Alright, so I’m thinking of making a switch. But, it may not be in the sense that you’re thinking of. It’s not a matter of making some swing mechanics changes. I’m actually putting a lot of thought into making a switch and playing golf left-handed as opposed to right-handed.
Maybe it’s boredom and me just having too much time on my hands but it’s a thought that I’m serious contemplating. As some of my readers know, I’m fighting a Diabetic Foot Ulcer on my right toe. I got home from the PGA Show in January and I was feeling fine. No signs of feeling ill. That was a Wednesday (the 29th) when I got home. By the time Friday had come, something systemically had changed. My Black Lab (Muskoka) started to hang around my right foot sort of nursing it. By Saturday and Sunday, he was pinning my foot down really going after it.
He has a history of doing this, as he did the same thing back in January 2014. That was a year where I returned home Florida from the PGA Show and I developed an infection. In that case, I had developed the infection down there. I remember the redness, the redness spreading, the fever and chills and by the time I was on my flight home, I was really sick. I ended up fighting Gangrene and nearly lost my toe, foot, and lower leg.
So here I am, 6-years later to the day and in the words of New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra “it’s like Deja-Vous all over again”. I called the doctor’s office and told them what was going on. How Muskoka was going after my foot. So they ushered me in immediately after my phone call. The long and short of it was that Muskoka had sniffed out infection and consequently a Diabetic Foot Ulcer seemingly overnight and it was already down to the bone. Scary stuff. I was put on a massive dose of antibiotics (1800 mg of Clindamycin) and a bunch of lab tests and x-rays were ordered. Those results came back good although I’m still waiting on the x-ray results. My boy did it again. He saved me again (there’s more to this statement than I care to elaborate on). Muskoka is my hero.
This past Monday, my doctor admitted that it was looking really bleak and there was thought already that this ends in at least an amputation of the toe. There was an improvement and the antibiotics are doing their job. Fingers crossed.
So how does this tie into golf and me thinking about changing my swing? From right-handed to left-handed? Well, some time ago my coach said “You know, I like your swing better left-handed” one day during a session. I was just horsing around with my Orange Whip Trainer. Occasionally, I will putt left-handed and the results of doing that are pretty funny actually. When I do, I see the ball and the hole much better. I’m left-hand dominant (a natural southpaw) where the only thing that I do right-handed is play hockey (when I played). When it comes to putting left-handed the ball is right in the middle of my stance. When I putt right-handed the ball position is much more towards the lead heel. It’s the same in the full-swing too. The ball position is perfect (pitching and chipping included) as it stands now, I actually have to concentrate on ball position at times.
The idea of making this change actually comes after something my foot care nurse Paul said. Paul is a golfer as well and I actually know him going way back to when I first took up the game. We were members of a course. At any rate, I had an appointment on January 16th with him right before leaving for Florida this year. In a routine check-up (foot care is vital for Diabetics) he said to me “You must really torque off of that back foot and toe” to which I responded, “You’re right”. It’s always the right foot/toe that develops this problem. Never the left. Between all of the miles that I walk at the show and all of the swings that I make just maybe there’s something to the theory offered by my wife, friends, and family. So I’m thinking, do I make a switch out of necessity or stay “par for the course”?
A switch may prevent this issue from occurring again. Or it might put my left foot in harm’s way as well. All that I know is there really seems to be a difference from either side of the ball on how the game looks. Thoughts?
Until The Next Tee!!
#seeuonthenexttee #fightandgrind
The Next Tee (TNT) 