Can’t I Just Cut Down An Old Set Of My Clubs To Set Up Our Son For Junior Golf?

You’d be surprised at the number of school students who play golf. Of the 36 million people in the US aged five and over, who have played at least one round, six million of them are under 17 years old and still at school.

These are our ‘junior golfers’, the five to 17 year olds who are a fast growing segment of the golf market. They have the same interest in golf that we do, but different equipment and training needs.

Take the easy one: equipment. Junior golfers should have proper junior golf clubs.

The day has long gone when I could cut down the shaft of one of my old adult clubs to a length to fit my son’s height — and think I had set him up for golf. That may have worked fine 20 years ago. But club design and materials have made big advances since then and there is now a wide range of high quality junior golf clubs, golf sets and clothing that will fit the height and build of younger players exactly right and make their golf more enjoyable. Also, cutting down one of my old clubs gives the junior the thicker part of the club and this may make it difficult to get a proper grip.

Serious junior golf is better with junior gold clubs.

Equipping a young player is cheaper than outfitting an adult. And new junior clubs, or fairly new ones from a discount store, come with current technology built in and are sized for children. All the major manufacturers make them, so you can get quality clubs with brand names for your young players without having to pay too much.

Another thing. Ball speed and accuracy is determined, to a significant degree, by club weight. Junior golf clubs have been deliberately designed to fit both the height of the player but also the weight is lighter than your average adult golf club. So the strike is going to be easier for your young player.

I know that kids grow and that you will need to replace their clubs several times between five years and high school graduation. But if you hunt for brand names, at the cheapest prices in the discount outlets, your junior player can enjoy good golf clubs as he grows up, and you will still have some money in the bank!