Golf Tips for Left-Handers

According to lefthandersday.com, approximately 13 percent of the world's population is left-handed. That number seemingly drops when you look at the overall golf population.

Golf is a game many left-handers end up playing right-handed, often because they learned with the much more available right-handed clubs. But, if you enjoy the game, you may want to switch over, buy some lefty clubs and start playing golf the way you were meant to play.

Overview

According to lefthandersday.com, approximately 13 percent of the world's population is left-handed. That number seemingly drops when you look at the overall golf population.

Golf is a game many left-handers end up playing right-handed, often because they learned with the much more available right-handed clubs. But, if you enjoy the game, you may want to switch over, buy some lefty clubs and start playing golf the way you were meant to play.

Left vs. Right

Former PGA professionals like Curtis Strange and Greg Norman were left-handers who learned to play the game with right-handed clubs. Then there's the oddity of Phil Mickelson, who's right-handed but plays golf left-handed. While being left-handed and playing left-handed will maximize your golf potential, you should go with what feels best. If you have some right-handed club available, why not try them?

A good way to figure out if you should play golf left- or right-handed is to visualize yourself hitting a ball. The side you're standing on in your visualization should be the side you play from.

Finding Clubs

One of the most common reasons that left-handed people play right-handed has to do with availability of clubs.

Right-handed golf clubs are far more common but, thanks to the Internet, finding left-handed clubs is not nearly as difficult as it once was, no matter how limited your local sporting goods store may be.

If you live within reasonable distance of a golf speciality store, you should be able to find a solid selection of clubs for left-handers. You can also order them online through golf retailers.

Instruction

Most golf instruction is made for the right-handed golfer. This can make it difficult for a lefty trying to pick up the game. Just remember that right-handed golf instruction is the mirror image for a left-hander.

One way to combat the amount of right-hander instruction out there is to find professional knowledge designed for the left-hander.

And, if you're taking lessons, ask the pro if he has experience teaching left-handers. If not, ask him for a recommendation on a good teaching pro who can help.