Problems Left-Handed Golfers Face On The Course

  • last month
In this video, Golf Monthly's Dan Parker talks through the eight most frustrating problems and situations that only left-handed golfers face. Whether it's a lack of choice in the pro shop or some unnecessary remarks from your playing partners, left handers have certainly got the short straw when it comes to golf so hopefully right handers will be more sympathetic towards them after watching this video!
Transcript
00:00Do you use one of these? It's a left-handed golf club. Now around five to
00:05seven percent of golfers are left-handed and they face a lot of problems. I'm one
00:10of those golfers and I find there's so many problems left-handers face that
00:13right-handers don't. I'm going to give you eight examples today here at the
00:17beautiful Peter Milton Golf Club about the eight problems that only left-handers
00:21face. Right so the first and the biggest problem for left-handers is getting hold
00:25of this and it's golf equipment. All left-handers will know that as much as
00:29pro shops and retailers try their hardest there just isn't that much stock
00:32equipment for left-handers. Your right-handed mate can walk into a shop
00:35and pick up pretty much whatever they want whereas us lefties have to sit and
00:39wait and order it. It's really quite frustrating and as much as you can get
00:43demo clubs tried out and you can get your custom fitting done you can't pick
00:47it up stock. And it goes the same for gloves as well you'll see in a pro shop
00:51loads of gloves for right-handers all the left-handed gloves stocked up but
00:55when it comes to right-handed gloves you'll find a couple in some scrappy old
00:58packets that we size XL to double XL and nothing in between. So equipment,
01:03gloves, anything for us lefties it's a bit awkward it's really hard to get hold
01:07of. The next problem only left-handers face is that they can't get any
01:11hand-me-down clubs from their often right-handed parents or grandparents. Now
01:15I've got my dad's old JPX 900 irons here that he's just finished with he's just
01:20upgraded. Maybe I'd like to have a go with them as his son maybe he'd give
01:23them to me. Obviously because I'm a lefty I can't use them it's very frustrating
01:27and a lot of beginner left-handed golfers will understand that as well
01:30that perhaps they want to try their first set and they don't want to invest
01:33in a parent or a grandparent plays. They're often right-handed the clubs
01:37often don't work and it's really really frustrating for left-handed golfers. One
01:41of the next problems only left-handers face is people forgetting you're
01:45left-handed especially at the start of the round and especially on the first
01:48tee box so they'll stand right behind where you want to swing. Now people
01:51will ultimately learn throughout the round that you're left-handed and start
01:54standing in the right position but that can take a while so right-handers
01:57remember we're left-handed and remember where to stand. Right my playing partner
02:04just said I was very fortunate to be on this side of the tree and this is
02:07another problem that left-handers face is right-handed playing partners
02:10forgetting they're left-handed and saying oh you're fine you've got a great
02:13shot here. Obviously for a right-hander they do but for me as a lefty and other
02:18lefties out there what am I supposed to do with this I'm in a terrible position
02:21and doubly I'm wound up because he just said I was very fortunate to be here so
02:26see what I can do with this. Not bad in the end. So another problem only left-handed
02:37golfers face is overhanging trees on a tee. Now I'm on the 15th hole here
02:42there's a great example and as a left-hander who likes to fade the ball I
02:45come nice and left on the tee and I'll often find there's little branches and
02:48bits of tree overhanging my sight line. Now of course some right-handers might
02:52find this as well on certain tee boxes but I think it happens to lefties a lot
02:56more. People who are right-handed won't see that and so they won't get trimmed
02:59away and give me some more space. Now that's in my sight line how would I get
03:04on hitting it let's have a little go.
03:14Well I've hit a perfect draw by accident but they were certainly in my eye line
03:18and it's certainly very annoying for left-handers. So another problem for us
03:22lefties is our right-handed playing partners again forgetting we're
03:26left-handed and offering us their shiny new driver to have a hit. Now this
03:30annoys me so much because I'd love to try the driver it looks lovely they've
03:33been hitting it really well they'll hand it over to me have a go with that and I
03:37can't and it's very frustrating it's another thing that right-handers do to
03:40lefties is they forget. So another problem for lefties not be able to try
03:44out your mates shiny new equipment. So whilst this map might be an exception to
03:48the rule because it's been very well looked after another problem that
03:51left-handed golfers face is having to play their ball out of right-handers
03:54footsteps. Especially on winter maps on a little path three like this when I want
03:58to play with the ball off the deck I've got a rummage around to try and find a
04:02half-decent lie on this map. On the other hand right-handers I've got a beautiful
04:06clean lie yet another problem for lefties. Now another annoying thing for
04:11left-handers is their playing partners comparing their short game to the great
04:15Phil Mickelson because he's left-handed and that unfortunately isn't the reality
04:19for most left-handers. I don't compare right-handers drives to every single
04:23Bryson DeChambeau bomb do I? So I don't think it's fair to compare left-handed
04:27short games to Phil Mickelson. So shall I give you a bit of an idea of what our
04:30short games are really like. Bunker in front of me about six feet of green to
04:33work with let's see how we actually get on us lefties.
04:39Turns out I'm actually quite good. So those are the eight most annoying things
04:48that left-handers face out on the golf course. A lot of them were about
04:52right-handed golfers forgetting that we're left-handers and even my
04:54cameraman Howard kept setting up on the wrong side of me throughout this whole
04:57shoot. So what do you think at home am I just moaning too much or have I come up
05:01with some really good ideas there and are you left-handers relating at home?
05:04Let me know down in the comments below. But for now from Peter Milton Golf Club
05:09see you next time.