Wednesday 5 December 2007

Choosing Golf Clubs For The Kids

It has been a bonding activity for the family to indulge in sport. But for some sports, it may be too rough or stressful for kids to join in. Like basketball, kids tend to force themselves to take a shot on a ten foot rim when they are just barely 3 feet tall. Kids that cannot get the job done gets discouraged and may hate the sport and drift away from it due to the frustrating experience.

Golf is a low impact sport that can be enjoyed by the family as a group playing against each other or by teams. Manufacturers of golf clubs have realized the business potential of kids being trained to take a swing at a golf ball as early as two years old and so they came up with golf clubs for kids. These clubs are shorter, lighter, and a little bit smaller.

More and more parents are indulging their kids to play golf since just recently universities offer golf scholarships to potential student athletes that could excel in the field.

Here are some tips on how to choose the right golf clubs for your kids.

When choosing the length of the golf club, try to choose a length that he or she won't out grow easily. Kids may have growth spurts and may outgrow their clubs in just a couple of months. Try to anticipate the growth against the shaft's height. For kids, it is ok to choke down on the grips as long as it does not exceed 2 inches. If the choking exceeds 2 inches this can change their form and may result to a bad swing.

The next thing to check on is the golf club's weight. Though many manufacturers have made golf clubs for kids lighter some of them are still heavy for the kids to take a backswing. Make sure that the golf club's head is weighed just right so as not to put any strain on the kid's shoulder.

There are golfers that cut the shaft of an old golf club so that it can fit the height of their kid. But cutting down the shafts means cutting down flexibility and this will stiffen the golf club. This could hurt the shoulder and upper back of the kid once the club gets into contact with the ball and turf. There are shorter clubs for kids that have the same flexibility with the regular golf clubs.

The last and certainly the one thing that shouldn't be overlooked are the grips. Kids have smaller hands than that of adults so it would be advisable to have a core of 0.50. This can give him a tight grip of the club since it is just right for their hands. It can also be a determining factor for a perfect swing.

1 comment:

Dan said...

Nice post Ben. My 5 year old daughter has just started golf and we bought her a set that was too small for her. We are looking for a new set for her and it's worth it 'cause I think she's caught the golf bug.
Dan with left handed golf equipment