Switching from US Kids TS lob wedge to Adult level professional wedge

[Swingthoughts]

I see a lot of the top youth players already using OEM, professional level lob wedges to chip with (Drive, chip & putt as well as top youth tournaments).    I have a junior player who is a very undersized 12 who is exceptional around the greens with the US Kids TS lob wedge with a graphic shaft.  A friend made him a lob wedge (Volkey) that is length appropriate with a steel shaft and took some weight out of it (not sure how or what that even meant).    Are there any informed people here who can tell me if they will play/feel dramatically different?   I am reluctant to move him into the new wedge given how well he performs with the current one.  I also wonder if the new wedge will give him more (especially in heavier rough).  Wondering if anyone has feedback or experience with this.

[BloctonGolf11]

The steel shaft scares me. What is his swing speed? My son is 11 but good size for 11 at 5'2". He plays Cleveland RTX-3 CB Wedges in a women's graphite flex.

 

If you want him to move to adult wedges, which I will say I think GREATLY improved my son's game, I would go that route or look at Sub 70 who will custom build with graphite shafts and cut to length!

 

Different point, I would be careful using primarily a lob wedge to chip with as this can be an issue later on. You should be working with all wedges but typically for a junior a lob is not the go to choice.

Edited May 13, 2021 by BloctonGolf11

[Kcct82]

I think the TS3 wedges are great. With the right technique an 8 year old can stop the ball dead on 2nd hop out of the bunker. 10-20 yards chips will only roll 2-3 yards with a wide to wide (shallow) type chipping technique. In MY experience I’ve yet to see a situation where the TS3 wedges won’t do.  I don’t know, but maybe it’s different at DCP competitions? 

[Medson]

17 minutes ago, Kcct82 said:

I think the TS3 wedges are great. With the right technique an 8 year old can stop the ball dead on 2nd hop out of the bunker. 10-20 yards chips will only roll 2-3 yards with a wide to wide (shallow) type chipping technique. In MY experience I’ve yet to see a situation where the TS3 wedges won’t do.  I don’t know, but maybe it’s different at DCP competitions? 

I dream the day when my daughter can one or two hop chips/pitches. Currently, her roll is just “non-stop”. 

[mrshinsa]

If the TS3 wedges are working for him, why change? 

 

Will it feel and play different?  Yes

Will it be better?  Questionable, and only you can find out through trial and error.

 

FWIW, I've seen kids who change early, and went back.  

[killer21]

I think he will be ready to change very soon if not quite there yet.  My daughter just turned 12 and is practicing with light steel adult (Old nsp 970 ) in a vokey and cleveland wedges and seems to be handling them pretty well.   I think here kids clubs days have come to an abrubt end.  Likely settle on graphite shafts with adult wedge head.

[darter79]

Adult wedges only regret is not doing it sooner. Now depending on size and strength not sure I would go steel unless it was a Zelos line due to the weight. The key is to get the weight right if you can. Some will port vokeys to take even more head weight out but I didn't find that was really necessary to do.  I say move if the weight is right. 

[Golfingdawg19]

Darter is right on the weight being the key issue. I switched my daughter over to adult wedges at 10 or 11 years old. I got her the Cleveland Ladies wedges and she has used those ever since. Basically Cleveland takes the normal head and puts a light weight ladies flex graphite shaft in it. Callaway has a womens version of their wedges as well. When she got fitted for irons a few months back, the fitter told me that Cleveland and Vokey are the best wedges out there and thus you see the tour pros playing them. I would try and find a used Cleveland ladies wedge on ebay and let them play around with it and see how it goes. You can cut it down based on the Ping junior chart or the US kids specs.

[MikekiM]

We tried switching from Flynn wedges to adult wedges when he was 10 and they were too heavy.  So last year I picked up some Maltby wedges and drilled out about 20g of weight from the back and he's been using those since and loves them.

 

Have them equipped with some Flynn shafts and he says they have similar swing weight so he likes them.

They're forged with fancy grinds also.  We've bent them flatter to match Flynn lie angles as well.

I like that they're affordable and work great.

[MB19]

I also agree with Darter on this.  My daughter is pretty big and strong for 9.5 yrs, and I switched her first adult wedge—a ported S7 with a ladies shaft and undersized grip I found on eBay about a year ago when her brother inherited her Flynn set.  She got along well with that club, and hit a prodi g 56* alongside it through that summer.  
 

I got her a Ping Glide Forged 50* with a senior shaft I found on eBay for relatively cheap, and she also got on that club well.  By Winter I had her moved into a Glide Forged 56 and 60 (these with super light ULT 240 shafts)and experimented with giving her old Vokey and Prodi G to my son (turned 8 this week).  

Long story short, I pulled both the kids’ respective adult wedges from their bags and put the kids wedges back in.  It improved my sons’s short game, but not my daughter’s.  The Pings are back in her bag, but my son is going to keep the Flynn wedges in his bag through the summer.

 

Each kid is going to react to a club change differently.  Due to my daughter being stronger than my son, I think she can reap the spin and balance benefits of the adult wedges where my son can’t quite pull it off.