Limp-wristing the G17

I just started my two sons (10 & 12) on practical shooting. I bought two G17's and 3 extra ten-round mags for each of them. They also have their lil' kydex holsters, magpouches and rig belts. It's so cool to see them all rigged up for competition!

However, they have been kinda' frustrated due to the inmense amount of failures to feed they've been having. These almost invariably occur on topped-up mags and maybe with the second and third shot, especially to my 10 yr old who's +/- 40 pounds lighter than his older bro. The misfeeds occur with factory ammo (Win 115gr white box) and some more with the softer-shooting handloads I prepared for them (115gr Rainier ball over 4.0gr of Vihta Vuory N320 @ 1.126 OAL). However only to the boys, when I shoot 'em the little tupperwares go flawless.

My two little offspring are still small and they simply cannot grip the pistols as I can. They battle it out with the recoil and flip with their shooting stance. I have not changed their recoil springs thinking that lighter springs would not help solve this problem, nor soften the recoil my lil' guys feel. Am I right?

I believe the factor here is the 10 round mags and their spring. These Brady-pleasing mags are hard to load even for me :x Almost a week ago I fully loaded all of the mags and stored them in the safe to try to soften them a little. If this doesn't work, I'll clip a coild of the bottom of the springs and try again.

Any feedback on how to solve this problem would be greatly appreciated, especially by the two lil' swabbies.

Cheers,
8)
Nemo