It's interesting that some say they use their right hand for strength and left hand for precision.

I don't do that.

I can do just about anything with my right as I do with my left except writing, but typically prefer to use my left for most things including strength related tasks.

What trips people out is when I "center myself" to use both hands equally well for a task that can properly utilize them. It does take more focus, but I can go hyper fast with some things when using both hands.

Originally posted by PsychoFaerie
I'm a fellow southpaw and if it wasn't for my mother I would have ended up right handed. I've always used my left hand for almost everything excluding bowling using scissors and a few other things. In kindergarden my teacher started teaching me to write with my right hand my mother noticed this and set up a meeting with my teacher... she told the teacher to stop trying to make me right handed. IIRC the teacher was trying to make things eaiser for me or some bullcrap line. this was in the early 90's and i've heard reports of teachers doing this in 2008 (which makes no sense at all) Apparently the myth persists that we're all ebil ebil people!! :p

My first child was born in 2005 and it was apparent soon after her 1st birthday that she was left-handed. When I told my grandmother, who was in her early 80's at the time, the first thing she said was "Oh No! You'll have to train her to use her right hand!" She said it as if my child were cursed.

I simply told her that's the way my child was born, so that's the way my child will be.
She just couldn't wrap her brain around the fact that I completely embraced my child's proclivity to using her left hand. IMO, that was just one more thing to add to my child's uniqueness.

She explained to me that "back in the days," being left-handed was taboo and only right-handedness was the acceptable norm.

Being a righty, left handed people have always been a source of intrigue, I had a friend at school who was left handed, and every now and again I would prcatice trying to form the written word in my left hand.

Fast forward a few years, and my son is left handed, right from the get-go, he was born with pronounced head turning to the left, to the point where he had a physio referral, to try and get him turn to the other side a bit, his handedness became total confirmation at 6 months old, when he grabbed the pen out of my hand, and held it properly in his left hand, trying to make marks on the paper, and yeah bascially a leftie through and through.

My daughter on the other hand (oopsy pun time), would use both until she was about 4 and a half, which usually handedness is decided a while before then, I would put the pencil down, and allow her to pick which hand she wanted to put it in, but she would use both, so I asked her which felt more comfortable, and she pointed to her right, but when she picked it up in her left I would ask her "Why ?" She said because she wanted to ?! Well in the end she plumbed for being a righty like me, so its going to be interesting watching them grow, and see whether any talents match up, and what their stregnths and weaknesses are.

I'm left- handed but only at writing and drawing.

I hold my knife in my right hand, and my spoon, a pool cue, darts, guitar, tennis bat, etc.

And don't ask me to give directions, because for some reason I get easily confused which way is left or right. I have to stop and really think which way is which. It's soo frustrating for me.

Originally posted by doobydoll

I hold my knife in my right hand, and my spoon, a pool cue, darts, guitar, tennis bat, etc.

I hold the knife with right, fork with left...spoon with left. Weird.

And don't ask me to give directions, because for some reason I get easily confused which way is left or right. I have to stop and really think which way is which. It's soo frustrating for me.

I don't have a problem with left or right, but knowing compass directions on the fly.

I have to take a while and build many points of reference in my head stringing back to a location where I already know east and west.

My father is a lefty, and has a great sense of direction left-right, east-west, north-south. He gives directions by telling you landmarks. It drives my brother (ambi) and I nuts. We need street signs, and left or right.

While my paps can navigate around by himself, when he spits out information at you...it's usually backwards and inside out. He has no clue he's just gone in circles and told you the opposite of what he was supposed to...no clue whatsoever...


I think we can deduce that....lefties are just weird

i bowl with my left hand.....thats about it, everything else right hand

my left hand life in a left hand thumbnail sketch:

kindergarten teacher tried to force me to be a righty (mid 70s')

1st grade teacher embraced my leftward ways (score!) never another teacher bothered me about it afterwards

I have always drawn and been musical, though i didnt learn to play the guitar till i was 16, still playing more than 20 years later and have picked up violin, drums, and a few other instruments along the way

im not that great at math, always hated it as well as homework in school, but i love reading about abstract math and science concepts

i do everything right handed except write and draw (maybe im not a 'true lefty' ?) but can switch if i want, though with not as good an accuracy most the time

i have two siblings from my mothers re marriage, one of which is a lefty, so i know my mom carries the lefty gene

i have always been called weird and strange by my peers and sometimes by ppl that dont even know me....seems to come with the territory of being left handed? (i personally dont think im all that peculiar but apparently my lack of mainstreamness is noticeable to some ppl)


i dont think left handers are superior....its natural that ppl want to think they are special for one reason or another......i personally think everyone is special because there is only one of them...

as for ambidexterity and such....i used to read a great deal on handedness and brain organization.....true leftys or true rightys are probably about the same in reaction time.....but ambi's have more accidents because there is more crosstalk in the brain which lengthens reaction time in a time sensitive situation.....and lefty's do tend to be more ambidexterous than righty's on average thus the common reports of lefty's having more accidents (not so much a result of being clumsy but of not having a strong side dominance)

They say leftys are smarter....

I too am a lefty in hand & politically.

But like many other peeps on here can also use my right for many things IE throwing, Golf and Tennis.

Left is for Pool and any thing that requires a degree of accuracy.

When I was younger it was commented numerous times about my balance when playing Football & rugby and was attributed to me been ambidextrous.

Also been a lefty I never have to write on the white board at work due to the smudging and also can not write for long periods due to the strain on my heart

Lefty also.

story from mom:
Was born Ambidextrous. then as a toddler, was kissed by an uncles GF(picture 'Awww! isn't he adorable!!! not some weird stuff) and shortly afterwards contracted Tonsilitis. During which time, I ate very little. She went on to say, that to stave off hunger I began suckling on my right fingers(middle/ring) and by the time I recovered, I had been pushed all the way left.

I know for a fact that when it comes to more intricate/delicate operations, I use my left hand, as it's my articulate hand, used for EVERYTHING. also, as such when writing, I tend to be more outside the box in thinking. when it comes to brutality(worked in security/prior military) the right hand lead the fray...As a photographer now....its the left eye that catches the action I want to photograph.