Women golfers, especially when they are beginners, should get fitted properly for their golf clubs. With technological advances, it is possible to buy clubs that allow you to get the ball up into the air while achieving distance and accuracy. The clubs in your bag should be a mixture of woods, irons and hybrids.
Overview
Women golfers, especially when they are beginners, should get fitted properly for their golf clubs. With technological advances, it is possible to buy clubs that allow you to get the ball up into the air while achieving distance and accuracy. The clubs in your bag should be a mixture of woods, irons and hybrids.
The Challenge
To make good contact with the ball, the club head should hit the ball squarely in the center of the club in the sweet spot, and not with the toe or the heel of the club.
If you top the ball or hit the ground first for a fat shot, you are robbing yourself of distance. Many women have a slower swing speed resulting from a lack of upper body strength, proper swing mechanics or a lack of golf experience. Fortunately, many of these problems can be avoided with the proper equipment.
What’s in the Bag
The United States Golf Association (USGA) states in its official rules that players are allowed 14 golf clubs in their bag. You might not even need all 14 clubs. A good combination of clubs for women is the driver, lofted woods such as a 5, 7 and 9, a 6-iron, 7-iron, 8-iron and 9-iron, a pitching wedge, a sand wedge and a putter. Hybrids, which are easier to hit than long irons, can replace the 3-iron, 4-iron and 5-iron. For lower handicapped women golfers, try adding a 3-wood and a 5-iron.
Features to Look For
Oversized club heads are recommended for high-handicap women golfers. The oversized club is more forgiving of miss hits because of the larger sweet spot. Perimeter weighting on the irons can also make the ball go straighter, even if the club makes contact toward the heel or the toe.
To get the ball up, use a more lofted club with a wider sole.
Offset club heads help with an outside-in swing by allowing the golfer keep the clubface more square to the target upon impact. Woods and hybrids with a low center of gravity and more loft will help you launch the ball and achieve more distance. A club with a higher loft will also prevent your shots from curving for a slice or a hook by counteracting spin. A driver with a larger head of more than 430 cc, a flexible shaft and a loft of up to 15 degrees can help the high handicap woman with a slow swing speed. These features help golfers launch the tee shot into the air, keep the shot straight and achieve distance. Large head mallet putters with a greater Moment of Inertia (MOI) are more forgiving of miss hits.