Saturday, June 23, 2012

New Golfers, Trust Your Instincts

Yesterday I met a friend for lunch who is a new golfer. She's a member of a nine-hole course, which is part of an exclusive community in Nevada.

We sat down and she immediately asked if everyone plays with the same length golf club. I said no, it depends on your height, length of arms, etc. She said she asked the head pro of her club if her driver is too long for her. He told her everyone swings the same length club. I said that's impossible and wrong.

My friend is probably only 5'1" or so. I said take your clubs to a local golf shop and get fitted with your clubs. Her driver was 3" too tall. I warned her that cutting the shaft will make the shaft stiffer, but let's get you hitting the ball on the sweetspot instead of the heel of the club and topping it most of the time. She can get custom clubs when she plays more.

So I have to wonder what the head pro was thinking when he gave her that information. Does he not care because she's a woman? Does he not know? If so, then he should have told her that he didn't know and referred her to someone else.

Frankly his inability or unwillingness to help her could have resulted in her leaving the game. She said she couldn't feel comfortable hitting the ball with her driver. It certainly wasn't her fault! She stood more than a foot away from the end of the club to even try to hit the ball.

So if you're a new golfer, trust your instincts about your golf game! If you get information from a so-called expert, then check and verify it. Every golfer should be trying to properly inform new golfers about the game and be encouraging of them to play.

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