ball speed. While the Grandpa was a 29 degree loft, it actually elevated higher in the air and came down on a steeper decent with more spin and better dispersion. So much so it was hard to ignore. When you are playing 6700 yard courses those numbers are a lot. I don't think it was much the tech in the Wilson's as it was a poor fitting with the shaft. He is going to game the Big Bertha's until he hits his growth spurt and when he needs the Extra Stiff shaft will get him into players irons again.

I am GenX.  If you really think I care about what you have to say, I don't.

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