# Why does one hand work so much beter than the other one? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2014, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179 "2014-08-22T07:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/21 "2014-08-23T04:01:46Z")
My nephews both write left handed but do everything else right handed - play sports, musical instruments etc because they taught themselves originally with right handed implements. I am right handed but every time I park in my garage I padlock the roller door shut. I do this left handed. I grab the padlock swivel it around, loop it through the hole and close it, all in one neat, smooth motion. Recently I went to do it right handed, because I had something in my left hand, and I couldn’t even work out what to do. I put down what I was holding and could do it instantly. It was interesting watching how intricate it all was. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/22 "2014-08-23T05:05:07Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > **I’m right handed, but at some point, maybe twenty years ago, I tried switching to mouse with my left hand.** It was hard, and at some point I stopped for a few years, but picked it up again. For a while, if I was doing fine positioning in PowerPoint, I’d have to switch to my right hand. Now I’m ambidextrous, in that one ability, because I practice it all the time. I’m right-handed, and I often want to take notes or work on program listings while sitting at the computer. That seemed like a job most suited for my right hand, and that also requires having some desk space to the right of my keyboard. So I put the mouse on the left, and quickly enough became proficient at using the mouse left-handed. But even stranger still, I don’t reconfigure my mouses to be left-handed (that is, swap the left and right mouse buttons). It has worked out fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/23 "2014-08-23T05:18:36Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > My nephews both write left handed but do everything else right handed - play sports, musical instruments etc because they taught themselves originally with right handed implements. > > I am right handed but every time I park in my garage I padlock the roller door shut. I do this left handed. I grab the padlock swivel it around, loop it through the hole and close it, all in one neat, smooth motion. Recently I went to do it right handed, because I had something in my left hand, and I couldn’t even work out what to do. I put down what I was holding and could do it instantly. It was interesting watching how intricate it all was. At work, I use the manual juicer opposite how all the other right-handers do. I hold it with my right hand and use the squeezer with my left. Again, just because I assume my left hand has to do the grunt work and my right hand the ‘steadying work’. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/24 "2014-08-23T05:46:35Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Personally, though right-handed, I play air guitar left-handed (and guitar video-games) and air shoot left-handed cause it just seemed natural to use my best hand for the dexterity jobs. I don’t know if it’s for the same reason, but I am exactly the same. I also use my left hand to throw things, yet swing a bat right-handedly. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/25 "2014-08-23T08:28:48Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t know if it’s for the same reason, but I am exactly the same. I also use my left hand to throw things, yet swing a bat right-handedly. Cricket’s chock-full of people who bowl right-handed but bat left, or vice-versa. Probably right/right is the commonest and left/left the least. There’s logic to the cross-handed player: the dominant hand is on top of the handle and in control of the shot. What’s truly odd is the occasional player who bowls right-handed but, when fielding, throws left. They’re unusual but not unknown. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/26 "2014-08-23T10:38:35Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Cricket’s chock-full of people who bowl right-handed but bat left, or vice-versa. Probably right/right is the commonest and left/left the least. There’s logic to the cross-handed player: the dominant hand is on top of the handle and in control of the shot. > > What’s truly odd is the occasional player who bowls right-handed but, when fielding, throws left. They’re unusual but not unknown. Leftys playing right: Inzamam, Ijaz Ahmad Rightys playing left David Gower, Andy Flower, Wasim Akram ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/27 "2014-08-24T19:01:41Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > […] > > and why do people use their dominant hand to pull the trigger on guns and their less dominant hands to hold the gun steady? > […] I understand that with the “gas - operated semi-automatics” like the M-1, you run the risk of getting your eye scooped out every time you fire it left-handed. And with some rifles you get the hot casings spit in your face! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/28 "2014-08-24T22:15:54Z")
Even for low time pilots switching from a plane with the throttle on the right, needing left hand for the stick in the middle and the opposite side on a similar sized aircraft seldom, to really seldom, have a problem with this, even if having learned with a control wheel. I am really strong right handed. In a small plane I can reach over and use the right wheel with my right hand just fine. In more complicated aircraft, twin engine, many controls are low in the center and using the off hand to get them is next to impossible so the pilot & the copilot will have to use different hands to get to the fuel selector lever. Or quickly use the center mounted engine & prop controls during a critical engine out procedure. If you cross your hands & hold the two center sides of dual controls and / or put your feet on the two center rudder pedals, which effectively reverses the trained reaction of which way the controls need to be used for an attitude change of the airplane. When things are good & smooth, you can do it with a lot of thinking and careful movement. Get in some rough air or some unexpected attitude and 99.9% of pilots will go the wrong way. Some of the early airplanes were steered like a old snow sled, you pushed on the right side to go left rudder. I heard that the early ME-109’s were like that and made them really hard to transition into. There is an old rumor or maybe fact that more ME-109 pilots were killed in training & takeoff & landing accidents than were ever shot down. ( no cite ) In more recent times, the Beach Barron Twins and the Cessna-175 proved & continue to prove that important controls should not be moved around Will-Nilly so as to be different than 99.9% of all other aircraft of that general type. Control of flight surfaces usually have feed back which I think helps. Some of the joy sticks do not, some do not even move, they are pressure sticks and / or progressive in nature.n ( no cite for all aircraft ) So why can most pilots switch hands on the stick & throttle group with very very little to no training? Beach T-34 Trainer, throttle on the left, no problem with tight formation flight the first time in one. I had a couple of Swift Aircraft and several of us that had them flew formation, not Blue Angel close but close with the4 left hand on the wheel & the right on the throttle. No problems. \* I wonder why this is so as the throttle hand is doing fine motor control and the stick hand is doing both, just not at the same time. Flying requires a lot of large movement at times and real fine movement at others of the stick. But at many other things that are more or less similar, I can’t seem to get cross trained without hours, days or years of effort. ( example: quick draw, six shooter accuracy. I know a few who were almost naturals, some who learned & those like myself that have always sucked at it and never could get better. ( I have never had the $$$$ to shoot 10,000 rounds a week nor the time to practice that much. :::::: sigh :::: ) - Do not even try to do formation flying at home or without good instruction, flight abilities and communication, etc., etc… Don’t even think about. Chain it down and forget about. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/29 "2014-08-25T03:28:49Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > I know there are folks who are ambidextrous… but in general the vast majhoruity of folks are either right-handed or left-handed. > > Does one kidney work better than the other? > Does one lung work better than the other? Unlike organs with simple physiologic functions, many brain functions lateralize. The hemispheres of the brain are not functional mirror images the way kidneys are. For neurological functions that do lateralize, the corresponding portions of the brain on the other side will either be recruited for other functions, or not develop the same pathways as the side being used to execute the function most of the time. If you always do something with your right hand, the portion of the brain on the other side controlling the left hand will not get the same amount of practice and not create the same robustness of connectivity to control the function. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/30 "2014-08-25T03:52:46Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It is very common to have different prescriptions on each eye, or to have different hearing in both ears. Unless you have had an injury, your better eye and better ear are usually on the same side, but it is not necessarily the same side as your dominant hand. > [@thecavalry](#): > > My left-handed grandpa grew up in a time/country when all children were forced to use their right hand in school. My grandfather too, but he ended up being able to write with both hands. He could even write his first name with his left hand, and his last name with his right hand at the same time. > [@](#): > > To me, the weird part isn’t that people have a dominant hand (it makes sense to me that it would be better to train one hand really well than to train both hands superfluously). I find it weird that an overwhelming majority of people have a dominant right hand. There is a gene for right-handedness that is present in about 80% of the population. It is dominant, so you only need one copy to be right-handed. If you have an birth defect that effects your right hand, or left hemisphere, usually you will learn to do things left-handed just fine, but otherwise, if you have the gene, you wil be right-handed. If you don’t have the gene, you have a 50% chance of being right-handed, and a 50% chance of being left-handed. The result is that about 10% of the world’s population is left-handed. But some populations have slightly differently percentages. Ashekenazi Jews have about 20-25% lefties. Other populations very rarely have left-handers. > [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > and why do people use their dominant hand to pull the trigger on guns and their less dominant hands to hold the gun steady? > > > [@ethelbert](#): > > > > In the case of shooting a rifle, I suspect it has more to do with the dominant eye, but I really don’t know. Yup. In the Army, my basic training platoon had 70 women, and 10 were left-handed, in regard to writing. That’s very close to the expected 10%. When we fired our rifles, 5 of the left-handers fired right-handed, while 10 of the right-handers (including me) fired left-handed. All of us “opposites” got a quick test from the DSs regarding our dominant eye-- it had to do with them walking toward us with a piece of cardboard with slits, and watching which eye naturally turned when he got close enough that we couldn’t look through both slits, and had to switch to looking through one. All of us knew ourselves pretty well, and had called our dominant eye correctly. You pull the trigger with the finger on the side of your dominant eye, whether it is your dominant hand or not. FWIW, I scored very well in qualification, and there really was no difference between the dominant side, and non-dominant side shooters. If anyone cares, there is a dominant hand when you sign American Sign Language. If anyone wants more details, I can explain, but in short, you can tell a left or right hander by the way they sign; however, any experienced signer with an arm in a cast, or their dominant hand occupied for some reason, can switch-sign. You don’t switch mid-sentence, though. It looks weird. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179/31 "2014-08-25T04:32:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Unless you have had an injury, your better eye and better ear are usually on the same side, but it is not necessarily the same side as your dominant hand. I don’t know which one is my better ear, but I’m not so much cross-dominant as twisty: - dexterity, right hand. There are dexterity tasks which I can do equally well with both hands but the right hand tries it first. - strength, left hand. Again, I can use the right hand for strength tasks, but the left tries first. - eye, right (it’s also the one with better eyesight and always has been). - foot, left. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-one-hand-work-so-much-beter-than-the-other-one/696179.md?page=1)