Putting on the wrong side of the ball

[JohnSmalls]

1 hour ago, Shankster said:

That way I could start from scratch and leave all my bad habits on the “right” side

I have given this some serious thought lately, but joining the dark side and swinging righty.  I just can't make myself do it though.

[Jmikecpa]

Matt Dobyns has won several PGA pro champs playing right handed and putting left handed. I asked him why he switched and he told me he tried everything right handed to improve his putting and nothing worked. Went left handed and started winning tournaments and playing in the PGA Championship. Sometimes it takes a drastic change to improve.


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[Kenny B]

When I started playing golf, the pro at the club was a righty but putted lefty.  He won the Washington State am in high school.  Reminded me of Phil when he putt; just excellent.

I'm right eye dominant and a few years ago in an effort to putt better, I got a LH putter for $10 (still have it) and I putted much better with it up to 5-6 feet.  Longer putts weren't very good.  Maybe with the non-dominant swings with SuperSpeed clubs, it might be better now.

If I weren't so old, I might consider switching to LH clubs just because I have a better downswing pulling with my dominant side but alas, I think those days are past me now.

[PING Apologist #9]

Curious to learn here that being left-eye dominant like I am is possibly an advantage for a change. I do everything righty (except throw a Frisbee for some reason) including putting, so being this way should not be a factor or source of blame for poor putting performance...dammit!

[GB13]

I'm left eye dominate, write with my left hand, and perform any fine motor skills with my left hand, while I do any large motor skill, i.e. throwing or golfing, right handed.

So, which way should I putt? 

P.S. Yeah, I'm pretty much a mess. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

4 minutes ago, GB13 said:

I'm left eye dominate, write with my left hand, and perform any fine motor skills with my left hand, while I do any large motor skill, i.e. throwing or golfing, right handed.

So, which way should I putt? 

P.S. Yeah, I'm pretty much a mess. 

Here's an article you'll enjoy: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/12479736/mlb-baseball-history-ambidexterity

Summary version: baseball has a long history of ambidextrous players. There does seem to be a link between ambidexterity and overall athletic ability and coordination, which makes sense.

I see this with Kirke: he throws and golfs right-handed, eats and writes left-handed, and prefers to kick with his left-foot. But he easily adapted to left-handed SuperSpeed swings, and I've taught him to switch hit in baseball.

[tony@CIC]

I think all righties should switch to left hand putters that way the big box stores will carry a larger inventory.


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[GB13]

26 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

I think all righties should switch to left hand putters that way the big box stores will carry a larger inventory.


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Logically speaking, all lefties should switch to right hand putting then.

[tony@CIC]

Logically speaking, all lefties should switch to right hand putting then.

Nope because we're in our right minds and devious. That's why we want to cnovert everyone to the correct side of the ball.


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[sp0rtsfan86]

As a righty golfer lefty putter... I get a lot of looks. I think I switched as a kid based off of mini golf where I could hit either way and now I'm ingrained as a lefty putter. Perhaps I can see the line a bit better from the left side but it also comes down to I have better control over the stroke and that's probably the bigger factor as to why I hit lefty with the flatstick.

[Kor.A.Door]

Welcome to the side of the ball where we are always in our right minds. 

I too putt from the left side, that’s because I am a lefty. 

Really though, I have putted right handed before, and do quite well, again distance on long putts is difficult to master. You could always to like Notah Begay and putt from both sides depending on the break of the putt. 

[GolfSpy MPR]

First: @TR1PTIK, thanks again for the book recommendation. It arrived yesterday, and it's my favorite kind of golf book: deeply nerdy, and (unlike far too many golf books), it's not one single idea stretched out over 150 pages. It's got a lot of information. Great suggestion, and I'm grateful to you.

I also received my left-handed putter in the mail yesterday. Unfortunately, I was fighting off the flu, and as proof of genuine sickness, didn't even feel up to taking my new putter downstairs to the green for a few strokes. I was feeling better this morning, so I had my first go with left-handed putting.

The difference in seeing the line is real. Unfortunately, so is my lack of left-handed coordination. Not that I would have thought otherwise, but it is no magic elixir to switch to the other side of the ball.

I'm going to keep working at it, at least for a while, trying to develop a stroke that works from that side. The snow outside my house is over four feet deep: we have a long time to go here before golf season. It's easily enough time for me to commit to putting left-handed, decommit, and buy a new right-handed putter all before the course opens

[TR1PTIK]

17 minutes ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

First: @TR1PTIK, thanks again for the book recommendation. It arrived yesterday, and it's my favorite kind of golf book: deeply nerdy, and (unlike far too many golf books), it's not one single idea stretched out over 150 pages. It's got a lot of information. Great suggestion, and I'm grateful to you.

I also received my left-handed putter in the mail yesterday. Unfortunately, I was fighting off the flu, and as proof of genuine sickness, didn't even feel up to taking my new putter downstairs to the green for a few strokes. I was feeling better this morning, so I had my first go with left-handed putting.

The difference in seeing the line is real. Unfortunately, so is my lack of left-handed coordination. Not that I would have thought otherwise, but it is no magic elixir to switch to the other side of the ball.

I'm going to keep working at it, at least for a while, trying to develop a stroke that works from that side. The snow outside my house is over four feet deep: we have a long time to go here before golf season. It's easily enough time for me to commit to putting left-handed, decommit, and buy a new right-handed putter all before the course opens

Glad you like the book. It is one of a select few that will always be in my collection. I hope it proves useful to you in your quest for a better game. It certainly has worked well for me and I haven't even picked it up in probably two or three years (but it's on my list for a re-read in 2019!). The lessons and drills provided by that book have stuck with me and helped me become a better putter for sure.