Adaptive Fitting

Paragolfer Electric Chair

Steve was one of the first wheelchair golfers we worked with starting in 2006. He plays from the Paragolfer electric chair, which puts him in an upright stance to swing using just his right arm. He uses a Jumbo lightweight grip, similar to our PP62 putter grip, with Velcro glued onto the outside and paired with a Velcro glove. Most of his length, loft and lie specs are quite typical for any golfer, with the exception of his very small “gardening tool” wedge, which is built to 26″ and allows him to chip from a fully seated position.

Quadruple Amputee

Jeff approached us in 2008 and asked if we could help him get out on the course more regularly. He is a quadruple amputee and uses a special device that screws directly into his right prosthetic arm to hold a golf club. Each individual club has a small metal protrusion in place of the grip, which Jeff can push and turn so that it locks into place and is held firm with an internal spring. Jeff plays regularly and won a tournament at his club in 2017. The same attachment we made for him has now been used by a handful of golfers.

One-handed Swing

Ryan is a veteran we worked with as part of our support for the Warfighter Sports program. He swings the club with just his left arm in a right-handed stance – referred to as “backhand” style. We built his set with Quantum Grips – they incorporate a spiral of Velcro to make gripping the club less of a physical strain over a full round. These grips can be very effective with golfers who swing one-handed, or anyone needing extra help gripping the club.

One-handed Swing

Adaptive fitting can come in all shapes and sizes. In 2018 our team in the UK built a full set for Britain’s tallest man. Standing at 7’6”, Paul Sturgess is literally “off the chart”, meaning we had to extend out our color code chart to compile a suitable initial length and lie angle for him. His irons are +4” while the driver is a USGA-maximum 48” and the putter is 44”. When we build a set like this it is important to pay close attention to the overall mass and swing weight of the clubs. His grips are also impressively large – our largest-diameter Orange grip with 15 extra wraps of tape.

Adapted Working Prototype

We can’t claim too much credit for Andreas’ clubs – he came to us with a working prototype of a special “paddle” carved out of wood, which he clamps under his armpit and uses plenty of body rotation to make a great swing. We were able to optimize the design using injection-molded plastic made at our headquarters in Phoenix, and we paired the paddles with extra-long shafts to give Andreas a full set to cover all situations on the course. Andreas is playing as much as he can and has ambitions to play golf in the Paralympics one day.