Now what does this title actually mean?? Way back when Bobby Jones was playing, he would often reference golf as a left arm dominant sport for right handers. He would often point out that it was like hitting a perfect back hand in tennis. I'm also reminded about what one of my first coaches said to me which was 'the worst thing god created was a right hand for the right handed golfer'. It was a tongue and cheek reminder that one of the biggest problem areas in golf is when the right hand starts to take over during the swing, particularly impact.
What typically happens is when the right hand takes over, the hands tend to 'flip' during impact causing the hands to trail the clubface at impact. This causes 'thin' shots and 'fat' shots. What my coach had me do to really feel the left arm be dominant in the swing is spending months swinging with just the left arm. At the start of performing this drill, I would hit some 'top' shots but then once I was able to remain stable, I would strike the ball beautifully. I would feel total extension through the impact area as well feel the back of my left hand hit the ball.
After using just my left arm, I would then place my right hand on the club and feel as though I was still using only my left arm. I would just say to myself 'the right hand is only a passenger'. It was incredible when first doing this because my contact significantly improved. This is due to the feel of having my left arm dominate the swing. I also wanted to see what my swing was like on video swinging with one arm versus two. My tendency was to slide my hips and get a little 'flippy' through impact. Crazy enough when I just swung with my left arm, I didn't slide and instead naturally turned through the ball with full extension of my left arm and hands. It was if due to the weight of the club, my body had to turn in order to have the club swing through without losing my balance.
These days I often use a different drill as mentioned previously by gripping an alignment stick and have it touching my left side. I then focus on not having the alignment stick touch my body at impact. When I do this, my body starts turning as well the hands stay in front of the clubface at impact as I'm trying to avoid getting hit by the stick. I particularly focus on feeling more pressure through my left hand and having it slightly bowed so that I can control the clubface through impact.
If you'd like any further help with your impact just contact myself at David Waters Golf.
Comments