Swinging for Female Golfers

By Alice Park

Everyone who plays golf is something of a closet geek. How else can you explain our (yes, I include myself in this group) obsession with the latest biometric-based designs or the newest high-tech components like polymers and alloys and all the other neat-sounding stuff that clubmakers pack into their new products?

One of the hottest areas of innovation is in clubs for women, who now make up nearly a quarter of the 24 million golfers in the U.S., with young women becoming the fastest-growing group of all. So when Callaway and Nike, two of the leading golf-equipment manufacturers, recently released new clubs designed specifically for women, I couldn't wait to take some test swings.

Most women's clubs have been simply men's sticks with lighter shafts attached or done up in pretty colors. But when I tried out Callaway's new irons at my local range, I was immediately struck by how different they looked and felt. Instead of a thin base, the i-brid, as it's called, has a broader, flat sole that can sit on the turf only one way--the right way, at the angle that virtually guarantees the ball will get into the air. "With the i-brid, you make a regular swing, and you get loft and distance," says Brian Groves, vice president at Callaway. The clubs are also weighted differently from those designed for men, with much of the ballast concentrated in the bottom of the club to optimize the chance that even women's slower swing speeds will launch the ball down the fairway. The odd shape of the i-brid took some getting used to, but I definitely hit more consistently after a few tries. It's ideal for those just learning the game, since it acts as training wheels until a newbie has figured out the proper setup of the club--something I wish I'd had when I first hit the greens.

Nike's new equipment for women includes the SQ irons, the first of what will be several sets that are weighted with the female swing in mind, and the Karma, a ball that efficiently transfers the least amount of energy from a swing into a longer distance on the fairway. Amazingly, the new clubs cost less than traditional ones. And that's a sweet spot any new golfer can appreciate.