ADVERTISEMENT

Anyone here bat lefty but learned to golf righty out of necessity?

Tenacious E

HR Legend
Dec 4, 2001
42,934
67,119
113
That is my situation simply because of availability of clubs when I was younger. I am to the point that swinging a club righty feels natural, but if I am swinging a bat, I probably have 3x the power swinging lefty. I decided to pick up a few used lefty clubs including a driver to see what is feels like golfing lefty, especially off the tee. Anyone ever been in the same situation and made the switch to golfing lefty later in life? Or have you tried and just went back to golfing righty?
 
Nope, we lucked into a friend who was a lefty was getting rid of his clubs around the time I started to play. I outgrew them pretty quickly, but it set me on the path of only being able to swing as a leftie.

I can barely swing anything as a righty. Requires overthinking which makes bad results even worse.
 
I've always been left handed. In softball I usually bat left handed. With golf, my first set of clubs were left-handed clubs but it felt really weird and unnatural. I tried right-handed clubs and it felt way better, so I've played golf right handed every since.
 
That is my situation simply because of availability of clubs when I was younger. I am to the point that swinging a club righty feels natural, but if I am swinging a bat, I probably have 3x the power swinging lefty. I decided to pick up a few used lefty clubs including a driver to see what is feels like golfing lefty, especially off the tee. Anyone ever been in the same situation and made the switch to golfing lefty later in life? Or have you tried and just went back to golfing righty?
I was a switch hitter, not like @Huey Grey though.
 
I've always been left handed. In softball I usually bat left handed. With golf, my first set of clubs were left-handed clubs but it felt really weird and unnatural. I tried right-handed clubs and it felt way better, so I've played golf right handed every since.
From what I read on google, the results of people in our situation are all over the board, just like in this thread. I have not been to the range but I feel like I should have another 40 to 50 yards off the tee swinging lefty, but I might struggle with control. If I don't go down the lefty route at least I will have a few lefty clubs in the bag for hitting around trees and such in the rough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NDallasRuss
I tried switch-hitting playing youth baseball. I actually had better contact left-handed, but more power right-handed. But like coach said, not much difference between striking out and grounding out.
 
From what I read on google, the results of people in our situation are all over the board, just like in this thread. I have not been to the range but I feel like I should have another 40 to 50 yards off the tee swinging lefty, but I might struggle with control. If I don't go down the lefty route at least I will have a few lefty clubs in the bag for hitting around trees and such in the rough.
I think that the control was a large part of it for me. Having my left arm as my lead arm guiding the swing felt better and just made more sense, especially compared to my largely useless right arm.

I will say for softball, I have a lot more power swinging lefty, but when I bat right-handed I do think I have better control.
 
I was faced with this dilemma at age 7 or so. My mom took me golfing initially and I was sharing her clubs….I grabbed tge club, addressed it and pointed out to mom @rgd club was “backwards”….I adjusted and tried right handed but failed miserably…mom’s best friend ‘s dad was a lefty and a few months later I tried his clubs and they worked much better…..Dad sold golf and baseball equipment in the back of his store and he got me a “starter set” of left-handed clubs the next year or so…I was hooked from then on…
But I could never swing a club or a bat right handed…
 
I was faced with this dilemma at age 7 or so. My mom took me golfing initially and I was sharing her clubs….I grabbed tge club, addressed it and pointed out to mom @rgd club was “backwards”….I adjusted and tried right handed but failed miserably…mom’s best friend ‘s dad was a lefty and a few months later I tried his clubs and they worked much better…..Dad sold golf and baseball equipment in the back of his store and he got me a “starter set” of left-handed clubs the next year or so…I was hooked from then on…
But I could never swing a club or a bat right handed…
Interesting story. Also, what do you keep putting using pics of yourself in the avatar with holes in your face/head?
 
I'm right handed, but I'm left eye dominant. I'm going to blame that on why my golf game has always been awful.

Sounds like a good excuse...except that the three greatest golfers of all-time...Hogan, Nicklaus, Tiger...were all left-eye dominant, right handed players.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NDallasRuss
Im going for the sympathy vote……just letting everyone know that getting old isn’t for the feint of heart
Man, that's the truth!

It's REALLY hard that my mind still thinks that I can do all of the same reckless stuff I used to do, but now I have to counter that with "yeah, but you'll hurt for the next week", or "yeah, but you won't be able to get back up", etc.
 
Sounds like a good excuse...except that the three greatest golfers of all-time...Hogan, Nicklaus, Tiger...were all left-eye dominant, right handed players.
Golf is a difficult game for the masses because it is a left-sided game played by right sided dominant people. The most successful golfers were usually “ambidextrous” players…In golf the most important physical asset is to be “target eyed” dominant….left eye if you right handed, right eye if your left handed. Golf is a game of “pulling” the cliub through impact……right sided dominant folks have the tendency to “throw the club” thru the impact area and “throwing the club” (over the top swings) leads to every malady the golfer can suffer in a golf swing. Personally, I can attest to the significant slide in my golf skills back 12 years ago when I threw a clot and lost my vision in my right eye. Distances, depth perceptions (side hill and down hill lies, especially) are particularly vexing to me now.
 
I’m not a golfer, but I had a similar experience that I couldn’t make work. I’m right handed, but I play guitar left handed. I took lessons for awhile, but an old football injury to the ring and middle finger of my right hand made playing chords accurately very difficult. Both of those fingers were broken and didn’t heal straight. So, at the recommendation of my teacher, I tried learning to play right handed, like most people. It felt completely alien to me. I got frustrated with it after awhile and gave up. Still bums me out.
 
I haven't golfed in over 20 years, but when I did, it was left-handed.
Five years ago I began playing the ukulele, and chose to learn right-handed. I figured it would be a pain to tune them left-handed; besides, I figure it's easier to play the chords with my left hand, where I am typically only strumming with my right.
 
9da64bb7-4ac1-4b7b-b6a5-b86736b23620_text.gif
 
I’m not a golfer, but I had a similar experience that I couldn’t make work. I’m right handed, but I play guitar left handed. I took lessons for awhile, but an old football injury to the ring and middle finger of my right hand made playing chords accurately very difficult. Both of those fingers were broken and didn’t heal straight. So, at the recommendation of my teacher, I tried learning to play right handed, like most people. It felt completely alien to me. I got frustrated with it after awhile and gave up. Still bums me out.


Thats funny. I picked up my dad's guitar in middle school and just started to play. It made more sense to me to chord with my better left and strum with my right. So as a leftie, I play like a righty. I also shoot guns with my right hand. Sometimes it's just easier to NOT rewire the world but to just adapt to it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kinnick.At.Night
Thats funny. I picked up my dad's guitar in middle school and just started to play. It made more sense to me to chord with my better left and strum with my right. So as a leftie, I play like a righty. I also shoot guns with my right hand. Sometimes it's just easier to NOT rewire the world but to just adapt to it.

Which foot do you kick a football with? I kick left. And apparently that's unusual for a right-handed thrower. The wiring of the human brain laughs at us.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT