3balls Golf
On a cool fall morning, it’s hard to not want to grab a cup of coffee and head out to the still-dewy golf course for a round. Surrounded by the colorful leaves of autumn, there’s nothing stopping you from doing just that – or there wouldn’t be, if you just had some good clubs. Although men’s drivers can be difficult to buy because of the sheer amount of choice available, women’s drivers are harder for a different reason.
Many club retailers focus their efforts on the guys and treat lady golfers like an afterthought, hardly bothering to understand that women’s drivers are different from men’s. This lack of knowledge can result in women who run out and buy standard men’s or women’s golf drivers based on bad advice and without understanding the differences. Even though the ladies of the LPGA often play using men’s clubs, a typical female golfer won’t get her best game from them – this is the reason why men’s and women’s clubs exist. Let’s run down some of the major differences:
Shaft Length
The average woman in America today stands 5 foot 4 inches tall, where the average man comes in at 5 foot 9 1/2 inches — those five plus inches make a huge difference when you’re talking about golf clubs. This is why the standard women’s driver is about an inch shorter than a standard men’s driver. If you’re a tall woman, you may do better with men’s drivers than your more average-height counterparts.
Shaft Flex
Flex is a big deal in golf, especially when it comes to amateur golfers. After all, you’re out on the course to have a great time, not to have to constantly battle with your driver. Because women tend to have slower swing speeds, they benefit from more flexible shafts. Ladies’ shafts, labeled as an “L” flex, are the springiest, but can be hard to control without some practice; Senior shafts, labeled with an “A” are less flexible, but still very forgiving of slow swings. Both L and A flexes are suitable for swing speeds under 80 miles per hour, where many women golfers fall.
Grip Size
This is a no-brainer, but women tend to have smaller hands than men, which means they need smaller grips than the typical men’s driver will offer. Women’s drivers already come with small grips installed. But you can have a smaller grip fitted to the men’s driver of your choice if men’s drivers suit you better.
Loft and Weight
Last, but not least, women’s drivers are typically higher lofted and weigh less. In the mid ‘90s, Ralph Maltby observed that women golfers tend to sweep the ball. This bit of information led to higher lofts for women’s drivers to take advantage of their arc-like swing: lofts of 13 degrees or more are great for many female golfers. As for the weight of the club, less is more. Instead of wasting your power on swinging a heavy club, it gets redirected toward your ball, adding distance and speed.
There’s no time like today to start playing golf, and with the great prices we have on pre-owned women’s golf clubs, cost isn’t an excuse. Take a look at 3balls.com, choose the clubs that best fit your game and you’ll be out enjoying the colors of autumn on your favorite golf course in no time.
