How will women get on in the Open?

Abandon any thoughts that women might not be able to drive the ball as far as the men here.

The Royal and Ancient, golf's governing body, last week announced that a decades-old bar on women playing in the Open championship would be lifted for next year's tournament. And, according to sports scientists, there is no reason why women should fare any worse than men.

"I don't think there's any reason why women can't swing a golf club in the same mechanical way as men," says Simon Coleman, an expert in biomechanics at Edinburgh University.

Every golf player has his or her own way to hit the ball. But the mechanical fundamentals for a perfect golf swing are the same whoever you are. "The golf club has to be travelling in the right direction at impact, the golf head needs to be pointing in the right direction, the ball has to be struck from the centre of the face and the club has to be travelling at the right speed," says Coleman.

Getting those things just right involves moving the hips, legs, trunk, arms and, finally, the wrists in perfect coordination. The power of the stroke comes from the action of the trunk and the legs, and the higher you can swing your club, the more acceleration you can get behind the ball. On average, men tend to be taller and more muscular than women, so it might seem that men have a natural advantage.

Not on your Nellie. Tony Turner, a lecturer in exercise physiology at Edinburgh University, says that how you use your strength is much more important than how strong you are. Key to this is training your nervous system to operate the muscles in perfect co-ordination.

"It's about the ability to recruit your muscles at the right time and at the right speed," says Turner. "A larger muscle mass does not necessarily guarantee a better golf swing and, hence, a longer drive."

Golf prodigy Michelle Wie may have less muscle mass than some players but can drive the ball as far, an average of over 280 yards last year. "You can see that her technique can more than compensate for her lower muscle mass," says Turner.

Flexibility is another factor. The more golfers can move their spine, shoulders or arms, the more power they can squeeze out of a swing.