# Am I weird (a left-hand/right-hand/ambidextrous debate) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393 "2012-02-10T06:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![radar1974](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@radar1974](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar1974)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/1 "2012-02-10T06:40:45Z")
I ask myself this question on a regular basis because I haven’t come across anyone (as yet) who has the same ‘problem’ as me. I call myself left-handed but I’m not sure if it’s completely true. Listen to the evidence and I would welcome similar stories and any scientific answers. If I write it HAS to be with my left hand. I can’t even hold a pen properly in my right hand, never mind write something legible. This to me makes me left-handed. I back this up with the fact I would always catch a ball left-handed (and throw it left handed as well). If I was a baseball pitcher (or for fellow Brits, a cricket bowler) I could not do anything right handed, I would always use my left. If i Kick a ball, (American football, or a soccer ball) I would always favour my left, there would be no co-ordination in my right foot. I cannot play a musical instrument but when I picked up a guitar I automatically held it like Paul McCartney, not John Lennon. I hold a pool/snooker cue in my left hand and use my right hand for the bridge. If I was boxing, I would be a southpaw (my main punched would be with my left). I used to work in a casino cash-desk and always broke down and displayed the chips with my left hand. Is that enough evidence?..ok here come the weird bits If I hold a cricket/baseball bat I HAVE to stand like a right-handed person. I cannot swing like a left handed person would If I play golf I can only use right-handed clubs. I cannot even get my grip right on a left-handed club, never mind swing it correctly. I do a few coin tricks, and manipulations, but I only do them with my right hand. I can just about do it now (with practice) with my left but it is always clumsy and doesn’t seem to get any better The strangest one (for me) is I HAVE to hold a phone to my left ear, but because I’m left handed to write, I always have to balance the phone on my shoulder to write down a message. I can’t hold the phone to my right ear at all (and no, I’m not slightly deaf in one ear) Any ideas, or similar stories? I can’t claim to be ambidextrous because I can’t think of anything I do with both hands equally well. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Klutz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captain_klutz/32/4993_2.png) [@Captain\_Klutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Klutz)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/2 "2012-02-10T08:04:16Z")
You’re [cross dominant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dominance), that is, you favour left hand for some things and right hand for others. I wouldn’t call you weird. Or at least, no weirder than me. For example, when I swing an axe across I do it right handed, but swinging down I do it left handed. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/3 "2012-02-10T08:14:05Z")
I’m right-handed but my left hand has better balance. I first noticed it when riding a bike. I was much more comfortable riding one handed with my left hand on the handlebar. My son seems to have a similar situation going. He is left-handed and shoots a basketball with his left hand under the ball but dribbles much better with his right hand. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/4 "2012-02-10T09:37:17Z")
Not weird at all and there are heaps of threads about this. [Here is one I started.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=574319) ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/5 "2012-02-10T11:54:08Z")
I’m left-handed but eat right-handed. From what I understand that’s fairly normal. I can’t think of much else I do right-handed. Oh yeah, there is one more thing… wiping is impossible with the left. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/6 "2012-02-10T12:02:39Z")
One of my daughters is like that. She is all over the place. Often she doesn’t herself know which hand or foot to use, and has to try out both before she knows. My mother was the same, so I guess it is hereditary. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/7 "2012-02-10T12:54:54Z")
I am right hand dominant, but consciously try to use my left hand to be more ambidextrous. There’s lots of things that I think of as two-handed skills, that people do all the time - like typing or playing the piano, or driving a standard transmission vehicle, so I don’t understand why other things like knitting or holding a knife and fork have to be done ‘left handed’ or ‘right handed’. I moved my mouse to the other side of my desk at work because it fit better there and I find it works better if I have to click and then write something. Mouse in one hand, pen in the other. My coworkers think it’s odd because I’m not left handed, and it messes them up if they use my computer, but really, all it took was a few games of solitaire before I was comfortable with my mouse in my left hand. I had a brief factory job. Took about 30 seconds to figure out that holding the drill in my left hand worked way better for drilling into the left side of the cabinet that was on the line in front of me, rather than crossing my right hand across my body and leaning over the conveyer belt. Yes, I watched others do it that way. I just switched the drill from hand to hand to do the right and left sides. Maybe because I didn’t have much practice with a drill, it was easier to teach myself to use either hand instead of already being comfortable with one hand and having to deal with the awkwardness of trying to use the other hand. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/8 "2012-02-10T15:37:56Z")
I’m right-handed, but my left eye is my dominant eye, so there are certain sports activities (hitting a baseball, shooting a bow or rifle, putting, etc.) at which I’m better left-handed. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/9 "2012-02-10T15:57:07Z")
I don’t think this is weird at all, I think most people have a few oddities with what side is dominant. For instance, I write right-handed, but I’m left-eared and I prefer to drive with my left-hand. For batting in baseball, I get better contact batting left-handed and better power batting right-handed (but my batting is a little weird since I more pull with the bottom hand than push with the top one). When I type, I over-use my left-hand and can, in fact, type nearly as fast with just my left hand as with both. While I eat right-handed, I’ll use a knife in my left hand which apparently really bothered my father when I was young for some reason I don’t understand. I also find that my grip is slightly stronger in my left-hand too, despite that I’m meticulous with my weight training in balancing it out. But I think I’m a bit of a special case because I play the piano, which I think contributes to a fair level of skill with both hands, and I broke my right wrist in high school and had it in a cast or split for nearly six months, so I also gained a good amount of left-hand use at that time, which is mostly why I credit my typing so much with my left-hand. If I were to generalize though, it seems as though I have better strength and repetitive motion ability with my left hand but I have better dexterity with my right. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/10 "2012-02-10T16:07:44Z")
> [@radar1974](#): > > … The strangest one (for me) is I HAVE to hold a phone to my left ear, but because I’m left handed to write, I always have to balance the phone on my shoulder to write down a message. I can’t hold the phone to my right ear at all (and no, I’m not slightly deaf in one ear) … as in habit? or some kind of OCD? it is after all, just holding something. ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/11 "2012-02-10T16:13:23Z")
I’m right handed, but I bat, throw and catch left handed. I can’t even attempt to do it right handed. ---
**Author:** ![Runestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Runestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runestar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/12 "2012-02-10T16:21:38Z")
I write with my left hand, but do everything else right-handed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/13 "2012-02-10T17:04:01Z")
You sound left-handed, with some learned right handed behaviors. Totally expected in a right hand world. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/14 "2012-02-10T17:13:11Z")
> [@radar1974](#): > > If I hold a cricket/baseball bat I HAVE to stand like a right-handed person. I cannot swing like a left handed person would > > If I play golf I can only use right-handed clubs. I cannot even get my grip right on a left-handed club, never mind swing it correctly. These do not necessarily contradict your being left-handed. It goes to keeping your dominant hand closer to your body. Think of a boxing stance, holding a rifle, holding a guitar, etc. – it’s natural to have the dominant hand held in close. Using a two-handed grip, such as with a bat, golf club, or sword, the effect can be diluted by the hands being so close together. Note that many American baseball players throw right-handed but bat left-handed. > [@TriPolar](#): > > You sound left-handed, with some learned right handed behaviors. Totally expected in a right hand world. Amen, brother. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/15 "2012-02-10T17:38:11Z")
There’s only one thing that I can think of that I do equally well with either hand, so I guess that would make me 99% right handed. I can even switch hands and not miss a stroke. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/16 "2012-02-10T19:42:51Z")
[moderating] Moved thread to IMHO. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/17 "2012-02-10T21:04:44Z")
Not weird. I’m right-handed when writing; left-handed or ambidextrous when doing most everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/18 "2012-02-10T21:37:09Z")
I’m left handed in most every way but when I’m tapping out melodies on the radio, I do it better with my right hand. I also can’t cut paper with my left hand because growing up, they either had crappy rusty left handed scissors, or none at all. So I adapted. I also use my mouse with my right hand because that was simply how it was done. So I adapted. I have a cousin who played softball. She is older than I so there were even less left handed materials. So she’d catch the ball in the glove with her left hand and instantly drop the glove and throw with the same hand. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/19 "2012-02-10T22:00:38Z")
Me: Left Handed **Writing** Throwing Batting Golf club Eating utensils, including chopsticks Right Handed Scissors Bowling Shooting Telephone handset (right ear) Guitar Telescope (right-eye dominant) And I can use a computer mouse with either hand. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393/20 "2012-02-11T00:45:23Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > There’s only one thing that I can think of that I do equally well with either hand, so I guess that would make me 99% right handed. > > I can even switch hands and not miss a stroke. 😃 Golf? **radar1974** , you may well be weird but not because of your handedness 😉 I’m right-handed but I can use tweezers, scissors, and similar tools with either hand. Also I can only turn a screwdriver and dial the phone with my left hand. More weirdly, I can only go down stairs if I step with my right foot first, or else I risk falling ass over teakettle. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-weird-a-left-hand-right-hand-ambidextrous-debate/612393.md?page=2)