My nine-year-old daughter is small, but she is a good golfer. She can repeat a swing, find the center of the face, but still come up short because physics wins out more often than not. Before switching to PING’s Prodi G driver, her well-hit shots reached about 125 yards. When she first swung the Prodi G, the ball carried 150. Same swing. The same child. Twenty percent further.
Her first comment while still holding her conclusion was: “That felt different.”
That’s because she it Was different. This isn’t really a story about a swing or an extra 25 yards. It’s about how we got here and why what PING did with the Prodi G matters to anyone who cares about the future of golf.
The new Golf has spent decades in the wrong conversation
Youth clubs have always come from a scaled-down mentality: “How do we scale down grown-up gear?”
Light it up.
Shorten it.
Soften it.
I’ve spent over a decade teaching junior golf and I’ve seen the same pattern every season. The kids had a hard time finding equipment that worked for their play. Some learned to compensate, others quit the game.
PING didn’t want to shrink anything. They wanted equipment that allowed a child to experience real golf ball flight, real control and real yards without struggling with the club.
Instead of tailoring devices for kids, they started with what kids actually need.
What PING learned when they started with children instead of compromises
To properly build the Prodi G, PING had to start from scratch because the new golf doesn’t have much data to back it up. There was no established database on how kids pitch the club, how swing speed develops at different ages, or how height and strength actually translate into equipment needs. Young people grow up at wildly different rates and the industry has never really accounted for that.
When I spoke with Marty Jertson, PING’s vice president of Fit and Performance, he said that’s why they had to rebuild the entire category from the ground up. Instead of guessing, they went to the range and collected data:
And once they started analyzing those swings, they found:
- Children don’t always benefit from ultra-light heads: a touch more head mass helped many juniors deliver the club more consistently and launch it higher.
- Timing is improved when the shaft profile matches their speed: not the softest option, but FAIR bending profile.
- The angle of the lie matters as children grow: small changes in stance and arm length dramatically affect terrain interaction and face control.
- Aerodynamics is also important for young people: Turbulators and Dragonfly Technology, the same features in PING’s adult lines, help kids square off the face, get extra distance and become consistent players.
- Attic progress is critical: Prodi G lofts were designed to give juniors proper launch and spin instead of a low, flat ball flight.
- The right gap builds trust: Predictable pitches help youngsters understand their game instead of guessing.
The Story of Technology: A Tournament-Level Mindset Applied to the New Golf
According to PING, every club in the Prodi G reflects the design philosophy used in their adult product.
Metallic wood
The Prodi G driver contains a 460cc titanium head with a machined face of variable thickness. Turbulators improve aerodynamics and Dragonfly Technology helps position the CG for high launch and forgiveness.
Fairways and hybrids follow the same logic: fast faces, strategic CG placement, stability and release.
lattice
PING used 17-4 stainless steel, elastomer inserts and perimeter weighting to create an iron that launches high, lands softly and produces consistent strings. Lofts are designed for predictable pitch.
wedges
Borrowing from PING’s s159 line, the Prodi G wedges give youngsters true spin, true control and the ability to learn what a proper putt feels like.
Putters
Two legit options: a classic HOLDS blade and stall Tyne H wooden hammer. Both are constructed from 17-4 stainless steel with the head weight kids need for consistent spin.
Axis
PING built two graphite shaft profiles specifically for juniors.
Customization: The tool that makes Prodi G make sense
PING saw fit was one of the biggest hurdles in junior golf, especially for parents who don’t play. So they built WebFit Junior, a two-minute tool that takes basic information (age, height, ground clearance, driver distance, skill level) and delivers:
- Apply makeup
- Recommendations for length and lie
- Attic instruction
- A ditch breakdown
- A kindergarten report that children can use in the course
When I spoke with Jertson, he made it clear that PING was not done. They’re still collecting data on junior swings, still improving the way kids deliver the club, and constantly updating the WebFit Junior engine so the recommendations get sharper as more swings come along. The goal is accuracy.
The system will continue to evolve and so will the clubs.
The cost question: Solved in a way no one else has addressed
Prodi G is a premium junior line and PING makes no apologies for that. However, they do not make parents absorb the full cost of those inevitable increases. with Take Golf on the rise program, each group of five or more clubs is eligible for a one-time full rebuild. The kit goes through extension, re-use, re-weighing and re-capture free of charge.
For most families, that’s two kits for the price of one.
PING’s largest investment in junior golf
Prodi G is not a one-off product line. It’s part of a much larger commitment PING has made to junior golf for years. They are an official partner of the Jr. PGA. League, one of the largest and fastest growing youth programs in the US
And behind that, PING has built a true junior golf infrastructure: the Prodi G line itself, the Get Golf Growing program, the WebFit Junior fitting tool, and the ongoing engineering work that continues to shape both.
If you ask me, the program has already worked in our house.
Guess what kind of clubs my kids say they want to play when they grow up? This is what happens when you stop treating young people as a subcategory and start treating them as a generation worth investing in.
Final thoughts
Calling these the best new golf clubs in the game is a strong claim, but until I see something that proves me wrong, I’ll stand by it.
My daughter said the Prodi G felt different. She was right.
Even Marty Jertson and I joked about getting our kids wedges – because they are as well built as any golfer. And that’s really the point. Prodi G is not great “for youth clubs”. It’s awesome, period.
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