Non-hooking leftie here. (Just verified this with my GF, who assumed I did hook while writing, 'cos all cackhanders are awkward apparently). I always thought it was so you could see what was just written, allowing you to write in straght lines which I find very hard to do.
But the ‘not really lefthanded’ theory works for me too. I think I’ll be able to wind up some people with that piece of info.
I guess I’m just one of those “the simplest explanation is the most likely” kinda guys. I’ve read theories similar to that posted by Jodi, and have found them interesting.
But, I still think it’s a matter of the angle of attack. If you tilt your paper at the “wrong” angle (whether you’re a lefty or a righty), you will see that the only practical way to write is to hook your hand. Try it. In my case, if I try to pull my wrist back in order to put the tip of the pen on the paper, I can’t really see what I’m writing. In addition, it’s extremely uncomfortable. Yet, hooking the hand and attacking from above, while awkward, allows me to see what I’m doing.
I recall that when I was first learning to write, I kept the paper more or less horizontal, and employed a few different techniques (including hooking). Heck, I even remember doing the same things while coloring with crayons. But it wasn’t until I was learning cursive that I was taught to tilt the paper to the right. I distinctly remember it making a huge difference. Writing wasn’t half the chore that it used to be.
This is interesting. In my earliest attempts at writing, I used to write backwards (i.e., reversing the order of letters). While I don’t quite remember actually doing it, there was an old bookshelf in the basement of our house that I wrote my name on with a Magic Marker. I certainly don’t remember doing it, but the evidence was there years later:
n e v e t S
I’ve always wondered why I did this. Maybe because I was watching a right-hander (parent, teacher), and noticed that as one writes, the hand moves away from the body–for a righty, of course. Who knows?
NEVETS (;)) –
This is called mirror writing and is apparently fairly common with left-handed kids, though I’ve never actually met someone who did it or could do it. But what I’ve heard (and again totally without citation) is that it is another indicator of “true” or “strong” lefthandedness, in that kids who do it can (without meaning to) simply and literally flip what they’re taught over in their heads, so that they do exactly as righties do, only mirror-reversed. Did you hook as a kid? Because what I’ve heard is that mirror-writers, as strong lefties, generally do not. Maybe that’s why I never did; I’m a . . . well, not a hooker. Person of hook?
Food for thought for those who think that hooking originates to prevent the left hand from smearing freshly written ink. Hebrew is written from right to left, yet many left-handed Israelites hook their hands too.