one arm golfing

[cipher]

I tried this through my left wrist injury.  I think I could do right hand trailing arm, but if I had to, I would probably sell the clubs and just play disc golf.

 

 

[SavvySwede]

I'm thinking now maybe the best way to choose would be to get a swing speed radar, try all the variations, and see which one produces the greatest swing speed. When I was doing swing speed training over the winter last year I did a lot of one arm swings with my SSR and learned it can vary a lot.

At 9:15 he mentions how some are faster with one arm or the other.

 

[mdl]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

But you're left-handed. If you switched sides and had a righty club, you might still be better with your left hand, except it would be your lead hand.

Maybe. I've got no evidence here, just saying what I think might be more likely to be true. One-armed golfers seem to be split close to 50/50, so… it might not be worth giving up any experience you have from one side.

My first thought would be to agree with @iacas, but now thinking about (without having tried, not that I have a left club to try with anyway), I think I might be able to do a lot better with club face control with the trail arm.  Like, the wrist/forearm is strong with flexion than extension, so it should be easier to close the club face swinging only with the trail arm, rather than only with the lead arm?

Though obviously delivering the club head center to the ball with a decent club head approach angle and angle of attack would probably be easier with a single stiff arm, rather than a single arm bending and extending at the elbow.  So what do I know...

[Lihu]

7 hours ago, VicMac said:

Thanks Lihu, I don't need right hand only clubs do I?  I am right handed. 

Not sure, but you can try both ways, whichever is more comfortable. May I add that this is a great thing you are doing for golf, in general? I know I'm inspired. The reward is just in being out there golfing.

 

[allenc]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

But you're left-handed. If you switched sides and had a righty club, you might still be better with your left hand, except it would be your lead hand.

Maybe. I've got no evidence here, just saying what I think might be more likely to be true. One-armed golfers seem to be split close to 50/50, so… it might not be worth giving up any experience you have from one side.

I sat in on a friend's lesson with Bob May in Las Vegas awhile back.  He seemed to be all about the idea that the lead arm powers the swing and that you should focus more of your energy there.  I was hitting balls as well and he asked whether I was left handed, not because of the way I was swinging but because I would be awfully smart if I were actually right handed.  According to him, Phil Mickleson is the only guy who gets it right because he is right handed and using his more powerful and agile arm as the important lead arm.  (Maybe he didn't know Jordan Spieth is actually left handed and therefore "gets it right" as well.)

Just to add to the story another friend of the friend who is a pro golfer was also there and got a tip or two from Bob May.  Later on it sounded like he didn't really think May was right about those tips or take him seriously.  Now he's not the golfer Bob May was but he's still got a dynamite swing.  In either guy's case just because you can "do" doesn't mean you know what you're talking about so who knows.

Getting back to my own experience, I've also hit a few balls right handed with a right handed club and am pretty bad at that as well.  I definitely think I could play better with left handed clubs using just my left hand than I could with right handed clubs using both hands.  And it's got to be easier using both hands than just the left hand, while playing right handed.  Of course it's very likely that is just because I'm use to standing on that side.  If I practiced a bit more right handed it may well reverse.