Parents of junior golfers are often unsure about when kids should move from junior golf clubs into adult clubs. In addition it can be tricky to choose suitable adult size golf clubs for juniors that are transitioning from kids clubs to adult clubs.
Below are factors to consider for juniors transitioning from lighter weight kids clubs to adult clubs. We also provide some examples of adult clubs for different skill levels. These considerations are also appropriate for teens beginning golf.
Overview
This guide is intended for juniors that are approx. 12 years old and up although, depending the size and strength of a junior, it is possible that juniors younger than 12 could benefit from using adult irons.
For younger juniors that need a lighter golf club and are not yet ready for adult clubs go to this article: Best Kids Golf Clubs.
Intermediate to advanced junior golfers with a driver swing speed over ~85 mph (e.g, over 200 yards driver distance) can benefit from using adult golf clubs. Note that although major brands sell cheaper golf club sets that are specifically marketed for juniors from approximately 12-15 years old, these are generally cheaper options and are not the same quality and do not perform nearly as well as most adult adult clubs.
Club fitting should be considered for advanced junior golfers. Fitting the right shaft is critical for juniors since the length and flex of the shafts changes the performance of clubs significantly.
How to Choose Junior Transition Irons
With so many options out there it is easy to to feel overwhelmed in selecting junior transition irons and this can easily lead to "paralysis by analysis". All of the major club manufacturers have irons that are suitable for all levels of juniors from beginner to advanced.
Considerations for buying junior or teen golf clubs:
Budget
Tip: if you want to keep costs down there are many online shops and classified sites that sell high quality new and used golf clubs. Two of our favorites are eBay and Callaway Golf Preowned. The Global Golf shop on eBay is trusted source for quality used clubs as use them frequently.
There are also many very good "prior season" iron sets that sell at heavily discounted prices compared to current year models. We recommend that you only buy new iron sets from a reputable shop such the dealer itself (e.g. Callaway or TaylorMade) or from a reputable shop such as PGA Superstore or CarlsGolfland.
Size and strength
Do not be in too much of a rush to move younger kids into adult clubs. US Kids Golf and Flynn Golf are still some of the best junior golf clubs available, especially for slower swing speeds and tempo.
Junior skill level
Intermediate or beginner junior golfers should look for irons with more forgiveness. See examples of clubs for different skill levels below.
Look and feel of clubs
Take your junior to the local golf shop to look at various models. Look at clubs in other juniors' golf bags, ask if you can take a closer look at them and perhaps even swing them. Many golf club pro shops and coaches have demo irons that juniors can try.
Fitting
If possible, professional fitting is highly recommended and is usually around $100 or less. Most of the large golf brands websites (such as Callaway, Ping, and TaylorMade) have club selector tools / have on-line fitting guides, some of which also that take into account size, swing speed, handicap etc. and you can order directly from them.
Junior Transition Irons
Below are examples of irons for juniors and teens, based on different levels of experience and expertise.
Weight: The club head weight of adult clubs (using a 6 iron as a baseline) averages out at around 258-260 grams. As a comparison, the US Kids Tour Series 6 iron (size 60 & 63) is approx. 248 grams.
However, Callaway, Ping and TaylorMade all have adult irons that are only slightly heavier than the U.S. Kids Tour Series (size 60 & 63). The table below provides recommended irons for beginner, intermediate and advanced juniors and indicates the weight of the 6 iron in the set.
Examples of light-weight irons for beginner and intermediate juniors are Callaway Paradigm AI Smoke (250 grams) and Ping G730 (252 grams). Light-weight irons for more advanced juniors include TaylorMade P770 Forged (252 grams) and Mizuno 241 Pro and 243 Pro (255 grams).
Swing weight: The swing weight of a club determines how "heavy" the club feels and is affected by the weight of all components including club head, shaft and grip. This is one reason that cut down adult clubs are not suitable for juniors, i.e. they are too "head heavy". The table below shows recommended swing weights for junior golfers (boys and girls charts) vs swing weights for typical adult men and women.
Beginner & Intermediate Junior Transition Irons
Examples of irons that are suitable for beginner and intermediate juniors transitioning to adult clubs include:
brand | Model | 6-iron weight |
|---|---|---|
callaway | Paradym Ai Smoke Max | 250g |
Callaway | Great Big Bertha 23 | 258g |
callaway | Paradym X | 263g |
Cobra | Darkspeed | 260g |
mizuno | JPX 923 hot Metal | 258g |
ping | g730 | 252g |
PXG | GEN6 0311 XP | 254g |
srixon | zX4 | 262g |
TaylorMade | Qi | 258g |
TaylorMade | p790 | 260g |
titleist | t350 | 258g |
Advanced Junior Transition Irons
Examples of irons that are suitable for advanced and elite juniors transitioning to adult clubs include:
brand | Model | 6-iron weight |
|---|---|---|
callaway | Paradym | 260g |
callaway | rogue sT pro | 262g |
callaway | apex CB, MB, pro | 261g, 261g, 254g |
Cobra | King Tour | 261g |
Mizuno | 241 Pro | 255g |
mizuno | 243 Pro | 255g |
mizuno | 245 Pro | 258g |
ping | i230 | 262g |
ping | i530 | 259g |
Ping | Blueprint S | 255g |
PXG | GEN6 0311 P | 257g |
PGX | 0317 Tour Irons | 258g |
srixon | zX5 & ZX7 | 258g g& 257g |
TaylorMade | p770 Forged | 251g |
taylorMade | p7MC Forged & p7MB Forged | 253g |
titleist | t100, T150, t200 | 259g, 258g, 259g |
Prior Season Models
Club manufacturers generally bring out new models every season in order to entice buyers to trade up and thus generate sales. Very often a prior season model (or even two seasons ago) are excellent irons that offer great value.
Examples of excellent prior season models that have stood the test of time for Beginner/Intermediate and Advanced juniors.
- Callaway Rogue ST series (2022) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Callaway Big Bertha series (2021) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Callaway Mavrik series (2020) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Callaway Apex 21 series (2021) - Advanced
- Callaway Epic series (2020) - Advanced
(for prior season Callaway clubs we like the Callaway Golf Pre-Owned website)
- Cobra Aerojet (2023) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Mizuno JPX 921 and 919 Hot Metal - Beginner/Intermediate
- Mizuno JPX 921 (2020) and 919 (2018) Forged and Tour - Intermediate/Advanced
- Mizuno Pro 223 and Pro 221 (2022) - Advanced
- Mizuno MP-20 (2020) - Advanced
- Ping G430 (2023) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Ping G425 (2021) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Ping G710 (2020) - Beginner/Intermediate
- Ping G410 (2019) - Beginner/Intermediate
- PXG (2022) GEN5 0311XP - Beginner/Intermediate
- Ping i210 (2018) & i200 (2017) - Advanced
- Ping i525 (2022) - Advanced
- PXG (2022) GEN5 0311P (Intermediate/Advanced)
- Srixon Z585 (intermediate) (2019)
- Srixon Z785 (advanced) (2019)
- TaylorMade Stealth (2022) - Beginner/Intermediate
- TaylorMade Sim2 Max and Sim2 Max OS (2021) - Beginner/Intermediate
- TaylorMade P790 and P770 (2021) - Intermediate/Advanced
- TaylorMade P7MC and P7MB (2021) - Advanced
- Titleist (2021 and 2020) T300 & T400 (Beginner/Intermediate)
- Titleist (2021 and 2020) T100 & T200 (Advanced)
- Titleist (2018) 718 AP3 & AP4 (Beginner/Intermediate),
- Titleist (2018) AP1 & AP2 (Advanced)
Where to Buy
New clubs should generally only be purchased from a reputable seller or directly from the manufacturer.
A small handful of manufacturers do have storefronts on Amazon and include TaylorMade and Callaway Golf.
You can also generally buy directly from the manufacturer - e.g. Callaway and TaylorMade. You can also buy from a reputable dealer such as PGA Superstore or CarlsGolfland.
Quality used clubs can be purchased from a number of different outlets. Two of our favorites are eBay and Callaway Golf Preowned. The Global Golf shop on eBay is trusted source for quality used clubs as use them frequently.
Conclusion
The transition from kids' clubs (such as U.S. Kids, Ping Prodi G and Flynn Golf) to adult clubs can be difficult given the sheer number of options and variables involved.
The basics are:
- Choose a club design with playability suitable to your junior's level. Go with more forgiveness to give your junior the best experience. Forged blades may look cool but they generally are not going to be suitable for juniors.
- Get fitted if you can. If you cannot do professional fitting make sure you choose a shaft that is the right size, flex and weight for your junior (e.g. do not get stiff steel shafts for a junior with a slower swing speed). Get the right size grips put on the clubs.
- Do not be in too much of a rush to move out of junior specific clubs like U.S. Kids, Ping or Flynn. Apart from being the right fit, they are also approx. 1/2 the price of new adult clubs so can be replaced every season. In addition, there is a strong second hand market on eBay for good used kids golf club sets.
- We generally find that there is a need to change shafts approx. once a year given how fast juniors grow and get stronger.
- Wedges may need to replaced more frequently than other irons given the amount of use and wear on them.
