What driver shaft is your junior using? (Redux)

[MB19]

Early AM session at the range with the kids this morning at the end of our practice session, and I decided it was time to switch shafts up.

 

I was sick of seeing my two relatively big kids (58"/90 lb 9 y.o. girl, 55"/70 lb 8 y.o. boy) not driving the ball to their potential, especially going into a DCP sub-regional next week.

 

I took the daughter's Air Speeder R3 39" shaft and put it in my son's F9 head--removing the 37" Flynn shaft.  I installed a 42" LA Golf Reign Silver 40 ladies shaft into my daughter's F9 head.  The immediate results were kind of shocking to me.

 

There was no adjustment time, they just started ripping the ball out of the gate for the next half-dozen balls until we had to leave.  Small sample size, and I'll know more over the next few days leading up to this weekend's tournament.  I have a Rad XB 10.5 head I'm giving to the daughter for her birthday.  I was skeptical about giving it to her then instead of Christmas, but definitely more encouraged now.

 

My son, in particular, has struggled to maintain good distance off the tee since about June--six weeks after his last lesson.  He was topping out his carry around 105 or so after peaking at 120 months back.  My daughter's drives have been very sporadic for a few months, and she was struggling to carry 120 after her breakthrough to 130+ this spring.  The new shafts appear to have recovered their lost distance with interest.  I didn't have a monitor on me, but they both passed the eye test today for the first time in a bit.  Instead of dreading the D of the DCP, I'm now looking forward to see how they up against some of the best golfers in South FL (Country, really).

 

The South FL kids may be ninjas with their wedges, and putt like Crenshaw, but maybe my kids will be able to fake it for nine more shots and send a few more of them home? 🙂

 

Has anyone else swapped driver shafts in their junior's driver lately?  Let's keep the thread going this time...

[Kcct82]

Glad you started the thread again!

 

Been playing around with driver after the fairway wood. Testing reveals that cut down Ladies and senior shafts are still way too stiff for my 8 year old. YMMV since your kids are taller. Mine is 52.5” at 63lbs. Average 66-67mph with 120+ carry. He got 1st at DCP local and sub regional. To be honest, I wouldn’t worry about the driving part of DCP. The longer kids will only have a few points advantage as long as you keep all 3 drives in the fairway. Just get one putt or chip a foot closer than them and you’re all squared up. 
 

[MB19]

1 hour ago, Kcct82 said:

Glad you started the thread again!

 

Been playing around with driver after the fairway wood. Testing reveals that cut down Ladies and senior shafts are still way too stiff for my 8 year old. YMMV since your kids are taller. Mine is 52.5” at 63lbs. Average 66-67mph with 120+ carry. He got 1st at DCP local and sub regional. To be honest, I wouldn’t worry about the driving part of DCP. The longer kids will only have a few points advantage as long as you keep all 3 drives in the fairway. Just get one putt or chip a foot closer than them and you’re all squared up. 
 

That’s a sweet collection of shafts.

 

My son wasn’t able to tame the Air Speeder R3 over the winter, but he’s grown a little and gotten stronger.  He got an embarrassing score (he was in a bad place after those drives) on his drive in the DCP qualifier, but still chipped and putted well enough to beat two tough opponents for the top spot on the podium.  He’s going to need every point possible to advance—a 125+ to advance, most likely.

 

I have zero illusions about my daughter advancing, facing five girls who placed in the top 25 at Worlds.  But if she can belt out three drives 170-180 next Saturday, it will go a long way in boosting her confidence going into the Fall local season.  One girl she’s facing, 10, drove 210-220 in her qualifier.  Have mercy.

[Bizzle80]

We are still using the Flynn shafts for my 8yo. Just played with a 9yo top 25 worlds player and she had the Sim Max w the cut down Aldilla 45L in there. Actually felt really light and my daughter hit it well with a few cuts. Might try that out...

 

With the lower swing speeds are the shafts making that much of a difference? I honestly don't know...but will be happy to tinker to just play around.

 

[leezer99]

5 hours ago, Bizzle80 said:

We are still using the Flynn shafts for my 8yo. Just played with a 9yo top 25 worlds player and she had the Sim Max w the cut down Aldilla 45L in there. Actually felt really light and my daughter hit it well with a few cuts. Might try that out...

 

With the lower swing speeds are the shafts making that much of a difference? I honestly don't know...but will be happy to tinker to just play around.

 

 

I'm sure there are some members here that would be glad to sell you some 'failed' experiments.  🤣

[MB19]

58 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

 

I'm sure there are some members here that would be glad to sell you some 'failed' experiments.  🤣

Indeed.

 

Ain’t no shame in this game.

[Kcct82]

6 hours ago, Bizzle80 said:

We are still using the Flynn shafts for my 8yo. Just played with a 9yo top 25 worlds player and she had the Sim Max w the cut down Aldilla 45L in there. Actually felt really light and my daughter hit it well with a few cuts. Might try that out...

 

With the lower swing speeds are the shafts making that much of a difference? I honestly don't know...but will be happy to tinker to just play around.

 

From my experience, it’s more than just the weight of the shafts. It’s important to keep things light, but there’s more to the story. I’ve been “fitting” my kid at home on our flightscope tour Xi and the grand bassaras are no longer in his bag. They are the lightest and packs the most punch (we consistently get the most smash from the GB’s), but they’re too stiff (at least for my kid’s swing) at the moment so grouping suffers a bit. 
 

While the Flynn shaft is mediocre in just about every aspect, it’s still worth trying when you want to fit into something softer than a Ladies flex. I’d try offsetting the extra shaft weight with the lightest head and weights removed. Tinker with adding weights back in incrementally with forward or backward bias. Sooner or later you might just hit the sweet spot. 
 

We went out to play on our home course with our new build today. My kid broke his 9 hole record by a stroke. He also hit all the fairways and gained a few extra yards. 

[Kcct82]

Just to illustrate how a shaft can change things even for slow speeds. Left is my son’s old driver (with grand bassara) that he’s been hitting for over a year. Right is his first time hitting the new club with a softer flex shaft. I was quite shocked to see how smooth/consistent the new one is (and faster too). 

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Kcct82

[leezer99]

10 hours ago, Kcct82 said:

Just to illustrate how a shaft can change things even for slow speeds. Left is my son’s old driver (with grand bassara) that he’s been hitting for over a year. Right is his first time hitting the new club with a softer flex shaft. I was quite shocked to see how smooth/consistent the new one is (and faster too). 

 

My sons swing coach will have him swing with a very whippy shaft to work on tempo. 

 

edit: I looked it up and it's called a Lag Shot.

 

Lag Shot 7 Iron (lagshotgolf.com)

Edited August 21, 2021 by leezer99
adding content

[Kcct82]

23 hours ago, leezer99 said:

My sons swing coach will have him swing with a very whippy shaft to work on tempo. 

 

edit: I looked it up and it's called a Lag Shot.

 

Lag Shot 7 Iron (lagshotgolf.com)

Looks like a good aid, thanks. 
 

Just to clarify, the above data was taken with a “correct” junior flex shaft comparable to a USKG/Flynn shaft for kids. It’s is softer than a Ladies/senior flex, but no where near a training aid like orange whip/lag shot. 

[darter79]

On 8/19/2021 at 11:15 PM, Kcct82 said:

From my experience, it’s more than just the weight of the shafts. It’s important to keep things light, but there’s more to the story. I’ve been “fitting” my kid at home on our flightscope tour Xi and the grand bassaras are no longer in his bag. They are the lightest and packs the most punch (we consistently get the most smash from the GB’s), but they’re too stiff (at least for my kid’s swing) at the moment so grouping suffers a bit. 
 

While the Flynn shaft is mediocre in just about every aspect, it’s still worth trying when you want to fit into something softer than a Ladies flex. I’d try offsetting the extra shaft weight with the lightest head and weights removed. Tinker with adding weights back in incrementally with forward or backward bias. Sooner or later you might just hit the sweet spot. 
 

We went out to play on our home course with our new build today. My kid broke his 9 hole record by a stroke. He also hit all the fairways and gained a few extra yards. 

 

I would argue that the shafts might be tooo light or not stiff enough. Keep this in mind. There is no standard in flex. A friend of ours plays a regular flex in the GB 39 mainly because how light it is needed to go stiffer there. Could be why grouping isn't as good. Anything too light is gonna be a lot harder to control. Can't go off of speed on flex as again no standard there play what works regardless of what is written but based on my research and own playing I buy this logic....

 

You can take a  heavier shaft that says Ladies and it will play stiffer on a lighter shaft that says Regular. I know most will disagree but weight is the most important factor but going light you also might want to try going stiffer in a light shaft. 

 

My kid uses a Graphite Design tour ad VR senior shaft for reference moved to that after testing the tour ad IZ version. Its still light but not GB silly light. These are by far the best shafts I've used and are more consistent than anything else too. I see why so many pros use them. 

Edited August 22, 2021 by darter79

[Kcct82]

3 hours ago, darter79 said:

 

I would argue that the shafts might be tooo light or not stiff enough. Keep this in mind. There is no standard in flex. A friend of ours plays a regular flex in the GB 39 mainly because how light it is needed to go stiffer there. Could be why grouping isn't as good. Anything too light is gonna be a lot harder to control. Can't go off of speed on flex as again no standard there play what works regardless of what is written but based on my research and own playing I buy this logic....

 

You can take a  heavier shaft that says Ladies and it will play stiffer on a lighter shaft that says Regular. I know most will disagree but weight is the most important factor but going light you also might want to try going stiffer in a light shaft. 

 

My kid uses a Graphite Design tour ad VR senior shaft for reference moved to that after testing the tour ad IZ version. Its still light but not GB silly light. These are by far the best shafts I've used and are more consistent than anything else too. I see why so many pros use them. 

Shaft weight might be as important as you say, I don’t know. This is just my observation for my kid’s sub 70mph swing speed. You can see I have tried quite a few shafts up there in the picture. All of them were heavier than GB 39’s and didn’t change much. Again, I had to mess with head weight after going softer with the flex, so there is more than one variable at play here. However, the total club weight difference between old and new is only 2g (we’ve tried up to +/-10g). So far, I’m happy with the new build. It’s longer on flightscope, and it’s longer on actual course play. 

[mojomover]

We have a few driver shafts with Cobra adaptor as well as an F9 cobra head listed on BST. PM me in case you want to experiment 🙂

[darter79]

On 8/22/2021 at 12:55 PM, Kcct82 said:

Shaft weight might be as important as you say, I don’t know. This is just my observation for my kid’s sub 70mph swing speed. You can see I have tried quite a few shafts up there in the picture. All of them were heavier than GB 39’s and didn’t change much. Again, I had to mess with head weight after going softer with the flex, so there is more than one variable at play here. However, the total club weight difference between old and new is only 2g (we’ve tried up to +/-10g). So far, I’m happy with the new build. It’s longer on flightscope, and it’s longer on actual course play. 

 

Im not a fan of total club weight either, too light of a grip has more impact on how the head can feel (swing weight) I know I know what they say, but take shaft x but a super light grip on it take same shaft heavier grip I've seen (again with my kid) better flight speed and distance. Each person miles will be different here but club needs some balance to a point. 

[wildcatden]

Anyone using a KBS TD shaft?

 

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/shop/kbs-td-driver-wood-shaft/

 

 

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, wildcatden said:

Anyone using a KBS TD shaft?

 

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/shop/kbs-td-driver-wood-shaft/

 

 

 

Not here... I've never personally liked KBS so my son by default doesn't either.  🤣

[wildcatden]

50 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

 

Not here... I've never personally liked KBS so my son by default doesn't either.  🤣

 

I have no vested interest either.  We were down at Pebble Beach last weekend and had the driver shaft recommended by a coach there.

[kcap]

21 hours ago, wildcatden said:

Anyone using a KBS TD shaft?

 

https://kbsgolfshafts.com/shop/kbs-td-driver-wood-shaft/

 

 

We do.  Just got the shaft for his driver,  he preferred it to the Ventus Blue during his fitting. 
We are three competitive rounds in the with it and so far so good. 

[Movingday]

On 8/24/2021 at 7:14 AM, darter79 said:

 

Im not a fan of total club weight either, too light of a grip has more impact on how the head can feel (swing weight) I know I know what they say, but take shaft x but a super light grip on it take same shaft heavier grip I've seen (again with my kid) better flight speed and distance. Each person miles will be different here but club needs some balance to a point. 

How are you handling swing weight when cutting down shafts and putting on OEM head? Is just a constant tinkering to make it work?

[darter79]

16 hours ago, Movingday said:

How are you handling swing weight when cutting down shafts and putting on OEM head? Is just a constant tinkering to make it work?

We're not trying to obtain a specific SW, it's more trying to find a good balance of the club versus an extremely light grip extremely light head which to me those of the balance point. Do you have to find what's gonna work best for your kid that comes with typically a little bit of tinkering in the head has weights make it heavier make it lighter where do you get the best ball speed go from there. 

[Movingday]

13 minutes ago, darter79 said:

We're not trying to obtain a specific SW, it's more trying to find a good balance of the club versus an extremely light grip extremely light head which to me those of the balance point. Do you have to find what's gonna work best for your kid that comes with typically a little bit of tinkering in the head has weights make it heavier make it lighter where do you get the best ball speed go from there. 

Thanks 

[Movingday]

Thoughts on cutting down a Flynn junior driver shaft? I have one that my oldest used that is a little long for my 10 yo. Thinking about taking 2 in off, anyone see any issues with that?

[jj9000]

On 2/5/2022 at 1:37 PM, Movingday said:

Thoughts on cutting down a Flynn junior driver shaft? I have one that my oldest used that is a little long for my 10 yo. Thinking about taking 2 in off, anyone see any issues with that?

 

Make sure the Flynn shaft is the right flex code for the younger one.  I know Flynn has different variations of flexes depending on swing speed...etc.  You don't want a shaft that's too stiff for the younger one.  Also, I would trim the shaft from the butt side if you go this route.

[Movingday]

1 minute ago, jj9000 said:

 

Make sure the Flynn shaft is the right flex code for the younger one.  I know Flynn has different variations of flexes depending on swing speed...etc.  You don't want a shaft that's too stiff for the younger one.  Also, I would trim the shaft from the butt side if you go this route.

Yeah will trim from butt for sure. He’s a similar swing speed as my older son was when I bought it. Just a little younger and smaller. 

[heavy_hitter]

We were in Graphite Design HD 7 XS in Sim 2.  Cobra LTDxLS going with Ventus Black TX which is about 10 grams lighter.

[Movingday]

I have a Callaway Epic Flash head. Have a Flynn shaft and a bassara lite e42 shaft both are 41” finished club length. I’d like to save the bassara for mid/late summer and cut the Flynn down to 39”. He just transitioned to USKids 57 which has a driver length of 38”. 

[jj9000]

6 hours ago, Movingday said:

I have a Callaway Epic Flash head. Have a Flynn shaft and a bassara lite e42 shaft both are 41” finished club length. I’d like to save the bassara for mid/late summer and cut the Flynn down to 39”. He just transitioned to USKids 57 which has a driver length of 38”. 

 

This is a toss up...depending on the strength of your kid. That Mitsubishi Bassara is a light and high torque shaft...but probably still a bit stiffer than the Flynn.

 

I have a Flynn Alto Driver that got hit about 10 times in a recent experiment...then put in the corner b/c the shaft was too floppy.  Then I tried it again with another kid and it got hit about another 10 times...same results.  I've had them in UST/Fujikura/Project X shafts since around 8YO.

 

If this were me (and it was not too long ago)...I'd trim the Bassara...then extend it back 2" when the time is right.

 

[Movingday]

15 minutes ago, jj9000 said:

 

This is a toss up...depending on the strength of your kid. That Mitsubishi Bassara is a light and high torque shaft...but probably still a bit stiffer than the Flynn.

 

I have a Flynn Alto Driver that got hit about 10 times in a recent experiment...then put in the corner b/c the shaft was too floppy.  Then I tried it again with another kid and it got hit about another 10 times...same results.  I've had them in UST/Fujikura/Project X shafts since around 8YO.

 

If this were me (and it was not too long ago)...I'd trim the Bassara...then extend it back 2" when the time is right.

 

I would consider him a strong athletic kid. 57 inches tall. SS high 60s consistently. Can touch 70 at times. That’s a good idea on cutting then extending back. Didn’t even think about that

[Shanks2424]

This year my son is using a UST PRO GOLD 65 regular flex in his Callaway Mavrik 9* turned up to 11.

[Movingday]

30 minutes ago, Shanks2424 said:

This year my son is using a UST PRO GOLD 65 regular flex in his Callaway Mavrik 9* turned up to 11.

What’s his SS?

I just put my oldest in a Callaway Mavrik 10.5 with a UST Mamiya Helium Black 4 Graphite .  
He has a SS in the high 70s can get to 80ish. Still playing with his setup. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Movingday