Right or left arm dominant?

[Huwey12]

I've recently switched my mental thinking in my grip. My left hand (I'm a leftie) is now slightly more dominant in my back & downswing and I find I'm getting better results ie longer & straighter
Also I find my swing is longer as my right hand is very loose

Am I barking up the wrong tree to correct a fault in my swing or is it normal practice?
Cheers

 

[the_coach]

are you a lefty - but swinging as a righty? conventional, so left being the top hand on handle? or true lefty?

important in any swing that neither hand is loose.
depends a ways as to how long is long, as long often times isn't always best, if that involves a disconnection between arm swing & body rotation. a loose top hand often times indicates an issue with body pivot &/or wrist set sometimes backswing plane.

if you're swinging lefty, then the right is the top hand. issue that often times happens if the lead hand is loose - in, not in control of the handle - when the swing gets to the top the clubhead mass plus motion will cause the handle to move some in that hand which can affect the clubface angle as when the motion starts down the reflex action will be for that hand to re-grip. more common when this happens for the face angle to be more open starting back down than it was when it went up.

you don't say what the fault was that you were trying to correct. so impossible to say if what you are, or feel, you are doing is the right ways to go.

depends some if it's down the route of adding a compensation to make the 'fault' workable in the short term but could hinder true further development.

but results better, straighter & longer would seem to speak to something .. though that also depends some on what the results were beforehand & ultimately what the change is from the level you were at to the level you're at now - score-wise, & has the 'improvement' been sustained over time.

 

[Huwey12]

Thanks coach, I'm a leftie swinging conventionally, rh on top
I suffer occasionally from casting, hitting the ground way too early caused by my lh breaking too early, when I make this my dominant hand I seem to know where it is during both parts of the swing
As for longer and straighter, Im getting a better strike with the cupping of my left wrist and not caring what the rh is doing, it also correcting a slight flying left elbow

i can't seem to concentrate on what both arms ar doing at the same time so focusing on my left is the lesser of the 2 evils. I've just started in the past week or so in practise yet to do in a comp, first one on Sunday
Thanks for your reply. Cheers

 

[the_coach]

see how it goes Sunday.

not great to have a lead hand that loosens at the top to give extra length in the swing for the reasons previously mentioned, combined this will have a tendency to swing down from the top, so the cast. loss of angles happens due to the motion & gravity & probably too much weight on the trailside too coming down, so the angles get lost - no-one is strong enough to 'hold' them against the motion & gravity.
so the swing radius gets too long to quick trailside of the ball, so the swings low point trailside so then the fats or the reflex action of standing up some to get club head to the ball.

if you have a mirror, set-up so the mirror shows you the dtl view. swing to the top, stop, then turn your head to see if there's a gap between handle & hand, that point the right hand fingers should be around the handle still no movement there, should be fingers holding handle snug against bottom of palm pad.
if it isn't check that when you form your hold you're not putting the handle to far up in the palm of the right hand.
as what will happen as you get to the top of the swing with the club head then being lower than the hands with an overswing, the clubhead mass will move the handle upwards out of the higher palm hold & back up to the base of the palm & fingers, where it should be from the get-go. handle in the right hand in the base of the palm from first joint in right forefinger to the base of the little finger.

in the wrist set the left hand should bend back on itself & the right wrist for you being a lefty just needs to set upwards, motion as if you were using a hammer to tap a tack in. or the same motion you would make bringing & setting a fishing rod back ready to cast. so no roll over just an upwards motion.

check the base of your right thumb top side of wrist & you'll see a kinda small box form as you bring your thumb in an upwards move, that's the 'snuff box' joint (radial fossa) & the pivot for your correct right hand set upwards.

the way the angles are kept on the downswing is by the correct start of transition which for you will be weight downwards into the right foot then the arms swing down & upper body rotates.

think weight in the backswing goes into the inside of the left foot at the top & will also favor the left heel still should be some flex in the left knee at the top.
then from the top you want to feel weight first downwards into the right big toe pad which starts the transition & the right leg can then post properly, as you clear the right hip the weight will go into the right heel, left foot up onto toes.

 

[Huwey12]

Thanks Coach, I'll work on all these things you've mentioned. It looks like I've been going wrong for sometime and I've just plastered over the cracks so to speak

cheers