coverage of women's golf in Golf Monthly

[FaldosJumper]

I buy the mag as I find a lot of relevant stuff to me and my game. If we suddenly started seeing a large proportion of the mag being targeted at the female golfer it'd then start becoming irrelevant to me as a reader and would have to consider if what I'm spending is value for money and may well take my business eleaewhere.

The mag is great like it is, why fix it if it ain't broken?

 

[Foxholer]

[video=youtube_share;KM70Ogog124]http://youtu.be/KM70Ogog124[/video]

Now can you tell me that blokes can't learn from this.

Except JO of course.

I mean, no S&T in sight, just pure 'traditional' swing. But by lowering her plane she gets a straighter more penetrating ball flight. Simples. Nice rhythm too.

And I know nothing about ball flight laws, either. But Anna can teach me more than JO can. Anyday.

Looks pretty S&T-ish to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2SWsaGkUoo

Could be quite content watching that though!

 

[CrapHacker]

Looks pretty S&T-ish to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2SWsaGkUoo

Could be quite content watching that though!

TBH I though it more 'JeffRitterish' than S&T, but that's my point. If we're going to have these discusions why not have them over this swing sequence. Her ball hitting ability/swing speed etc is going to be more relevant than those of a top male pro.

Her swing is so simple it makes more sense to me than trying to take things away from Tiger's swing.

Also if JO wants to make a point, I'd prefer him to do it with this video, rather than one with his ugly mug in it.

To me, one of the biggest doubts about someone like me going over to the other side is the lack of perceived distance I'd get.

But if Anna gets good distance, then maybe it's worth me looking at.

PS

When I've been talking about more pages for the ladies, I don't mean specific ladies section, I mean inclusion in a higher % of swing sequences, discusions about what we can all learn from their swings etc

Just a slightly different way of looking at things.

Evolution, not revolution.

 

[MikeH]

Its a golf mag for golfers, no matter what sex they are.

couldn't have put it any better really

bladeplayer's comments about financial viability/business were spot on too. I only have a certain number of pages each issue - I cant just add on extra pages for the sake of it as it costs a lot to upsize the magazine - so to bring it 2,3,45 however many pages dedicated to women's golf would mean I had to drop 5 pages of exisitng content

One final thing to underline is that I always welcome feedback on the mag and what we do so I take on board the comments about featuring women/women's golf in the magazine and will ensure we continue to maintain coverage of the women's game where appropriate and in future I am sure we will look for other opportunities (may not be in the mag but through online platforms) for additional coverage

 

[richart]

There is a sudden increase in ladies on the here Mike, and no doubt they will now be buying the magazine, if only for the Forum pages !!

I am sure there are lot of the men on here who can't achieve the swing speed of the men Pro's in GM, but they could swing more like some of the ladies Pro's. Remember going to watch the ladies at Woburn, and their rhythm was fantastic. Perhaps you could get one of the lady Pros to give a regular lesson in the magazine ?

My view...you can't really teach swing speed, you've either got it or you havent. Sure you can hone what you've got but what pieces like the Rory Power Move one in the current issue aim to do is give readers an insight into how he delivers the power and ball speed he does.

GM isnt all about.. "stand like this, hold the club like so, try to hit it with this action" which is more the Today's Golfer stock in trade. Sure we cover fundamentals eachmonth but a fair bit of what we (and GW and GI) want to do is give readers that window into a world that we all want to know more about.... professional golf

I was thinking more of the fundamentals Mike, the lessons that you include, rather than the Rory type articles. Just a thought.

I probably haven't made my point very well, but as the magazine does include instructional articles, why cant we have say putting tips from someone like Melissa Reid, rather than some chap I have never heard off. Or say chipping tips from anyone who played in the Solheim Cup. I can only speak for myself but this sort of article would appeal to me, and perhaps to othermen and women. Kill two birds with one stone ?

 

[Heidi]

I don't add a "Ladies Section". However an occasional female face cropping up would allow female readers to relate to it a bit better. QUOTE]

Me and fairway are on the same wavelength. I dont want a ladies pink and fluffy section. Just acknowledge that we exist! Maybe invite a few of the ladies to fitting sessions, show differences between a man's driver and the same make for ladies and what that means to the average golfer.

Like fairway, I use a mix of men and ladies clubs, there is absolutely no reason why a man couldn't consider a ladies club in his bag. My driver and 3 wood are the same make but I chose the man's driver but the ladies 3 wood after hitting a pile of balls.


Ladies swings - I've also noticed that a couple of the lady pro's have a very pronounced dip with their heads - Gublis and Creamer. This vid from 2007 shows a comparison. It would be interesting to find out more about the difference between male and female pro swings, stats etc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jviToMF5kYk
So, to summarise, no pink fluff, no separate sections, just a little more both about female pros and us female hackers!

:thup:

 

[MikeH]

I probably haven't made my point very well, but as the magazine does include instructional articles, why cant we have say putting tips from someone like Melissa Reid, rather than some chap I have never heard off. Or say chipping tips from anyone who played in the Solheim Cup. I can only speak for myself but this sort of article would appeal to me, and perhaps to othermen and women. Kill two birds with one stone ?

Point taken Richard! I will see what we can do

 

[SyR]

I probably haven't made my point very well, but as the magazine does include instructional articles, why cant we have say putting tips from someone like Melissa Reid, rather than some chap I have never heard off. Or say chipping tips from anyone who played in the Solheim Cup. I can only speak for myself but this sort of article would appeal to me, and perhaps to othermen and women. Kill two birds with one stone ?

Very good idea Rich. There are lots of talented ladies on tour who can offer advice on parts of the game that applies to all without it being an seperate ladies section.

 

[Ethan]

At the risk on incurring the wrath of the women golfers around here, surely the biggest factor is that the women's game in general is not in a great place, and interest levels in all the forms of media reflect that. Yani Tseng may be the undisputed world number 1, but if she walked into most clubhouses in the UK on a Satuday afternoon, she wouldn't be recognised unless she had her caddy with her name on the bag beside here. Likewise quite a few other leading women golfers. I couldn't tell you who won the last women's professional tournament, or indeed hardly any specific event since the Solheim Cup.

I very much doubt that putting in a section on women's golf, however token or real, in GM would attract more new women readers than it would lose current male readers.

 

[GB72]

I agree that a few more female faces in articles that are generic would be a good thing. Not sure how easy it would be to get women more involved in the fitting opportunities though as the ranges and shafts designed for women do not appear to be released at the same time as the big, beginning of the year promotion. Also, I would suspect that the company involved would rather a page dedicated to their big new mens release than their lower key womens range.

One thing I would say, however, is that my wife tried the game for a bit and it drive her to distraction. Why does everything associated with women's golf have to be powder blue or pink. My wife hates those colours and longed for gear in black or purple. Also, she had real issues with the fashionable kit only being available in tiny sizes.

 

[JustOne]

I probably haven't made my point very well, but as the magazine does include instructional articles, why cant we have say putting tips from someone like Melissa Reid, rather than some chap I have never heard off. Or say chipping tips from anyone who played in the Solheim Cup. I can only speak for myself but this sort of article would appeal to me, and perhaps to othermen and women. Kill two birds with one stone ?

I can't say that many men would be interested in following a chipping tip from Melissa Reid (or any other female golfer) I can't say why that is.... maybe 'cos we're pigs?

 

[JustOne]

TBH I though it more 'JeffRitterish' than S&T, but that's my point. If we're going to have these discusions why not have them over this swing sequence. Her ball hitting ability/swing speed etc is going to be more relevant than those of a top male pro.

Her swing is so simple it makes more sense to me than trying to take things away from Tiger's swing.

Also if JO wants to make a point, I'd prefer him to do it with this video, rather than one with his ugly mug in it.

Eh? Does my name have to get dragged into every thread?

I get myself into enough grief single-handedly don't you know!!

Isn't this about ladies coverage in Golf Monthly magazine?

 

[need_my_wedge]

I hadn't really given it much thought prior to this thread. Not because I'm anti-women on the golf course or anti-women articles in the mag, just because I always assumed it was a bloke's mag. Having read through this thread now though, I have been giving it some thought. I really don't care who the contributing pages are by or for, I'm happy for pages to be about women's golf, by women golfers or for women golfers. It has also made me think about what I actually read in the mag. I realize that I apart from flicking through quickly when I get it, I haven't really sat down and read the last 5 or 6 issues. Maybe it's time to cancel my standing order.