Ladies: How to Carry a Golf Bag

Wrestling your golf bag from the car to the first tee shouldn't be the hardest part of your round, but for many golfers, it is. Learning to carry a golf bag correctly isn’t just about avoiding a sore back, it’s about conserving your energy so you can focus on your swing and truly enjoy the walk. This guide offers a friendly and complete breakdown of how to choose the right bag, adjust it to fit your body perfectly, and carry it with proper technique that will make your round more comfortable and ultimately, more fun.

Choose the Right Bag for Carrying

Before we even talk about how to carry the bag, we have to talk about the bag itself. lugging a bag designed for a golf cart is a recipe for a miserable day. Making the right choice upfront is half the battle won, and it sets the stage for a pain-free round.

A Lightweight Stand Bag is Your Best Friend

If you plan on walking the course, your decision here is simple: you need a lightweight stand bag. These bags are specifically engineered for carrying. Here’s what makes them the right tool for the job:

• Weight: A good lightweight stand bag is often called a "Sunday Bag" and can weigh as little as 3-5 lbs empty. Compare that to a "Cart Bag," which can easily be 7-10 lbs before you even put a single club in it. Every single pound matters when you’re walking three to five miles. Brands now design excellent women's stand bags that prioritize being lightweight without sacrificing features.
• Stand Mechanism: This might sound obvious, but it’s a non-negotiable feature. Two legs automatically pop out when you set the bag down, keeping it upright and your grips off the wet morning dew. It also saves you from constantly bending all the way to the ground to pick it up.
• The Dual-Strap System: This is arguably one of the best inventions in modern golf bag design. A good stand bag will have a padded, comfortable, backpack-style dual-strap system. This design distributes the bag’s weight evenly across both of your shoulders instead of straining one side, which is what happens with an old-school single strap.

In short, leave the heavy “Tour Bag” to the professionals and their caddies, and keep the “Cart Bag” for days when you’re riding. For walking, lightweight is the only way to go.

Think Like a Minimalist: How to Pack Your Bag

The perfect carrying bag can be ruined by filling it with unnecessary junk. Your bag isn’t a storage unit! A heavier bag doesn't just make you more tired, it alters your posture, puts more strain on your back and shoulders, and can subtly affect your swing by the back nine. Be disciplined about what you carry.

Bare Essentials Checklist:

• Clubs: Carry only what you need. While you're allowed 14, if you're a new player and have clubs you never hit, consider leaving them out to save weight.
• Balls: Realistically, how many are you likely to lose? A sleeve of three plus a few spares is plenty. You’re not filming a "playing one ball until I lose it" challenge for YouTube. Eight to ten balls is more than enough.
• Water: Stay hydrated, but don’t pack like you’re crossing a desert. Carry one bottle and plan to refill it at the turn.
• Consumables: A couple of tees, a ball marker, a divot tool.
• Weather Gear: A lightweight rain jacket or windbreaker can be a lifesaver. But unless a downpour is guaranteed, leave the full rain suit and heavy sweaters in the car.
• Personal Items: Keys, phone, wallet, sunscreen. Put them all in one designated pocket.

Before every round, do a quick audit of your bag. Take out the 20 old scorecards, the five half-eaten granola bars, and the dozen range balls you collected last week. A lighter bag is an athletic bag.

Adjusting Your Bag for a Perfect, Personalized Fit

This is the step that 90% of aatateur golfers skip, and it’s the most important for comfort and injury prevention. A poorly adjusted bag will pull on your shoulders and strain your lower back, no matter how light it is. Think of it like getting a backpack ready for a long hike, a great fit makes all the difference. The goal is for the bag to feel like an extension of your body, not dead weight hanging off you.

Grab your bag (loaded with what you'd typically carry for a round) and let's get it fitted just for you.

Step-by-Step Strap Adjustment Guide

1. Find an Open Space: You’ll want some room to move around and get a feel for the adjustments.
2. Start by Loosening All Straps: Open up all the buckles on both shoulder straps to give yourself a clean slate. This is easier than trying to make small tweaks to a bad setup.
3. Put the Bag On: Hoist the bag onto both of your shoulders so it’s sitting like a backpack.
4. First, Tighten the Top (Higher) Strap: This is usually the strap that goes over your lead shoulder (right shoulder for right-handed players). Pull it so the bag lifts up and sits high on your back. The top part of the bag should be resting snugly between your shoulder blades.
5. Next, Tighten the Lower Strap: Now, pull the secondary strap tight. This adjustment will bring the bottom of a bag snugly against your lower back. You’ve done it right if the foam hip or back pad on the bag is resting comfortably on the small of your back or at the very top of your hips.
6. Check the Bag Position: With the straps done, check the position. The bag should be tilted at roughly the same angle as your back, somewhere around 20-30 degrees. It should NOT be hanging down and bouncing against your rear end, nor should it be sitting perfectly vertical. If it’s hanging too low, tighten the top strap more. If it’s too vertical, you may need to loosen the bottom one slightly.
7. Walk Around and Tweak: Walk back and forth for a minute. Does it feel balanced? Does it feel like your hips and core are supporting the load, rather than just your shoulders? Make small adjustments until the weight feels centered and secure. The straps should be snug, not so tight that they restrict your breathing or chafe your shoulders. For women, it's particularly important to ensure the straps are positioned comfortably across the chest and are not digging in. Many modern bag manufacturers have designed strap systems that contour to a woman's body, so be sure to look for that in a bag.

A well-fitted golf bag transfers the weight off of your sensitive shoulder joints and onto the strong muscles of your back and hips, making the walk feel dramatically easier.

The Right Way to Lift and Walk

Your technique for handling the bag during the round is the final piece of this puzzle. You can have the lightest, best-adjusted bag in the world, but if you’re contorting your body every time you pick it up, you’re still risking injury and wasting energy.

Lifting Safely: It’s All in the Knees

Every trainer and physical therapist will tell you the same thing: lift with your legs, not your back. This absolutely applies to your golf bag.

1. Use the main grab handle at the top of the bag.
2. Bend your knees and squat down - don't bend over at the waist with straight legs.
3. Lift the bag up to one thigh while you are still in a partial squat.
4. From there, use your dominant arm to smoothly hoist it onto the corresponding shoulder, then slip your other arm through the second strap with ease.

This process becomes second nature after a few tries and is much smoother and safer than the awkward one-swoop twist-and-lift motion we see all the time.

Walk Tall with Good Posture

Once the bag is on, fight the urge to slouch. Walking four-plus miles with extra weight is a legitimate workout, and your posture is paramount.

• Keep Your Chest Up and Shoulders Back: This counteracts the bag’s weight pulling you forward.
• Engage Your Core: A "tight" tummy helps support your spine.
• Walk with a Purposeful Gait: Don’t shuffle. Walk like an athlete.

This not only protects your back but keeps you feeling more athletic and confident throughout the round. If you feel yourself starting to slump on the 14th hole, take a moment to stand up straight, pull your shoulders back, and reset.

Smart Course Management…For Your Bag

Part of carrying effectively is knowing where to park your bag. When you get to the green, don't just drop it anywhere. Place your bag on the side of the green that’s closest to the next tee box. That way, after you putt out, you just grab your bag and go - no backtracking across the green. Every step saved is energy saved for your next swing.

Final Thoughts.

Getting your carrying system right - from the bag you choose, to the way you pack and adjust it, to your on-course technique - is a simple, high-impact way to improve your endurance and enjoyment of the game. It ensures your body feels as good on the 18th hole as it did on the first tee, leaving you free to focus on what really matters: hitting great shots.

Just as carrying your bag efficiently preserves your physical energy, playing with a smart strategy preserves your mental energy and builds confidence. That's a a place where guidance can really help. With our Caddie AI, you get an on-demand course expert right in your pocket. Having it help you think through a tough lie or an uncertain club choice removes the guesswork, allowing you to commit fully to your swing.