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As a golf mom and a woman, I've spent numerous times on the course/tourneys watching many women and men play. I've seen the tall golfers, the short ones, the ones that could stand to lose a bit of weight.

So here is my question....and it may be bit odd for me to ask, but please bear with me. Woman have a different body structure in the chest area. ~keeping it pc here folks~ Does it affect their swing, as I have noticed pictures where their arms are a bit further away from the objects. If I hold a club, as my son has taught me, I've noticed it is, well for lack of better words, restricting to my chest area.

So how just does this affect women, but maybe also over weight males. Just a thought that crossed my mind, that and I have always been curious.

I worked until recently in the pro shop for two courses. One of our members was a retired gentleman who was -- how to put it? -- stout. He actually paid quite a bit of money (the exact amount escapes me) to have his clubs shortened so as not to interfere with his belly.

My wife first took group lessons for women from a female pro. The pro said she did 'women only' classes because there are differences in how women need to swing due to their anatomy. The pro specifically told the women to either ignore or take with a grain of salt any advice their male counterparts gave them because of the differences.

Remember Ben Wrights comments about women golfers a few years back? Besides his refernces to their sexuality, he also mentioned their breasts getting in the way when they swing the club. BTW, Ben Wright got fired because of the comments.

Can’t relate to the ladies’ problem, but as a “caloricly challenged” male, I faced the similar problem slightly farther south than theirs. For me, the arm extension wasn’t working, making my swing even more outside-in.

Some years ago, a business acquaintance and friend of mine had several meetings down south, which were held mostly on the golf course. He was a good bit taller than I, but a similar build, and a near-scratch golfer. As he explained it to me, the problem for us was trying to “swing around the barrel” that was our bodies. His solution was to have me move my left foot back slightly, opening my stance and taking the belly out of the way. As I got the swing plane down, things started straightening out quickly, and with more practice I even managed to add 20-30 yard off the tees with the freer, more comfortable swing.

Well, that’s what worked for ME. Others may find a different solution is necessary. May not work at all for women since the “obstruction” is higher on the body and closer to the upper arms. The geometry is just different.

Hope this gives you some insight into the male side of the problem you were curious about. As a typical male, I’m completely clueless about how to address YOUR problem…

Wow, I hate topics like these...but here's what I went thru from personal experience...we have two shops on two courses and I've been approached on occasion by females looking for assistance...specifically from the girls golf team.

After making futile stabs in the dark addressing "that problem"...(and yes, at one time I DID recommend sports bras)..I broke down and asked Lisa S., Iowa's #1 golf instructor over for a burger and talk about the state of affairs in womens golf and how she taught females.

She said to take a look at Annika's swing...Annika maintains a perfect Triangle shape from shoulders to grasp of the club and does an easy ONE PIECE takeaway...this pretty much keeps the "upper torso" out of the equation and also no "power leaks" from take back to delivery.

Thank you, I know it's an odd topic, but I appreciate your thoughts.


Happy Shade?