Left-handed golfers can’t catch a break not only is most golf equipment catered for right-handed players, but most golf instructions are also taught for right-handers, so everything you learn has to be in reverse.
I will explain how you can swing a golf club left-handed and the possible benefits of learning a left-handed swing even if you are right-handed.
Use a left-handed club and hold the club with a solid grip with your right hand on top and reverse the swing of a right-handed golfer. When not playing Golf do things like brushing your teeth left-handed to improve your body’s connection with the left side.
Learning a golf swing is a complicated thing, and it’s made more difficult for lefties. Keep reading and I will explain exactly how to swing left-handed and other tips that improve your game as a left-handed player.
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How To Swing A Golf Club Left Handed
Use High-Quality Left-Handed Golf Equipment
If as a lefty, if you use equipment designed for right-handed players you are putting yourself in a tricky position.
In a left-handed club, the hosel which is the hollow part of the club where the shaft is inserted will be angled to the left. Naturally, this makes left-handed clubs far easier to hit for a left-handed golfer.
For a lot of amateur golfers not buying the right equipment at the start is an easy mistake to make, using right-handed clubs as a lefty could make you play at a lower level then your capable of, leading to a loss of motivation and appetite for the game.
If your serious about developing a solid left-handed swing, invest in a good set of equipment to give you the best chance of success.
However, golf equipment is not everything to see if buying expensive clubs makes a real difference to your game check out my article.
The first step is swinging left-handed is taking the proper grip.
How To Grip A Golf Club Left-Handed
- Grip the club with your right hand on top with the fingers laying under the club and the pad of your hand with the right thumb pointing down the center of the club. Your two right knuckles should show if you hold the club straight up
- With the left hand lay the club in the fingers
- Create a V with the index and thumb of your left hand and either do an interlock or 10 finger grip
Establishing a proper left-handed golf grip is essential to swinging correctly. The grip is the same as the traditional right-handed golf grip except you first grip the club with your non-domiant hand(the right)
No matter if your left or right-handed the question of teaching yourself vs having lessons is important, which one is better? Find out in my article.
How To Swing A Golf Club Left-Handed
- At address the left arm should be relaxed and hanging down, copying the right. It should be slightly lower because you should grip the club with the right hand first
- During the backswing, both arms should extend from the ball as the club is swung away from the body
- As the club reaches parallel with the ground the arms should be straightened adding width to the backswing
- The right arm needs to remain extended to maintain swing width, the left arm should begin to bend and fold to the left side
- As the club travels to the top of the swing the shoulders should have turned fully underneath the chin, the left arm should be bent and closed to the left side
- At this point, the hips turn and begin to rotate towards the target, keep the left arm close to the side to ensure a good swing path
- As you near impact, the left arm starts to straighten, at impact both arms should be fully extended for maximum shot power
- The follow swing should be the same as the back swing, the left arm continues to straighten and extend through the ball as the right arm starts to tuck to the side and bend
- At the top of the swing the left arm is extended as the club comes to rest on the shoulder
The left-handed golf swing just like the right is open to slight modifications, see famous PGA tour lefties like Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson they don’t have the same swing!
Although, there are many tips that can help you as a left-handed player to be the best golfer you can be.
5 Golf Tips For Left-Handed Players
1.How To Stop Slicing The Ball
If your playing left-handed golf as a right-hander, your dominant hand has a tendency to pull the club down to cause the clubhead to be open to the left-handed side causing a slice.
To stop this, imagine your hitting a backhand in Table Tennis/Tennis to improve your golf swing to stop your dominant hand from pulling the club down.
If you start having lessons later on in your golf journey you will have to become worse to get better as the coach needs time to correct the bad habits you developed. To learn more about why people need to get worse to get better and why it’s so common in golf check out my article.
2.Study The Left-Handed Golf Professionals
Around 1/30 pro golfers are left-handed but luckily one of the most successful players of the last two decades the five-time major winning player Phil Mickelson renowned for his huge drive and excellent short game is a left-hander!
You can say mirror a right-handed swing all you want, but seeing a professional left-hander swing in slow motion(above video) is far easier for your brain to digest and imitate elements of his swing into your own game.
3.Start Using Your Left-Hand Outside Golf More
This only applies to right hand dominant players but start to create more of a mind muscle connection with your left hand.
Brush your teeth with your left-hand walk the dog with your left- hand anything you can do to improve the mind-muscle connection with your left-hand will have serious carry over to your left-handed golf game.
4. Find A Left Handed Golf Instructor
According to CaddyTrek “Left-handed golfers comprise about 5 to 7 percent of the North American market so many golfers play right-handed despite being left-handed due to most golf coaches being right-handed.
However, I recommend finding a coach that is left-handed or who can teach left-handed. It will be far easier to learn from a coach showing you left-handed techniques and you will progress that much faster.
To find left-handed golf lessons either search on Google locally for golf lessons or use a dedicated service such as golf lessons on lessons.com and find a specific instructor to suit your needs.
No matter how you play golf you want to prevent muscle imbalances that cause you pain when you Golf. To know the 6 major muscle groups that are used in golf and what exercises to make them stronger check out my post.
5. Learn Specific Left-Handed Golf Drills
Learning golf drills specifically for left-handed golfers will fast-track your learning progress, but unfortunately they are not easy to find as most YouTube or online videos will be for right-handed golfers forcing you to use your imagination and mirror the techniques.
This makes the last tip, of finding a left-handed instructor more important as they will be able to provide you with numerous left-handed drills you can do at home.
