Left Hand Low: How Long Did it Take?

[snowmangolf]

I’m very much considering switching to left hand low. I’m sold on the benefits/thought process behind it and haven’t talked to anyone that did it and regretted it. 

 

How long did the adjustment take you? It feels pretty uncomfortable and awkward for me. I also feel like there’s not enough room on the grip to hold it comfortably. 

 

Sell me on why I should make the change and stick with it. 

[craz-e]

I moved over after missing a few too many short-mid range putts that I just flat out missed my lines. Left hand low helps me hit my lines every time. Didn't take me too long to adapt, just a couple of trips to the practice green. Swapped over last year and have no intention of going back to "traditional" 

[Haroputt]

When I put in Fatso grips and tried it out for the first time   It felt really weird with conventional putting grip. I fool around crosshanded and immediately felt that was the proper grip.  I played crosshanded for several years alternating between thick and medium grip  Recently went back to conventional reverse overlap and thin grips and putting feels still really good

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Haroputt

[salmon1man]

I have noticed wildly how accurate left hand low is for me.  i can stay on my line but speed is not the best.  My "normal" putter grip last year was same grip with clubs that I interlock my right pinky and left pointer.  I tired something different this year and instead of interlocking fingers I just overlap my left hand (my pointer and middle finger) over my right hand and have been getting same results with left hand low and with better speed control.  also pacing out my putts has been HUGE

[Webs3B]

Took me 2 rounds and felt pretty bad at the beginning. Been 5 years now and I will never go back to standard. Long putts take the most time to dial in but once you do its money!

[onthebogeytrain]

Definitely try it. I tend to go back and forth, but find that i usually hit better putts crosshand.

[philly2kuk]

I tried LHL last year as I had problems with my left thumb. In terms of comfort it worked pretty much straightaway for me on short putts but I struggled with long putts. I was always either miles short or blasting past. I did have to put in the practice time though and was practicing a couple of hours a day (spread out over the day).
 

After a few weeks I gave up as the pain was still there and went to a normal interlock grip with right forefinger down the grip as my dad has putted for years. Immediately my touch and feel came back and the pain in my thumb went overnight after struggling for months with it.

 

LHL will work for some and I was getting there with it after a few weeks of practice. Had the thumb pain not still been present I’d have continued.

[Volnut]

I went LHL 2 years ago. Experimented with it on the practice green on a couple occasions. The first round I abandoned it after a few holes. Then decided to stick to it for 5 rounds. Hitting more putts than ever and feels very natural. 

 

Full disclosure,  I'm a natural lefty but swing (golf and baseball) right handed. May explain why LHL feels natural.

[Louis_Posture]

On 6/7/2023 at 8:49 PM, snowmangolf said:

I’m very much considering switching to left hand low. I’m sold on the benefits/thought process behind it and haven’t talked to anyone that did it and regretted it. 

 

How long did the adjustment take you? It feels pretty uncomfortable and awkward for me. I also feel like there’s not enough room on the grip to hold it comfortably. 

 

Sell me on why I should make the change and stick with it. 

 

If you're missing putts with a conventional grip you have nothing to lose by trying left hand low. Go for it. Short putting there is essentially zero learning curve time. For lag putting I guess a round of golf or two before it feels comfortable.

[third-times-a-charm]

Bout a week and a few rounds. 

[MelloYello]

I switched to LHL about 6-8 months ago.

 

I spent at least 2 years working extremely hard to make a conventional grip work after my putting got to be absolutely atrocious. In the end the results spoke for themselves.

 

The biggest problem was that my conventional grip allowed me to flip and that undermined my ability to control distance are resulted in a lot of pushes & pulls on short putts, too. I was 3-putting a lot for all sorts of reasons: too hard, too soft, push, pull, bad strike, etc. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. 

 

I was having to work way too hard with the conventional grip where as LHL was relatively effortless. I naturally stayed down through the putting motion, eliminated flipping and could pretty effortlessly start the ball on line every single time. 

 

TBH, I'm embarrassed I didn't (seriously) try it sooner. It was probably just ego. When I started to notice more people on TV and at my home club doing it though, I gave it a chance and it's been 100x better since then. 

 

Like many others have reported, it was immediately apparent that LHL was would be better in every way for pretty much any kind of putt inside 20-ft. That was with very little practice at all! That in and of itself justified it.

 

But honestly, I think LHL has made me a lot more consistent at long range, too. I think you can get used to anything at long range if you're motivated. 

 

With my conventional grip I would sometimes control distance well but I'd regularly have a miss that was just crazy off (probably due to the flipping problem). Those extreme outliers seem to have disappeared with LHL and I consider that an upgrade. 

 

I also would point out that most people who putt conventionally have been putting really well for pretty much their whole lives. If you're someone who hasn't spent decades on the practice green beginning at a very young age, I don't see the point in even trying to make a conventional grip work. There's way more that go wrong with a conventional grip. It takes a ton of skill that quite frankly, I don't have enough time in my life to develop at this stage. 

 

 

.

Edited June 11, 2023 by MelloYello

[Phebus]

Question for those that have switched from conventional to lhl. Have you stayed with the same length putter?

[MelloYello]

Yes, I continued using a 35" putter. 

[13ITZ]

I switched to lead hand low (I'm lefty) two years ago. Was never a bad putter but also never great, with an Anser style and interlocking grip. Got a new #7 mallet putter, added a jumbomax grip, and changed the grip all at once and something just clicked. Positive results on short and mid length putts were immediate. It just felt more comfortable and confident. Long lag putts took a lot more time and practice to get the distance control down. I have multiple different length and shape putters, but same jumbomax grip and LHL and feel solid in my putting since changing.

[armesjr]

Took 2 weeks to get comfortable

[gsrjc]

Took me a few rounds. 

[onthebogeytrain]

One thing I have found is that my alignment feels weird when I am LHL. I hit putts off the center of the face more often but standing over the ball it is hard to get comfortable with my alignment, which is much easier for me conventional.

[Jeffinplano]

is there a video how to putt with left hand low

[KevCannon]

To get truly comfortable with it can take a while. Depends how much practice time u are able to get in with left hand low. The quickest benefit i noticed was start line became consistently accurate, but short putts and really long putts took me a good bit longer to dial in. I used lhl for 3 years then a few years ago went back to traditional with  very good results. I think it taught me how to use the big muscles and take my hands out of it, which has now translated to my traditional grip.