Every golf club manufacturer makes dedicated women’s clubs.
But does that mean women and girls should limit their choices only to clubs featuring pink or purple highlights?
Not necessarily.
While there will be plenty of women golfers well suited to playing women’s clubs, there may be a surprising number who would be better off with men’s clubs in their bag.
Are you one of them?
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT WOMEN’S CLUBS?
The number of women and girls taking up golf has increased dramatically, however, women’s clubs still make up only a small percentage of the market.
For the most part, women’s clubs share the same fundamental technology as men’s clubs but tend to be shorter, lighter, more flexible and are fitted with a thinner grip.
It’s a one-size-fits-all solution that suits club manufacturers, who like to divide their offerings so they can market them as neatly packaged segments.
But golfers don’t always fit neatly into a category.
Most female golfers do play women’s clubs. But on the LPGA Tour they’re playing the same clubs as their male counterparts.
Confused?
Ultimately, the golf ball is the final arbiter. It doesn’t care about the gender of the player who is hitting it, nor the type of clubs they are using.
And that’s why women should never rule out playing men’s clubs.
WHO ARE WOMEN’S CLUBS DESIGNED FOR?
Women’s clubs are designed to cater for women golfers in the centre of the bell curve.
What’s that look like?
Think of a female golfer who has a swing speed under 80mph, stands about 170cm tall, has average sized hands and plays off a handicap of 27.
If that sounds like you, women’s clubs should definitely be on your radar.
But if you strike out on any one of those scenarios, playing women’s clubs could adversely affect your performance.
WHEN SHOULD A FEMALE CONSIDER PLAYING MEN’S CLUBS?
Typically, male golfers are stronger than women and swing the club faster.
But there are always outliers who don’t fit the mould; just check out bombers like LPGA star Bianca Pagdanganan (pictured below), who uses clubs that most blokes would struggle to hit.
Women with high swing speeds should play men’s clubs for a few reasons.
Firstly, the shafts in women’s clubs are usually L (ladies) flex graphite shafts, which get extremely rubbery and hard to control the quicker they are swung.
Secondly, women’s clubs generally have lighter club heads. Club heads with less mass tend to generate more spin, which can reduce carry and distance.
And finally, women’s clubs feature more loft on the face. They have around 12° of loft compared to 9° or 10° on a men’s driver.
Loft generates both spin and height and the faster the swing speed, the more it potentially hurts distance and playability.
SELECTING GOLF CLUBS AS AN INDIVIDUAL
The label “women’s club” is a bit of a double-edged sword.
On one hand, the clubs give women and girls who are new to the game an obvious starting point to kick off their search for golf clubs.
But on the other hand, it often confuses things: females tend to limit their options only to clubs labelled and marketed as being solely for women.
The truth is preconceptions around which clubs to use will often make the game of golf harder than it should.
A reputable club fitter will treat every golfer as an individual in order to get the best result.
And that means putting every option on the table, whether it’s a club designed for women or men.
CUSTOM CLUB FITTING
If you’re still unsure whether to play men’s or women’s clubs a custom club fitting session can take the guesswork out of it.
A fitting uses a launch monitor to measure all the relevant aspects of a player’s golf game, like swing speed, ball speed, angle of attack, to name a few.
A launch monitor doesn’t care about the gender of the person swinging the club.
All it’s interested in is the data. And, as they say, data doesn’t lie.
The club fitter interprets the data to determine which shaft and head combination will best suit a player’s swing and it’s the most unbiased way of getting the right clubs into your hands.
WOMEN’S CLUBS VS MEN’S CLUBS: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Shaft length
Women’s clubs have shorter shafts.
Shaft flex
Women’s clubs have more flexible shafts.
Grip size
Women’s clubs have thinner grips
Club weight
Women’s clubs are lighter
WOMEN SHOULD CONSIDER MEN’S CLUBS IF THEY…
- Are taller than 170cm
- Hit their driver more than 180 yards
- Have larger-than-average size hands
WOMEN’S CLUBS ON THE MARKET
Callaway Paradym Women’s
Callaway Reva
TaylorMade Stealth 2 Women’s
TaylorMade Kale
Cobra Aerojet Women’s
Cobra Women’s AIR-X
PING G Le3
Titleist TSR1
Wilson DYNAPWR Women’s
XXIO 13