Making clubs for juniors

[84425]

I know there s a junior specific section on the forum, but thought i'd pose the question here as 1) i think most in this section will have had some experience with being a parent and maybe even getting their kid(s) to start playing golf, but more importantly 2) people are a bit more open minded about tinkering with (old) golfclubs .

My son (10) is somewhat interested in playing golf. Has accompanied me to the driving range a while ago and likes to hit the ball as far as possible with clubs clearly not meant for him (standard length where he is about 1,45 m (or 4'7")). Which made me think that he would probably enjoy it even more if the clubs 'fit' him better. I have a couple of spare sets laying around, so was thinking of pulling a wedge shaft and installing it in a 5 or 6 iron, not sure if that would still be too long though. That way he could hit real clubs instead of some junior clubs (most of which are Game improvement or super game improvement). Would also love to hand him a junior hickory mashie, but doubt I'll be able to find one locally and costs probably to high when i have to take shipping into account (to the Netherlands).

Does anyone here have any experience changing 'regular' irons into junior clubs? I have an old Slazenger Hogan Precision set that is missing one or two irons, but i think the shafts are pinned, so probably not the best choice as that would mean i would have to get rid of the original shafts and have to buy 'new' shafts to fit them. I probably need to get some womens grips and add a it of lead to the heads when i install shorter shafts. Anything else i need to think of?

[Stephen8802]

Get pipe cutter at Home Depot, cut down the shafts that are already in the club, regrip, and you are good to go. That's what I did when I was a kid and I did that for my kids.

 

With my kids, I used some clubs I had and then re-shafted them back to full size later. Rather than do it with clubs you may want to use yourself later on, you can pick something up at Goodwill at $3 a club, and even find some stuff with weaker shafts, and use those. You may have to hit more than one thrift store to find the right clubs, but you will find some stuff that's good enough for a junior pretty easily. Alternatively, many of the Goodwills I've been too have some junior stuff that is already the same size.

 

[raggal62]

I would add that generally speaking, juniors require sufficient loft to achieve successful results. Getting the ball airborne is essential. Stay away from low lofted drivers and any long (2,3,4) irons. Additionally heads with a low COG will be beneficial.

[Bigarch]

I'm going to second what others have said. The toughest part is finding a set with a shaft that is light enough and flexible enough that your son can swing them. The easy part is cutting them down to the length he needs and then putting grips on. At his age, he is going to start growing very fast. By age 13 or 14 he might be into a men's regular length and flex. So for right now, if you could find a short set with 5-7-9 iron, some wedges, putter and a driving club...that would get him by for a season or two. In a couple years, depending on his interest level, you can reshaft what he has or look for a cheap full set that will get him through his teenage years. Good luck and congratulations on having a son that's interested in the game!

[84425]

Thanks everyone. As the Hogan set is allready missing a couple of clubs (and it's the set i learned the game on age 13/14 ) i decided to take the 6 (and 8) iron first and cut it a little bit shorter. Now i just need to find out how much to cut off :-)

[wildcatden]

Here are the technical specs for US Kids Golf clubs from 2014. You'll find some lengths of the various clubs that they use in their kid specific clubs.
USKG-2014-TechnicalSpecs.pdf
Alternatively, you might just want to find a used set of US Kids Golf clubs on eBay and have at it.

[deetsal]

The nice thing about older clubs that the are soft and easy to bend. My son won many US Kids tournaments and top 5's in the northeast when he was 6-8 with Wilson Spartenback irons from the 80's. I used light steel shafts and the slightly lighter heads that were offered in woman's versions. being soft forged steel I was able to bend 3-6 degrees for loft and lie. Sure the chrome cracked but he hit them so much better then his US Kids clubs. jut a thought for anyone with an youth that is a good player. He loved the feel of them.

[Bigarch]

That's actually a great idea @deetsal.

[WristySwing]

If you've got some money to burn, I would suggest going to a good local fitter and get some decent component heads like Maltby made for him in alternating heads and a couple of hybrids. Most of these types of club builders have some value line of shafts to work with that won't break the bank. If he's only 10, he's definitely going to grow but he won't become much stronger for a couple of years until puberty sets in. So I would look to something in the 50 or 60g range in graphite with lighter spec'd heads and get some lighter weight grips (GolfPride 25, Winn Lites, Ping undersize, etc.). You could also do the same with Ping, request lighter SW but they will be significantly more cost prohibitive. For the lengths, just get them about 3/4" too long to let him grow into it a bit. If he does out grow that, it's a simple extension and regrip job from that point with another 1/2" or so.

I too learned on the cut down method and it worked out fine but there is so much better tech out there now to help a junior improve faster and enjoy the game more, I say take full advantage of that. Or you can always go the US Kids/Ping Kids route. The stuff is very solid. I work out of a fitting studio and most young kids, unless the parents really want to spend big bucks, we push them towards that stuff as the technology works and they really do have the junior golfer in mind first and foremost.