Politically Correct Answer
 

I was asked by a female golfer... why in general do the men tour players hit the ball so much futher than the female tour players?

I explained that I thought that men in general are larger( have more mass), and have more upper body strength. Even though the L.P.G.A. players are good athletes, and are quite strong, they still are in general not as large and strong as the men.

I played with some middle ranked L.P.G.A. pros a few years ago. They were very impressive, and scored a little better than I did( they putted very well). The distance difference, however, was quite obvious. I was 20 to 40 yards ahead of them most of the time. They were driving the ball about 220 to 230, but very straight. At the time... their drives were about like my 1 irons.

Anyway... I told her this same story, and she actually agreed. She thought it was silly to think that women pros could compete with the men. She said she did not see the point of A. Sorenstam playing in the men's tournament.

Well... I kind of let the topic drop after this. What do you think?

The score doesn't know who was playing.

Anyone who can compete (score) should be allowed to play, from the same tees.

IMO the distance differences have more to do with 'lever length' than body mass or strength. Wie proves this. A tall woman with longer arms can hit the ball quite far given proper impact. Mass obviously matters however, and at the upper levels it will always be an edge.

Perhaps there should be 'weight classes' in golf, as they do in other sports :wink:

What about?
 

Michelle Wie hits her drives 300yds. Though tall, she doesn't weigh very much. And there have been more than a few small men who have it the ball a long way.

I'm not sure mass has anything to do with it.

I believe it is stated somewhere that body mass has less than a 1% effect on initial ball velocity.

There are several exceptions, like Michelle Wie. But, size and Mass must be some factor, because many of these women are the size of men. Michelle Wie is 6' tall, and Laura Davies is bigger than many men are. I would guess that the average female pro is about 5'6", and weighs about 135lbs..

The woman that I was talking to, thought that trying to put men and women, except for the very few exceptions, on the same playing field, was absurd. I was kind of surprised by this stance. I thought that nearly all women would be in favor of A. Sorenstam and Michelle Wie playing in men's tournaments, but she was not at all. She seemed to think that the vast majority of female pros could not compete equally with men, and should not be expected to.

I kind of like seeing Michelle and Anaka playing in the men's events, but it does not seem that all women are as amused by this. I kind of think, like EdZ, that if they can compete, it's OK.

Re: Politically Correct Answer
 

If women are allowed to compete with men, it should go equally the other way as well. I don't see why Michelle Wie, who hits it longer than some PGA Tour players, is still allowed to compete with women. Does she not have the same advantage over them that the shorter hitting men would have? If you are going to argue "physical advantage", then you really should stick to physical advantage, not gender. If you are going to allow intergender competition, you have to change the criteria. Strength or clubhead speed should be the factor, not sex.

Re: Politically Correct Answer
 

Look at the stats. #1 for the women was 270 yds. That would put her at about 170th on the men, just between those PGA giants Dean Wilson and Dick Mast. It would be unfair for a "weak" hitting male golfer to try to compete on LPGA. Because those male golfers hitting only 270 are hitting a very high percentage of fairways (see Fred Funk). Then they'd hit a PW when a female member is hitting an 8 or even 7 iron?

Lisa Leslie being able to dunk a basketball doesn't mean she should play for the NBA. Or more to the point, doesn't mean Allen Iverson should play in the WNBA.

Re: Politically Correct Answer
 

When you have Michelle Wie outdriving the men she plays with on Tour, how can you not say that she has an "unfair" advantage over the women when she plays on the LPGA? What about her advantage is different from the advantage of men who hit it the same distance? I agree that in general (95% of the time) women can't compete with the men as far as distance, but what about that other 5%. I haven't checked, but I will take you word for it that Dean Wilson and Dick Mast are the only 2 men shorter than the longerst woman. Why should Dean Wilson and Dick Mast not have the opportunity to play with the women? Their disadvantage puts them in a position where they don't have much chance to win on Tour, so why not let them compete where they have a chance? A penis is not the advantage a man has over a woman. His strength and clubhead speed are. So, if you have a man who doesn't have a strength and clubhead speed advantage over the women then there is no reason he shouldn't be able to play with them other than sexism. On that same note, when you have a woman who does have a strength and clubhead speed advantage over the majority of the women she competes against and decided to take it to the next level and play with the men, why does the LPGA Tour let her back on? What about her physical advantages?

I personally don't really care. I don't think women will ever realistically be able to compete with the men. I just don't like double standards and lies. If you are going to say something, I like you to come out and say it. If the LPGA would just say "We are sexist and don't want men on our Tour, but we want to be able to have women on both Tours so we can market better and get exposure", I would have been fine with everything, but they feel the need to sugarcoat the issue and say "Men have physical advantages". Their "reason" has holes in it and isn't always valid. The LPGA Tour wants to have their cake and eat it too.

I'll give an answer to the original question......

everytime i see a women's swing in slow motion i see early releases and clubhead throwaway, and bent left wrists.

I was watching the big break preview last night for the ladies and everyone of them had clubhead throwaway...some more than others.

Here is one who could do it the right way:

http://redgoat.smugmug.com/gallery/90714/2/3179343

Jim's on the right track. Most women are using big pulley strokes just as most of the men do, but they don't have the rotational or arm speed to do it nearly as well. If they would only realize that the small pulley swing, which requires relatively slower arm speed, would give them the ability to fully utilize the #1 equalizer in golf - Left Wrist Cock.