New golfer - Lefty or Righty?

[Andyinthewoods]

My daughter just asked me about playing golf, I've brought it up to her in the past but never went anywhere.  Today after a softball game she asked me about playing, seems like she's just about done with softball and is looking for a spring sport.  She hits lefty in softball but also plays field hockey which is strictly a right handed swing.  

 

Should she play lefty or righty?  She has no issues swinging either way but is naturally right handed.  She has always hit left handed in softball.

[Andyinthewoods]

If it matters she's 14.

[ZAP]

Find her a couple of clubs of each way and let her practice a bit and see.  Seems like she would be better at power generation from the left side but maybe better face/path management from the right.  IMHO.

 

This advice is quite possible worth exactly what you paid for it BTW.

[ShortGolfer]

I am cross dominant so I can play either.  I chose right handed clubs because of my eye dominance and the availability of used women's clubs. Women don't buy and sell clubs as often as men.

 

https://www.golfdigest.ie/the-digest/how-type-1-eye-dominance-versus-type-2-can-influence-your-golf-swing

 

I have a lefty 5I that I hit with a short backswing.

Edited September 13, 2021 by ShortGolfer

[3PuttLefty]

Being lefty stinks. Rarely can you try out a driver someone in ur group has and when demoing clubs, usually less options available.  Plus im sure there is even less choices for LH women’s clubs…i had a choice i would say RH. 

[TwistedSister]

Try earnestly to start her RIGHT handed!  She should be able to do it easily if she plays hockey Righty!  Unless she does nearly everything left handed she should be able to play righty.  And she would be better off equipment wise and also swing wise as as a righty the left side will be better to be dominant.  As to eye dominance it is better to have the the dominant eye over the ball when putting but nothing precludes her from playing righty and putting lefty. 

[BFD3]

My 13 yo daughter is lefty for everything. My 9 yo so is righty for everything except golf and baseball. It truly is a pain in the butt to get youth lefty clubs but at least my son gets her hand-me-downs. IMO, you let her try both and let her figure out which is more “natural” to her. If she really has no preference, encourage righty.

[wlm]

I’d try both for a while, and eventually get on a trackman and see if you can see a noticeable difference, particularly in speed. 

[Pearlwhites]

Agreed on the try both option.  If there isn’t a huge deficit I’d push for RH for reasons above.  I have a lefty son and there was such an obvious difference that he will miss out on all of my sweet sweet RH handmedowns.

[llewol007]

Righty. As much as we dont want to be it a factor. If you walk into any sports or golf store, scope out to see what is offered in right versus left handed. 

[ND2005]

10 hours ago, 3PuttLefty said:

 Rarely can you try out a driver someone in ur group has and when demoing clubs, usually less options available.  

 

Plus all your right handed friends want to try out your lefty driver, and after a while you have to explain to them that yes you are serious that if they put a sky mark on it they are paying for it. 

[Superfast2.0]

Like others have said, it could be harder to find LH clubs. Since she does some things both RH & LH have her try out both just in case she is significantly better from one side over the other.

[Abh159]

Let her try both and then go with whatever she says feels the most natural. 

 

Also, pray that she chooses right handed. It will save you a ton of time and money in the future. 

[ShortGolfer]

20 hours ago, Andyinthewoods said:

If it matters she's 14.

What matters more is how much taller is she likely to get?  

[Andyinthewoods]

On 9/13/2021 at 3:13 PM, ShortGolfer said:

What matters more is how much taller is she likely to get?  

Not much taller, she's 5'2" now maybe another inch or two but that's it.

[Andyinthewoods]

Thanks for the help on this but she's going lefty mostly due to field hockey.  The field hockey swing is mostly righty and is very strictive on back swing and followthrough, she's worried that the golf swing will mess with her field hockey swing and that's her highest priority right now.  

 

Is the Top-Flite set for 300ish a really bad idea?  It's one of the few I can find for ladies lefties.

[ShortGolfer]

I suggest she start off with a quality 7 iron and putter purchased on the used market.  Have her learn to play with two clubs.

Once she learns a decent swing you can add a driver.  

 

Make the bunkers penalty free drops instead of two stroke penalties for taking a drop on line out of the bunker.

Ideally she would learn to exploit this rule to her advantage like any other top competitor.  Pros don't have any fear of bunkers.  Neither should she.

[MRx747]

I have a lefty, and let him just play from that side, but like most above already mentioned, if your kid can swing from both side the same definitely go righty, much easier to buy gears and try demos in the future. 

[kekoa]

If she swings lefty in softball, I would have her play golf righty as to not disturb her softball swing.  Also, as others have said, righty golf equipment is much more available. 

[heavy_hitter]

45 minutes ago, kekoa said:

If she swings lefty in softball, I would have her play golf righty as to not disturb her softball swing.  Also, as others have said, righty golf equipment is much more available. 

 

About the only thing I can't find in left handed are some of the Mizuno products and putters can be a nightmare.

[Haroputt]

Field hockey is all right handed anyway. There are no left sticks in field hockey 

I played baseball and hockey and feel the swing is more like baseball 

[Righty to Lefty]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:13 AM, wlm said:

I’d try both for a while, and eventually get on a trackman and see if you can see a noticeable difference, particularly in speed. 

This...I played righty and now play lefty and I ended up sticking with lefty because I generate more speed lefty...we're talkin 25 mph more. You can't teach speed, but you can teach the game in either case.  By that I mean my lowest score is 2 over righty and 1 over lefty but I started out righty and then later switched to lefty some ten years later.  It took me 6 years to break 90 right handed and 6 months to do it lefty so my  potential is higher lefty with the extra speed that I posses. 

 

Definitely put her on a trackman and it will become very obvious which side she should play.  That being said  she should also continue to do something opposite of the side that she plays golf as this will maintain muscle balance between the right and left side of her body and this is very important.  I swing heavy clubs right handed to maintain balance with my lefty swing.  I never swing heavy clubs lefty though but I will do speed training lefty.  I know this is a quick explanation but if you have any deeper questions @Andyinthewoods don't hesitate to ask.  R to L

 

Also as another point to note. You should figure out this as soon as possible and do not let her go back and forth. Find out what side she creates the most speed and get her on her way.  I say this because she is going to be terrible regardless in the beginning but you can't teach speed.  

Edited October 19, 2021 by Righty to Lefty

[Andyinthewoods]

She's going to go lefty. She's worried the field hockey swing will be messed up by golf. Her lefty swing is a bit better than her righty swing.

[leezer99]

25 minutes ago, Andyinthewoods said:

She's going to go lefty. She's worried the field hockey swing will be messed up by golf. Her lefty swing is a bit better than her righty swing.

 

 

Love the recoil!