# Professions where dominant hand makes a difference
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 6, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764 "2022-06-06T17:46:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/101 "2022-06-08T17:01:04Z")
Watching a neighbor’s lawn service guy I realized that the only gas powered backpack leaf blower I’ve ever seen are designed to be used with the right hand. Having never used one, not sure about the controls on their zero-turn mowers; the only mowers I’ve ever used were a riding mower with a steering wheel or a (self-propelled) push mower which didn’t matter which hand was used to grip it)
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/102 "2022-06-08T17:10:22Z")
I recently bought a harness for my string trimmer, and it was set up to use with the trimmer hanging from the right side. I searched around and found all harnesses I could find were set up for the right side. Once I got the harness, I also found that I use my trimmer on my left side (I’m a right-handed person). Somehow with the shape of my yard and the shape of my body and the shape of the trimmer, it’s just easier for me to use on my left side. I tried using the trimmer on the right side with the harness but it just didn’t suit me. I WILL switch to my right hand for a minute or so when my left gets tired but 90% of the time I’m using my left.
My boyfriend was kinda horrified that I use the trimmer on the left because the exhaust is on the right, so using it that way puts it against my body. And I do know that I often times think “this is goofy that the trimmer gets so hot up against my arm.” Never occurred to me to use it primarily on the right.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/103 "2022-06-08T17:14:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> I’m right-handed, but my left eye is my dominant eye, which is an important distinction when it comes to shooting a bow or a firearm.
Same and, while a firearm was weird, using a bow was more problematic since my right arm was stronger than my left arm so holding right/drawing & sighting left was a whole extra hassle.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/104 "2022-06-08T17:18:10Z")
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> Same and, while a firearm was weird, using a bow was more problematic since my right arm was stronger than my left arm so holding right/drawing & sighting left was a whole extra hassle.
I actually first learned that I was left-eye-dominant when I was in high school, and taking an archery class. I was a skinny 14-year-old, and not only did I have to use a left-handed bow (which the school had very few of), but I had to use the very lightest pull that they had.
To be fair, I was so skinny and non-muscular that I wouldn’t have been much better pulling the bowstring with my right hand. 😉
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/105 "2022-06-08T18:53:46Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> The one and only time I ever went skeet shooting, I was using a right-handed shotgun (because that was what was available). I was shooting left-handed (so that I could sight with my dominant eye), and it was a little disconcerting to see the spent shells being ejected from the right side of the gun, and seemingly whizzing right past my face.
I’m also right-hand/left-eye dominant. Holding a gun or bow left-handed feels more natural to me; I like having my stronger arm doing the work and the aiming, and my weaker hand squeezing the trigger or releasing the bow string.
The time I notice this is when I’m watching biathlon. I’m not a huge fan, but I’ve watched occasionally over the years, and I’ve only ever seen one person who shot left-handed. I think I read somewhere that it’s a disadvantage. When you ski into the shooting range, you have to turn your body further around so that your right side is facing the target; and then when you’re done shooting you have to turn further to go back to skiing. It doesn’t seem like it would cost more than a second or two, but I only know of one athlete who does it. I’d kinda like to try biathlon someday; but finding a left-handed biathlon rifle seems like it would be scarcer than hen’s teeth.
Handedness does matter slightly in curling. There are different footpads on the hack for lefties and righties, so they deliver the stone toward the target from slightly different angles. And as a righty, I feel slightly more comfortable sweeping from the left side of the stone. There might be a tiny, tiny advantage having one lefty on a team so that you have players on both sides of the stone sweeping with their dominant hands.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/106 "2022-06-08T22:34:37Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> WRT being hired for a position
> …
> Baseball
Absolutely baseball. Lefthanded pitchers are extremely valuable, as are left handed batters to counter them. Left handers are also preferred for 1st base. Right handers are preferred for all other positions except outfielders. For outfielders it doesn’t matter.
> [@](#):
>
> Boxing
Boxers don’t exactly get hired for positions like regular jobs. Champions often have no choice but to make a mandatory defense of their title, so handedness has nothing to do with it. At the level of title contenders promoters match up fighters for any reason they think will help sell tickets. Occasionally they select left handers to make a fight seem like less of a mismatch than most of them are, or to give a boxer some experience fighting a left hander. At the bottom level where fighters are working building their records left handers usually have a tough time finding fights. So sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t. And finally, a number of fighters are natural southpaws fighting in a traditional right handed stance. One of the most famous was former heavyweight champion Joe Louis.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/107 "2022-06-08T22:54:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Lefthanded pitchers are extremely valuable
Indeed, to the point that, over the past 20-30 years, there became a super-specialized role: the “left-handed specialist” relief pitcher, a lefty who would be brought into the game specifically to face either one particular right-handed batter (typically one of the opposition’s best hitters), or a switch-hitter who was weaker hitting from the right side. The nickname/acronym “LOOGY” (Lefty One-Out Guy) was coined to describe this role.
In 2020, MLB changed their rules on pitching substitutions, and relief pitchers now need to either face at least three batters, or end an inning (barring being called on to replace an injured pitcher), so the LOOGY role has become diminished.
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### Author:  [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/108 "2022-06-08T23:14:06Z")
All clothing you buy in regular stores was made on right handed sewing machines. Tailors and cobblers use right handed sewing machines.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/109 "2022-06-08T23:18:29Z")
Yes you pointed this out. But can a left handed person not operate these machines proficiently? Would someone hiring for a sewing or cobbler job turn you down if you were left handed? If not I would count sewing machines amongst the jobs I listed that use right handed instruments people can use proficiently regardless of dominant hand.
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### Author:  [@JaneDoe42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneDoe42)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/110 "2022-06-08T23:25:27Z")
If I was hiring a seamstress, I absolutely would want one that could operate my rather expensive sewing machine without modifications. Of course, most clothing nowadays is made in sweat shops and I doubt those folks care about anything but output. Left handed seamstresses probably do get hired and then fired very quickly because they cannot keep up the pace so I guess you are right there. They would get hired.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/111 "2022-06-09T03:52:09Z")
> [@JaneDoe42](#):
>
> Left handed seamstresses probably do get hired and then fired very quickly because they cannot keep up the pace so I guess you are right there.
Surprisingly, [it actually appears to be the other way around](https://fashion-incubator.com/are-sewing-machines-designed-for-the-left-handed/). (At least with regard to which group is naturally superior at operating a standard-layout sewing machine. I don’t know of any evidence that the disadvantaged righties are actually failing to “keep up the pace” and consequently “getting fired” from sewing-machine-operator jobs.)
> [@](#):
>
> With industrial machines, bobbins nearly always load from the left, needles must be threaded from the left, foot changes only unscrew from the left, and lastly, the default pedal installation is left of the needle […] left handers should find industrial machines easier to use than most other handed technologies. […]
>
> […] being more aware about handedness explains some problems I’ve had in training people to sew on industrials. […]
>
> With industrial machines, dexterity of the left hand is very important because it should lead in feeding the materials and lining pieces together.
Why does the standard sewing-machine design actually favor left-handers over right-handers in the modern world, contrary to what we might assume? [Apparently because:](https://www.andreaschewedesign.com/blog/left-handed-sewing-machines)
> [@](#):
>
> Since the sewing machine was invented before motors could easily be put into machine for the home, they were either powered with a foot treadle or a hand crank. […]
>
> […] machine designers thought it would be better to have the right hand, since it is dominant for most people and hence the stronger one, be the hand that operated the crank. This meant that everything else is done with the left hand and still is to this day.
That second cite has an embedded video by a sewing machine manufacturer that is making a reverse-layout sewing machine to be easier for right-handers to operate, and watching it is blowing my (right-handed) mind. Yes, all the dexterity functions I have to perform with my sewing machine(s) are on the left side, and I do have to kind of cross my right hand over to the left side to achieve them, and it is a bit awkward and it would be more convenient to have all those functions on the right side instead!
All because so many early sewing machines were hand-crank-operated, and the manufacturers decided that the right-handed majority needed to be able to use the superior strength of their dominant hand more than its superior dexterity…
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### Author:  [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2022, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/112 "2022-06-09T04:32:35Z")
I see no reason to avoid mixing it up.
“Well, m’Lord, on the one hand the court could do X, and on the middle finger you could do not-X. We would respectfully suggest that on the left foot, there is a third option, of doing X-Prime.”
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### Author:  [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2022, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/113 "2022-06-09T13:19:39Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> Yes you pointed this out. But can a left handed person not operate these machines proficiently? Would someone hiring for a sewing or cobbler job turn you down if you were left handed?
I don’t know about operating a sewing machine, but as a lefty I can attest that we do have to adjust to a righty world, so I’m sure lefties do learn to operate righty sewing machines just fine.
As a kid in school I learned to cut with righty scissors because the only lefty scissors in the box, if there even was a pair, were beat up, dull, with a loose screw barely holding the scissor blades together. When I learned to play guitar I made a choice to learn right handed because I wanted to be able to just pick up anybody’s guitar laying around and play it. As a sysadmin I learned to use a righty mouse almost as well as a lefty because I had to troubleshoot other people’s computer problems, and it was easier than switching their mouse and changing the button click settings.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/114 "2022-06-10T02:27:44Z")
> [@solost](#):
>
> I don’t know about operating a sewing machine, but as a lefty I can attest that we do have to adjust to a righty world, so I’m sure lefties do learn to operate righty sewing machines just fine.
In fact, as per [post #111](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/111), it turns out that the standard modern sewing machine is actually more convenient for lefty than for righty use! 😲
But yes, we righties do manage to learn to operate them anyway. 😁
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/115 "2022-06-10T02:28:07Z")
I’m right-hand and left-eye dominant.
When computer mice were invented I’d been computer keyboarding and punchcard keypunching for 10+ years. So those skills were already well-ingrained.
I chose to use the new-fangled mouse left-handed. That way my right hand was free to operate the more important right side of the keyboard where the enter key, parens, brackets, and 10-pad are. It seemed silly to me to have the right hand busily jumping from mouse to keyboard while the left mostly just sat there unused. In those days I was doing lots of Lotus 1-2-3 wherein numeric entry, cell selection, and arrowing around from cell to cell were the bulk of that mission. When word processing, that was far more ordinary typing than mousing, so the mismatch between the hands’ workloads was much smaller.
To this day I mouse lefty, but with the buttons in the usual arrangement, where the left mouse button is primary for select & drag, while the right mouse button is secondary for options, menus, etc. So for me to do the help-desk thing at someone else’s computer I just pick up their mouse, set it down left of the keyboard & I’m in business; no need to reconfigure buttons.
Agree that shooting right handed but left-eyed takes some getting used to and is far from ideal.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/116 "2022-06-10T09:54:11Z")
Has anyone mentioned water polo? I’d think you’d want attackers on the left side to be southpaws.
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### Author:  [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/117 "2022-06-10T11:26:16Z")
As for non-water polo:
> **[Why Is Polo Played Right Hand Only? : Dallas Burston Polo Club](https://dbpoloclub.com/polo-played-right-handed/)**
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### Author:  [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/118 "2022-06-10T15:15:41Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#):
>
> As a lefty, most of those seem bizarre to me. Why would I want a left-handed can opener? The wristwatch I can see, and the spiral notebook, but the rest of it seems just pointless. Course, I don’t even bother with left-handed scissors, not because using right-handed scissors with your left hand isn’t a giant pain, but because using scissors with your off-hand isn’t remotely difficult.
Some of us are more ambidextrous than others. I’m right-handed, but I can write legibly with my left without too much effort.
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### Author:  [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/119 "2022-06-10T15:40:15Z")
I think with all this left hand vs right hand discussion, one major point has been overlooked. A left-hander living in a right hand world must decide: how badly do I want to do these things? Drive, desire, need…sure there are some tools that are ambidextrous or left hand, and they probably give a nice respite in the struggles of day to day.
For a zillion years, left-handed people have been creative and resourceful in adapting. Because they want or so badly need to accomplish major tasks. I’ve watched some lefties in awe as they contort their hands and bodies, or they use tools backwards to get the job done!
A long, long time ago, parents and teachers would force a left-handed child to use the right hand. Physical punishment, verbal shaming were all considered fair game to break a kid of his “sinister” ways. We now know this screwed people up.
A young adult, however, finding activities of interest, can be motivated (instead of beaten) to invent ways to adapt, or even finding that “training” oneself to be ambidextrous can be advantageous.
Life is always going to throw out roadblocks. We all needs to learn how to overcome obstacles and keep on truckin’!
~VOW
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/professions-where-dominant-hand-makes-a-difference/965764/120 "2022-06-10T15:53:04Z")
Yes! It is interesting to read about things like instruments, sewing machines, hockey sticks, vehicles etc that are only designed for a dominant right hand, and will only ever be designed for a dominant right hand, and to then consider the idea that left handed people can and do become proficient at their use. Kudos to them!
And, to add on to the discussion about computer mice…when I set up my first desktop PC at home (probably around the age of 13) I had no idea that the mouse should go on the right, being that me and my family are all righties. There was space on the desk to the left, so that’s where it went. I didn’t even change the orientation of the mouse buttons. I don’t remember what prompted me to move it to the right - maybe exposure to PCs at school - but we moused “backwards” for some years.
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