Fitting for undersized 12 year old?

bwbw · January 26, 2018

I started this post in another thread, but wanted to get some additional feedback:

My oldest daughter is 12 years old, 57.5" tall, only around 60 pounds. She has been using US Kids TS 57" over the last year. From their measurement pole, she is close to the next size up (under 1" when we last checked). We are now considering a move up in clubs for her.

I let her swing an adult driver, but I do feel the shaft is too long for her. The club head weight is not an issue. In fact, I think if the shaft was the right size, the club head could almost be a tad heavier.

She's an above average player and working on getting better. The problem is, she is small and due for her growth spurt any moment. Her coach did suggest going longer, knowing she may shoot up soon (my wife is 5'7", so we expect her to be close to the same height). The question is: Do we simply move up to the next US Kids irons and get better metals, or do we do a complete fitting sessions, knowing that in a year we may be repeating the process?

tatertot · January 26, 2018

I started this post in another thread, but wanted to get some additional feedback:

My oldest daughter is 12 years old, 57.5" tall, only around 60 pounds. She has been using US Kids TS 57" over the last year. From their measurement pole, she is close to the next size up (under 1" when we last checked). We are now considering a move up in clubs for her.

I let her swing an adult driver, but I do feel the shaft is too long for her. The club head weight is not an issue. In fact, I think if the shaft was the right size, the club head could almost be a tad heavier.

She's an above average player and working on getting better. The problem is, she is small and due for her growth spurt any moment. Her coach did suggest going longer, knowing she may shoot up soon (my wife is 5'7", so we expect her to be close to the same height). The question is: Do we simply move up to the next US Kids irons and get better metals, or do we do a complete fitting sessions, knowing that in a year we may be repeating the process?

The problem is, at that age, it might not be a year ... It might be a month. I have no answers, but I do have a 13 year old playing select sports (soccer, he hates golf with a passion) and I have the the enormous food bills to prove it, despite his spindly looking 85 pound body. They grow overnight (literally, it seems like) and go from being coordinated to uncoordinated and back weekly. Keeping them fitted with clubs must be a nightmare.

Golfingdawg19 · January 26, 2018

I can give you some advice on the driver. My daughter is 56’ tall and weighs 65lbs and is 10. I bought her the Cobra Junior driver and chose the 39’ length. That was several inches longer than her old driver but she is used to it now. I would suggest getting her the Cobra Junior driver and getting either the 39 or 41’ length. On the irons, the issue is strength. Will going to an adult club head be to heavy for her? I’m not moving my daughter to adult irons until she gets stronger and can support the club better. The problem with her age is you can get her fit now and if she hits a big growth spurt, then you will have to get new clubs again. Cobra lets you get a one time free upgrade on the shaft so that is a big selling point.

maxamillian31 · January 28, 2018

I agree that the the Cobra drivers are great for juniors, especially with the free junior shaft upgrade. My older son used the Cobra Biocell Driver from age 10-12 and my 11 year old is currently using a Cobra also. I do believe that if you choose a driver with a relatively light weight head (like in this article: https://thejuniorgolfer.com/best-junior-golf-drivers/) and fit it with an Ladies or Senior Flex of the appropriate length (check out USKids lengths for general sizing) that you will get good results. See if you can find a Callaway V-series to try out, a great light weight driver that is reasonably priced and often comes with a Ladies or Senior shaft installed as that is their market. I don't recommend going with a full size/weight adult driver - once you install a light weight shaft it totally changes the swing weight to head heavy and is not good, especially for younger or smaller juniors.

As far as irons, unless she is clearly into the next size up I wouldn't be in a rush to move her into a longer set. A slightly shorter club is always better than a slightly longer club. Every coach or fitter we've ever spoken to has confirmed this.. That said, we did the first full iron fitting session for my son at 12 years old - and moved him from USKids TS to Ping i's - which have lasted 2 seasons with one shaft refitting in the last 2 years. That said, when we did the fitting he was already in the USKids 63's so he was moving into (almost) full size clubs anyway. We purposely left him with USKids TS until he reached the size and strength for adult irons. Even when he did move to the Pings, the performance between the USKids TS and the Ping's was only slightly better.

Obviously a professional fitting where you can try the USKids TS compared to adult clubs on a ladies shaft is ideal. However, if your junior is in the right fitting height for her current TS there is probably not a reason to move out - unless she really wants newer clubs. In general I think us, as golfing parents, are in a rush to move kids into new clubs before they need to - or are ready for them - in the hopes that it will improve their game and scores. If new clubs mean she's more motivated to play and practice then it might be worthwhile, otherwise probably not.

On a final note, my 11 year old is playing USKids TS since he has not been through his growth spurt yet. He's playing the 57's and is slightly tall for them (he's 60 inches in height, 90 lbs), but they still work great. Although he's big enough and strong enough now, we will likely move him into adult clubs when he's gotten just a little taller and stronger, likely this spring or summer. Take a look at the advise for junior club fitting in this article, quite technical in parts but has some good overall advise as far as size and swing speeds are concerned: https://thejuniorgolfer.com/junior-golf-club-fitting/

Hope that helps some, let us know what you do..!

Belmont148 · January 28, 2018

My son is 57.5" and plays the Cobra Jr driver with a 39" shaft. We have the 41" but probably won't move him up until late this summer. We use the TS57 set also, and I don't plan to change until he hits 60". Then we will go with adult heads in light flex graphite shafts. I would stick with what you have but get an OEM driver. The cobra driver uses the lighter ladies head, but paints it Unisex black so it is lighter. I wouldn't worry about getting adult clubs fit until she hits the 5'+ mark.

bwbw · February 17, 2018

Thanks all for the feedback.

We are still weighing options. I am highly considering just getting the TS3’s for her. But, for kicks and grins, I took her to our local driving range/club fitter. They let her swing an M4 7 iron with a ladies flex graphite shaft. Minus the fact that she is shaking off the winter rust still, she was hitting pretty decent. The shaft was still a bit long for her, but she could still make clean contact with it.

wildcatden · February 18, 2018

Thanks all for the feedback.

We are still weighing options. I am highly considering just getting the TS3’s for her. But, for kicks and grins, I took her to our local driving range/club fitter. They let her swing an M4 7 iron with a ladies flex graphite shaft. Minus the fact that she is shaking off the winter rust still, she was hitting pretty decent. The shaft was still a bit long for her, but she could still make clean contact with it.

A good club fitter (not just some schmoe wanting to make a sale at your local golf retailer) would tell you that she should stick with the TS57's for now. As stated in another post above about irons, a slightly shorter club is better than a slightly longer club.

On the Cobra F7, I have heard and read so many great things about this driver. My 7 year old swing one at the store and it sounded great and he surprisingly hit it well. But at 39", it was still far too long (he plays a 34" driver now at 49.5" tall). Given the TS57 driver is 38", I think adapting to the 39" Cobra would not be much of an issue. And of course, the free shaft upgrade that they offer is a great deal so you can move on up to the 41" shaft when she hits a growth spurt.

Note: If you go the Cobra F7 route, I'd pickup a an F7 fairway wood also, but I would try to find one of those used.