Golfers handed gripping advice that may help them up their game
THE key to improving a golf handicap may be to implement a simple, yet drastic, change: let the other hand dominate proceedings.
Reversing playing style involves a golfer putting their dominant hand at the top of the club.
This rejigging, scientists say, helps improve swing control, accuracy and power for regular golfers.
Famous examples of players who have switched include five-time major winner Phil Mickelson – nicknamed Lefty – and Jordan Spieth, a left-hander who swings the club in the manner of a right-handed player. Dr Oliver Runswick, lecturer in performance psychology at King’s College London, studied the pros and cons of reverse-hitting in a paper published in the Journal of Sports Sciences. “Four men have won one of golf’s major championships using a left-handed stance... Of these men, three prefer their right-hand when writing; Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir and Sir Bob Charles, with only Bubba Watson preferring his left-hand for other everyday activities,” he said. “Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth throws and shoots left-handed but plays golf in a righthanded stance. ”dr Runswick recruited 150 golfers of varying abilities to take part in the study, with 30 participants in five different handicap categories.
Category one players included tour professional golfers, members of the England Men’s A Squad, club pros, and club golfers. The other four categories included golfers recruited from an English golf club.
Scientists found nine of the 30 golfers in the category one group used a reversed stance, whereas there were only five in the other four groups combined. The study found that a professional golfer was 21.5 times more likely to adopt a reversed-stance than the casual player.
However, the advantage of the reverse stance could not be explained by ambidexterity or the dominant eye.
Dr Runswick suggested that although it may initially be easier to pick up a club and hit the ball with a traditional grip, swapping the hands around may be beneficial in the long run.
The most common reasons “reversed” golfers gave for choosing to ditch the traditional approach were increased accuracy and distance.
Dr Runswick concluded: “We found a significant over-representation of category one and professional golfers adopting a reversed-stance.
Dr Runswick suggested that when the dominant hand is nearest the clubface makes it easier for novices to hit the ball cleanly.
However, as a their skill levels increase, players may benefit from having their dominant hand at the top of the shaft because having a strong grip further from the striking end increases power.
Also the main pivot is further from the ball and increases control, as the top hand guides the swing,