A second-hand ladies golf club plays as well as it did new, as long as it was built for a golfer like you. Flex, length, grip size and loft decide whether it suits your swing, and the head, shaft and grip grades decide whether it's worth the price. These are the 12 things to check before you buy, with examples of how each one shows up on a used listing.

Quick summary

• Ladies flex suits most women with a driver swing speed under 70 mph, and Senior flex suits women who swing at 70 to 85 mph or stand taller than about 5ft 8in.
• Ladies clubs are usually about 1 inch shorter than men's standard length, which fits most women between about 5ft 3in and 5ft 7in.
• Ladies drivers and fairway woods carry more loft: a Ladies driver can carry 13° or more where a men's has 9° to 10.5°, and a Ladies 3 wood can run up to 19°.
• Ladies graphite shafts are lighter, about 40g to 50g in woods and hybrids, and Ladies grips are thinner, so read the shaft and grip lines on every listing.
• A men's club cut down for a woman plays stiffer than its label says and its head feels lighter, so it rarely matches a Ladies flex club of the same length.
• Worn grips are the most common fault on a used club and the easiest to fix, so a worn grip is a reason to adjust the price, not to walk away.

How are ladies golf clubs different from men's?

Ladies golf clubs are lighter, shorter and softer than men's, with thinner grips and more loft in the long clubs. Each of those differences is built in for a slower swing and smaller hands, so a used ladies club only helps you if its original spec is still there and hasn't been changed by a new shaft, a new grip or a saw.

1. Check the shaft flex

Check the shaft flex before anything else, because a ladies head on a firmer shaft plays like a different club. The flex is printed on the shaft or its label, usually as a letter: L for Ladies and A for Senior on most makes.

Shafts get swapped during a club's life, so the flex on the shaft counts for more than the model name on the head. The TaylorMade Kalea is a women's model, but it's the shaft that makes a Kalea play soft, and the listing should say Ladies flex. Every club in our used Ladies flex range carries the flex in its title and names the shaft in its description, so a Kalea 5 hybrid reads "Shaft: Taylormade 45g" with Ladies flex in the title.

On a private sale, ask for a photo of the shaft if the flex isn't stated. A club described as "ladies" because of its colour or its last owner can still have a men's Regular shaft in it.

2. Choose between Ladies and Senior flex

Choose Ladies flex if your driver swing speed is under about 70 mph, and Senior flex if it's about 70 to 85 mph. Most women starting out swing under 70 mph, but plenty of club golfers, younger players and taller women swing faster, and a Ladies shaft at that speed tends to send the ball high and left for a right-hander.

If you don't know your speed, a launch monitor at a driving range or a fitting will tell you in a few swings. Without one, watch the ball: drives that balloon and curve left with a Ladies shaft point to Senior, and drives that fly low and right with a Senior shaft point back to Ladies.

Senior flex also widens your choice: our used Senior flex clubs include drivers such as a 12° PING G30 SF Tec at £129.99. Senior shafts are built for slower swings, whatever the golfer's age, so the name shouldn't put you off.

3. Check the length against your height

Ladies standard length fits most women between about 5ft 3in and 5ft 7in, and it's usually about 1 inch shorter than men's standard. Shorter women may want clubs a little shorter again, and taller women often fit men's lengths better. Arm length matters as well as height, which is why fitters also measure from your wrist crease to the floor.

Our listings carry a Measures line that reads Standard unless a club has been lengthened or shortened, so a club marked Standard is at the length its maker built it. If you'd rather have the lengths matched for you, Build a Bag starts from your height, handicap, 7 iron carry distance and budget, and we send a video of the clubs we'd pick over WhatsApp.

Putters are sold by length rather than flex. Most women suit a 33 or 34 inch putter. A putter that's too long makes you stand too upright, with your eyes inside the line of the ball instead of over it.

4. Check the lie angle

The lie angle is the angle between the shaft and the sole, and on a used iron or wedge it needs to suit your height and posture. A club that's too upright for you catches the ground with its heel and sends the ball left for a right-hander; a club that's too flat catches it with the toe and sends the ball right. Because the lie angle sets where the face points at impact, a good swing with the wrong lie still misses the target.

PING makes this easy to check on its irons. Each carries a coloured dot that records its lie: 1 of 10 colour codes running from 5° upright to 4° flat (PING), which is why a set of PING Serene irons is listed as Serene Red Dot. Look the colour up on PING's chart before you buy a PING set, because a dot fitted for a much taller or shorter golfer won't sit flat for you.

On other brands, look at the sole. Heavy wear on the heel suggests the last owner played the club too upright for them, and wear on the toe suggests too flat. That tells you how the club was used rather than how it will suit you, so treat it as a question for the seller. A club maker can bend most irons by 1° or 2°, which costs far less than another set.

5. Check the grip size

Check the grip size against your hands, because a grip that's too thick makes it harder to release the club and tends to leave the face open at impact. Ladies clubs usually come with thinner grips than men's, and many carry undersize grips.

PING's grip chart, published beside its colour code chart, sizes grips from 2 measurements: your hand from the wrist crease to the tip of your longest finger, and the length of that finger. The chart points to 1 of 6 grip sizes, and a fitter adjusts from there after watching your ball flight.

On a used listing, read the grip line. Our PING Serene Red Dot irons (7 iron to pitching wedge, £100.99, graded Good on head, shaft and grip) have Iomic Undersize grips, and our 52° Callaway Opus gap wedge in Ladies flex has a Lamkin ST Undersize. Our Ladies flex Kalea 5 hybrids carry a Golf Pride Tour Velvet in Standard size, which will feel thicker in small hands.

A grip in the wrong size is the cheapest problem on this list to fix. A club maker or a pro shop can fit an undersize or ladies grip in a few minutes, so a thick grip shouldn't stop you buying a club whose shaft and length are right.

6. Check the loft

Look for more loft than a man would carry in the same club, especially in the driver and fairway woods. A slower swing launches the ball lower, and extra loft gets it airborne and carrying. The number on a club tells you less than its loft does, so read the degrees on the listing.

The gap is biggest at the top of the bag. A Cobra King Speed LD Offset in Ladies flex has 13.5° of loft (£37.99) and a TaylorMade Burner Superfast 2.0 HT has 13° (£47.99), which is about 3° to 4° more than a typical men's driver. The PING G Le2 3 woods among our used Ladies flex fairway woods are 19°, which is 5 wood loft in a men's set.

In hybrids the lofts barely differ, and what makes our used ladies hybrids easier to swing is the lighter, softer shaft. High-lofted woods and hybrids also replace long irons in most ladies bags, because a 5 wood or 5 hybrid gets the ball up from the fairway far more easily than a 5 iron, which is why most of the best second-hand golf clubs for ladies are woods and hybrids.

7. Check the weight

Check the shaft weight, because a lighter club is easier to swing quickly and easier to swing for 18 holes. Most of the weight difference between ladies and men's clubs is in the shaft: the TaylorMade shafts in a Kalea or M6 hybrid and the Cobra Bassara in the King Speed LD driver weigh 45g, and the UST Mamiya Recoil Dart in the Opus wedge weighs 50g.

Irons show the gap most clearly. Steel iron shafts usually weigh about 95g to 130g, roughly 2 to 3 times a ladies graphite shaft, and you feel that on every swing. Unless you swing quickly and like the feel of steel, a ladies iron set or wedge should be graphite, and the choice between graphite and steel iron shafts comes down to weight, feel and price.

Many shafts carry their weight in grams in the model name or on the label, so a listing that names the shaft lets you look it up. If a club sold as a ladies club is listed only as "steel", ask before you buy.

8. Check whether a men's club has been cut down

A men's club cut down for a woman is shorter, but it isn't a ladies club. Taking length off the grip end makes the shaft play stiffer, and it lowers the swingweight, how heavy the head feels, by about 3 points for every 0.5 inch removed. A men's driver built at D2 and cut down 1 inch ends up around C6, with a Regular shaft that now plays firmer than Regular.

The total weight barely changes, so a cut-down men's set with steel shafts still swings heavy. That's the trap with hand-me-down clubs from a partner or a parent: the length gets fixed, and the flex, the weight and the grip size don't.

Signs a used club has been cut down are a men's model with a Regular or Stiff shaft that measures short, a grip that covers part of the shaft's label, and a listing that gives a length below standard. On our listings the Measures line shows any change. If you have to choose, pick a shaft that suits your swing speed over a length that suits your height, because a club maker can change the length in minutes and the flex only with a new shaft.

9. Check the grips for wear

Worn grips are the most common fault on a used club and the easiest to fix. A grip that's shiny, hard, cracked or worn smooth where your thumbs sit will slip, and you'll squeeze harder to hold on. Rubber hardens with age as well as use, and grips wear out long before heads and shafts do, so a club that has sat in a garage for years can need new grips even if it was hardly played.

We grade the grip separately from the head and shaft, so a listing tells you whether to budget for new grips. The grips on our PING Serene irons are graded Good, and the grip on the Opus wedge is Excellent. A new grip costs a fraction of the club, so a worn one is a reason to adjust what you'll pay, not a reason to walk away.

10. Check the head, face and grooves

The head is where wear is easiest to see, and the question is whether the wear is cosmetic or changes how the club plays. We grade every head, shaft and grip on the same scale, and our condition rating guide sets out each grade:

Beyond the grade, look at 3 things:

• Sky marks on the crown of a driver or fairway wood are scuffs left by balls struck off the top edge of the face. They're cosmetic.
• Grooves on irons and wedges wear smooth with use and cost spin on chips and pitches. Check the middle of the face, where most shots land.
• Dents and cracks on the face or crown change how the club performs and can spread. Pass on these at any price.

11. Check the shaft and ferrule

Run your eye and your fingers along the shaft before you buy. Graphite shafts, which most ladies clubs use, should have no cracks, splinters or deep chips that expose the fibres, especially just below the grip and just above the head, where a shaft takes the most stress. Steel shafts should be straight, with no dents or rust pitting.

The ferrule is the small plastic collar where the shaft meets the head. A gap above the head, or a ferrule that has slid up the shaft, can mean the head has worked loose. A rattle when you shake the club often means loose glue inside the head: a cheap repair, but one to know about before you pay. On adjustable drivers, woods and hybrids, check that the adjustment wrench comes with the club, because you need it to change the loft or the face angle.

12. Buy where you can send it back

Buy from a seller who will take the club back, because you can't judge a shaft's flex or a grip's size until you've swung the club. When you buy from a business, goods have to be of satisfactory quality, judged against their description and price (Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9). A private seller doesn't owe you that, only that the club is as described.

Every UK order from us comes with a 60-day return window: a refund to your original payment method within 14 days, or store credit, valid for 12 months, from day 15 to day 60, with return postage paid by you unless the club is faulty or not as described. If a listing's photos don't show what you need, message us on WhatsApp and we'll send more photos or a video of the club.

Copies of popular drivers and putters are sold second-hand too, often at prices well below every genuine listing for the same model. The signs of a fake golf club are in the small details: the font on the sole, the paint fill, the serial number and the weight.

Frequently asked questions

Is it worth buying second-hand ladies golf clubs?

Yes, as long as the flex, length and grip suit you. A used club costs far less than the same club new, and it keeps a resale value: our trade-in and part exchange pays by bank transfer, or in store credit worth an extra 10%, when you're ready to upgrade.

What is the difference between Ladies flex and Senior flex?

Ladies flex is the softest shaft a club is sold with and suits driver swing speeds under about 70 mph; Senior flex, marked A, is a step firmer and suits about 70 to 85 mph. Ladies flex shafts are usually lighter as well. A woman who swings faster than average, or who is tall enough for men's lengths, often plays better with Senior flex.

What height are ladies golf clubs made for?

Ladies standard length suits most women between about 5ft 3in and 5ft 7in. Women under about 5ft 3in may want clubs 0.5 to 1 inch shorter, and women over about 5ft 8in often fit men's standard length better, usually with a Senior flex shaft.

Can a woman use men's golf clubs?

Yes, if the shaft suits her swing. Men's clubs in Senior flex work well for taller women and women with a faster swing, because they add length with a shaft only a step firmer than Ladies. Men's clubs in Regular or Stiff flex are usually too stiff and too heavy for a woman starting out.

Can you cut down men's golf clubs for a woman?

You can, but the result isn't a ladies club. Cutting a shaft down makes it play stiffer and makes the head feel lighter, and it doesn't change the club's weight or grip size, so a cut-down men's club plays heavier and firmer than a Ladies flex club of the same length. It works best when the shaft is already Senior flex and no more than 0.5 inch has to come off.

How much does a good set of women's golf clubs cost?

From about £100 for a used iron set on its own to about £280 for a new package set, and up to about £550 for a bag built club by club. A set of PING Serene irons in Ladies flex, 7 iron to pitching wedge, is £100.99, and a brand-new MacGregor CG4000 package set in Ladies flex, with a driver, 5 wood, hybrid, 7 iron to sand wedge, putter and bag, is £279.99. Sets are a separate buy from single clubs, and our second-hand golf sets for beginners include a ladies package set.

Where can I buy used ladies golf clubs?

From a used-club specialist that grades each club, lists its flex, length and grip, and takes returns, or from a private seller if you can see and swing the club first. The places to buy used golf clubs in the UK differ most on grading, returns and price, and the 12 checks above apply to each of them.

What should you look for when buying golf clubs?

Spec first, condition second. Check that the flex, length, loft and grip suit you, then check the grips, face, grooves and shaft for wear. Once the spec is right, the checks for any second-hand golf club are the same for ladies and men's clubs, and a separate grade for each part plus a returns policy matter as much as the model.