Confusion in Handedness

[MS256]

Not that I'm that good, but I've developed a pretty quick method of using fore-hands only. Righty and lefty. It confuses much better players than me and allows me to get a few points off them.

Funny thing is that when I used to play quite a bit of tennis I rarely hit a backhand from the back court. Usually I changed hands with the racket as I was moving toward the ball and hit left handed or right handed forehands without even thinking about it.

I could get to some balls with a left handed forehand that I wouldn't have gotten to with a backhand.

Couldn't serve very well left handed though. Sort of like anything below chest high I'm fairly equal with both hands but above my chest my left hand is useless.

[scorpion12]

I'm left-side dominant so I do everything left-handed.

I'd suggest to you that, since you found that you're able to swing a right handed club with a measure of some success, to consider playing right handed. Sure your swing didn't feel right at first, but keep swinging... after a while, it'll feel more normal.

I'm suggesting this because of one thing. Golf equipment. Sure, there are left-handed clubs. TaylorMade, Callaway, Ping, Titleist, and more make lefty clubs... but you're never going to be able to realize the full gamut of right handed clubs. Some club makers only release certain clubs like wedges in some of the lofts available in their right handed wedges... some makers don't have lefty clubs like Hopkins and Bridgestone. Forget about finding a right hand glove too. Sure, there are SOME righty gloves but the majority of glove displays that I've seen are for right handed players (90% of the market) which unfortunately are for the left hand.

I've heard good things about Hopkins and Bridgestone and would love to be able to try them but... I'm a lefty.

You're less so a lefty with some ambi dexterity... exploit that and play righty. I used to think that being lefty was cool and different. Now I don't think that as much.

[weifert]

Speaking of eye-dominance - how much does eye dominance have to do with a golf swing? I've seen that in other sports like shooting sports, etc., that eye dominance is important. Based on the test I did with the doorknob and my hands, I am right eye dominant but left handed. What effect does something like that have?

[Lihu]

Speaking of eye-dominance - how much does eye dominance have to do with a golf swing? I've seen that in other sports like shooting sports, etc., that eye dominance is important. Based on the test I did with the doorknob and my hands, I am right eye dominant but left handed. What effect does something like that have?

There was another thread discussing putting and eye dominance. I read somewhere that the back swing is also affected by eye dominance.

[HawkeyeDan]

Lefty here, but golf righty. I also played hockey and batted righty. Never could do it lefty. I am lefty in everything else though.

[dchoye]

Bumped this back, as I been borrowing some lefty clubs and swinging lefty this past two months.

Feels weird but Im decent enough to hit the ball , but my swing speed is only half of the right sided swing.

I think my sequence is grooved in  turning right and turning my body the counter clockwise feels akward and not as smooth as my righty swing.

It was fun, but I will stick to my right swing.

[jamo]

I think we are all a mix of handed-ness in one way or another.  I do everything right-handed ... except I'm a left-handed shot in hockey.

I'm the same way. Then again, I'm awful at hockey, so maybe I should try righty next time. If you've ever seen my handwriting, you could make the opposite case. ;-) When I was a little kid I played soccer with my left foot, then I switched to my right foot in middle school. I was better righty but because I had all that practice with my lefty foot, I wasn't that much better righty. Everything else I'm righty, although I used to switch hit in baseball occasionally (and always pushed for lefty-only when we played whiffle ball). It is kind of weird when you think about it, that we all have one side of our bodies that just sucks at everything.

[vangator]

Based on club availability, I'd play right handed if I were you. For bowling, definitely bowl left handed. Not nearly as many bowlers to mess up the oil pattern on your lanes.

[Osmond]

I'm as left handef as you can be, I mean my right hand is virtually just hanging along for the ride. I play golf from the right - as well as hockey, the way left handef people play. I've always wondered why it is that right handed people play hockey from the left but switch it when it comes to golf. [quote name="Golfingdad" url="/t/77817/confusion-in-handedness#post_1069489"]Are you sure?  That seems really counter-intuitive to me.  A slap shot has some vaguely similar movements to a golf swing, so it seems natural to me that right-handed golfers would normally be right-handed hockey players. Heck, if you were to just slide your left hand up the shaft a bit, then you basically ARE hitting a golf shot. (Can you tell that I really want to stay abnormal? ;)) [/quote] Yes, most play left handed in hockey.

[billchao]

I'm as left handef as you can be, I mean my right hand is virtually just hanging along for the ride. I play golf from the right - as well as hockey, the way left handef people play. I've always wondered why it is that right handed people play hockey from the left but switch it when it comes to golf.

I think I mentioned this before, but hockey is very different from golf. Most of the time is spent stick handling and not passing or shooting the puck, so what hand being on top makes a difference for control. When you shoot/pass the puck, your bottom hand moves a greater distance than your top hand. The two hands serve different functions.

With the hands being together for a baseball and golf swings, the individual hands affect each other and the club/bat less. The hands are supposed to work together as one appendage, basically. There's a reason Iron Byron has only one arm.

[vangator]

There's a reason Iron Byron has only one arm.

I just realized Iron Byron is "right handed". Or at least swings from the right side.

[Osmond]

I just realized Iron Byron is "right handed". Or at least swings from the right side.

Anyone know if he plays hockey left or right handed? O_o