Science Fair Project: Why Young Girls Outperform Big Guys on the Golf Course
Maybe a science fair project will help you figure out why a 14-year-old girl who is only five feet tall and weighs 100 pounds can hit a golf ball 250 yards, maybe even 300 yards. This is even more alarming when a six-foot, 35-year-old, 185-pound man with 10 years of golfing experience can only hit the ball 165 yards.
Just go to the local golf driving range or local golf course and see for yourself. Time and time again, grown men with decades of golf experience will only get a little over 150 yards off the tee. They’ve paid $400 for the most technically advanced 460cc 10-degree driver, complete with space-age shaft and grip. They have taken lessons from the professionals. They practice several times a week and play several times a month. But they are 70 to 100 meters behind many girls of secondary and primary school age. What a project for the science fair.
Men are bigger, stronger, more experienced and more powerful. The answer lies in the ability to consistently generate clubhead speed. The girls have learned how to use their bodies like a coil or a spring, and how to wind it up to unleash amazing power. On the backswing, they shift their weight all the way to the right side while keeping their heads on the ball. They take the extra large pole back and their left shoulder reaches to the right side of their chin. His arms are straight and stiff without bending at the elbow.
This powerful string prepares the body for the pendulum effect as they begin to swing downward. Several things have to happen in the proper sequence. On the downstroke, the shift in weight from right to left begins before the arms begin to move. Then, with the arms stiff, the downward movement occurs and just before the point of contact of the clubhead with the ball, the wrists break at the precise moment that the downward movement occurs, the weight shift and the pendulum motion of the rigid arm. This swing looks easy compared to older men huffing and puffing and swinging with all their might. Look at the men. Look at his elbows. They are invariably doubled. Watch the men and girls on the backswing. Look at how far the girls backswing and compare it to the men. Record all of your findings for your science fair project.
This extra distance off the tee sets up the shot for a possible par for the youngsters, while the men cannot reach the 400-yard par 4 hole in two regulation shots. The girls can now use a four or five iron to get to the green in two, while the men have to use a three wood and still can’t get to the green in two.
The men end up shooting around 110, while the young girls break 80. Distance from the tee isn’t the only important factor in getting a low score. Your short game, the shot to the green and the putt are also important. But you can’t even start getting consistently low scores unless you drive far and consistently.
Most grown men have learned to play the game incorrectly. They never learned how to drive a golf ball properly. Then, after many years of practicing their mistakes, they get so comfortable with their bad swing that they really don’t want to change it. It takes a lot of attitude and practice to give up your old comfortable and inadequate swing to learn how to do it correctly.
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Science Fair Project: Why Young Girls Outperform Big Guys on the Golf Course
by Mort Barish