Junior driver issues

machine_cat · July 5, 2021

My daughter is 11 y/o. She has played golf since 3 years ago and played in the local tournaments since last May. In April, she changed her golf clubs from Top flite flawless (petite) set to Costco Callaway Edge women set. We saw an immediate improvement in driving distance and consistency. Her driving distance was 180~200 yd at that time. Then she began to develop bad slices on her driver and kept losing distance during tournaments. Her driving distance dropped to 140~160 yd because she tried to avoid the ball sliced into woods on the right side. I discussed this issue with her coach and the coach helped her make some corrections. The distance now is back to 180~200 yard but all driving shots are either fade or slice or straight to the left. She may hit one straight to the middle of the fairway and reach 200+ yards occasionally but she cannot repeat it. Meanwhile, her 5-H is about 150~170 yd and much more consistent than the driver during tournaments. Today, I asked her to hit 5 balls from the tee box with 5-H without the tees during practice. We found out all five balls were on the fairway and the average distance was better than the driver we just hit and the longest one passed 200 yards which she could not do it with the driver now.

I have never watched and played golf or even stepped on golf course before my daughter began to learn golf. All my golf knowledge is from my daughter, youtube, and the posts from here. Can somebody explain to me if the above issues make sense to you? Thanks. I am thinking let her use 5-H instead of the driver in the next tournament to see what will happen.

ShortGolfer · July 5, 2021

The driver's loft is just 11.5, which is too low for her swing speed. I'd suggest driving with a 3W which is higher lofted.

Many golfers drive with a 3W when they have driver issues. The loft of a 3W may be pretty close to what she needs.

I bought a new driver because I wanted the big head of a modern driver and the loft of a 3W. I now have a 12 degree 460cc club

that can be adjust to 14 degrees of loft. My 3W has 15 degrees of loft, and my old driver had 13. The driver shaft is easily removed.

If my swing speed gets too high for a women's flex shaft, I can replace it with a stiffer senior flex shaft.

A big part of driver fitting is finding the right shaft for your particular swing.

Callaway sells 13.5 degree drivers that can be adjusted up to 15.5 degrees.

Folks who do youtube video can't reliably swing slow enough to test the clubs your daughter needs.

I later realized that the 3W had too little loft to be as useful as a 7W in my bag.

I got the loft of the Edge driver off an ebay picture.

Edited July 5, 2021 by ShortGolfer

Jeff58 · July 5, 2021

The new club is longer and heavier, which is throwing off her natural timing. While a player can compensate to some extent, as you’ve seen, in real play the ability to call up different swing mechanics on demand is difficult for very accomplished players. Some players go to the effort of matching all their clubs to high levels (see True Spec Golf as an example).

Having the shaft, head, and weighting characteristics optimized is usually termed "fitting". It's something that she needs at this point, but it can become expensive and isn't foolproof. Recommend some research before jumping.

Edited July 5, 2021 by Jeff58
Speling

machine_cat · July 5, 2021

6 hours ago, ShortGolfer said:

The driver's loft is just 11.5, which is too low for her swing speed. I'd suggest driving with a 3W which is higher lofted.

Many golfers drive with a 3W when they have driver issues. The loft of a 3W may be pretty close to what she needs.

I bought a new driver because I wanted the big head of a modern driver and the loft of a 3W. I now have a 12 degree 460cc club

that can be adjust to 14 degrees of loft. My 3W has 15 degrees of loft, and my old driver had 13. The driver shaft is easily removed.

If my swing speed gets too high for a women's flex shaft, I can replace it with a stiffer senior flex shaft.

A big part of driver fitting is finding the right shaft for your particular swing.

Callaway sells 13.5 degree drivers that can be adjusted up to 15.5 degrees.

Folks who do youtube video can't reliably swing slow enough to test the clubs your daughter needs.

I later realized that the 3W had too little loft to be as useful as a 7W in my bag.

I got the loft of the Edge driver off an ebay picture.

Thanks. You are right about the loft angle for Edge. I will let her use 3W today as driver today to test it. She did not use 3W very often. Instead, she used 5-H a lot.

machine_cat · July 5, 2021

47 minutes ago, Jeff58 said:

The new club is longer and heavier, which is throwing off her natural timing. While a player can compensate to some extent, as you’ve seen, in real play the ability to call up different swing mechanics on demand is difficult for very accomplished players. Some players go to the effort of matching all their clubs to high levels (see True Spec Golf as an example).

Having the shaft, head, and weighting characteristics optimized is usually termed "fitting". It's something that she needs at this point, but it can become expensive and isn't foolproof. Recommend some research before jumping.

The new club (Edge) is longer but much lighter than the old one. I kind of know the importance of fitting and my daughter's clubs are not optimized now after some readings. I just hesitate to spend a few thousands dollars on something I do not know. She does not know which brand and model she wants. In addition, she is on growth spurt. Does that mean I shall get her fitted every a few months until her height is stable?

My next question is how do you choose clubs' brand and model for your junior?

ShortGolfer · July 5, 2021

The set includes a 3W out of tradition, rather than a 7W, which would be a more useful club. It is no surprise she doesn't use it. It is very hard to use off the fairway, and the driver is the preferred club off the tee.

Most drivers are too long for control. Distance sells golf clubs. I'm never going to impress anyone with distance, so I cut my first driver down to 41.75 inches. My new driver came from Callaway Pre-Owned and was already shortened 2 inches before I bought it "on sale." Many ladies master the art of hitting with a long driver to give them a competitive edge. It is hard to win if you always have to hit your 2nd shot first.

CLAIRE GETS FIT FOR A NEW TAYLORMADE DRIVER AT FUJIKURA TEST LAB

Edited July 5, 2021 by ShortGolfer

Jeff58 · July 5, 2021

4 hours ago, machine_cat said:

I just hesitate to spend a few thousands dollars on something I do not know. She does not know which brand and model she wants. In addition, she is on growth spurt. Does that mean I shall get her fitted every a few months until her height is stable?

My next question is how do you choose clubs' brand and model for your junior?

Some areas may have a fitter who is skilled fitting children and early teens. A coach or other parents who may be involved in the league she’s in can be useful contacts. If everyone goes to the same person/place, there’s likely a good reason.

Another option is to use a major manufacturer’s set. Ping is an excellent example and what I would pick. Note the free refit offer, which is significant.

https://ping.com/en-us/promo-landing-pages/prodi-g#get-golf-growing