Driver Poll & Feedback

[hangontight]

Fresh thread on what driver your junior is using. Please share age & any other info - why you choose that one, why you didnt like others, etc.

9 year old son plays 13.5* XR 16 with recoil F2. Creating too much spin and fitting showed he needs to be in 10.5 - 11.5*.

***Unfortunately, fitting options were limited to Callaway because that is what our shaft is tipped to. I know trying them all is ideal because each kid is different, but we dont have that option***

Obviously lots of TM use out there.... likely lean towards prior year(s) models for cost savings - i.e. M6, rogue, etc. I feel (and have read) that the Callaways tend to be a little draw biased (upright)...his miss is a hook, so maybe there is something with a more neutral lie that could be better.

[Metrocruiser]

10 year old boy, 59" ss72mph

Adams xtd 460 driver head set at 13°

Women's flex shaft.

Hitting it 190 ish and just past 200 yards with roll quite often.

Don't know what the spin is.

[MB19]

Both of my kids have Cobra Junior F9 Speedback drivers with Bassara e42 Lite shafts.

My 7 yo son's is set to 14* with the weights taken out, my 8 y.o. daughter's is set to 12.5*.

We had previously been through a few drivers before landing on the Cobras:

--old model Cleveland Launcher junior model driver, which was far too heavy for them.

--USKG Ultralight 51" and 54" models were a good entry for them into drivers that were light enough and the right length.

--Ping Prodi G driver was a nice upgrade, and the both kids hit it well. When I tried it head-to-head with the F9, though, it wasn't in the same league.

--Being able to make a shaft upgrade through Cobra at no additional cost drew me to the F9 SB, but the performance sold me. Being able to adjust the loft, along with a huge sweet spot, sealed the deal. I bought one used and another on sale (along with trading the Prodi G in for decent $$$) when the SpeedZone model came out.

--After a USKG local tournament, one of the dads in our group highly recommended the Bassara e42 Lite shaft to me after our round. After watching his daughter (also using a junior F9 SB) bomb huge drives and shoot par, I figured I would give it a shot. My daughter's drives, after using the shaft for about a month, became more consistent and the loft gained from the shaft allowed her to drop down to 12.5*. My son's driver recently got upgraded to the same shaft (both shafts bought for under $30 each on eBay from the same seller), and although he doesn't swing quite as fast as his older sister, he's still usually within 10 yards of her drives.

[hangontight]

@MB19 I am intrigued by the F9. lots of great reviews, but yet I don’t recall seeing a single one at any tmnts. (Which doesn’t mean anything, but still) . It looks like the junior version is adjustable from 11 degrees up. I worry he would outgrow that too soon. Maybe I would get the 10.5 and change out the 14g weight for the lighter one , which looks like the only difference in the head between the junior and standard versions. Wish I had a place to demo, Looks like a great option.

[MB19]

When I was starting my dive into junior drivers back in the late fall, the thread I was following on here was heavy with recommendations on the Cobra junior F8 and F9 drivers. I waited for the used price to hit what I felt was rock-bottom, and I took the plunge into the experiment (even though the one I got was the 10-11 yo model, which has a 41.25" shaft). Even though the shaft was way too long for my son, she still choked up 3" on it and positively pummelled it with impressive consistency--considering that he had only been playing for about 8 months at that time.

Regarding the junior F9 head--yes, my kids will outgrow it in a few years and need a 10.5* and/or a 9*. Their swing speeds, now spiking early 70s and high 60s, will demand it when that turns into 80+. In my case, that seems like 18-24 months away for both kids. I'll ratchet that loft down to 11* and we'll get our money's worth with those gratis shafts Cobra will send us (unless another random golf dad tempts me with a shaft de jour--lol).

In your case, assuming your son is already approaching or eclipsing 80 mph, going with an adjustable 10.5 head seems very reasonable. I've seen several GBB Epic Star 10.5* drivers with Grand Bassara 39 shafts in the early $200 range on ebay and via Callaway pre-owned online over the past few months. The shaft alone is about worth that, but the loft isn't adjustable. I see a GBB Epic 10.5* with a Diamana Lite shaft for $205 shipped after discount codes, and that's adjustable. I see a womens Epic Flash 10.5 adj with an EvenFlow Green 45 shaft for $221 shipped after codes. These seem like good options to pair with your lightweight Recoil F2 shaft. These are killer options if you wish to stay with Callaway. I have a 9* GBB Epic SZ, and I like it. For some reason, though, I hit my old 9* Cleveland Classic XL 290 better--could be the shaft?

It's worth it to check sites like Global Golf's used section if you are looking to keep cost down. They've been liquidating M-series TMs at basement prices of late. M5 10.5* adjustable with a Bassara e43 Lite shaft (just one of many shaft choices available) in VG condition shipped to your door for $212.xx with all discount codes. Titleist TS2 with a Kuro Kage black DC senior shaft is about $192 shipped, 11.5* adjustable loft. Some pretty nice options in that price range.

 

[Golfingdawg19]

My daughter has a swing speed in the low 70’s and has been playing Cobra F9 junior driver for awhile. She does great with it and I can’t say enough about the Cobra clubs in general. I took her a few months back to get fitted for a driver thinking I could find a few extra yards. She hit every major brand and none were any better than her Cobra. The fitter told me at the end that until she got to 80mph clubhead speed, I wouldn’t see a major difference with any driver. Basically she wasn’t swinging it fast enough to see a jump from one club to another. My buddy took his daughter to get fitted and found the same thing. My advice based on that is until your child hits 80mph, just go with what you can get a deal on and also make sure it isn’t too heavy for them.

[Bisonpitcher]

My son is 10 (about to turn 11). 56" tall and about 110 lbs. SS is about 80. He uses an XR16 10.5* (cranked up to 11.5* or 12.5* depending on conditions) with the stock Speeder 565 Evolution R-Flex cut down to 42". Hits it well (Carry about 180 avg. 205-215 total under normal conditions.) He hits it well, but its the only non-junior driver he has had (he just started getting serious about golf last summer), so nothing to really compare it to.

[GoDeacs]

Thanks to @MB19 reco I picked up the Cobra F9 for my 8 year old daughter. I took out all the weights, cut down to 36” and changed to the Wynn junior grip. It’s about as light as you can get. She picked up about 10-15 yards over the TS3 51 mostly with roll. She’s hitting it 145-150.

I think there maybe some better shaft options than the Cobra stock option but haven’t found anything reasonably priced yet.

[MB19]

I'm happy your daughter is getting good results with the F9, and I know how cool it is to watch that incremental progress happen right before your eyes with a change in gear.

Longtime posters on this board were so high on this driver that it went a long way in selling, so shout out to them as well.

I picked up both my son's and daughter's Bassara e42 Lite shaft up from the same eBay seller for under $30 shipped. The Texas-based seller has one available now, I think it is shipped at 41".

If your daughter is hitting with the Cobra shaft that well, maybe just roll with that one until she outgrows it, though?

[hangontight]

@MB19 It looks like the e42 shaft flex is a Light/Senior combo. By chance do you or anyone have any comparison notes vs. Recoil F1 and F2? My son is in F2 now...its been a good shaft and no complaints but curious to other options. Comparing specs, the weight on the F2 is a few grams heavier and the torque on the F2 is a little lower. Have you or anyone else tried either?

[hangontight]

HOw about Diamana M+ Green. 44 grams in Senior flex. Anyone Try?

[MB19]

My experience buying aftermarket driver shafts is limited to the Bassara e42 Lite, but it seems like the Recoil shafts are wildly popular for our niche as well. As far as comparing head-to-head, I really have no idea other than it seems that the next step for you seems like it could be something stiffer than these very light shafts.