Advice for a beginner...

[Golf Yokel]

Hello all, my name is Anthony.

My friend recently had me pick up golf, and I am starting to really enjoy it. I have only played on four seperate courses, and only on one occasion each... but despite my complete lack of course knowledge or even overall golf knowledge for that matter, I happened to do well enough to not slow down my friend, and have a nice time in the process.

Nine times out of ten I have no trouble making contact with the ball, but once in a while I hit the ground just a tad early. I am naturally a right-handed writer, but a left-handed swinger. In high school I swung left-handed in baseball, threw the baseball/football right-handed, catch balls left-handed, and now, naturally from my baseball habits, I have a left-handed golf swing.

I have played two games of golf left-handed, and two games right-handed... and both times I had an odd occurrence of having almost the same over-all score. It seems that I can't drive worth a darn right-handed (I get no elevation at all), but in my short chipping game, I am much more accurate right-handed as opposed to left, and I actually get much better loft. Yet I can only putt accurately left-handed.

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I am purchasing a set of golf clubs for myself for Christmas... but before I did I wanted the guidance of people who might have been there before...

I'm not expecting many (or any) of you to have my difficulties, but maybe you could offer some advice so... here are my two fairly short questions :

Should I :

a) Work with my naturally dominant side and practice my short game swings until I can properly execute them...

a) Switch to a right-handed stance and learn to drive better...

c) Buy a left-handed 1 wood 3 wood 5 iron and 7 iron with a right-handed 9 iron and wedge, and left-handed putter (what I am leaning towards *slaps himself* )

d) Find an instructor and see what he suggests...

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Is there any advice you could give to this beginner in need?

[Jack_2251]

  Golf Yokel said:

Hello all, my name is Anthony.

a) I actually have a friend who plays left handed, but has a right hand sand, lob wedges and putter.

b) Choose your side that feels the most natural d) Definetly talk to your local Pro about it!

[Dick]

I too can do the lefty/righty thing but find I am more confident on the right-side. A good instructor can help you but you should experiment yourself to see what is fun for you.

When you get to the place that money is on the line, that will quickly help you decide which is better for you.

Right now in your case I would get both starter sets and have a ball with them.

Whichever side, you can never practice too much.

[Zakko]

Good luck trying to find a wide variety of used lefty clubs...

[Tomboys]

  Golf Yokel said:

Hello all, my name is Anthony.

This is funny because I have some similar traits as you do. I write, bowl and play ping pong left-handed. I throw, golf and tennis right-handed. But, I hammer and use a wrench equally well with either hand. I recently bought a guitar and always assumed it would be left-handed because that felt the most comfortable. Yet, when I tested both models, I ended up with a right-handed one. Weird.

But, back to your question. I would say test out both sets of clubs again to see which set you are longer with. There are many schools of thought as to which method (control versus power) to start out new players with. Not to spark a debate here because there are great advantages on both sides, but IMO, I tend to side more with what Nicklaus said. And, that is starting off with power. His rationale is that you can always teach control to someone who swings with a lot of power. However, you can't always teach power to someone who swings with a lot of control. To paraphrase, I think what he's saying is that it's easier to slow down your swing than it is to speed it up. Finally, if you're equally long with both sets, then I would opt for playing left-handed because that's the side that you putt from. All things being equal, with all the great golfers over the years, I don't think there's a single major champion that has used their clubs in one direction and their putter in the opposite direction. I could be wrong because I'm not a golf historian, but off-hand, I can't think of any. So, I would suggest that you play the percentages and keep all your swings coming from the same side. DT

[flap]

Since I am lefty let me put my 2 cents in.If you hit a baseball lefty golf lefty.You will release your hands more naturally and therfore hit the ball harder and have greater swing speed.I play all sports lefty but write righty and eat righty.As far as Lefty clubs now adays everyone makes and sells lefty everything.Some times we come out last with the lefthanded version but trust me it will come out.

[SirMilton]

Consult a pro.

However, I have seen many a beginner/occassional player who wants to swing a club like a baseball bat - very flat with the ball much too far away. Clubs just are not made to hit the ball with that type of swing and the chances of consistent good strikes are virtually zero. That's one good reason to stay away from your baseball batting side.

[ks8829]

Phil Mickelson is right handed but plays golf left handed as you know. I once heard golf is a game of opposites....

if you are right handed you pull with your left hand
if you want the ball to go up in the air you must hit down on the ball

I think you need to ask a professional, maybe your dominate eye has something to do with an advantage of hitting right handed or left if given a choice, but who really knows, just throwing it out there for you to investigate.

[Golf Yokel]

Thank you all very much for all the advice and information

Yeah I haven't been having much of an issue finding left-handed supplies. Loose clubs I have seen as a slight problem in, but nothing to keep me from playing.

Oh, and as for the baseball swing. I can see where you are coming from, but to me it's hard to see any similarities between a golf and baseball swing, so I'm fairly sure there shouldn't be an issue there. The only thing I have been told I have a habit of is dropping my left shoulder in my swing (definitely from my baseball swing). I think that is 90% of the reason my club makes contact too early sometimes.

Also, I already know that my dominant eye is my right-eye from my years of playing billiards, if that matters at all.

And I went practicing today with my left-handed set of clubs, and actually did fairly well. So I think for now I am going to follow my natural swing and see where it leads me. I'll definitely be looking for some professional coaching soon, but for now I think I am going to concentrate on my left-sided swing, and just have some fun before it gets cold.

Thanks again for all the input everyone... it has been much appreciated.

[Sean Cassidy]

Ultimately, go with what ever works best for you. It may not be considered what's normal or typical, but if it works for you, go with it.

I only wish I had your coordination to "swing" both ways, lol.

[Tomboys]

  SirMilton said:

Consult a pro.

Actually, there's quite a few similarities between the golf swing and the baseball swing. There was an article in Golf Digest that noted the similarities between the baseball swing of Mark McGuire (an avid golfer) and the golf swing. Also, when Peter Jacobsen had his show on the Golf Channel, he did a show where he went to spring training (I think) and took BP with one of the teams. He remarked how both swings (baseball and golf) shared some common techniques.

  ks8829 said:

Phil Mickelson is right handed but plays golf left handed as you know. I once heard golf is a game of opposites....

I could be wrong, but the story I heard was that Phil (a right-handed person) plays left because that's the visualization he got when he watched his Dad and others play when he was a kid. Again, and correct me if I'm wrong, Tiger did the same thing in his early days. However, Tiger changed, but Phil never did.

DT