Flipping left handed vs right handed

[JackKlassen]

For a while now I've heard about people using left-handed reels for flipping so they wouldn't have to switch hands to activate the reel and how lefties have an advantage in this regard. Is there anyone else out there that flips with their left hand and reels right so they still don't have to switch? I am by no means ambidextrous but had no problem at all transitioning my flipping skills to my left hand a few years back. Not really sure why this is never spoken of as a solution to the problem.

[MN Fisher]

I'm a rightie - write with my right hand, do detail work with my right hand, etc-etc-etc

 

Other than my Pflueger 640 which I can't switch, all my reels are right-hand retrieve. I cast with my left, so I don't have to switch hands other than with the aforementioned 640.

[EGbassing]

I've always flipped with my right hand, but I'm going to try with my left hand tomorrow because I need a solution to switching hands every flip.

[Bluebasser86]

I can flip can make short cast pretty effectively with my left hand after a lot of practice. I'm not skipping any jigs or getting way under overhangs, but for holes in grass or putting a bait next to a log or dock, I'm pretty solid. 

[Catt]

Flipping left handed vs right handed

 

Still winter huh!  ?

[junyer357]

When i set out to learn to flip a trusted (and far better) buddy  told me to learn cast it lefty. His advise was "you're gonna suck at it either way for a while, so start lefty and you wont have to switch or relearn it later like i did". So i have always been a lefty on pitching/flipping

[Tennessee Boy]

Been doing it that way for decades.  It’s the only way to go.  Use your right hand to do what requires the most coordination.  Cranking a reel slowly with my left hand is not hard and it frees my right hand to impart action on the lure and for setting the hook.  

[BoatSquirrel]

21 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

It’s the only way to go

Truth from the TN Boy.  I am a total righty and a left handed spaz but within a few months I learned to make every cast, pitch or flip left or right.  It surprises me to see pros who have to switch hands.

[Mike L]

When flipping the reel is engaged and you only have 5-10ft of line out. 

 When you get bit the split second if takes to change hands won't matter. 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[LCG]

Right handed person who prefers left handed reels. Feels more natural to me and makes pitching, flipping, or casting easier for me personally. 

[Team9nine]

Right handed person, right handed reels. Done a lot of flipping and pitching in my day and never felt at a disadvantage, especially since I only use Castaic reels for this. No practical advantage IMO going lefty for the average bass angler. Oversold idea.

[Tennessee Boy]

Many have won the Bassmaster Classic who switched hands.  Just think how far they could have gone if they had corrected this flaw in their technique .    I've never known anyone that switched hands with a spinning reel yet most do with a baitcaster.  It doesn't make sense to me but to each his own.

[WRB]

Try watching a few videos by Dee Thomas and Gary Klein

Tom

[Tim Kelly]

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Many have won the Bassmaster Classic who switched hands.  Just think how far they could have gone if they had corrected this flaw in their technique .    I've never known anyone that switched hands with a spinning reel yet most do with a baitcaster.  It doesn't make sense to me but to each his own.

? Watch the you tube films with Jacob Wheeler or Travis Manson using spinning gear. They really have appalling technique and look super inefficient, but they've both won a lot of money despite! ?

 

I think learning to use spinning gear well is a much more difficult skill than using casting gear well.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, Tim Kelly said:

I think learning to use spinning gear well is a much more difficult skill than using casting gear well.

Depends on what you grew up with. I still find spinners easier to use than BCs.

 

I started using spinners in the 60s, got my first BC in the late 80s. After 20 years using nothing but spinning reels, it was a learning curve to be able to use the BC effectively.

[J Francho]

I can only cast with my right.  For actual flipping, the reel is already engaged, so you don't need to get back to the reel to engage.  For pitching, I can do right handed and be switched before the bait touches the water.  I have several left hand reels, though, and I prefer them for pitching.  For moving baits, I prefer a right hand reel.  Spinning are right handed - meaning the handle is on the left.

[BassNJake]

I'm right handed and reel with my left hand.

My tourney partner is right handed and reels right handed.

I have never seen him have an issue switching hands, most of the time it is done while the lure is in the air.

 

 

[Catt]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Oversold idea

 

Yes sir!  ?

[Tennessee Boy]

I have much more to say but I'm going to wait til next week's thread on this topic.

[Glaucus]

Being right handed I only reel with my left hand. Right hand works the rod and the fish. Truly believe right handed people only reel right handed because left handed baitcasters were few and far between or not at all "back in the day." so unnatural imo

[FryDog62]

The years I had surgery on my right wrist, I used a right retrieve baitcaster for pitching.  The years I had surgery on my left wrist, I used a left retrieve baitcaster.  

 

I’m naturally right handed so maybe the left retrieve reel was a little easier/quicker, but not a lot.  I’ve had some quick strikes using my right retrieve and I don’t think I missed any/many.  

 

Also switching hands there is a slight reduction in fatigue factor than holding the rod in one hand all day making repeated casts. 

 

My dad always told me learning how to use a different side of the body is good training for my first stroke.  Call me prepared

[WRB]

If you watch Gary Kleins video he details how to flip and pitch, Gary gives credits Dee Thomas for teaching him these skills.

If you watch Gary he switches hands and holds his flipping rod the same as I do my jig rods, by the fore grip.

Tom

[HenryPF]

Right hand dominate here and since I moved from strictly spinning tackle to baitcasters 14 years ago, I only ever bought left handed baitcasters. My thought process? I need rod control, not reel control, so I taught myself (and moving from spinning reels seemed natural) to keep doing what I was already doing.

 

I do notice that alot of people hold the line with their fingers when flipping so that may come into play too.

[Alec McMillan]

I always use left handed reels. I am right handed, but it saves so much time not having to switch hands. Especially when I use a lot of high speed gear ratios and use a lot of techniques that require alertness.

[mcipinkie]

Here's my $0.02, and I live and die with a flipping stick in my hand.

 

Learn to use both hands.  It's easier a lot of the time to change hands rather than move your feet, or even worse, the boat to make a cast.

 

I pitch and flip so much, my rod just gets in the hand it needs to be in.  Most of time I'm not even aware of which hand it is in. 

That being said, my dominant hand is my left hand.  I reel right.  Watched Denny Brauer and Tomy Biffle do it left handed about 20 years ago, and learned to do it that way. Not changing hands will let you make a few more casts in day.  Once or twice in a year not changing hands will put another fish or two in the boat, but which hand you use won't get you to the Classic. 

 

Hank Parker won two, and I don't see how he ever catches a fish the way he holds the rod.  Look at Gary Klein.

The only thing that really matters is putting bait in front of the fish.