I'm a lefthanded righthand golfer

[jcm011]

I'm not sure if this should be in golf talk or instruction tips so I'll just post it here. I know there have been good golfers that don't play matching their dominant hand (a lefty playing right handed) but I am not a great player and have been wondering lately... I'm a lefty but I have always played golf right handed because I've always used hand-me-down clubs from my right handed dad. I was wondering if maybe I have swing issues because of a "too strong" left arm and would it be COMPLETELY ridiculous to get a cheap set of lefty clubs to learn that way?

I'm not blaming my faults on being left handed and playing right handed but I've always wondered if it could have an impact. All comments are appreciated.

[jcm011]

Also, because of hand me downs, my clubs are tiiiiiiny MaxFli's with what I guess you would call a cavity and Mizuno fairway woods. All of these have stiff shafts. My only other option is a set of Mizuno blades that are fit to my dad. Which do you think is a bigger impact? My left handedness or clubs that are way out of my playing range?

[jcm011]

Hate to be the third comment on my own post but I want to make it clear that I am not complaining. I have been lucky enough to "inherit" great golf equipment without spending a dime and understand that not too long ago everyone was using difficult clubs. I know there are issues with my swing but am just looking for some input.

[drglew]

i highly doubt that being a natural lefty who learned to play golf righty would have anything to do with swing flaws.  It's not like natural righty's all have perfect swings!

There are lots of folks for various reasons, i.e. me, who are natural righty's who play golf lefty.  I played hockey (aka Mike Weir) and baseball as a kid with a lefty swing, as sometimes for a natural righty it seemed more natural to have the dominant hand at the top of the hockey stick.  And if you're already comfortable with a lefty hockey (or baseball swing) when you start playing golf, it will feel a whole lot more natural to keep your golf swing that way.

The downside for a lefty golf swing is mainly that equipment can be harder to find or demo--i end up making a lot of leap-of-faith online purchases without being able to actually try the clubs.  So I wouldn't try to change if I were you...

[Long Ball Larry]

Completely agree with drglew. I also grew up playing baseball and hockey left-handed, except I'm a natural lefty. I played golf sporadically in high school and seriously considered doing it right-handed so I wouldn't develop any bad habits with my baseball swing. If you've always played right-handed, I would stick with it.

[Tiger Spuds]

I'm right handed but play lefty as a result of playing another 'ball and stick' game here from a young age. I always had problems with an overly dominant right hand in the swing. I found the face tended to stay open through impact with such a dominant right hand. For me, putting more left hand into the swing gave me a much more solid strike on the ball. It took a while to figure that out though. Maybe consciously putting more emphasis on your right hand during the downswing would help, give it a try.

[wmiller]

I'm a lefty, and play golf right handed. Actually, everything I do with two hands I'm right handed. Single hand (write, eat, shoot a handgun) I'm a lefty.

In my teens, my dad had me out in the yard chopping weeds with a thing we called a 'whip'. Wooden handle, steel shaft, down to a flat, double serrated blade. Sat on the ground like a golf club. Anyway, I started swinging with just my left hand, pulling through the weeds as hard as I could with that whip. When Dad asked me what I was doing, I told him I was practicing "pulling through the ball."

I'm a little bigger/taller than average, grew up throwing 100lb. bales of hay and working a hammer and dolly at the local auto body shop till I graduated.

Over the years I have pretty good success at this game 'pulling through' with my left side. Sometimes on partial/touch shots I even leave my right index finger and thumb off the grip so my left 'leads through the shot' with no intervention of the right hand. It's just along for the ride in my case.

Even manage to break par a few times a year.

[Dartguy]

Yeah, I would stay a righty for golf.  It seems to work for Mickelson!  I am thinking of teaching my son to play opposite-handed, as I believe it is an advantage.

[clubchamp]

I do everything right handed and mainly batted righty in baseball once I started playing golf I could switch hit a little. Long story short my dad read a book when I was younger about leading with your more powerful arm helping with your golf swing. After that he taught me to play left handed and I've never looked back but I don't know how much the theory has helped me.