method to determine your golf hand

[Nav13]

I know this may sound messed up, but I am looking to pick up golf this summer but I can't seem to figure out which hand I am better at swinging with. Heres the thing, swinging with either hand feels almost identical with the left feeling alittle less natural, however I play hockey left handed, and when I was little I used to play golf with right handed clubs (just messing around in a field with my buddies clubs) and I think this has made the right feel slightly better. So what I am wondering is, am I better off going left handed and just working my way through the awkwardness that I built up by playing with the right handed clubs, or should I stick with right?

some extra info just incase it helps, I am right handed, play hockey left as mentioned before, can swing a bat both ways, play tennis with my right, kick with my left, and I am right eye dominant if that matters.

Are there any simple little test to see which hand you should swing with?

Help.

[SkittleFreak]

Go to a driving range with both left and right handed clubs and hit a bucket or two of balls and find which you do better with and which feels better

[schocker]

i would say do the same as hockey, having played hockey you would probably have more powerful swings with that hand, along with having used it for so long compared to just dabbling around golfing right handed.

[vengie]

pick up a club hit a ball, repeat with opposite hand, whichever way you hit the ball better giv'r!

[Nav13]

shoulda mentioned that I have been hitting a tenis ball into a hockey net swinging with both hands with my hockey stick and again I can hit them nearly identical. I know that sounds really ghetto, but I thought I would just give it a shot. Its messed I cant do a slap or wrist shot right handed, but once I swing it like a golf swing, they just feel the same. I can't beleive I didnt even think about going to the range to find out. Is it really difficult to find left handed equipment? I figure if it comes down to it, Ill just stick with right if it makes it easier to buy clubs. But again shooting left in hockey is pulling me towars left.

[Hakkola]

LOL, I have the same problem. Right arm stronger, shoot left in hockey, catch left, bat right, kick right. I putt left, but swinging a golf club seems awkward no matter what hand I use. :banghead:

[Nav13]

exactly, it feels equally awkward either way I hit it. If I swing left, my right leg seems week and unbalanced, if I swing right, my left arm feels awkward. Any input on which is easier to correct?

[CokerRat]

I shoot left in hockey but golf right. I see the difference this way: in hockey, my left hand is for stability on the stick while the right is really what pivots the stick. In my golf swing, while my right hand is lower on the shaft, it's the one still controlling the club face and taking the impact. All my left hand is doing is "pulling" the club through impact, it's still doing broad motions while my right hand is doing the fine control. So in that sense shooting left / golfing right has some consistency.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Hakkola
LOL, I have the same problem. Right arm stronger, shoot left in hockey, catch left, bat right, kick right. I putt left, but swinging a golf club seems awkward no matter what hand I use. :banghead: I'm the same way except I putt right.

To the OP, if they feel the same then pick one and stick with it. No point in stressing over it.

[groundpilot]

If left works for you you'll be able to find cheaper clubs... All the last seasons left overs seem to be left handed (saw an R7 driver last year for $99 less than a right handed club)...

[three.eighteen.]

Originally posted by Hakkola
LOL, I have the same problem. Right arm stronger, shoot left in hockey, catch left, bat right, kick right. I putt left, but swinging a golf club seems awkward no matter what hand I use. :banghead:

catching left usually indicates righthandedness?

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Hakkola
LOL, I have the same problem. Right arm stronger, shoot left in hockey, catch left, bat right, kick right. I putt left, but swinging a golf club seems awkward no matter what hand I use. :banghead:

Wow i thought i was the only one... seems to be pretty common.

Catch left, throw right, kick right, hockey left, baseball swing left, golf left, write right.

[ExtraSlow]

I play hockey left and I golf and hit a baseball right handed.
and I'm much stronger on my right side.

If I were you, I'd go to the driving range like others have suggested. Maybe even hire a pro for one lesson and explain your predicament to them. It'll cost you fifty or a hundred bucks, but you'll get some pointers that will really help you improve.

[98brg2d]

I golf and bat right and play hockey left as well. If you are just starting to play golf, left or right may both feel awkward for a while so decide if you want good club selection (off the shelf, instead of ordering) or cheap prices at the end of the season.

Most people golf right so that would be my suggested hand although golfing left has a lot of advantages since most holes are set up to exploit right handed weaknesses like slicing to the right on a dogleg left. Courses around houses usually tend to keep the houses on the left on the tee shot to specifically avoid righties slicing into somebodies window...something else to think about.

[anarchy]

Yeah I had a similar problem as well.

I am right handed, throw right, but play hockey left, swing bat left.

I also started out with right handed golf clubs from my uncle just because that's the norm.

I've basically stuck with golfing right, but I've switched to a left-handed putter as I seem to have a better feel from it (probably from playing like that with hockey).

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by anarchy
Yeah I had a similar problem as well.

I am right handed, throw right, but play hockey left, swing bat left.

I also started out with right handed golf clubs from my uncle just because that's the norm.

I've basically stuck with golfing right, but I've switched to a left-handed putter as I seem to have a better feel from it (probably from playing like that with hockey).

Its weird, when i try and make the motion to shoot right with a hockey stick or swing a bat right handed my body just feels uncomfortable doing it , its like my muscles grew into being left handed at sports haha.

[2002civic]

i shoot left in hockey and golf right handed and do fine at both, do whatever feels mst comfortable and stick with it

[bigboom]

if you are unsure and swing comfortably both ways to start, something you might want to consider is a lot of equipment for left handers is limited so you may want to go right.

[jonnycat]

Its tougher to find left handed clubs :dunno:

[RATM]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Wow i thought i was the only one... seems to be pretty common.

Catch left, throw right, kick right, hockey left, baseball swing left, golf left, write right.

thats me exactly!

[Skyline_Addict]

i'm 0% ambidextrous - shoot right, swing right, kick right (most comfortably), catch left, throw right :(

[anarchy]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


Its weird, when i try and make the motion to shoot right with a hockey stick or swing a bat right handed my body just feels uncomfortable doing it , its like my muscles grew into being left handed at sports haha.

Well i'm the exact same as you except I golf right (with the exception of putting). And the only reason for that is I learned how to golf right from the very beginning. I always wonder if I'd do better golfing left (it'd probably be more comfortable), it was awkward enough learning how to golf right in the first place, dont' want to start over with new equipment etc. to go left.

[em2ab]

Maybe it's like finding out if a snowboarder is regular or goofy......stand behind them and give them a push. Whichever foot they catch themselves with, that's the one that faces forward. You got to surprise them, it doesn't work if they know you're doing it.

[oilerfan4lyfe]

I had the same problem...because I shot left in hockey I assumed I should play golf left too but soon after I realized that my swing was a lot smoother playing right so that's what I do now...I couldn't really bend my right arm properly when shooting left.

[YamahaV8]

Whichever side feels more natural while swinging a baseball bat will also be your golf side. I also am right handed and I shoot left in hockey but I hit right and only right in baseball. I golf only about 5-6 times a year but I can say that hitting the same side as a baseball bat is the way to go since your hands are close together on both items where as on a hockey stick they are seperated and result in a completely different technique. I know the hand position is different between baseball and golf but the feeling of the arm position is the same.

[Nav13]

Thanks for all the input guys, I definently need to get out to a range and figure this out, but I found an old putter at home and just messed around with it for a bit in the back yard just to get a feel and oddly enough right is feeling more comfortable. However putting feels better left handed, maybe once I get into it, Ill keep some left handed clubs in the bag for situations where a left handed shot may be at an advantage, but I am getting ahead of myself here. Its time to search for some good lessons and look into a starter set, but feel free to keep this discussion going, its interested to see how many messed up semi-ampidextrous people there are.