What Is a Cadet Golf Glove? — (Regular vs. Cadet Golf Glove)

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Golf gloves come in many different sizes and styles. If you’ve been shopping for golf gloves, you may have seen a dedicated section for cadet gloves like they have for lefty and women’s golf gloves. 

You might be curious exactly what a cadet golf glove is and what makes them different from regular golf gloves. Or if cadet gloves are designed for junior golfers

The Tell Me More Golf Team will explain what cadet golf gloves are, who they are designed for, and how they differ from regular golf gloves to help you find the right golf glove to fit your hand. 

Cadet Golf Glove Vs. Regular Glove


what is a cadet golf glove regular vs cadet golf glove with tell me more golf instructor findings and data

A cadet golf glove is a golf glove that has shorter fingers with a wider palm. A regular golf glove is a golf glove for people with proportional-sized hands.

Let’s clear up one common misconception: a cadet glove is not a golf glove designed specifically for junior golfers. 

Instead, it is intended for golfers whose hand size features wider palms and shorter fingers than the average person. Any golfer, man, woman, or junior, can wear a cadet-style golf glove if it fits their hand better than a regular one.  

When you put a cadet glove next to a regular golf glove, you’ll notice that the cadet golf glove is shorter and broader than a regular golf glove. Regular golf gloves come in dedicated sizes for both men and women. Cadet gloves, on the other hand, are only sized for men.

Cadet golf gloves range in size from small to extra large. Regular men’s sizes range from small to XXL.

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The cadet golf glove is designed for people who have disproportionate hands that are wider, with shorter finger lengths. Our research estimates that 20% of golfers require a cadet glove.

The cadet size is a men’s golf glove for golfers with short fingers and wider palms.

Cadet glove sizes range from small to extra-large.

Most major golf glove manufacturers like Titleist, Footjoy, and TaylorMade produce cadet-style golf gloves in both left-hand and right-hand styles. While you might not find various cadet sizes in a pro shop, you can find them online and in other stores that sell golf equipment.

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How Tight Should a Golf Glove Be?


A golf glove should be comfortably snug on your hand like a second skin. You should be able to comfortably open and close your hand without the glove sliding or too much room at the end of the fingers.

Your hand should slide easily in and out of your golf glove when you put it on and take it off of your hand.

If your palm or the back of your hand is too broad and you have a hard time getting your hand in the glove, then your golf glove is too small for your hand. 

If the club fits nicely in the palm, but you’ve got room in the fingertips, then the glove is too large.

Being in between regular sizes is where a cadet-style golf glove comes into play. For golfers in between sizes with a regular golf glove with either too much room in the fingers or the palm is too tight, they can look at cadet sizes that cater to this hand shape. 

How Do I Know If I Need a Cadet Golf Glove?


The best way to tell if you need a cadet glove is by how it feels when you try to put a golf glove on your hand. You might consider buying a cadet golf glove if you have difficulty getting your palm into the glove or have excess room in the fingers.

Suppose the durability of your golf gloves is poor, or you get blisters when wearing regular golf gloves because they don’t fit properly. In that case, you might look at a cadet type of glove.

If you’re in between sizes of golf gloves, a great way to find out what size golf glove you need is to take a ruler and measure your hand. Using a ruler, measure from the tip of your middle finger to the bottom of your palm, then measure the width of your palm just underneath the first knuckle on your hand.

You can take those measurements and then look at Footjoy’s Golf Glove Size Chart to find the perfect-sized golf glove for your hand.

Cadet Golf Gloves Sizes

Cadet golf glove sizes run from small to extra-large, whereas regular men’s golf gloves run from small to XXL. Based on the golf glove size chart from Footjoy, here’s how different sizes of cadet gloves correspond with regular golf gloves:

Cadet Golf Glove Size Chart Compared to Regular Glove Sizes:

  • Cadet Small – Women’s Large
  • Cadet Medium – Men’s Small
  • Cadet Medium Large – Men’s Medium
  • Cadet Large – Men’s Medium Large
  • Cadet Extra Large – Men’s Large

While many think cadet gloves are only for junior golfers, this is not the case. Instead, the cadet design is intended for any golfer with hands wider across the palm, with shorter fingers than the average person. 
It’s not about the style of the golf glove, cadet, or regular. It’s about selecting the golf glove that fits your hand the best

FAQ Section


What Does Cadet Mean When Buying A Golf Glove?

Cadet has to do with the shape of your hand and the golf glove fit. It is not a golf glove specifically for junior golfers, as many believe. Instead, cadet-style gloves are designed for golfers with hands wider across the palm and back of their hand, with shorter fingers than most golfers.

It’s estimated that up to 20% of golfers have hand shapes that fit better with cadet-style gloves than regular-style gloves. 

If you find that your golf glove is too snug in the palm or you have a lot of spare room in your fingertips, then you might want to look at cadet-style gloves to see if they are a better fit for your hand than a regular golf glove. 

Cadet golf gloves only come in men’s sizes, but any golfer can wear them with shorter fingers and broader palms looking for a better-fitting golf glove.

What Is The Difference Between Cadet and Regular?

Cadet-style golf gloves have wider palms and shorter fingers than regular golf gloves. For example, a cadet-style medium-large glove is equivalent to a regular medium-sized golf glove.

Your golf glove should fit snugly and comfortably like a second skin across the palm and back of your hand, and there shouldn’t be much excess room in the fingers. If your glove is too tight in the palm, or you have a lot of space at the ends of the fingers, you might want to consider looking at a cadet-style golf glove.

Use a ruler to measure your middle finger from the tip to the bottom of your palm. And then across the width of your palm. Take those measurements and then look at a golf glove fitting chart to find the perfect glove size for your hand.

What Is A Men’s Cadet Golf Glove?

A men’s cadet golf glove designation is based on the shape of your hand. If you have hands that have shorter fingers and broader palms, then you should consider looking at a men’s cadet glove. 

Many people think that cadet golf gloves are just for junior golfers, but that’s not the case. They are designed for golfers with a specific hand profile, shorter fingers, and wider palms. Juniors, men, and women can all wear a cadet-style golf glove if it fits their hand better than a regular-style glove.

Cadet gloves only come in men’s sizes. You can measure your hand with a ruler from the middle finger’s tip to the palm’s base. And then, across the width of your palm and take those measurements, you can find the correct size glove for your hand.

Conclusion: Research by Tellmemoregolf.com

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Cadet golf gloves differ from regular golf gloves because they are designed for people with shorter fingers and wider palms than the average person. However, many golfers think cadet gloves are just for junior golfers. Therefore they don’t consider cadet gloves as an option for finding a better-fitting golf glove.

Your golf glove should fit like a second skin and not be too constrictive across the palm and back of your hand or have too much excess room in the fingertips. You may consider a cadet golf glove if your glove fits this way. 

By measuring your middle finger from the tip to the base of your palm and then the width of your palm, you can use a golf glove fitting chart to find the perfect-sized glove for your hand.

A better-fitting golf glove will allow you to grip the club better and have better durability than an ill-fitting golf glove. Take the time to find the glove that fits your hand perfectly, and you’ll be more comfortable when you grip the club and shoot better scores.

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Patrick Corley Tell Me More Golf Instructor and Coach
Patrick Corley
From a golf scholarship to a Southern California University, to a private golf coaching career and an instructor position at a nonprofit organization, I’m here to help you get better at golf! With my 50+ years of golf experience; I bring you Tell Me More Golf. A golf coaching website that helps your game with instructional golfing content that’s ultimately geared toward making you a better golfer and having more fun!
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