A few decades ago, golf was considered a predominantly male’s sport. There were a few emerging women golfers, but they were not taken quite seriously. The paucity of women golfers meant that companies did not have the time, nor the readiness, to think about golf equipment created explicitly for them. If a company did offer clubs for women golfers, chances are these clubs consisted of mere sticks painted with pink and then reduced to size to make them shorter.
But fortunately, times have changed. Today, more women are taking up golf, and many notable female golfers have competed in major tournaments such as the LPGA. With the growing number of women golfers, it has compelled companies to come up with “ladies’ clubs” with much more enhanced features and improved overall quality.
Are there any significant differences between men’s clubs and ladies’ clubs?
While the technology applied to both men’s and women’s clubs are pretty much the same, there are significant differences between them:
- Ladies’ clubs are shorter – This is because women are generally smaller in stature compared to men. Ladies’ clubs are typically an inch shorter than men’s clubs.
- Ladies’ clubs are lighter – Women golfers, in general, have slower speeds compared to men. The shafts of most ladies’ clubs in the market tend to have a graphite construction since graphite is much lighter than steel. The comparative lightness of ladies’ clubs allows women golfers to improve on their swing speeds.
- Ladies’ clubs are more flexible – This is due to the light construction of ladies’ clubs. The graphite material in the shaft gives ladies clubs to have some flexibility, which, in turn, results in a better head position.
- Ladies’ clubs have smaller grips – The grip of a ladies’ club is typically shorter in length and smaller in diameter, compared to a men’s club. In general, women have smaller hands than men’s hands, so the smaller size of the handle allows a woman golfer to have a proper grip of the club.
- Ladies’ clubs usually have higher lofts on the face compared to men’s clubs – A loft refers to the angle formed by a line that runs down the center of the shaft and another line that runs down the face of the club. Most golf clubs have lofts. In ladies’ clubs, the loft usually has a minimum of 12 degrees, compared to a 9, 10, or 11-degree loft typically found in men’s clubs. So what does the degree of lofts mean? Well, if you are a woman who is a beginner, plays golf only occasionally, or has a high handicap, you are most likely to benefit from using a golf club with a higher loft. But if you play golf more often or if you are a low-handicap golfer, you may not need the extra loft usually found in most ladies’ clubs on the market.
Finding for the perfect ladies’ club.
To be clear, the design approaches of ladies’ clubs may apply to female golfers in general. But every woman golfer is different. The general designs of most ladies’ clubs may or may not work for you. What if you are taller than most men golfers in your bunch? What if you possess a super swing technique? What if you are a low-handicap player? What if you’re more athletically inclined than most female (or even male) golfers you know? If you are in all, or in any, of these cases, you might need a ladies’ club that has less flexibility, has a longer shaft, or has a lower loft. Or you might be better off using a driver or a set of clubs marketed to male golfers.
If you cannot find a suitable club from any of the off-the-rack options, club fitting will probably be the best and ultimate option. It will help you find the best match of golf clubs to your swing.