1. Importance of Club Fitting in Junior Golfers’ Swing Development

2. STARTING PREMISES
Properly fit clubs are most important for young golfers
Not yet invested in the game
Need to make hitting “quality shots” easy
Typically, improperly fit clubs for youth are too long, too heavy, and too stiff
Results in low and left
Lack of enjoyment
Loss of golfer…potentially for life!

3. SPECIFIC CHALLENGES—SIZE OF PLAYER

4. CHALLENGES IN “JUNIOR” CLUBS
Unlike adults, kids are growing
No industry standards have existed
Manufacturers only vary shaft lengths. Not:
Club weight
Shaft flex
Grip size
Loft
Junior Clubs – How short? How Light? How Flexible?

5. CHALLENGES IN FITTING “JUNIOR” CLUBS
Limited information available for parents and instructors
Parents want to purchase clubs for kids to “grow into”
Golf professionals are challenged to leverage their “expert” status
Junior Clubs – How short? How Light? How Flexible?
“Kids should grow out of their clubs and not into them”

6. FACTS REGARDING CHILDREN’S GROWTH
From age 2 to 11, children grow approximately 2.5 – 3 inches per year
Boys and girls in the 50th percentile are nearly the same height and weight thru age 11
The difference in height between a youngster in the 5th and 95th percentile at any age is from 7-9 inches JG
Use “live” examples?
Explain what happens when girls hit 11/12 and puberty
HANDOUT: BOYS & GIRLS GROWTH CHARTS—in booklet

7. DRIVER LENGTH TO HEIGHT
PGA TOUR 61 %
Driver length 45”/73.8” average player height
LPGA TOUR
68%
Driver length 45”/66.0” average player height
*Driver length sources: Callaway Golf, Mizuno JG
This ratio is important in order to maintain a balance of length between woods and irons. i.e.- if your driver is 75% of your height, the ball is proportionally further away from you than your irons. At some point in the process this must change, why wait during the developmental years? JG- Explain why this knowledge is important for coaches. If the percentage is way off ( on the high side)- quite possible the driver does not fit properly. Too long or too heavy resulting in slow hand speed.

8. EQUIPMENT
CLUB FITTING FORMULA
Same formula must apply to young golfers for their success
Remember: “The 2/3 Solution”
Player Height X 66.7% or 2/3=Maximum Driver Length*
Each three inches a player grows requires an additional two inches in driver length to maintain proper ratio of club length to height JG
Focus on 2/3 and to keep clubs at that proportion for every 3 inches golfer grows it requires a 2 inch longer driver.
Solutions: Club Fitting

9. MAXIMUM DRIVER LENGTHS
63” Tall - 42” Driver
60” Tall - 40” Driver
57” Tall - 38” Driver
54” Tall - 36” Driver
51” Tall - 34” Driver
48” Tall - 32” Driver
45” Tall - 30” Driver
42” Tall - 28” Driver
39” Tall - 26” Driver

10. IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FITTING
Clubs should not be something to overcome as kids learn
Benefits from clubs that offer a progressive fitting:
Set up Position
Swing Plane
Hand Speed
Power
Tempo
Balance
Kids need to learn to have fast hands combined with body balance. The sooner the better.
Parents POV when kids don’t improve…music teach analogy.

11. THREE IMPORTANT CLUB DESIGN CRITERIA
Junior club systems should start with lighter head weights and increase head weights as the clubs get longer
Shaft frequencies should remain consistent through junior sets onto adult clubs
If the frequency of the clubs stays consistent throughout the different sizes and the club head weights and total club weights increase as the clubs get longer a player will feel the least amount of difference from size to size JG
Really good

12. WHY CLUB LENGTH AND WEIGHT MATTER FOR KIDS
Helps optimize potential
Improves Trajectory
Over time assists in developing “tour-like tempo” and timing
Creates swing signature that becomes ingrained JG
Use swing plane analogy with ball on the string…..
Tour like tempo has fast hands in the right place…
Proper club head weight enhances rotational ability and overall body balance
Solutions: Club Fitting

13. THE SEARCH FOR DISTANCE
Givens:
Everyone wants to hit the ball farther.
Maximizing club head speed helps maximize distance.
Some kids hit the ball much farther than others, even advanced players, at a young age.
Parents seek to “narrow the gap” by having their kids play longer and heavier clubs. JG
DO we need intro slide for this section on developing speed?
INTRODUCE LIGHT SPEED TRAINERS
Faster you swing the farther you hit the ball
Tell Momentus analogy, Greg with VJ. Heavy weights don’t help speed development.
Sometimes, players with slower speeds have to be coached into quicker tempo and overall speed. They are sometimes captive of their own understanding of speed.

14. THE SEARCH FOR DISTANCE
Buying
(short-term thinking)
Building
(long-term results)
Life-long swing development
Kids grow, gain strength and distance at differing rates
Developing swing speed vs. club head speed is most important
Scoring takes place near the green, not off the tee
Immediate gratification
Gaining club head speed but hindering swing speed
Slows tempo and impairs swing development
Postponing basic fundamentals that will need to be re-learned later in life JG
DO we need intro slide for this section on developing speed?
INTRODUCE LIGHT SPEED TRAINERS
Faster you swing the farther you hit the ball
Tell Momentus analogy, Greg with VJ. Heavy weights don’t help speed development.
Sometimes, players with slower speeds have to be coached into quicker tempo and overall speed. They are sometimes captive of their own understanding of speed.
Overall Goal=Maximize potential for their age, size and abilities

16. DEVELOPING SWING SPEED
Light Speed Training clubs help develop hand speed at an early age
Weight is not a speed generator
“See the inside move the outside”
Learn to see it from takeaway to impact
Sometimes, players with slower speeds have to be coached into quicker tempo and overall speed. They are sometimes captive of their own understanding of speed.

17. BOYS GIRLS SWING SPEED DEVELOPMENT GOALS 42” 5 50 45 45” 6 55 48” 7 60
APPROXIMATE AGE
TARGET SWING SPEED--MPH
TARGET SWING SPEED--MPH
HEIGHT
42” 5 50 45
45” 6 55
48” 7 60
51” 8 65
54” 9 70
57” 10 75
60” 11 80
63” 12 85 JG
TrackMan data from USKG World Championships— , Speed in MPH

18. ELITE SWING SPEED RANGES (MPH) BY AGE -5 - 6 7
47.2
78.2 8
51.8
83.2 9
53.1
86.4 10
59.0
90.5 11
62.5
97.9 12
67.4
104.7
LOWEST SWING SPEED
HIGHEST SWING SPEED
31.0
31.4
35.4
31.5
33.3
37.3
DIFFERENCE
APPROXIMATE HEIGHT
AGE
42”
45”
48”
51”
54”
57” JG
Explain why 42 and 45 are not shown—sample size
60”
63”
TrackMan data collected from USKG World Championships from 2008 to 2012
Solutions: Club Fitting

19. CLUB WEIGHT STANDARDS
For players under 48 inches tall , clubs should be 20-30% lighter than adult clubs
For players 51 to 63 inches tall, clubs should increase in weight from 20% lighter to 5% lighter than adult clubs depending on their swing speed

20. CLUB WEIGHT INFORMATION
No Driver in size
No Hybrid in size
No 9-iron in size
No 7-iron in size JG
What is the key message/focus of this series of slides? Need to determine and focus on it.
Example of how club weight must be lowered so that the flexible shaft can continue to give an appropriate frequency. If Club head never changes (Ping Junior Clubs), then shaft cannot continue to be flexible enough or it’s frequency will become way to low
Junior competitors use the same club head and same shaft for every size set. Then they just cut down the shafts to fit each club. This causes many relative swing weight problems as well as frequency problems
Shorter club length allows someone to increase hand speed and the ability to release the club
Overall length matters a lot
Weight of head matters
Weight of grip matters

21. CLUB WEIGHT INFORMATIONJG
Example of how club weight must be lowered so that the flexible shaft can continue to give an appropriate frequency. If Club head never changes (Ping Junior Clubs), then shaft cannot continue to be flexible enough or it’s frequency will become way to low
Junior competitors use the same club head and same shaft for every size set. Then they just cut down the shafts to fit each club. This causes many relative swing weight problems as well as frequency problems
Shorter club length allows someone to increase hand speed and the ability to release the club
Overall length matters a lot
Weight of head matters
Weight of grip matters

22. SHAFT FREQUENCY INFORMATION
CHALENGES
SHAFT FREQUENCY INFORMATION
No Driver in size
No Hybrid in size
No 9-iron in size
No 7-iron in size JG
Example of how club weight must be lowered so that the flexible shaft can continue to give an appropriate frequency. If Club head never changes (Ping Junior Clubs), then shaft cannot continue to be flexible enough or it’s frequency will become way to low
Junior competitors use the same club head and same shaft for every size set. Then they just cut down the shafts to fit each club. This causes many relative swing weight problems as well as frequency problems
Shorter club length allows someone to increase hand speed and the ability to release the club
Overall length matters a lot
Weight of head matters
Weight of grip matters

23. CLUB FREQUENCY INFORMATION
Example of how club weight must be lowered so that the flexible shaft can continue to give an appropriate frequency. If Club head never changes (Ping Junior Clubs), then shaft cannot continue to be flexible enough or it’s frequency will become way to low
Junior competitors use the same club head and same shaft for every size set. Then they just cut down the shafts to fit each club. This causes many relative swing weight problems as well as frequency problems
Shorter club length allows someone to increase hand speed and the ability to release the club
Overall length matters a lot
Weight of head matters
Weight of grip matters

24. Now it’s your turn!
Thanks
Harvey Pennick goodbye