How Golf Playing Aids Benefit Golfers With Disabilities

Thanks to an ever-increasing availability of assistive playing aids, the number of people with disabilities who play golf these days is higher than ever before. Although figures vary from study to study, current research points to 6.8 million disabled American players currently using assistive devices in their golf game.

Ranging from remote control golf carts to magnetic ball markers – and countless products in between – golf aids for the handicapped are designed to provide a wide array of empowering benefits. Whether decreasing or eliminating the need for bending and stooping, improving mobility, or enabling an individual in a wheelchair to play from a seated position, assistive technology has one primary goal: to ensure that anyone who wants to golf can continue playing with comfort and convenience, regardless of disability.

One of the most uncomfortable aspects of golf is the need for constant bending and stooping. Teeing up the ball, picking up the tee, retrieving the ball from a hazard or from the cup, even replacing the flag – all of these activities can be especially hard on someone who has chronic pain or physical challenges. A number of golf aids for the disabled have been developed to eliminate the need for this repetitive motion. They come in many forms, such as add-ons (that can be clipped or screwed to your golf club), adapted products (such as golf clubs that have been altered to accommodate the needs of people who have a hard time bending), and specially designed apparatus (such as automatic teeing devices).

While the potentially harmful physical effects of bending and stooping are bad enough on the golf course, they can increase exponentially on the driving range or practice green. This makes these assistive devices attractive to able-bodied players as well as those who suffer from problems with their back, hips, or knees. In fact, some of the products that assist with ball positioning and tee retrieval without bending are a great idea for golf gifts for instructors, as they deal with this repetitive motion more than anyone!

Assistive golf aids are especially helpful in putting the fun and comfort back into the game for people who have mobility challenges. One of the first challenges facing disabled golfers is getting around the course. While riding in a cart, or walking the course while carrying clubs or using a push- or pull-cart may be options for many who are not limited to a wheelchair, these alternative options present their own set of concerns. Riding in a cart eliminates many of the cardiovascular benefits of walking the course, often limits the player to cart paths or at the very least restricts his access to where the ride-on cart can travel, and presents a certain amount of damage to the grounds. Walking the course with a push- or pull-cart, or while carrying a 30- or 40-pound bag of clubs, preserves the cardiovascular benefits of the game, but both options are especially hard for one with knee, hip, or back disabilities. One category of playing aids designed to address this mobility issue is the electric golf caddy. Not only do they help with mobility issues, they also allow the golfer (disabled or not) focus on his game.

For the golfer who is not able to walk the course, there are adaptive playing aids designed to assist one who is playing or practicing from a wheelchair. This is normally achieved by adapting golf equipment in a manner that makes it usable by someone who needs to play from a seated position.

Whether originating from traumatic injury, a health condition, or degenerative disease, physical disability does not need to stop a golfer from playing his game. Thanks to golf playing aids, most golfers can continue playing regardless of the challenges posed by disability.