Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Play Back To Front

Welcome

Hello golfers and welcome to this week’s tips & tricks. This week I’m going to show you something a bit different and how it can potentially improve your game. That something different is playing golf on your non-dominant side. This means if you play golf right handed you practice playing left handed and vice-versa.

Non-Dominant Training

Firstly I want to show you my left handed swing so take a look at the video and get analysing…

Now that you have had a good laugh at my left handed swing I’m going to explain to you why this could be a vital part of your practice.

When and Why

The first reason is that you never know when you might be stuck the wrong side of a tree. The only way out of some tree trouble is to flip your clubhead upside down and play a left handed shot because you can’t get a stance. This way you can advance the ball further up the fairway without incurring any penalty shots.

Another reason, and a slightly more technical reason, is because golf is a one sided sport. When you swing on your dominant side you use different muscle groups on different sides of the body creating an imbalance. Pushing and pulling motions create force and when you practice and get used to playing one way. Practicing with your non-dominant side could potentially decrease the chance of injury in the long run due to balancing out the strength of the muscle groups. Getting the muscles stronger on both sides of the body could potentially lead to more force and clubhead speed which can increase hitting distance.

SuperSpeed Golf

SuperSpeed Golf make tools (speed sticks) to help people improve their clubhead speed and golfing performance. As part of their training programmes swings must be made as many times on the non-dominant side as the dominant side. There are many tour players worldwide following these training routines so if its good enough for them its good enough for me.

Here is a quote from their website regarding non-dominant golf swings:

“Increased muscle activation in the non-dominant side Golf is a very one-sided sport. We make tremendous amounts of swings on our dominant side during practice and when we play the game. This creates an imbalance between the muscles on the opposite sides of the body. Over time this can lead to lack of stability, decreased power production, and in some cases, pain. Making non-dominant swings during our protocols can start to balance the function of the body. 2. Increased energy transfer in the golf swing

As the coordination of the muscle chains of the non-dominant side improves, we have found that this increases the golfer’s ability to transfer energy efficiently during the swing. When swinging on the non-dominant side, a golfer is loading or winding up into the lead leg of his/her normal dominant side golf swing. This helps to improve function of the stabilizing musculature in the foot, ankle, knee, leg, hip, and core region during the swing. When the golfer switches back to the dominant side swing with this increased function, the lead side is able to better stabilize and transfer energy more efficiently.”

Summary

Next time you’re down the driving range or if you have some space in your garden try some left handed swings. You don’t necessarily have to hit any balls but try to get your body moving the opposite way. Make sure to hold it with your hands the other way around and try to generate some good speed. Just do me a favour and keep hold of the golf club!

If you would like to show me your attempts at left handed golf grab me on the range and I’ll try not to laugh.

As always if you would like any help generating more speed and power you know where I am.

Cheers,

Josh