Calling all lefties who swing righty. (or righties who swing lefty)

[Chowdah86]

Im a lead hand dominant golfer. Meaning I write and throw and do most other things left handed, but I play golf righty.

 

I've found that this has been an advantage for me for the most part. I advanced in the game much more quickly than my friends as a kid. I might have better feel for the clubface as a lefty. I may tend to be a little more accurate. (not sure , I've never lived the life of a righty)

 

I have discovered there are some drawbacks. I often leave the right arm out of my swing too much, rather than have it work in unison with my left. In swing videos, my right thumb and index often comes off the club completely in the through swing. Leaving the right arm out results in a loss of speed and distance for me. My miss is often short rather than left or right. On off days, I have to club up until I fugure out how to get that zing back into my swing.

 

Some swing coaches describe the swing like skippping a rock with your trail arm... well I'm pretty sure I'd barely be able to get one skip if using my right arm. This part of the swing is often missing with me a bit. I have to add it back in conciously. I think of rotating my right arm to the right (like a right handed pitcher or a waiter holding a tray) and then extending and rotating it left in the release. This adds back the pop.

 

 

Us lead hand dominant players are in good company: Spieth, Bubba, Phil, Hogan?, who are the others?

 

For other lead hand players, what are some things that help you? Do you find that your struggles in the game are different than most? Do you see being a lead hand dominiant golfer as an advantage?

[spineshank]

As a lefty that plays righty, I find that swing thoughts are hard to grasp. Like the skipping stone you mentioned. In my head i know that feeling without even doing it. But i am completely lost thinking of using my right arm.

 

I also putt lefty to make it more complicated.

[chris975d]

I'm also a lefty that has always played golf as a righty...except for a very short stint swinging lefty at a very young age...but learned quickly that if I switched sides, I could play with all the cool extra clubs that my dad had laying around in the garage/basement (got my club 'hoing from my dad, obviously).

 

I also find that I have to consciously think of involving the right side to hit the ball well. If not, I "drag" the club through with my much more powerful left side than I do "swing" through, and as the OP stated, lose lots of power. I do have to envision the "skipping a stone" feel with my right side to get the pop, ball flight height, and distances that I want. My swing thoughts are almost (hard to put into words, they are more like feels I'm looking for in my swing)...are left side initiates/controls the backswing, right side swings through/controls the downswing. At least that's what gets me hitting the ball the best.

[Chowdah86]

I'm also a lefty that has always played golf as a righty...except for a very short stint swinging lefty at a very young age...but learned quickly that if I switched sides, I could play with all the cool extra clubs that my dad had laying around in the garage/basement (got my club 'hoing from my dad, obviously).

 

I also find that I have to consciously think of involving the right side to hit the ball well. If not, I "drag" the club through with my much more powerful left side than I do "swing" through, and as the OP stated, lose lots of power. I do have to envision the "skipping a stone" feel with my right side to get the pop, ball flight height, and distances that I want. My swing thoughts are almost (hard to put into words, they are more like feels I'm looking for in my swing)...are left side initiates/controls the backswing, right side swings through/controls the downswing. At least that's what gets me hitting the ball the best.

 

 

 

Good stuff. Yeah same here, handle dragging is an issue. ok for anything but the driver, the driver doesnt tolerate handle dragging at all.

[Chowdah86]

As a lefty that plays righty, I find that swing thoughts are hard to grasp. Like the skipping stone you mentioned. In my head i know that feeling without even doing it. But i am completely lost thinking of using my right arm.

 

I also putt lefty to make it more complicated.

 

I might give lefty putting a try. Did you start righty?

[bladehunter]

How about being an ambidextrous lefty favoring guy playing righty ? Lol. I write right handed. But I can write lefty too. I work most tools lefty by nature , and I work in a shop with my hands daily. So not a one off thing. Been this way for 20 years. Switch hit baseball as a kid. More power as a lefty... im extremely left eye dominant. Which hurts alignment when playing righty. And with golf swing I’m pretty even handed. Wear holes in my left handed glove but also wear grooves into the right thumb and index finger of a cord grip. But I dohsve to consciously get my right hand to “ push “ on the down swing with Driver to get the face square. So it can definitely be passive at times.

 

Swing a buddies lefty Driver last weekend. And apparently looked pretty good as he commented “it’s just not right to be able to do that “. Didn’t hit a ball mind you.

 

Seriously considered lefty putting though. I setup left handed sometimes for a 2-3 footer to get out of someone’s line and don’t recall ever missing one with the flange of an anser style putter. But what I do recall is how I’ve can see the line from that side. Totally blind to the line on the other side.

[j.b.newton]

Im in the same boat as you guys, but my biggest issue is in the wedges. I either never initiate the right hand/arm and hit a weak peeler to the right or get too much and either blade it or chunk it. What are some swing thoughts with the full wedge shots that have worked for you guys?

[SkiSchoolPro]

I write left handed, but consider myself somewhat ambidextrous having a better right footed kick than left and feeling more comfortable serving a volleyball righty underhand (but lefty overhand). My first swings with a club were likely with my dad's wedge from the right side, but my first club purchase was a lefty 9 iron. I played through my junior year in HS left handed (with an over-the-top loop), but many thought I had a better looking right handed swing when I fooled around with one of their clubs. I switched and played almost 3 years right handed (while still putting lefty). I made rapid progress as a righty while playing a lot my last year of HS. I switched back to lefty the summer between my sophomore and Jr year of college because I found that while playing less frequently I had less muscle memory right handed. When I played periodically in my 20s and 30s, it was all as a lefty, but I played briefly again as a righty after having surgery on my right knee.

 

My left handed swing has improved since starting to play more often in my 40s. I can hit it decently right handed when I need to, but I think I have less power from that side.

 

I think Bubba is a natural lefty, but there are some other guys who play from the opposite side- https://www.golfdige...ball-on-purpose

...the fact that, of the four left-handed players who have won majors -- Bob Charles, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson -- only Watson is a natural lefty. There's also the even more surprising fact that six other natural lefties have won majors, but all while playing right-handed: Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Nick Price, David Graham, and Byron Nelson.

[Chowdah86]

Im in the same boat as you guys, but my biggest issue is in the wedges. I either never initiate the right hand/arm and hit a weak peeler to the right or get too much and either blade it or chunk it. What are some swing thoughts with the full wedge shots that have worked for you guys?

 

 

For anything wedge related, I just leave the right side out of it. The wedge is the best part of my game. I just rotate it back and through with my body. I also sometimes have the thought of letting it fall through from the top and keep turning with it in the follow through. I focus on keeping up with it so I dont let my left hand cup. I kind of do the Steve Stricker, no wrist, straight arm pitch.

[Chowdah86]

I write left handed, but consider myself somewhat ambidextrous having a better right footed kick than left and feeling more comfortable serving a volleyball righty underhand (but lefty overhand). My first swings with a club were likely with my dad's wedge from the right side, but my first club purchase was a lefty 9 iron. I played through my junior year in HS left handed (with an over-the-top loop), but many thought I had a better looking right handed swing when I fooled around with one of their clubs. I switched and played almost 3 years right handed (while still putting lefty). I made rapid progress as a righty while playing a lot my last year of HS. I switched back to lefty the summer between my sophomore and Jr year of college because I found that while playing less frequently I had less muscle memory right handed. When I played periodically in my 20s and 30s, it was all as a lefty, but I played briefly again as a righty after having surgery on my right knee.

 

My left handed swing has improved since starting to play more often in my 40s. I can hit it decently right handed when I need to, but I think I have less power from that side.

 

I think Bubba is a natural lefty, but there are some other guys who play from the opposite side- https://www.golfdige...ball-on-purpose

...the fact that, of the four left-handed players who have won majors -- Bob Charles, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson -- only Watson is a natural lefty. There's also the even more surprising fact that six other natural lefties have won majors, but all while playing right-handed: Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Nick Price, David Graham, and Byron Nelson.

 

 

Im the same way, I'm inclined to kick a ball with my right foot. Bowling, I could go either way...

 

 

I didnt know those guys were lead hand dominant. I've always liked the way Greg Norman explains the swing in his books and videos. For example, he says that when he sets up, he likes to look down and see his glove over the arch of his left foot. That's just a great way to think about it in my opinion. There are some studies and resulting theories that suggest that left handedness may correlate to being more right brain dominant. The right side of the brain is said to be responsible for creative thought, arts, visualization, imagination, rythm. Im not sure if I buy into all of that, but If nothing else, we may be wired differently. I wonder if we're better off taking our golf tips from the greats of the game who are Lefty too.

[PoolPond]

I’m not sure what I am. I write and eat with my left hand. I play golf, tennis, lacrosse and guitar righty. My son writes with his right but plays golf, lacrosse and hockey lefty. He bats left and throws right.

 

But I do putt lefty. I love putting on that side. I’m left eye dominant which might help make it super comfortable. I putt with a conventional right hand grip which makes it right hand low when putting lefty.

[j.b.newton]

Im similar to many of you.. Collegiate Baseball Pitcher - Lefty, Collegiate Tennis Player - Righty, Kick a Ball - Righty, write/eat - lefty. I never knew what to consider myself until a neurophysiologist PhD buddy said the simple answer is which hand do you use to brush your teeth? Even though I am proficient with just about everything with my right hand, I still have a lot of difficulty brushing my teeth with the "other hand". Just food for thought....

[bladehunter]

I totally forgot about kicking a ball. Can kick both and I never played soccer. But left foot is same as baseball swing. Comes out hot on a line drive everytime. So more power lefty. . Be it on a tee or a punt in football. Or a kickball coming at me.

[spineshank]

As a lefty that plays righty, I find that swing thoughts are hard to grasp. Like the skipping stone you mentioned. In my head i know that feeling without even doing it. But i am completely lost thinking of using my right arm.

 

I also putt lefty to make it more complicated.

 

I might give lefty putting a try. Did you start righty?

 

I did and I can pretty easily but I am much better left handed. I am also right eye dominant.

[yellowballs]

I started a similar thread a few weeks ago. I am mostly left handed, but do several things right handed including playing golf. The strangest thing I do is when playing tennis. I serve left handed and during the follow thru I switch the racket to my right hand for ground strokes.

 

I have always wondered if playing golf right handed with a dominant lead hand is a disadvantage. Even though it feels odd I can swing almost as fast left handed as I can right handed. I attribute it to feeling like I get substantial power from straightening my left arm when swinging lefty. When I swing righty I feel like I mostly pull with my left arm and my right arm is just along for the ride. I try to generate power with my right arm, but the impulse to pull with my left is too strong.

[Eric267]

A little different but I'm a righty who grew up playing hockey as a lefty. I kind of feel like it Has made golf a little confusing and harder than it should be for someone with my athletic ability. Been playing for about 5 years and it's really only starting to come together now after tons of practice. I've tried to swing a left handed club a few times but it feels awkward and I don't make solid contact. Hand me a left handed hockey stick and I'm still a sniper even though I never play anymore. You would think I would be able to shoot a hockey stick righty after 1,000,000 golf swings but I really can't with any accuracy.

 

I think it has a lot to do with having a right dominant eye that wants to move left during the downswing to see the ball and has caused all kinds of over the top and weight shift issues. Recently I've been hitting my driver at the range with my right eye closed and it's changed my whole perspective. Less rushing of the backswing and downswing trying to (subcontiously) get my right eye back on the ball. Better weight shift ind can stay on a better swing plain. So many things in golf make no sense until they do!!

[Triple Putt]

I golf & swing a baseball bat righty. Eat lefty. Write righty. Throw righty. Kick lefty. & play pool lefty.. I’m all jacked lol

[Zurb]

Instead of "skipping a stone" try "toss a frisbee" as the analogy.Almost any of these can be turned around to use a backhand athletic motion. You just have to be creative!

 

I'm a righty who plays lefty due to hockey as others have mentioned. I agree with Eric, there is something to the dominant eye thing... I sway off the ball to get my right eye behind it when I hit. I fight this urge and am trying to fix it.

 

Either way, one can dissect it any way they see fit, but if both sides of your body aren't working in harmony you're pretty much screwed no matter which side of the ball you're standing on.

[AreJohn]

I'm late for this one, but I was looking up "left hand" threads to whine about not being able to buy the clubs I want left handed and this popped up.

 

I'm right handed with everything that takes 1 hand and left handed for everything that takes 2.

 

My trick to keeping my bottom hand active in the swing is to "feel" and control the face with my thumb, index, and middle finger of my lower hand. In my left hand I hold the grip like I'm holding a car key and about to turn the ignition. The pressure of the swing in the hook of my index finger is basically my metronome and steering wheel all in one.

[Ogden51]

I'm a righty playing lefty and tend to agree with most of the things being said here. I've only been playing for a short time but have advanced quite quickly (scratch in 2 years) and do believe I have better clubface control because of this fact.

Rather than the "skimming a rock" theory I believe in the "throwing a frisbee" feel.

 

Add a lot of rotation to that and you'll be good.

[Santiago Golf]

Hogan was right handed,

[uitar9]

I'm right handed but hit left, same with baseball, hockey. Racket sports , right handed. I think I was supposed to be a lefty and the folks beat it out of me. My right handed writing even slopes to the left. I've learned how to listen, read and translate golf instruction from right to left. That skill Hasn't helped my golf much lol

[Chowdah86]

Hogan was right handed,

 

I looked up pictures of him signing autographs and I see that he was righty.

[Chowdah86]

I write left handed, but consider myself somewhat ambidextrous having a better right footed kick than left and feeling more comfortable serving a volleyball righty underhand (but lefty overhand). My first swings with a club were likely with my dad's wedge from the right side, but my first club purchase was a lefty 9 iron. I played through my junior year in HS left handed (with an over-the-top loop), but many thought I had a better looking right handed swing when I fooled around with one of their clubs. I switched and played almost 3 years right handed (while still putting lefty). I made rapid progress as a righty while playing a lot my last year of HS. I switched back to lefty the summer between my sophomore and Jr year of college because I found that while playing less frequently I had less muscle memory right handed. When I played periodically in my 20s and 30s, it was all as a lefty, but I played briefly again as a righty after having surgery on my right knee.

 

My left handed swing has improved since starting to play more often in my 40s. I can hit it decently right handed when I need to, but I think I have less power from that side.

 

I think Bubba is a natural lefty, but there are some other guys who play from the opposite side- https://www.golfdige...ball-on-purpose

...the fact that, of the four left-handed players who have won majors -- Bob Charles, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson -- only Watson is a natural lefty. There's also the even more surprising fact that six other natural lefties have won majors, but all while playing right-handed: Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Nick Price, David Graham, and Byron Nelson.

 

So, I just looked up pictures of Norman signing autographs and It looks like hes a righty (at least he writes with right hand).

 

 

Johnny miller is a lefty though....

https://pgapappas.blogspot.com/2016/06/sights-and-sounds-from-memorial.html

[bladehunter]

I golf & swing a baseball bat righty. Eat lefty. Write righty. Throw righty. Kick lefty. & play pool lefty.. I’m all jacked lol

 

Take a very uniform picture though.

[games]

I'm a righty playing lefty and tend to agree with most of the things being said here. I've only been playing for a short time but have advanced quite quickly (scratch in 2 years) and do believe I have better clubface control because of this fact.

Rather than the "skimming a rock" theory I believe in the "throwing a frisbee" feel.

 

Add a lot of rotation to that and you'll be good.

 

I'm LH playing golf RH. I bowl, write, and throw balls LH. But, I throw a frisbee RH. No wonder I suck at golf LOL!

I bet that would work well for me.

[larrybud]

Im similar to many of you.. Collegiate Baseball Pitcher - Lefty, Collegiate Tennis Player - Righty, Kick a Ball - Righty, write/eat - lefty. I never knew what to consider myself until a neurophysiologist PhD buddy said the simple answer is which hand do you use to brush your teeth? Even though I am proficient with just about everything with my right hand, I still have a lot of difficulty brushing my teeth with the "other hand". Just food for thought....

 

Interesting. I'm a lefty who plays right handed, but brush my teeth with my right hand. I can hit a tennis ball equally well (or bad) left or right handed, both forearm and backhand, just a lot stronger with the left.

 

The guys that give all that "right hand" into putting and chipping, I don't have a problem with, my right hand is very passive.

 

Except for the teeth brushing, which I had never thought of before, anything which is a hand dominant activity I do lefty, but when both hands are involved, I'm a right. Frankly, I'm not exactly sure why right handed golfers are considered "right handed" anyway. The target is on the left, and you're standing on the left side of the ball when facing the target. I think the terminology is backwards!

[harolease]

I’m right handed Play hockey shooting left

For golf tried to play lefty but my swing arc is wider swing rightly

As far as the dominant hand I think the long game requires both hands and arms to work together