There is no reason why golf cannot be played left-handed just as well and efficiently as
it can be played righthanded.
We have emphasized the fact that a golf stroke is an ambidextrous action–that the first
lesson in golf, footwork, is a lesson that will teach a person to become right-handed. He
must learn to balance himself on his right foot so that he can raise the club using the
right side and the right arm.
To bring the club through he has to train himself to become lefthanded, to shift his
weight to his left foot, so that he can use his left side and his right arm to bring the club
down and through the ball.
Actually a good golf swing requires an equal ability on both sides of the body. There are
switch hitters in baseball like Mickey Mantle, and there could be switch hitters in golf.
But everybody does not feel this way about lefthanded golf.
Some years ago while visiting in a neighboring city, a friend of mine and I, dressed in
street clothes, found ourselves in front of a golf school. It was a canvas, tent-like
enclosure where golf was taught by driving the balls from cocoa-mats against a loose
canvas backdrop.
“Let’s go in,” I suggested.
Upon entering we were cordially greeted, whereupon I said, “I’m sorry, I guess we got
into the wrong place. We thought this was a tent show of some sort.”
“This is no show,” came back the answer, “this is a golf school.”
With that I picked up a righthanded #5 iron and approached a ball on the mat with a
lefthanded stance. As I placed the back edge of the righthanded club to the ball, I said,
“This is about the most awkward tool I ever saw–how can anybody play with this
thing?”
“You are going at it incorrectly,” volunteered the in
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