I come from the BJJ/MMA world and have always wrestled and boxed from a left leg forward stance. I am right side dominant however I do some things left handed.
I have started learning Judo with my right leg forward mainly because that is the side my coach teaches from and how most everyone else lines up. Would there be any advantage to switching to a left handed stance or is it not worth the trouble?
I might want to fight MMA again and if I did it would be in a traditional right handed boxing stance with my left leg forward. I think Fedor switched a little bit when going from striking to Judo/Sambo takedowns so I suppose it does't matter too much. I am ok either way but wanted to see what more experienced Judoka thought. 
Practice your throws from both sides. Your best foot forward will develop in time. 80-90% of judokas are right foot forward. (I am left foot forward.). It comes where you feel the best to defend, balance in movement and throw. Play with it. You still can throw to either side with various gripping combinations. Watch Travis Stevens who fights with right foot forward but takes a lapel grip with his left hand for standing right side seionage. Contrast that with Kayla Harrison who is natural righty or Nick Delpopolo who is a natural lefty.
Thanks for the response.
Is there any advantage to being a lefty in Judo?
In BJJ, I usually try to get down one sided pretty well before practicing the other side. Should I split time equally between left and right in Judo?
Once you have a dominant side, is that where most Judoka fight from? Or do they switch stances?
One of the reasons I might want to go left handed in Judo is because I box right handed with my left foot forward and I also wrestle that way. If I do fight MMA again it might be an easier transition practicing Judo with my left foot forward. Thoughts?
Practicing throws you can split time on both sides. Once you have a good idea(left foot forward) which stance is best stick with it in live sparing/competition.
There is an advantage being a lefty in judo at the beginning levels. But once you get in the higher skill levels those guys know how to handle either stance. Probably most of the World/Olympic champions are righty's.
The most important factor is to fight in the stance that you are best at in throwing, defense and balance.
I teach my students to throw left sided with a right sided grip. When you switch to a left handed grip, it's a dead give-away that you're going to attempt a left sided throw.
Hope this helps.
Practice throws from both sides. If I could relearn Judo, that's what I would do without having any doubt. If you are not a competitive Judoka, I would recommend that even more.
TexDeuce - I come from the BJJ/MMA world and have always wrestled and boxed from a left leg forward stance. I am right side dominant however I do some things left handed.You wrestled left foot forward???
I have started learning Judo with my right leg forward mainly because that is the side my coach teaches from and how most everyone else lines up. Would there be any advantage to switching to a left handed stance or is it not worth the trouble?
I might want to fight MMA again and if I did it would be in a traditional right handed boxing stance with my left leg forward. I think Fedor switched a little bit when going from striking to Judo/Sambo takedowns so I suppose it does't matter too much. I am ok either way but wanted to see what more experienced Judoka thought.
Ray Cappa -TexDeuce - I come from the BJJ/MMA world and have always wrestled and boxed from a left leg forward stance. I am right side dominant however I do some things left handed.You wrestled left foot forward???
I have started learning Judo with my right leg forward mainly because that is the side my coach teaches from and how most everyone else lines up. Would there be any advantage to switching to a left handed stance or is it not worth the trouble?
I might want to fight MMA again and if I did it would be in a traditional right handed boxing stance with my left leg forward. I think Fedor switched a little bit when going from striking to Judo/Sambo takedowns so I suppose it does't matter too much. I am ok either way but wanted to see what more experienced Judoka thought.
I'm right handed and wrestled left foot forward whenever i trained wrestling, and my club was about 50/50 in terms of whether people went orthodox or southpaw. What's with the shock?
2004 olympian rhadi ferguson switched to a left handed stance because of the advantages.
there arent that many left handed players, so being left can be a big advantage for a certain type of player.
In BJJ I usually teach for someone to do a technique on one side until they get it down. But for judo, I think a different approach is needed because of the physical aspect of the throws. A physical therapist told me that I had extremely developed one side of my body and not the other because of not practicing on each side.
You stand the way you are comfortable. PERIOD...
GRABBING LEFTY MEANS YOU ARE THROWING LEFTY.... Cali, are you seriously saying that??? ANd waking up and breathing is usually a sign of life too.. Does gripping righty somehow mean you are throwing from the "wall" or some other mysterious location???? That's about the silliest thing I've ever read. In other news, the sky is blue and clouds are usually white.
Anybody who knows a damn thing about body mechanics and how difficult it is for an adult to retrain his body would tell you to stick to your boxing stance. It is much harder to learn to switch sides and keep your body controlled with solid balance and feel than it is to learn to throw lefty. You will find throws that you like as a Lefty. It might take a bit to learn uchimata, but you might learn kosotogake easy as pie... who knows, but I can promise that it is easier to learn to grip and throw than it is to learn to stand opposite, grip opposite and throw.
I'm not the best example, being terrible, but I started Judo in my late 30s as a right hander. But a decade of previous striking training meant it just wasn't working right foot forward. Switched to lefty, and as Joshua mentioned, it was significantly easier now I didn't have to think about my feet. It came naturally.
Similar story for myself. Started right foot forward and then after 6/7 years switched to lefty. Better defense, more balanced and stronger pull on the sleeve with my right hand. Body mechanics was natural lefty.
JoshuaResnick - You stand the way you are comfortable. PERIOD...
GRABBING LEFTY MEANS YOU ARE THROWING LEFTY.... Cali, are you seriously saying that??? ANd waking up and breathing is usually a sign of life too.. Does gripping righty somehow mean you are throwing from the "wall" or some other mysterious location???? That's about the silliest thing I've ever read. In other news, the sky is blue and clouds are usually white.
Anybody who knows a damn thing about body mechanics and how difficult it is for an adult to retrain his body would tell you to stick to your boxing stance. It is much harder to learn to switch sides and keep your body controlled with solid balance and feel than it is to learn to throw lefty. You will find throws that you like as a Lefty. It might take a bit to learn uchimata, but you might learn kosotogake easy as pie... who knows, but I can promise that it is easier to learn to grip and throw than it is to learn to stand opposite, grip opposite and throw.
Of course I'm saying that Joshua. If I have a right handed grip and I switch to a left handed grip, what do you think is coming? Especially at the beginner level. It makes perfect sense. Maybe I wasn't clear with how I was trying to say it, or maybe you misread what I wrote? Either way, read it again, this time without the sarcastic ass glasses on.
Learn to throw both ways but keep your comfortable stance.