Every parent wants to see their kids reach their golfing potential, but distance has become a harmful holy grail. As extra carry is chased, junior golfers are handed drivers that are too long for them. But this longer club causes faults that kids will carry throughout their golfing life, and worse still, it could damage them physically.
This disruption to development could be avoided if they had correctly fitted clubs. I often hear, “It’s ok, she can handle it, she’s strong.” The damage could already be done.
Spotting golfers who have clubs that are too heavy or long is easy. Here are the problems caused, and you may well recognise these traits and be able to act before it’s too late…
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Taking It Away On The Inside
If the club is swinging the child more than the child is swinging the club, it’s not right for them. An inside takeaway develops as the player can’t physically lift the club up onto the correct plane. It stays low and behind the body.
This is one of my engrained faults, I jumped straight into women’s clubs too soon. Let’s face it, we didn’t have lightweight junior clubs back in the early 90s. I was a girl so I used ladies clubs. There will be plenty of boys who learnt with heavy sawn down men’s clubs that suffer the same issues.
(Image credit: Katie Dawkins)
Overswinging
Swinging a heavy club way past parallel is common and often kids don’t have the strength to redirect the club. Starting the downswing is a struggle! The speed at which a golfer can shorten their swing just by lightening their clubs is astounding.
Casting And Over The Top
Having fought hard to reroute the takeaway and get the club back on track from the top, a young golfer will have to throw the club from the top (casting) and will lose power. An out-to-in swing path is grooved, causing slices.
Scooping
Scooping at impact and flipping the club in an effort to generate speed. At this point there is a lot of catching up and compensation going on.
Former World No.2 Paula Creamer moves with effort to get through impact and she attributes this to having learnt with clubs that were not fit for her. I’d love to know what Natalie Gulbis used growing up, as she’s another player that moves and dips…
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