Advice for a righty throwing LHBH

[DGchamp]

I am "laid up" with my right pointer finger broken. So I am trying to learn a LHBH while my finger heals. (I tried LHFH as well but it felt like trying to throw with a penguins flipper )

I have basically trying to pretend I'm a total beginner (except I have knowledge that most beginner don't) My LHBH is still awkward for me but I have been able to throw 200' decently well. I haven't even tried a run-up, that's totally out of the question.

I can throw 350'+ with RHBH and pretty near that from a standstill. I know good form (still trying to implement it)

Any advice on what to work on?

 

[MarkDSM]

Under 200ft finesse game bh, fh, and overhand. Play catch with putters too.
My reasoning is that you'll go back to the right hand for primary and just use the left for get out of jail and awkward approach shots. You could use this time to get better at that perhaps.
Also demand strokes in casual games.

 

[Mike C]

Have fun with it and don't take it too seriously, I've been there too.

Don't try to bomb drives. I did that my first day out and while I did launch a few my left shoulder and pec felt rough the next morning

I'd suggest using all the different throwing styles. Might as well since you have a clean slate and you're not already dominant with one or the other. LHFH is really awkward but unlike LHBH I actually use it on the course once in a while when my right hand is healthy.

 

[zmannz1984]

I am a natural lefty that learned to play disc RHBH, but have slowly developed with both hands both BH and FH. I have found that the easiest lefty shot for a RHBH player to learn is usually a LHFH, I think because most of the body mechanics are the same. The biggest hurdle for me to overcome was when I started doing more than a stand still. Adding a step or an x step early on will get confusing and rob you of power until you get the timing right. I stuck to only three discs for my lefty game until I could add in a single step. Now I still don't do a full runup, but I can confidently throw anything up to speed 9 without much trouble from a single step to time my shot correctly. I have to use less stable discs LHBH because I tend to hyzer no matter what, but at least it is clean.

 

[zmannz1984]

One more thing, the biggest advantage to my overall game from learning lefty shots is getting out of trouble and approaches. I played so many short courses and holes when I was injured I guess it really stuck for me. If I land in the rough and have 100-200 to get to the basket, I have four different body stances to choose from to get me the clearest line. I don't even try driving lefty from tee unless it is a tricky short drive or a hole where I need to get out to the open from the tee.

 

[Shamis]

I had to play lefty for a few months last year due to injury. It was really really frustrating. Stick with understable discs, and probably mostly mids for a while. The real trick is to focus on a straight reachback, and straight pull through. Eventually you'll get it down for short shots, I found it really difficult to get any control for big throws. I throw about 350 right handed, eventually I got to the point where I could throw nearly the same lefty.

Putting left handed is extremely difficult. You'll probably still putt better right handed even with a broken finger.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Hmmm ... I disagree with a lot of things said here.

I definitely haven't focused on my short game. I've completely neglected my short game. I'm intentionally neglecting my RHBH short game in favor of a LHFH short game, in fact.

Why not bomb drives? Driving forehand is HARD! Why not take a workable distance drive back to your normal game when your finger heals? Crush that thing!

There are 3 really big hang-ups in my LHBH game.
1) My left wrist has almost no fast-twitch muscles. It's tough to slow the rest of my body down enough to get a decent hit.
2) I don't reach back wide enough (I haven't met the person who's naturally reached back wide enough, though).
3) My left thumb is lazy. No thumb push. Getting my thumb active is huge.

Don't take it so seriously that you get frustrated. Your dominant hand will heal and you'll be back to playing quality golf either way. At the same time, though, know that you'll have a shot in your bag that will come in handy if you stick with it.

 

[MarkDSM]

I am "laid up" with my right pointer finger broken:

So anyway, what's your prognosi?

I would guess maybe 6 to 8 weeks to get back to 80%. Hundred percent by 4 months??

// old nurse and X-ray tech here. Have set and taped my own broken fingers a couple times as well. Others than that I won't exactly admit too.
/// if one gets to 30 without breaking a finger, they were either very lucky or not working the blessed funk human hands hard enough. Fingers can absorb fractures (and tendon misalignment/tears ) pretty decent

 

[DGchamp]

I can take off the tape Wednesday. I'll still have to be careful with it for a while after that though. It's just a small fracture.