When I was younger my dad took me and my brother out to play pitch and putt a few times. Before that I'd never swung a club or had any interest in golf, but after that day I was quite interested in it. When I was younger (mid teens) I used to play quite a bit and I wasn't too bad. I lost a bit of interest in it because I felt I wasn't improving and I had less free time. I've started to get back into it again and I'd like to try and correct something that I've always felt has held me back. On the first time I played my dad taught me how to hold the club. The problem was neither he nor I knew at the time there was a different grip for right handed players and left handed players. He taught me the right handed grip, but being left handed has meant I've learned the wrong grip. I've tried a few times to use the correct grip, but it feels very unnatural as I've spent so long using the right handed grip. Does anyone have any experience with my problem or any tips to try and help me switch?

One of my friends had that problem before. He said it took some time to get used to but he said it's so much more consistant.

Best thing to do is get a lesson off your local pro, and be patient!

Or, if you really dont want to change your grip, change the side you play with. I'm left handed but swing the club right handed, and I'm not that bad either

im left handed but play right handed , done it naturally , i can play cackhanded too but it gets dangerous :P

Quote from niall09 :

One of my friends had that problem before. He said it took some time to get used to but he said it's so much more consistant.

Good to know I'm not alone. Consistency is my major problem too. Some shots are pretty good and others are sliced or topped pretty badly. The slices are probably caused by the grip and the toppers are probably caused by me

Quote from niall09 :

Best thing to do is get a lesson off your local pro, and be patient!

Yeah, I was thinking about doing that before but I've never had a lesson before. I don't normally play well under pressure so having someone pretty good watching me try to switch style (and no doubt being very bad at it at first) wouldn't help with confidence. Maybe I'll go to the range a few times in a short period and try to hit a few shots first.

Quote from niall09 :

Or, if you really dont want to change your grip, change the side you play with. I'm left handed but swing the club right handed, and I'm not that bad either

Hehe, that sounds a bit expensive. I'd rather have to buy a new ~£10 glove than a few hundred quid worth of clubs.

Thanks for the reply.

Quote from amp88 :

Yeah, I was thinking about doing that before but I've never had a lesson before. I don't normally play well under pressure so having someone pretty good watching me try to switch style (and no doubt being very bad at it at first) wouldn't help with confidence. Maybe I'll go to the range a few times in a short period and try to hit a few shots first.
.

I think that's what a lot of amateurs fear. This is what pro's do, try to fix other peoples games. There is no doubt in the world they have met someone like you. They are trained to deal with people who think like you. Believe me, don't worry. They will instill you with confidence and you will be hitting good shots in no time.

The only problem with going to the range is you will start getting bad habits. Also, if you try and "change" your grip yourself, you will more than likely do it wrong. The most common mistakes with amateurs and proffesionals is the basics like grip and posture. By going to a pro right away, you will get the fundamentals spot on.

Good luck

^ +1

And, after a while, you begin to be able to correct yourself after you've hit a shit shot [If you've got the basics right in the first place ]

I get lots of practice at correcting myself, I'm not much better at golf than I am at racing

OK, I'll look into booking a lesson with a pro then

Occasionally I see someone with their hands the wrong way round. It's the most bizarre looking way to swing a golf club because your arms are all odd in the back swing, I always wonder how they started like that, and I guess most stories are the same as yours.

In your situation I don't know if I'd get a lesson until I were at least fairly comfortable with my hands in the right places. You'll tell the pro your hands used to be like this, he'll say yes they need to be like this, and for the rest of the lesson you'll be awkwardly trying to feign confidence with your hands in this alien arrangement whilst everything else he says goes completely to waste. Regardless of how good or bad you are at golf, at least get reasonably confident swinging with a conventional grip before going to a pro.

Quote from sinbad :

Occasionally I see someone with their hands the wrong way round. It's the most bizarre looking way to swing a golf club because your arms are all odd in the back swing, I always wonder how they started like that, and I guess most stories are the same as yours.

It's pretty common over here, with most newcomers to the game have their hands the wrong way round, but this is due to Ireland's national sport - Hurling, where players grip the hurley left hand below right when swinging right sided.

lets hear some handicaps im officially 14 but cant play to it , had 1 good round

Quote from jwardy :

lets hear some handicaps im officially 14 but cant play to it , had 1 good round

I was 16, but stopped playing as much. I have GOT to start playing again =/

Erm, my official handicap is 28 or something, but I've started playing alot more often now, should be about 20-ish

5, nearly 4

I have only really started to play golf for about a year now, and am thinking of a handicap soon as it hit +18 without any handicap on my local course. Which i was very happy with. So i think next year when i would get more time and i should improve by then more i shall get myself a handicap

Quote from niall09 :

5, nearly 4

you still work @ course ?
i dont anymore :P , and they owe me alot of money

Quote from jwardy :

you still work @ course ?
i dont anymore :P , and they owe me alot of money

Yea, I work in the Pro-Shop