Did you know your left side should be dominant?

[SoundandFury]

All I know is that whenever my swing goes in the toilet, it's usually a result of overdoing: (1) consciously trying to keep my head behind the ball at impact; and (2) pulling through with my left hand.  I'll have excellent ball striking for a while, but once these start being overdone, I start missing more and more right and my contact goes from a solid strike that makes the ball whistle through the air turning right to left to a push fades.  Not saying the right side should be the focus (I feel like that will lead a lot of people to through their right shoulder outwards at the start of the downswing), but when I need to get back on track, I generally need a few range sessions of consciously firing my right side through the ball with my right shoulder going under my chin (just my personal swing thought).

Point being, getting the right side through the ball is key squaring the face and producing solid contact, and nice draw if that's what you play.

[Hogan1949]

Hello fellow golfers, I have found this to be most helpful in my thoughts of this discussion.

Tom Watson quote

"Think of taking the club away from the ball with the left hand, left forearm, and left shoulder staying in the same relative position they started in at address. I want a feeling of “togetherness” as my left hand, arm, and shoulder swing back in one piece until the clubhead is past my right foot. The right hand is just along for the ride”

Thank you

Watson was referring to the BS. He went on to say that once his weight shifted left he hit as hard as he could with the right hand. I believe he said Nicklaus shared the same thought.

[mvmac]

Tom Watson quote

"Think of taking the club away from the ball with the left hand, left forearm, and left shoulder staying in the same relative position they started in at address. I want a feeling of “togetherness” as my left hand, arm, and shoulder swing back in one piece until the clubhead is past my right foot. The right hand is just along for the ride”

Watson was referring to the BS. He went on to say that once his weight shifted left he hit as hard as he could with the right hand. I believe he said Nicklaus shared the same thought.

And Jackie Burke wrote this.

Who's right? They all are!

I personally like to feel the pivot more with my right side, think it helps keep things more centered.

[Hogan1949]

CQ with Rotary Golf promotes a right scapula move to start the BS also. I agree, the thought helps you to stay centered.

[Torres9]

Right Scapula? Too complicated for me!

[PJCdude]

Maybe this explains me:

Right handed for throwing, writing, punching etc but lefty for golf, swinging a bat, hockey etc.

In beer league softball I actually can switch hit and when I'm a righty I'll hit it over the fence but also could potentially strike out (which doesn't really happen). As a lefty I can pretty much pick where I'm gonna hit it but with less power. For golf you don't get 2 free strikes so I think the choice was obvious to hit it lefty.

...even though if I golfed righty I could probably drive it further than 250...

[Butcho]

Personally, what works best for me when I THINK about it is being conscious of my left side through out the swing. Mainly my left wrist. The only part of my body that touches the club is my hands. My left hand is the first hand that I put on my club. My right hand is from the first second. My right side pretty much has to fend for itself or follow the left sides lead. One or the other. I play my best when my right side lags along like a good dancing partner. The left leads, the right lags. If the right does not lag there is no lag. Somebody has to lead, and for me, it is my left side. My throwing or pushing right hand simply cannot pass my pulling left through impact without getting in the way of the left. In this way I have all but eliminated swing faults that all to easily lead to such things as coming over the top, hooks and pulls, slices and pushes, topped or thin shots, and so on. My grip pressure pretty much sums it up. I apply pressure to the grip with the three little fingers of my left hand, and with the two middle fingers of my right. A 3 to 2 ratio that plays itself out as the overall ratio of left to right side dominance. The right has its part if a person has both a left and a right hand, but it is not the lead unless one only has a right. Not if one wants to reach their full potential as a ball striker.

Lots of theory's about the golf swing out there, lots of ways to swing a club. But they can't all be the most efficient or effective. Some ways are better than other ways if one wants to be a better golfer. The trick is finding what works best for you. The Ladies on the LPGA tour that are left side dominant are legion. Few try to swing like a man. Women for the most part have to be closer to a perfect swing to play at the highest levels. Men have the inherent advantage of being stronger than most women. Thus men can more often get away with a swing fault that a woman might not be able to. But this might simply be true of any two people where one is stronger than the other. And yet, it is my opinion that most men should swing like most women. Why, because most men that play golf aren't even close to being as good as the men on the PGA tour. Not nearly as golf strong as most pro golfers. Not nearly as golf flexible. Most men didn't grow up playing golf from an early age. I started at 38. My son started at 10. Although not on tour he can hit the ball as far as almost any man on tour. His short game, that is another story. lol. So, unless a guy can hit the ball a mile I recommend letting the right side go along for the ride. As far as Hogan's "I wish I had three right hands comment", I could be wrong but I believe he was pulling the club through impact so fast that he wished that he had three right hands so that they might actually be able to add some speed to it. The best metaphor for the use of the right hand, or at least one of the best, is the image of throwing a rock sidearm so that it will skip across water. Use your right side, the base of your right index finger, as much as you like on the swing into and through the ball so long as your right side remains in this side arm position with the left elbow leading. But if you find yourself too easily bailing out and coming over the top as opposed to dropping into the Slot then pull the shaft through impact with your left hand keeping that left wrist straight through impact. How do you learn to do this, focus on a straight left wrist from the beginning of the push back through the impact position where momentum will then flex it of its own accord. Golf is a game of opposites. We hit down to hit up. Swing easy to hit hard. Paradoxical is this dagum game. It seems as if a right handed person should be right hand dominant in his golf swing. Perhaps this is true if a righty stands lefty. Right hand on top left below on the grip. But I ain't makin' that change for a variety of reasons that include bursitis in my right shoulder and buying new clubs and... I ain't doin' it. To each his or her own.

I wasn't born contrary but I think I was born left handed and had it beat out of me by well meaning teachers of conformity. So I have already changed once is enough where dominance goes. I don't want to say my way, the ladies way, is the only way to the Way of the Swing. But again, personally, for me I play left hand dominant for just about all full shots and most partial ones as well. Some times I just can't help but get a little cute. And yes, that is also when I am most likely to over finesse a shot and chilly dip or shank or son of a bad shot... Most of the time to start my swing I do a slight forward press into a straight left wrist in line with the shaft of my club and then simply push the club back with my connected left shoulder pushing straight back and around until I reach a point of stretch that starts the downswing pull like the snap or rebound of a rubber band. A lot like Kathy Whitworth. Only she was a lot prettier than I will ever be. And yeah, probably a better golfer too. Ok, most likely better... she would have kicked my butt. My short swing is toe up to toe up. In my full swing if I want to hit a fade I simply start my swing with the intention of my left palm pointing down at the top of my swing, or up if I want to draw the ball. Straight shots are an accident that sometimes happen and so I try to avoid shooting straight at red zones. Or curved for that matter. I try to play to green and orange zones. But enough about strategerie. Frankly, when I am playing at my best my swing more often than not feels almost effortless. Like the club is swinging me. I push it back and it pulls me through impact into as pretty as you please.  My club shaft becomes dominant and debates over left or right side dominance become moot. I am just seeing the shot until things go south and then I simply go back to my left side dominant swing thought and my swing then usually sort itself out with little to no further interference on my part. Tempo, I used to count one, two, and a three. But now I just count One. There are no separate parts to a sound swing. A still picture is a statistical thing that can mean whatever we want or think it means. Like life the swing is a flow that can be appreciated but not dissected. There is only One ultimate or real Swing, a whole swing greater than the sum of its parts. It is hard to express a feel in words. Anything less than a whole swing may be playable, but it is less. The feel of a whole swing is almost as good as, I forget, but I am sure my wife will remind me. I try not to become anal in my analysis. I just start my swing and somewhere on the way towards impact I start saying One to myself as soft and gentle as you please. Golf is more a speed sport than a power sport. Momentum builds. A swing cannot be forced. "Swing easy to hit hard." Julious Boros. Smart man. Great golfer.

I hope I have been of help to at least one fellow or lady golfer.

Butcho

[Hogan1949]

Classic post..... Can't wait for replies

[boogielicious]

Classic post..... Can't wait for replies

It is a wall of words.  Very hard to read and understand what they are really saying.

[Hogan1949]

I was a lead arm "swinger" for most of my golfing life (I'm right handed and play right handed). Around five years ago, I started experimenting with a right arm "hitting" action (in part because I spend so much damn time reading instruction on-line). HC went up about 5-6 strokes. I'm now back to a lead arm dominate swinging action and my game is getting back to what it was before. I sometimes add a little hitting action late in the DS but generally it doesn't work for me. The REMAX LD guys like the feeling of a right arm hitting action (see the GD interview this month with Jeff Flagg) but I'm 65 years old and not 6'6", 240 #'s and a former minor league baseball player. If I can get it out there 230ish and hit fairways with what feels like a smooth lead arm swing.....I'm happy. Different strokes for different folks. I'm guessing most of the LPGA players are swingers and not hitters.

[disco111]

I forget who the pro was (it may have been B. Nelson) that stipulated that when the downswing starts, you should have the feeling of pulling the club down with the left hand. This will in turn set up a good lag position and then the right hand will automatic take over and produce the power. Now I tried this way back when and it does work, but I was to young and foolish enough to put the time and effort into making it second nature. It does take some getting used to, but if you look at the lag time of the pros in their swings, I'm pretty sure this is what's transpiring.

[saevel25]

Feels are what golfers need to learn on their own to make the golf swing work. There is no real generic, you must feel this in the golf swing.

For me, I don't feel left side much at all. I am really right hand dominant. When I swing I don't feel my arms at all through impact. I tend to feel the top of the backswing and the finish more than anything. I feel more body turn and head movement, how my body is balanced in the swing versus my hands.

[Butcho]

I am sorry if you find my description of my swing nothing more than a wall of words. To each his or her own.

[westcyderydin]

I am totally left side dominant in the golf swing.  I think it came from being left side dominant with my baseball swing.

Its just a feel, though.  I'm sure the right hand is providing power on the way down...but I think it gets in the way more than anything in the backswing.

Quote:

Feels are what golfers need to learn on their own to make the golf swing work. There is no real generic, you must feel this in the golf swing.

Very true..

I think its very important to learn which feels work and don't work in your swing.  That way you can identify and fix things that might be going wrong with your swing on the course.

But you kind of have to learn these feels on your own because everybody's minds and bodies are different.

I am sorry if you find my description of my swing nothing more than a wall of words. To each his or her own.

You just have to break your posts up into more paragraphs and maybe hit enter twice between each section.  It doesn't matter what you write, if it is that hard to read, not many people are going to attempt to get through it.

[Hogan1949]

It's not that bad. Have you ever tried to get through Lee Comeux's (sp?) posts?

[iacas]

It's not that bad. Have you ever tried to get through Lee Comeux's (sp?) posts?

No. I see his name and skip past.

[turtleback]

I am sorry if you find my description of my swing nothing more than a wall of words. To each his or her own.

They aren't criticizing what you said, it is your formatting.  It is very hard to read.  So most people will skip it.

But you are writing so people will read.  That will happen more if you use shorter paragraphs and more spacing.

No one is dissing you  The comment was intended to be constructive.

[WatchOutLeft]

As a left hander who plays golf (terribly) right handed, I feel qualified to dispatch the idea that being left hand dominant helps your swing. Although that may also be because I haven't been playing a long time.