Make the switch to lefty?

[Oahu__Golfer]

Hello.

I'm a very powerful and athletic 40-year old. 3rd degree black belt, big wave surfer, blah blah blah.

After years of golf (not just playing, but serious practicing) I can only hit a 7 iron about 140 yards or so. Sure, sometimes I get more of it, but that's about my average. My friends step up to the ball at the 150-yard marker with a PW, swing lightly, and overshoot the green while I grab a 6-iron and struggle to get it up there.

I know why - it's my "drive" or "release". It confuses me. I don't load up the torque and let it go. I often have a reverse pivot. Why?

I think it's because I'm a lefty. I played baseball for years and, of course, batted lefty. I can rip a football down-field with my left arm as well. When I try to throw anything with my right hand, I feel like an idiot.

Should I devote energy to making the switch in golf? Has anyone else heard of or experienced this?

Thanks in advance....

Oahu__Golfer

[Slingblade61]

I'm a very powerful and athletic 40-year old.

Me too, but I don't like to talk about it.

Sounds like golf has served you a great big helping of humble pie.
Without seeing your swing it is impossible to do anything more than guess at what might be ailing you.

Shaft flex would be a good place to start. If the big powerful golfer is using xflex shafts, try stepping back to regular flex.

The most obvious though is technique. You need a pro for this. Get a lesson or two and some sort of swing analysis, switch hitting will probably yield poor results.

Welcome aboard.

[The Salt Vampire]

Do you know any lefties that you can borrow a few clubs off of to try it out?

A buddy of mine made a similar / bizarro switch a few years ago. He's a former NHL player and was about 40 when we played golf together a few years ago. Athletic guy. Had trouble hitting the ball out of his shadow. He shot left in hockey and batted left in baseball, but took up golf righty because those were the only clubs that he had available to him at the time.

Long story short. We were playing one day and he was driving poorly, so he borrowed my driver (I'm a lefty). He was instantly 20-25 yards longer and straighter. He tried lefty irons, but they did not work for him.

At the present time, get this, he drives and putts lefty, but hits everything else righthanded. It's the craziest thing you have ever seen. He went from shooting mid-90s to mid-80s and has threatened the "magic" 80 barrier a few times. No way he would have done that righty only.

[Wi-Golfer]

Powerful & athletic doesn't have a whole lot to do with it, helps but it's not the end all be all. I have lower back issues from a car accident years ago & last year I got back into golf after a 15 yr break. I was only hitting my 8 iron about 120 yds at this time last year. Been working on my swing & technique...still ugly but it's working...& now I am hitting that same 8 iron almost 145 yds. Now that may not sound like a lot to some of our power hitters but a very consistent 25 yd gain in a year with every club...except the driver, wonder why that is...makes me pretty damn happy.

[West Coast Duffer]

Sounds by your description you should be hitting your 7 at least 150 even 160. I think Phil Mickelson is really right handed but plays left handed.

[blackxpress]

Power has little to do with it. Michelle Wie hits the ball a lot farther than the typical male amateur golfer and she's anything but powerful. If you're a 3rd degree black belt you should know this. Power in a golf swing comes from the same place as power in a punch. From the ground. Without seeing your swing I can't say this for certain, but I suspect you're swinging with your arms when you should be firing your hips. In martial arts, a really powerful punch is accomplished by turning your hips into it. The same is true for the golf swing. If you don't get a full shoulder turn on the backswing and a full hip turn on the downswing, you will not hit the ball very far regardless of how powerful you are. Think CORE muscles, not upper body and arm muscles. Anyway, as others have said, I suspect switching to lefty will just screw up your game at this point. The problem is most likely poor swing mechanics.

[Oahu__Golfer]

Thanks for all the replies!

Of course it's swing mechanics.

I realize that my problem is not personal power, but technique. A strong Karate strike starts at the toes.

I have a pro - I see him every 6 months. He says the same, and we always end up working on the turning of the back swing and the drive of the hips and weight from the back foot to the front. He was in a bad car accident and has about 20% of my strength - he can easily out-shoot me.

I practice at the range 2-3 times per week for the last 5 years. Not just smacking balls - but real practice. Even with no distance I golf upper 80s, lower 90s. A round typically includes decent drives, a weak or hacked iron approach, followed by a decent pitch and decent putting. I get a lot of boogies. As the years go by, I get no better with my irons.

The problem is that I get confused both during the back swing and the forward drive of the lower part of my body. It is awkward to me. Take a ball and throw it hard with your off-hand. That's how I feel when I hit a golf ball - even after all of the practice. I typically get a disconnect - where I let the energy escape prior to the downswing and decel through the ball. I often find myself still on the back foot after a swing, or not on the back foot before the down swing.

Hence the desire to switch to lefty.

So yesterday, I found a left hand 58 degree sand wedge to swing - which I would hit about 70 yards on average from the right.

I hit around 50 balls, and while some of them sliced, shank-ed, topped, skull ed, etc; a few of them went straight and 90 yards, the rest of them were fairly well struck and went my normal distance. I think I need to borrow a 6-iron of something more difficult to hit to really see, but I think my back and down swings are more natural from the left. My grip and follow through feel very awkward.

I did pretty well my first 50 balls with the offhand - with some of the shots stronger than the right after years of devoted practice. Should I continue this path to the left? What say you?

Thanks again!

[slickpitt]

Originally Posted by The Salt Vampire

At the present time, get this, he drives and putts lefty, but hits everything else righthanded. It's the craziest thing you have ever seen. He went from shooting mid-90s to mid-80s and has threatened the "magic" 80 barrier a few times. No way he would have done that righty only.

lol! Holy crap that's crazy! I'd love to see something like that

[SilverUberXeno]

Scoop a 6-iron for sure, man. What you're describing is how I feel when I swing lefty.

Yucky.

[warbirdlover]

If you swing a bat lefty you should golf lefty. Or vice versa.

[Oahu__Golfer]

Silver, you're a righty?

Thanks warbird, I do bat lefty - crush em too.

[gpo]

Originally Posted by Oahu__Golfer

Thanks for all the replies!



I practice at the range 2-3 times per week for the last 5 years. Not just smacking balls - but real practice. Even with no distance I golf upper 80s, lower 90s. A round typically includes decent drives, a weak or hacked iron approach, followed by a decent pitch and decent putting. I get a lot of boogies. As the years go by, I get no better with my irons.


Thanks again!

If I practiced 2-3 times a week for 5 years and could not break 80 I would kill myself.

Doesn't matter how far you hit your irons it only matters how accurate you are with them. I don't hit my irons far at all. Part of the reason is they were made in 1987 and don't have strong lofts like the irons of today. Still I am more accurate with my 7 than most people are with their 9 or PW. Heck we may hit it the same distance.

From 150 in it doesn't matter what you hit. It only matters how close you get to the pin.

[David Hillman]

Originally Posted by The Salt Vampire

At the present time, get this, he drives and putts lefty, but hits everything else righthanded. It's the craziest thing you have ever seen. He went from shooting mid-90s to mid-80s and has threatened the "magic" 80 barrier a few times. No way he would have done that righty only.

Holy cow! There's two of them! I played with a young guy in his early twenties a couple weeks ago, and he did almost the same thing. He hit his woods right-handed, and his irons lefty. Easily the creepiest thing I've seen on a golf course. He probably shot around 90.

That said, I'm thinking about switching to putting lefty. I already putt cross-handed, and frequently will hit a six-footer 'backwards' when I'm speed-golfing by myself. I never seem to miss when I do that, even though I'm hitting with the back of the putter.

[Oahu__Golfer]

Originally Posted by gpo

If I practiced 2-3 times a week for 5 years and could not break 80 I would kill myself.

Doesn't matter how far you hit your irons it only matters how accurate you are with them. I don't hit my irons far at all. Part of the reason is they were made in 1987 and don't have strong lofts like the irons of today. Still I am more accurate with my 7 than most people are with their 9 or PW. Heck we may hit it the same distance.

From 150 in it doesn't matter what you hit. It only matters how close you get to the pin.

I hear ya - it's not just distance, it's accuracy too - but I commonly duff them. My buds will lightly swing the PW from 150 out - all of the loft, back spin, and relaxed confidence makes them very accurate.

Suicide HAS come to mind - just kidding - I know that I'm not the only one who has put the time in with golf and have not been able to see results - but I am certainly an extreme case of it.

Thanks again for the replies.

[swingsmooth]

Originally Posted by The Salt Vampire

At the present time, get this, he drives and putts lefty, but hits everything else righthanded. It's the craziest thing you have ever seen. He went from shooting mid-90s to mid-80s and has threatened the "magic" 80 barrier a few times. No way he would have done that righty only.

I've got a buddy who's a lefty but switched to right after back surgery. He has to constantly work on getting through to his left side. He putts left handed and is the best putter I know. He's finally getting his game down into the high 70's.