Women’s Golf Clubs

There are several key differences, besides cosmetic appearance, between clubs designed and built for Men and Women. Typically, most clubs for women will be made one inch shorter in length for each club in step down progression. This is opposed to the half inch increments for men. Women’s clubs also are designed have higher loft on the club faces versus Men’s clubs. Additionally, the shafts installed for women’s clubs are more flexible than the shafts in men’s clubs.

Women need special consideration in in club design to play their best.  Women with single digit handicaps are the exception. Those players of this caliber have basically the same requirements as male players. Female players can have trouble hitting irons in particular. Getting the ball airborne requires a set of irons designed with a low center of gravity. The majority of women golfers do not take divots. Most women golfers are simply not strong enough. Consequently, they swing mostly in a sweeping arc into the ball versus a down and through arc.

Club Design Considerations

For women, there are several very important design characteristics to consider. Clubs for women need to have a very low center of gravity.  The center of gravity needs to be moved farther away from the shaft hosel and a more rearward positioned center of gravity than most irons would normally have as well. They also would benefit from a wider sole from the face to the back of the iron and at least 4° of bounce angle on the sole.

Additionally, they generally need more loft from what is typically found on most men’s irons. Iron clubs for women also need to be heavier then men’s iron heads because the golf club length for women is shorter than men.  A woman will not feel the heavier head wight because of the shorter overall club length. But, the weight is necessary to hit the ball solidly. Women usually need a driver loft of 12 to 15° to easily get the ball airborne.

These visible differences are generally seen on standard-made clubs bought off-the-rack at retail outlets. The design changes are implemented because golf club companies, 1) presume that the majority of women golfers have slower swing speeds and, 2) tend to have less overall athletic strength than men. While this may not be true in some cases, manufacturers must cater to the largest segment of golf buyers. If you do not fit this mold as a woman golfer – then you definitely need a custom fit set.