Right handed turn left handed.. What you think?

[TwistServe]

How long will it take me to get to my current level if I switch to play left handed starting tomorrow? Obviously if it takes me 6 months to be a lefty 4.5, then in that time I could have maybe gone to righty 5.0.. but how long do u guys think it will take? My lefty serve will be a nightmare to build becaues my left handed baseball throw is like a girl!

Here's what I am right now:

- Big forehand lots of heavy spin, decent pace
- Nice one handed backhand, consistent and penetrating, not as much spin
- Great first serve, fast.. big second serve with lots of spin/twist but double faults a lot too
- good backhand slice, poor forehand slice
- good forehand volley, decent backhand volley
- great overhead

Assuming the knowledge of playing right handed and my footwork/movement remain, how long to do everything I just mentioned on the left side? The one change I'll make though, is using the two handed backhand instead of the one hander since my right hand is very dominate, it should make for a great left handed backhand.

 

[Meat]

So, assuming you're a righty 4.5 now as you've said, and want to switch arms entirely, it's going to take longer than six months. God, just keep playing as a righty.

You've been using your right arm primarily for your entire life. It looks like you're also a natural one hander, if you're not bullsh*tting constantly about your strokes, which means a two hander is going to be a lot harder to get used to.

Ever wonder why you never hear about any pros or people switching between lefty and righty? It's not worth it. It's going to be MUCH longer than six months. Unless you are ambidextrous, which you are not, it is impossible.

It looks like you just want a small edge in your game. A small edge that's going to take you years to get back to. It's not just relearning tennis practically, it's working around your entire body.

Entirely stupid, but something fun to think about. Unfortunately, it can only hurt.

 

[matchpoint]

WHY?

The one change I'll make though, is using the two handed backhand instead of the one hander since my right hand is very dominate, it should make for a great left handed backhand.

If the only change would be to do a double handed backhand, why can't you do that when you're playing right handed?

So you're going to redo everything that you know so you can have a great double handed backhand being a lefty. If you cannot switch to a double handed backhand as a righty it means that your left hand is uncoordinated.

 

[Meat]

Exactly. It's not so simple.

Actually, when looking into it, unless you're already coordinated with the left hand, it's possible to NEVER achieve proficiency with it. Test it. Try a 2HB as a righty. If you have problems doing it, or just can't control it...as matchpoint said, it's uncoordinated. A lot of why people are proficient with one or both hands is when they were infants, and everything is ingrained. You are not an infant. It's going to be very, very hard to ingrain...or impossible.

Stay as a righty. As I said before, there is no point.

 

[TwistServe]

WHY?



If the only change would be to do a double handed backhand, why can't you do that when you're playing right handed?

So you're going to redo everything that you know so you can have a great double handed backhand being a lefty. If you cannot switch to a double handed backhand as a righty it means that your left hand is uncoordinated.

I guess the main point is that if I could build my lefty forehand to be as strong as my righty forehand, then I could use that to attack the righty's backhand.. not to mention inside-in lefty forehands could be devasterating!.. As well as the lefty slice... but ya it's going to be a difficult road if I try that.... i might just mess around on an off day to see how my lefty side works...

as for my righty backhands.. i think my one handed and two handed are about even.. my 2hb has more spin but less pace while my 1hb has more pace but less spin.. maybe one handed is a lil more natural.. i choose the one handed path because it looks cooler, but i've spent equal times using both in the past.

 

[troytennisbum]

It will most probably never work. You can't put in what nature left out.
Thats not to say that you can't improve your "left-handedness" with hard work and time. But most likely, you will never be able to hit like a true lefty.....and vice-versa of course.

EOM.

 

[hyperwarrior]

I guess the main point is that if I could build my lefty forehand to be as strong as my righty forehand, then I could use that to attack the righty's backhand.. not to mention inside-in lefty forehands could be devasterating!.. As well as the lefty slice... but ya it's going to be a difficult road if I try that.... i might just mess around on an off day to see how my lefty side works...

as for my righty backhands.. i think my one handed and two handed are about even.. my 2hb has more spin but less pace while my 1hb has more pace but less spin.. maybe one handed is a lil more natural.. i choose the one handed path because it looks cooler, but i've spent equal times using both in the past.

I guess you have the will to become ambidextrous like one of the Jensen's brothers. In my opinion, if I was you, I wouldn't risk that. I rather perfectionate my actual strokes to reach a higher level. Who knows? Maybe miracles can let you reach 6.0 level...I vote for your last option.

 

[FiveO]

Interesting.

Many young guns might not know the names Ken Rosewall and Margaret Smith-Court, or how good there were in their time. But they were natural left handers who learned to play tennis right handed and did pretty well. There were several other Aussies who did it, too.

If a person is fairly ambi-dexterous he/she could probably do it and in a fairly short time frame, providing they already had the base knowledge/experience of footwork, and elements of stroke production and strategy in developing the first wing. I actually played the rah-rah sports, football and basketball, against a guy in the cross town high school who was pure ambi. He could knock down twenty foot jumpers with either hand and played QB and could throw bullets left or right handed. The guy rided to NC, started at QB for 4 years, setting school records, at the time. That kind of guy could probably develop playing from both sides simultaneously. Truly amazing athlete, with God-given gifts. The rest of us?

While teaching I could demonstrate all the shots, except the serve, pretty well left handed. I could even hit a serve decently when starting from a trophy position. Still, I consider myself very right handed and it would take me a long while before able to hit like I do right handed, if, big if, I were ever able to.

 

[FiveO]

Twist,

Just wondering, was this idea sparked by the recent thread on the 2hfh, especially after TennisMastery offered his thoughts?

 

[TwistServe]

Twist,

Just wondering, was this idea sparked by the recent thread on the 2hfh, especially after TennisMastery offered his thoughts?

No it was not inspired by that post.. I just thought that if I did switch to lefty, it wouldn't make much sense to use a 1hb because my right forehand is already so strong, I would have a very strong 2hb right off the bat already.

 

[FiveO]

No it was not inspired by that post.. I just thought that if I did switch to lefty, it wouldn't make much sense to use a 1hb because my right forehand is already so strong, I would have a very strong 2hb right off the bat already.

If that's your thought, why have any "bh" off the ground? Volleys and returns would be a different story due to time constraints, but why not 2 fh's from the backcourt. I'd be more concerned about the serve being impacted, (i.e. Rosewall).

 

[x Southpaw x]

I tried the exact opposite... lefty turn righty.

I've pretty much got all the mechanics of my right hand down... However! My right hand just isn't strong enough. Thus my swing speed, timing, depth are all thrown off. And these 3 affect every single stroke, leaving my right hand to become a counter-puncher. I would say unless you have a very strong and flexible left-hand, switching to lefty will be very hard.

 

[theace21]

Hey Twist,

How about developing a lefty forehand and hit two forehands, you would still need to volley and serve righthanded. Able to hit the lefty crosscourt backhand and pull right's off the court would be sweet...Many years ago their was a pro that played that way. Or you could go the Gene Mayer and hit 2 hands on both sides (and Frew McMillian - hope I got his name correct/close)...

I do think it would be cool to hit a lefty serve, but my throwing motion from that side is similar to yours...

 

[kevhen]

Even though I am left-handed, my lefty will never catch my right hand, even with all the court positiong, footwork and opponent knowledge. My serve is weak and only flat, my forehand is flat and soft, my slice backhand is pretty nice but not in any way a weapon. I am resigned to being a 3.5 lefty but still have the goal of becoming a 4.5 righty. I can still use my lefty when playing righty using a 2hbh and occasional left-hand forehand return of serve.

 

[tom-selleck]

i'm always thinking of this as i am naturally lefthanded but for some reason at young age started playing tennis righthanded (probably because lefties still grab things righty - at least i do - and it made it so i could have a good forehand and backhand right away).

so now, i play lefty serving (with big heat when it's on) and righty the rest of the way (except maybe change back to lefty for easy overhead).

so i have been thinking about changing to lefty. but i've found that your strokes are grooved thru years and years of practice.

 

[SageOfDeath]

I mean I don't doubt that you can turn into a lefty but the benefits are minimal because you're level of playing is pretty high already.

Most players hit crosscourt, the benefits of a lefty slice will be neutralized by your opponent's benefit of a righty slice. A lefty twist serve will go to your opponent's forehand.



If you are semi-ambidexterous and really want to go lefty then I guess you could but I just don't see much benefit to it.

If you are right-handed like you write with your right hand and do the majority of things with your right hand then I would say its not worth it.

 

[FREDDY]

im righted handed. one hand backhand one hand forehand and i can play lefty pretty damn well. id make the jv team at my high school if i played left handed. most likely the top. yep its that good. service is slow pace but ey it tricks my oppenents out like craaazy. but anyways. i wouldnt change entirely. JUST FOR FUN>.

 

[TennsDog]

I have been trying it lately because of TE. I am starting to groove my strokes (it is hard to start off trying a more advanced motion as basically a beginner with a demanding frame), but my serve is horrible. I think it will actually take more than 16 months to become 4.5 lefty, but it can be done. One important thing I have learned is that your right hand needs to figure out what to do during serve and strokes to look natural and balanced. I think the serve will be the hardest thing and will keep you the longest from getting to 4.5. However, I have realized that changing hands make you appreciate the game you have all the more, as you see how complicated it is and how natural it has become. You really need to break down every part of your game to see why it is that your left arm isn't working as well as your right. Very tricky stuff...

 

[Rickson]

I'm ambidextrous and I horse around with my left hand when I play against beginners. I can't serve well at all with my left hand, but the 2 hand backhand is sure easy because of my baseball experience.

 

[TennsDog]

I'm ambidextrous and I horse around with my left hand when I play against beginners. I can't serve well at all with my left hand, but the 2 hand backhand is sure easy because of my baseball experience.

I can't hit a 2hbh lefty to save my life. I have a 2hbh righty, but one-hander for lefty. It is actually better than my lefty forehand! I try to use my right hand like a normal forehand with a lefty backhand and it just has no power or control. It just kinda dribbles into the net.

 

[Rickson]

I can't hit a 2hbh lefty to save my life. I have a 2hbh righty, but one-hander for lefty. It is actually better than my lefty forehand! I try to use my right hand like a normal forehand with a lefty backhand and it just has no power or control. It just kinda dribbles into the net.

Didn't you ever play baseball before? The right handed batting stance has many similarities to a lefty 2 handed backhand although the elbow is out on the batting and not out for the tennis backhand.

 

[TennsDog]

Yes, I played baseball for 6 years. The problem occurs in the fact that the general objective of hitting a baseball is to send it as far as possible with little regard to the angle at which it is hit. This type of shot doesn't work out very well in my favor for tennis...
Ever try hitting topspin with a baseball bat??

 

[Rickson]

Yes, I played baseball for 6 years. The problem occurs in the fact that the general objective of hitting a baseball is to send it as far as possible with little regard to the angle at which it is hit. This type of shot doesn't work out very well in my favor for tennis...
Ever try hitting topspin with a baseball bat??

You'd ground out, but hitting a 2 handed lefty backhand was a lot easier to learn for me than the lefty 1 hander, although the opposite is true for you. The funny thing is, I use a 1 hander with the right hand because even when I used the 2 hander on the righty side, I never felt comfortable with it, possibly because I never could switch hit in baseball.

 

[cakewalk]

If you are a natural righty, then stick with it. I dont know what I am. I eat and write with my left hand, but play tennis/computer mouse/throw with my right hand. Don't know what to do I have heard that your natural hand will be able to learn more and learn it faster than your off hand due to your brain alone (this is coming from a psychiatrist). Thus I have been seriously considering switching to lefty. It's VERY hard.

 

[Becky]

I'm going to vote "Why go lefty? You're a great righty player!" A 4.5 certainly isn't bad. But while you're carrying the timing and footwork over, you are NOT carrying over a lot of things, including possibly stroke mechanics. You'll find yourself often having to relearn things, because your left hand has been uncoordinated for so long.

If you used to use a 2HB (at some point, before your one hander) then that probably means that if you didn't really, really suck with it...your left hand isn't too bad. However, the time it takes to relearn everything for a small edge, as Meat said early on in this thread, is simply not worth it.

Stick with being a righty. If it was so easy for athletes to switch, everyone would be doing it. A lot of the coordination in arms is built during infancy, so it's almost impossible to rework a lot of it. Meaning you'll never be as proficient no matter how long you work with the left hand.

You're a good right player, right? No reason to switch.

 

[SageOfDeath]

Not only that putting the benefits aside I think you would be wasting a lot of time trying to turn into a lefty. That valuable time could be used to improve your skills as they are now.

 

[Serve-And-Volley]

Why change a good thing, I think it would through your righty game off also. So why screw up your entire game, a 4.5 is a good level and you could use the six months to help you become a 5.0 instead of trying to go lefty.

 

[Rickson]

Going lefty would be fun. Go ahead and practice that left hand, TS. I mean on the court, not somewhere else. You could mess up new opponents with your new found skill. Let new opponents serve first and return everything in the first game with your left hand. If your opponent has good skill, switch to the right for the remaining games, but if he's not too good, save the right hand for crucial games and points.

 

[Becky]

Rickson, he's not going to be that proficient with his left hand quickly at all, unless he's sort of ambidextrous. He's not going to be able to control the left hand well, let alone return any serves if he's playing leagues/tournaments at his level (4.5, right?).

It'll be fun, but should never be used in matches, really. TwistServe, stick with the right hand. You're already a good player, no reason to change. Why fix something if it isn't broken?

 

[Rickson]

Rickson, he's not going to be that proficient with his left hand quickly at all, unless he's sort of ambidextrous. He's not going to be able to control the left hand well, let alone return any serves if he's playing leagues/tournaments at his level (4.5, right?).

It'll be fun, but should never be used in matches, really. TwistServe, stick with the right hand. You're already a good player, no reason to change. Why fix something if it isn't broken?

TS doesn't have to do it in tournament play, I'd discourage it. TS could play new people at his local court in SoCal and confuse them. One guy asked me if I was a lefty before we played a pickup game of 3 on 3 basketball because he saw me doing layups with my left hand. I told him I was right handed, but it's nice to know that I can fool people with my ambidexterity.

 

[Becky]

Sorry. I think I've been misinterpreting everyone recently.

Playing left handed would sort of hurt practice. But if he's playing casual matches against somebody that's not as good, the left hand would be fun to do, and wouldn't hurt too much. It'd also even it out a little.

Unless you just can't control your left arm, which I doubt since I read that TwistServe switched back and forth between two hands and one, then it'd definitely be fun to use in Rickson's situation.

I wish I was ambidextrous. I'm just a normal righty.

 

[TennsDog]

Who knows, practicing lefty may save your tennis career if you ever end up injuring your right arm for any length of time. If you already have some good lefty tennis skills when you get hurt, you will have a much easier time staying in the game and transitioning.

 

[divito]

When a ball goes far left on me, I'm able to switch to my left hand and make a good, if not better shot with it than my right handed forehand. However, my left handed backhand is really bad, but I find my left hand and arm are a lot stronger than I thought they would be when I apply them to golf, tennis, throwing etc...

 

[cervelo]

Can't answer the original question .. but I'm living proof that it works - I put the time in and I have a wider variety of weapons as a lefty. I believe my potential as a lefty is much higher- but everyone is different.

You should know, though, that the footwork IS different- ball strike zone IS different - which means balancing is different - same goes for shoulder turn when setting up for FH or BH - depending on which side you're on ...

This not to say that you shouldn't do it ... I was a 4.5 righty when I switched - but I switched due to injury. Lefty WILL give you a better understanding of court angles and it WILL frustrate the rhythms and natural tendencies of many players - I developed a monster lefty forehand which has allowed me to dictate the match-ups against many types of players.

 

[TennsDog]

I think you would be better off developing a good lefty serve rather than whole game. It would be great to have both serves and make them look the same. Your opponents won't realize that it is a lefty serve the first few times until it goes the other way and you get different angles. It would be a great strategy.