golfrewind.com

When I started playing golf, I was hoping that learning to play golf would be relatively easy for me, because I used to be a pretty good tennis-player in my younger years, and I was hoping that my tennis experience would help me to master the golfswing quickly....

.... I found out that I was wrong!

After years of golf-practice, I have finally developed a decent golf-swing, and I am now as comfortable with a golf-club as I once was with a tennis-racket (I no longer play tennis). And I think that I have figured out why my initial assumption, that a tennis-player can easily learn a golf-swing, was wrong, and I will try to describe why: I will come straight to the point:

A right-hander's golfswing = A left-hander's tennis backhand.

What I am saying here, is that a correctly executed golf-swing by a right hander has a lot of similarity to a correctly executed (double-handed) tennis backhand by a left-hander.

However, when a right-handed tennis player attempts to hit a golf-ball (setting up like a right-handed golfer) he would be tempted to apply his right-side dominated forehand motion to the golf swing, with bad results.

On the other hand, if the right-handed tennis player wished to take his tennis-experience with him to the golf practice range, he might be better off setting up with a left-handed golf club, and hit his familiar (double-handed) backhand, which is a much better motion for golf.

No wonder that golf is so difficult to master: In tennis, the backhand is much harder to learn than the forehand (at least for the typical player), but the golfer is required to learn this more difficult (backhand) motion opposite their natural inclination!!

To expand on the previous paragraph, it is interesting to note that a number of golf-legends (Johnny Miller, Phil Mickelson, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones) all play(ed) opposite to their natural inclination. While it may feel that this is a more difficult method to learn to play golf, it may actually be easier in the long run. I say this for the following reason: While the tennis-backhand is more difficult to master than the forehand (for most), it actually is a more natural feeling stroke once mastered. The players mentioned may have actually had an advantage!

The bottom line:
If you are left-handed, do not hesitate to play golf right-handed.
If you are right-handed, do not hesitate to play golf left-handed.

I recognize that not many people would be willing to switch over, and retrain themselves for a mirror-image golfswing. However, if you are a beginner there may be some advantages to playing golf opposite to your natural inclination ('handedness'). If you are not progressing, or have a deeply ingrained horrible golfswing, I would recommend that you give yourself a second chance by starting over playing the other way. Do not expect quick results however: You will have to learn the golfswing again, but this time you may be able to avoid some of the mistakes you made in your first attempt!
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PS I realize that this post, long-winded as it is, is missing something, i.e. a justification for the statement that a correctly executed golfswing resembles a backhand motion, and not a forehand motion. I will leave that one alone, for now, but there are hints in the following thread (posted by Divot2Deep), which is very short, but very interesting:

Any thoughts on my 'tweaking'?

I have wanted to post these thoughts for a long time now, but it is the above thread that prompted me to finally do so.

That's an interesting idea ss. I played racquetball regularly for about ten years. That was about 8-9 yrs ago. I'm basically a righty, but write and do most precision things with my left hand. I do oil paintings with both hands, right for the broad strokes, left for the detail strokes.

Anyway, my brother, a naturally gifted golfer, is a lefty all the way. Last spring we played together and I hit a dozen or so balls on the range using his clubs. I was surprised at the results. I actually hit the ball ok. We're playing together this week for the first time since then and I'm going to ask him to bring a couple of his closet clubs so I can check it out again.

So, what's your deal? Have you tried going the other way, and what were the results?

Thanks for posting your experiences. Have fun with your brother later this week! As for myself, I play golf RH, and used to play tennis RH. But I will put some of my money and time where my mouth is, and buy a LH mid-iron next season and experiment with it. I have spent a good deal of time buidling a decent RH golf swing, so I would be surprised that I would end up switching over, but you never know. I think it would take a good deal of practice to learn the LH golfswing: While there could be some advantages to it, there are a whole lot of aspects to the LH golfswing that I would be fully inexperienced / unpracticed with.

Before everyone switches, golf is more like a tennis serve just not over head. Maybe more like a bounce serve. The reason is that there is more power in a serve than a two handed back hand. A stiff wristed two handed back hand may be a similar swing and could be accurate it is always a shorter shot. You could hit a two handed fore hand in tennis harder than a two handed back hand if your were going for power, but you don't need that much power in tennis because of the shorter distance you hit. The racquet ball players I have taught, do great using their racquet ball serve motion for golf, just with both hands on the club.

I do not expect many folks to switch, don't worry about that! You are right about the lack of release in a tennis stroke: The similarities only go so far! As for the two-handed forehand, I am not sure what you mean: Would that be a cross-handed stroke?

....written watching the saints and cowboys

well gary, i doubt that anyones thinking about switching from their natural side and decide to play the opposite of that. the light bulb that went off over my head reading straightshooters post was re3alizing this might be a great exercise in terms of balance and strentgh conditioning.

if you're a righty but could hit lefty at the range say....i can see gaining hand-eye coordination , timing, strengh in your hands and other muscles on your non dominant side etc.
i just never thought of it, but now that i read it i;m going to try it.

{The racquet ball players I have taught, do great using their racquet ball serve motion for golf, just with both hands on the club.} another good idea on this small thread to think about :)

-saints 14 dal 7-

I've been working on something similar in my game for most of this season. I'm right handed and had lost some distance and tended to hit the ball high & right on my poor shots.

After much self-analysis (hips not clearing quickly enough, closed face, alignment issues, ball position, etc) I finally went to the local pro. He identified a poor release of the hands and suggested that I try to keep the dominant right hand much more passive (just there for the ride, he described it as).

I didn't play tennis to the extent that I could bring that experience to my golf game, but I did play an awful lot of table-tennis in my younger years, and later in life with my kids. The pro suggested I try to use a backhand top-spin stroke left-handed............ works an absolute treat for me. Not only did I regain my distance, I actually increased the length a little.. lovely ball-flight with a touch of draw.

I must point-out that this only works for me if I swing smoothly with a light-grip.... any tension (first tee in a comp, pressure shots over water, etc) and I am prone to force the left-wrist through a little too quickly, resulting in a folding of the wrist............. not good at times .
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Thank you for posting your experience. It was interesting to read that there is a golf pro that endorses the title of this thread as a swing key. It was of course even more interesting that actually it worked for you!

I am finding some more famous golfers that play(ed) opposite their natural inclination on the internet. Note the Hogan comment: He claims to have regretted his left-to-right conversion! In the interest of full disclosure: Other web-sites claim that Hogan denied ever being a leftie, calling this a rumor.

Jerry Barber - Converted to right-handedness in childhood.
Ben Hogan - Played right-handed, but was actually left-handed. When Hogan began his career, he was told that he should golf right-handed, with his left hand leading the swing; supposedly, this would enable him to benefit from the greater strength in his leading hand. If this were true, then all right-handed golfers should play left-handed! In his later years, Hogan remarked that his greatest regret about his career was that he had allowed himself to be talked into playing right-handed.
Bobby Jones- Played right handed, but was actually left handed.
Phil Mickelson - Plays left-handed, but is actually right-handed
Johnny Miller - Left-handed, but played right-handed.
Nick Price - Left-handed, but plays right-handed
Mike Weir - Plays left-handed, but is actually right-handed.

Other web-sites also list Sergio Garcia, Sam Snead, and Moe Norman as left-to-right converts.

Well I'm left-handed, and play golf right handed. Mainly because I'm right footed and my natural inclination is to stand with my right foot at the back and left foot at the front, because this is how I skateboard.

However, I semm to be pretty hopeless at golf. I'm getting better, but I work really hard at my swing and the amount of effort I've put in in the last 5 years or so doesn't seem to be matched be my progress.

Incidently, I was also pretty bad at tennis.

By a two handed fore hand, I mean the right hand is closer to the racquet head. A tennis thought I teach is to hit with top spin as that would equate to hooking in golf.

This would probably result in a hook for those that are reasonably straight with their shots. Those that suffer with a slice would probably still swing 'over the top' and the hand-thing we are talking about here would likely produce a pull.

The reason that the pro suggested the 'left-hand-table-tennis-topspin-backhand' to me was because I was able to get the feeling of the movement in order to release my wrists through the shot. I don't feel that my swing has changed in any other area, my stance & posture are as they always were and I feel as though everything else is moving in the same sequence as before..... I've just changed my swing thought to a relaxed topspin shot with my left hand.

Thinking about it (which is always the wrong thing to do) my downswing is possibly a little more from the inside than before, this will probably account for the slight draw I appear to have acquired.

It doesn't worry me though, I'm waiting for that moment we all look forward to .. losing it again

I always thought of the golfswing as a forehand stroke in tennis...

If you are a right-hander, and play golf with a traditional left-hand set-up (a la Mickelson), I think it would be back-hand with the right arm, the left hand being just there for the ride.

I agree with those that suggest that the left side should be the more dominant (in golf) for a traditional right-hand set-up, where the movement would be like a left-handed back-hand. This does nothing to help the right-handers like me that play what is regarded as right-handed, unless they can persuade their left sides to be more dominant............... too late for me to change to the 'other side', which is why the left-hand back-hand topspin swing thought helps me

Another few instances where right-handers are coached in left-side useage, are
'left arm straight'
'left shoulder behind the ball at the top of the swing'
'left knee towards the ball on backswing'
'left wrist flat'
'left hip starts the downswing'
'left hip turns through' etc, etc.

Sorry, starting to ramble now but I do feel it makes sense to have the more dominant side as the leading side of the golfers set-up.
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LOL oozing with confidence !

Your not a bad golfer m8,you just dont have as much time as others...

While i have no real love for the game i tennis,i do agree with the theorys mentioned.I was asked once if i have ever tried playing as a lefty & i was disgusted to think that someone out there actually thinks i am THAT BAD !(as a righty) to want to change