Women's Flex, Senior, Men's Regular?

[Ajlepisto]

My wife has been playing for around 6 months. She's pretty self conscious about her ability and doesn't want to get fitted or even really swing in front of people.

 

That said, I think she's pretty good. She hits the ball fairly well and gets decent distance considering. She hits her 7iron around 125-130 carry.

 

Today I managed to get her to hop onto the simulator at the local store, just to check her swing speed and stuff. She's got Nike Women's Slingshot 4D irons with women's flex shafts.

 

Today she hit a 7iron Cobra AMP women's flex at 62mph without being warmed up. I had her hit the Orange AMP with the Lite flex graphite shaft and her swing speed went down to 56-58 mph. She wasn't even swinging that smooth, so I know when she gets comfortable her speed increases.

 

It seems to me that she's outgrown her current shafts. She has problems with inconsistent striking and can't even hit her women's flex driver. Ironically I let her hit a few of my PX 5.5 MP irons and she was hitting them dead straight. Not really as far as with her set, but better contact.

 

I just don't know though, is it smart to buy a slightly stiffer flex like a lightweight mens regular and have her grow into it a bit?

 

She's 5'3" and isn't terribly strong, but seems like she has lots of potential. Only 27 and in good condition otherwise.

[Aimee]

if she wants to play better, she's going to have to get over her self-consciousness and get fitted. Outdoors, preferably, since simulators don't tell the whole story.
At 5'-3", men's shafts are going to be too long (I'm 5'-4 and have Ping men's lite flex graphite -1/4", my prior Cally's were -1/2") plus the standard men's grip size may be too large.
So many factors to consider, if you're going to do it right, you can't buy something and hope it will work out in a year or two.
Swing speed isn't the only indicator of what shaft is best, every manufacturer has different standards for men's "standard"/"light/senior" or ladie's "standard".
I used to play with a woman who hit the ball a looong way and she was fitted for ladies' shafts because of her tempo.
It's not surprising that she hit your steel shafts OK, since a too-stiff flex (for a woman) will more likely keep the ball going straight, ball flight lower/less distance (as you noticed).
If your wife "isn't terribly strong", I would recommend sticking with graphite shafts, she will have less stress on her joints and won't get tired out as easily.
Inconsistent ball striking is to be expected after only playing 6 months, invest in some professional instruction and it will pay dividends.

[Ajlepisto]

Thanks for the reply, kinda late with my response, I know.

Turns out the launch monitor was wrong. She has never been able to hit her clubs well since she started -- and we were sold the "ladies" clubs on clearance at a golf store when we both started a while ago, thinking they would be okay. Now she's swinging her 5i around 80mph instead of 70mph, like the first monitor was reading.

Poor girl, turns out she's been needing a men's regular flex the entire time and has stuggled to hit the ball very well with her ladies shafts, esp in longer clubs.

Get fitted, I guess is the moral of this story.

[gvogel]

[quote name='Ajlepisto' timestamp='1354551080' post='6011849']
Thanks for the reply, kinda late with my response, I know.

Turns out the launch monitor was wrong. She has never been able to hit her clubs well since she started -- and we were sold the "ladies" clubs on clearance at a golf store when we both started a while ago, thinking they would be okay. Now she's swinging her 5i around 80mph instead of 70mph, like the first monitor was reading.

Poor girl, turns out she's been needing a men's regular flex the entire time and has stuggled to hit the ball very well with her ladies shafts, esp in longer clubs.

Get fitted, I guess is the moral of this story.
[/quote]

Cool. I was going to advise trying men's senior shafts, but it looks like men's regular is the ticket. Your wife might not be "strong", but she may be strong in a golf sense - which would be flexibility and the ability to create some torque. Sounds like she has that.

Also, the heavier weight of men's clubs may well help her to get the club on the ball more efficiently.

Trial and error is really the best fitting technique. It is too bad that more places don't have a variety of sets of clubs that could be borrowed for a few days, a few rounds, to determine what works in the real world.

[Yuck]

my wife plays Sr Shafts and her driver swing speed is only about 80, but it works for her.

[golfgirl7]

Hi,

I'm a teaching pro and I never judge what shaft my female students should play based on how strong they look or their swings. I base it on club head speed and eye balling the trajectory. If you measure club head speed and are seeing ideal trajectory on the launch monitor (or just eye ball it) then you really can't go wrong. With today's technology, it's not really a guessing game anymore.

With that being said, it is possible for a player to fit into a flex that they just don't like. I often fit to senior, but even so, always seem to have more control and play better with regular right now. Another 10 years and those seniors might feel pretty good.

[JanK]

I lose a lot of distance when I swing ladies clubs. Some are just too light. It's important to be able to sense where the clubhead is. Many women, like a lot of men, need a heavier club to do that. There's a fine line though. I hate to see a new golfer develop bad swing habits because the clubs are so far off from what they need.

[pdw]

We are in the exact same dilemma as ajlepisto (OP)...
My gf is 5'3 but is actually very strong and we do weight training frequently.
She finds her clubs too soft like she is swinging a noodle around, and she often tops the ball or chunks big time when trying to compensate for topping it. We have a very sheap set of Ladies Golden Bear clubs as she didn't know if she wanted to commit to golfing.

Well...she loves it, but she usually ends up using my clubs because she hits them better. (Nike Sumo2 driver + 3W in stiff, Callaway X20 irons in uniflex).

I was thinking of getting her a Cobra amp set which she really liked, but its also in ladies flex. I can only assume that the Cobras will be a better shaft/club and won't be as soft, but she plays with men's clubs pretty good.... Her swing is super whacky right now but I don't think her clubs are helping, and I dont want her to get locked into a bad swing.

I told her about the fitting, but she is also a bit like OP's wife...


Her chipping game is on point though... Its kind of ridiculous.

[barriec]

My wife and I play a lot of golf. Practice together. I hit the ball longer than most. The point is that when I mess around and hit my wife's clubs so long as I have good tempo I hit her clubs in ladies flex just as well as my stiffs. A teaching pro fit to x-stiff could hit her clubs better still (for illustration sake).

Based on your description of her swing, invest the money in lessons.

[lvelazco]

Hi there everyone. Im new to this forum so bare w me. I have a 16yr High School Golf Varisty player and is wanting to get a new driver. She currently have a Adams TightLies Ladies driver that shes been using for almost 2-3yrs (since JV). Since shes been using all Callaway, she wants to stick w Callaway & she had an eye to a Big Bertha Alpha but is on a Reg Flex (not Ladies). Its brand new and I not sure what to do, so I decided to have her use and try my Taylormade R7 w Reg Flex graphite shaft and to my surprise she was bombing those long high balls. Should I buy her the Callway w Reg flex or should I stay w the ladies flex? By the way, she also been fitted in the past w her old set.

[etakmit]

Hi there everyone. Im new to this forum so bare w me. I have a 16yr High School Golf Varisty player and is wanting to get a new driver. She currently have a Adams TightLies Ladies driver that shes been using for almost 2-3yrs (since JV). Since shes been using all Callaway, she wants to stick w Callaway & she had an eye to a Big Bertha Alpha but is on a Reg Flex (not Ladies). Its brand new and I not sure what to do, so I decided to have her use and try my Taylormade R7 w Reg Flex graphite shaft and to my surprise she was bombing those long high balls. Should I buy her the Callway w Reg flex or should I stay w the ladies flex? By the way, she also been fitted in the past w her old set.

 

Don't guess. Or you'll just pick the wrong one and have to shell out for a second club. Get her fit properly

[tntgolf]

Women are at a huge disadvantage. Men have 3 flex choices, 3 grip sizes, and multiple lengths. Women have one. Women benefit more than men from a custom fitting. A club builder will pay no attention to the sex of the player. . We fit to the swing.

[Kahodges1721]

I wish this thread received more info. I am by no means knowledgeable about women’s options. I’m headed this weekend to get my wife fitted as this is her exact situation. I think she is beyond women’s flex but not sure where. After getting her fitted I’ll come back and post what I learned.

[theclubdoctor]

Eliminate the guess work. Get her fitted outdoors.

[Sean2]

Yes, a fitting will be the only way to truly determine what she needs...and is cheaper in the long run than experimenting.