Give Them The Right Equipment
Two common problems juniors have are directly related to equipment. First, they're using clubs that are too long, too stiff and too heavy -- like a student at my academy, Jose-Carlos Diaz (left), is doing here. The second problem is a result of the first one: With a club that is too long, too stiff and too heavy, a smaller player swings on an arc that is too flat relative to his height, so the swing bottoms out behind the ball. And simply cutting the shafts down to a shorter length isn't the right answer. A slow-swinging young player already has enough trouble getting the ball to fly at the right trajectory. Stiff, heavy clubs with grips that are too big for him will just make that more difficult. -- Hank Haney, January, 2009