Conference 7.286::golf

>    One of the problems that keeps coming up is my left hand.  It never
>    quite feels comfortable and it seems to be overcompensating for my
>    right hand.

     You should focus on keeping the hands out of the swing.  If you
     concentrate on swinging with the arms & sholders the hands have to
     do the right thing automatically (otherwise you would break your wrists).
     Often your hands get active because your body is trying to compensate
     for other parts of the body that aren't doing their job.  I fight a
     right hand that kicks in when I am trying to "hit" the ball, rather
     than "swing" the club.

     Larry

    I am a lefty playing righthanded golf.  It has helped my game because
    my left arm keeps my swing in control.  But I have been playing that
    way for 20 years (started when I was 6) so that may have something to
    do with it.
    
    Speaking of tennis, try comparing your golf swing to a tennis backhand
    - a two handed backhand.  The lefthand guides and the right hand hits
    for power.
    
    At the current time, my right hand is starting to get too strong
    because I occasionally don't roll my hands over (my right hand is
    preventing it).  The more I practice, the better I start feeling. 
    Practice, practice, practice along with patience, patience, patience.
    
    Mike

    Scott,
    
    If it is any help, my wife is just like you -left handed in everything
    but golf. She started off playing left handed but the pr persuaded
    her to change and now she is feeling much more comfortable.
    
    For the record, her main problems were :-
    
    a). Putting - but she persevered or else she couldn't do those little
                  "putting-stroke" type chips from just off the edge
                   of the edge of the green.
    
    b). Backswing - as this used to be her follow-through it is now
                    much too strong in relation to a relatively eak
                    follow-through which used to be her nice slow
                    backswing.
 
    I don't know if this helps but at least you now know you're not
    alone out there. Let me know how you get on. Any help you can give
    my wife will save ME endless grief !
    
    Cheers. M.
       
    

     Here's 2 cents worth from a former teaching assistant pro right
    now, I wish I had stayed in the business...):
    1. For a right hander, your left hand is the "talent" hand in a
    golf swing, and the right hand is the "power" hand. That's why we
    teach you to grip half as hard with the right hand as the left.
    Unfortunately, for most natural right handers, our feel AND strength
    is all in the right hand, so learning can be a slow process. You
    have a natural advantage in that your talent (control) hand is more
    developed, but a slight disadvantage because your power hand isn't.
    I suggest you work on just hitting it straight - don't worry about
    distance, it'll come as you learn to release the club and your right
    hand becomes more facile.
    
    2. The 2 best sports analogies I can think of that relate to the
    golf swing are:
    A. A baseball swing - same swing but on an oblique plane, and you
    don't move your front foot.
    B. A topspin tennis forehand - from waist to waist height, the
    shoulders and racquet move EXACTLY like a golf club does in a golf
    swing.
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    --Jack.

    I'll happily add to the confusion.
    
 1. How could your left hand ever be too strong in a righty swing?
    While everyone seems to have a different aspect of the swing they focus
    on (and use in teaching), there is some concensus that pulling the lead
    (left) hand down and thru the ball is THE thing to think about.
    
 2. If you play baseball and tennis righty already, maybe your right
    arm/hand are already strong (perhaps even dominant).  Then your problem
    reduces to every beginning golfer's; not having enough left side at
    all.
    
    I say this because I'm a righty who plays lefty (switched in 86 due to
    injury).  And I discovered that my "strong" right side was really quite
    weak in the external rotation and extension required in a lefty golf
    swing.  What I thought was "no left hand" was really not enough right
    side.
    
    What is wrong with your swing?  Or at least, what do most of your shots
    look like.  I was slicing badly initially when I switched.  (Now I hook
    badly ... ;-)
    
    Mike

    
    I'm a lefty who plays righty.  I was told early on that most
    courses are set up for right handed players so I learned to play
    righty.  I'm not sure I've noticed an advantage, nor do I fully
    understand the theory, but I have heard this from more than one
    person. 
    
    Can anyone lend some insight into this? 
    
    

    
    Hi!
    
    
    It's me again... thanks for all the advice!  At least I know I'm not
    the only one out there!
    
    >709.5  "What's wrong with your swing? / What's does the ball do?"
    
    	It may be easier to tell you what isn't wrong with it! :-)
    	Follow-through seems to be a big problem... but I don't know if
    	I could explain it.  My shoulders tend to pull up (instead of 
    	down and around) and my left foot twists.
    
    	I can tell you that I consistently slice the ball.  It seems that
    	I am forever hugging the right side of the course.  
    
    
    ** BTW: I initially said that my left hand never feels comfortable...
    	    paying close attention to my hands during my last game, it
    	    is actually the right hand that I am constantly trying to get
    	    comfortable.
        
    
    
    On a positive note, I played a little par 3 course in Wenham this
    weekend (Bill Flynn's??) and my swing was better... HOWEVER, I just
    can't seem to get rid of that slice/fade right!  
    
    Practice, practice, practice, practice...
    
    
    -Scott
                                                 

Re: -.2

>    I'm a lefty who plays righty.  I was told early on that most
>    courses are set up for right handed players so I learned to play
>    righty.  

I've generally found the tougher courses are set up to penalize the slicing
right handed golfer.  (More dogleg lefts than dog leg rights.)  

The people who told you that most courses are set up for right hand players
probably base it on the fact that a fade generally stops faster than a draw so
players.

Larry

    re .7
    
    Well, I can tell you two drills that helped me.
    
    1.  Address the ball with your feet close together, and swing with just
        your arms.  This lets you concentrate on just your upper body,
        releasing your hands, etc.  For a while, I could hit it farther
        this way than with a normal swing!
    
    2.  Hold the club with your left hand only, and hit some balls.
        This will really tell you if you have any left side power.
        When I first started swinging lefty and tried this (with my right
        hand), I couldn't muster much of a swing.  And I'm right handed.
        I can hit a seven iron about 100 yards now with 1 hand, and that
        feeling of driving my right hand thru the ball is my swing key.
        It may not be the key to yours, but I bet this drill helps.
    
    Also just in general, are you sure you're not swinging outside-in?
    I really thought I had a nice inside-out plane, but I didn't.  My arms
    and hands just forced that club outside on the backswing (perhaps
    remembering the old swing), and that never helps the slice.  I had to
    have someone at the range w/ me positioning the club at the top to get
    over this.
    
    Hope this helps.  If not, just rear back and smack it!
    
    Mike

    re .9
    
    Thanks Mike.  My pro has actually started me on those 2 drills and they
    really seem to help.  It's strange, but I sometimes hit the ball much
    better this way then with 2 hands or with normal stance!
    
    Update -- Had a lesson last night and changed my right hand grip.  My
    right hand seems to be much more in line now and I am hitting the ball
    "solid" more consistently  (Bye-bye slice, hello hook!).
    
    Little did I know that this sport takes sooooooo much effort --- and
    now I'm more addicted to it than ever!!!!
    
    
    "Determined to improve"
    --Scott