Lefthanded ???

[alivenwell]

Are you left handed?

[brain]

Born a southpaw but school made me
write with my right hand, therefore I
can write with both hands.

Technically, I do more with my left than
write. Wada tests and Neuropsych tests
revealed me to be left-hand / right side
(left hand) denominate. Hence why I had
such a severe rotor cuff tear on my left
shoulder (fast pitch softball pitcher on
my left - but oddly, was a slow pitch soft
ball pitcher on my right?) which required me
to have deep surgery and nearly 1 year
recovery and therapy, I still bear the surgery
scar.

My nickname is "Southie" (not from Boston,
thank you); and it's not just because I'm
a Southern Native, but also because I'm a
leftie, and partially because the Teacher
named me that - there were just too many
"Sharon's" in the classroom; so she had to
sort us all out. I did have a nickname of
Sherry, so did 3 other girls, but I'm not too
fond of Sherry except in cooking. However,
she noticed I was the ONLY left-handed one
and she just named me Southie, and it just
got stuck.

Then it became more of a "Team Sports"
nickname than anything else as well else.
People still DO call me Southie, and they
often assume I'm from "Boston" - NO I AM
NOT FROM BOSTON! (It gets really OLD,
trust me! I almost want to get a T-Shirt
that says - "No, I am not from Boston")



Honestly, I get confused sometimes when
I go in for tests and they ask me to write
with my right (or left hand) and my mind
goes B-L-A-N-K ... I forget which hand was
which. I have to look at them. Sometimes
they have to tell me or sometimes I have to
think of the keyboard Bass = Left, Treble =
Right. D'oh!

[forward2007]

I write and throw left-handed.

[brain]

Grab a ...

It was ONCE believed in Ancient history
that "left handers" were of the devil!
Don't believe me - go do your OWN home
work! Google it up! It's interesting!



Hence why many Schools made left handers
write with their RIGHT hands (such as it
were in my case - I attended a Private
Catholic School at first).

But the history goes beyond that - whereas
why the spiraling stairways goes one way,
ever think WHY? Because of the KNIGHTS!
Only "Devil Knights" who used swords on their
left hands would not be able to draw nor
fight in such cases!

It's interesting - so therefore - it was all
designed for the RIGHT HANDED PEOPLE ..

But then again ...

It's been said ... (I didn't say it, the Scientists
said it so take your complaints to them)

PEOPLE WHO ARE LEFT HANDED ARE
CONTROLLED BY THEIR RIGHT SIDE OF
THEIR BRAIN ...

So this means we're in our RIGHT MINDS?

[Bee91]

Good one!


I am right handed. But I taught myself how to use my left hand. In softball I can bat either way. I can only play the field right handedly (I have a right handed glove )

[speber]

Another Southpaw!




...but I play ALL music right-handed?....

...and I excel at Math and Science generally like a Left-brained individual?


...no WONDER my brain mis-fires!!!!!!!

[forward2007]

More than one of my neurologists has told me that 65% of lefties are left brained.

[Bee91]

More than one of my neurologists has told me that 65% of lefties are left brained.

Wha-What?! I always thought that if your left side of your brain controls you right side of your body and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body... strange...

[Bee91]

oh..wait I think I understand what you are talking about now....My bad.

[RobinN]

Recent research, published in the Royal Society Biology Lettersby Yale professor Gregory Dietl and Jonathan Hendricks of the University of Kansas, reveals that left-handed snails—ones with apertures on the left sides of their shells—are able to confound their predators, the crab Calappa flammea. The Yale researcher’s findings show that, much like right-handed athletes unaccustomed to dealing with their left-handed opponents, crabs find it difficult to eviscerate left-handed snails, opting instead to leave them be. The Herald sat down with Dietl to discuss this new scientific finding.

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=4703

Analysis of ancient cave paintings indicate that humanity was right-handed long before the Bronze Age.

There is strong evidence that prenatal testosterone contributes to brain organization. One theory is that high levels of prenatal testosterone results in a higher incidence of left-handedness. This could be why there are more left-handed males than females and also the increased incidence of left-handedness in male twins. See Geschwind-Galaburda Hypothesis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness (sorry to whoever doesn't like wikipedia)

Cross-dominance, also known as mixed-handedness or mixed dominance, is a motor skill manifestation where a person favors one hand for some tasks and the other hand for others. For example, a cross-dominant person might write with the left hand but grab primarily with the right. Ambidexterity is a well-known variant of cross-dominance, but cross-dominant people may also be left or right-handed rather than ambidextrous.

It can also refer to mixed laterality, which refers to a person favoring eyes, ears, feet, or hands on one side of the body. A person who is Cross-dominant can also be stronger on the opposite side of the body that they favor; for example, a right-handed person can be stronger on the left side. Cross-dominance can often be a problem when shooting or in activities that require aim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dominance

Here you go Spencer:
http://www.yoyoguy.com/info/ball/

[brain]

Another Southpaw!




...but I play ALL music right-handed?....

simple partial:

You can:

1) re-arrange your drums like I do to a
southpaw style! (I do - same with kettle
drums / tam tams / tim toms / etc - every
thing is reversed for me)


2) they DO sell southpaw guitars, including
bass - and have been, for years - my son's
a southpaw too. (Ain't that swell! Guitar
Makers Rock!)


3) steel drums often come in stands these
days, and you can adjust it, so you can
actually play them 'backwards', which I've
done just that - I play better that way than
the normal right-handed mode.


As for all other instruments - I've learned
to adapt .. only Russian Accordions which
are rare DO have southpaw ones but those
are antiques and vintage; I have NOT seen
any modernized accordions available for lefties.
But this isn't to state there isn't any out there
for southpaws! There could be, it's just I have
not seen any out there.


BUT I AGREE WITH YOU 100% on the other
instruments!

I've heard of being tongue-tied, but finger-tied,
YUP - that's true, there is such thing!

[brain]

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=4703


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness (sorry to whoever doesn't like wikipedia)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-dominance

Here you go Spencer:
http://www.yoyoguy.com/info/ball/

Robin:

Very interesting post:

I'm a Marksman, and 95% of my hunting with
weapons is on my left:


HUNTING

1) handguns - left
2) cross-bow, compound, long-bow - left
3) rifle - left
4) shotgun - right
5) blowgun & slingshot - right

-------------------------

Target Shooting:

1) handgun:
left denominates over the right
(I had 2 sets of guns one for each hand)
2) rifle:
left eye denominated over the right eye
with the exception of the shotgun for
some unknown reason, I just was not
able to fire a shotgun with my left eye,
it was right-eye denominate on the shotgun

NOTE: all my weapons were sighted at Target
Range always before any hunts.

---------------------------------------

I never had any wounded animals yet, all
mine were direct kills or instant shot.

[speber]

If I tried to juggle I'd hurt someone!...


Brainy, I tried South-paw style many times on everything I could in HOPES there was a hidden 'treasure trove' of skills I was missing out on.......
...no dice. Right-handed music man in a left-handed skin-suit....maybe that explains why I enjoy the more 'odd' music that requires me to 'stretch' my brain?

I think I'll try playing with my feet!

[Nancy]

One of the many, many tests the hospital ran/forced on me before surgery was to make certain I was as right-handed as I claimed. (I think my left arm and hand are just for decoration or something)
They were VERY concerned about cutting into the left side of my brain when only the right hand worked. The post-surgery testing has been a great relief for all of us.

hmmmmmmmmmm that makes me remember a really odd neuropsych test. I sat with a small "clicker" like an old Morse code thingy attached to board. I had to keep my thumb and three fingers firmly on the board and click the machine FAST with my index finger. The little machine counted my clicks for 60 seconds. Then I switched to the other hand and did it all over.......... Back to the other hand ......fast, faster, faster...... Back to the other. On and on. Whew.

I asked what on earth THAT had to do with my brain's working and the tech said it recorded a small but important part of how the brain acted with each hand.

[alivenwell]

I am probably cross-dominant primarily because I had to adapt to certain methods. Most scissors are right handed. They would give the left handed ones to me in school and I had a tough time using them. I knit right handed because that way I don't have to reverse all the instructions. I crochet left handed- that really messed my grandmother up trying to teach me that skill. I write left handed. I am ambidextrous playing piano. Piano music is written to specifically use certain hands for certain notes. It would complicate notation to constantly substitute fingering all the time.
I use a can opener right handed because I haven't found left handed ones. I play guitar right handed. Otherwise, I'd have to also constantly reverse fingering. I bat right handed and throw left handed. I walk my dog with either hand because she has ADHD and can't walk in a straight line. I think lefties have to constantly adapt to a right handed world.

[RobinN]

I remember my brother having difficulty as a teen because he was cross dominant and also one eye was stronger than the other. When they figured that out, he began to inprove in school.

[brain]

I think I'll try playing with my feet!

There's a guy that can actually do that!
On Ripley's Believe It or Not!

[brain]

I remember my brother having difficulty as a teen because he was cross dominant and also one eye was stronger than the other. When they figured that out, he began to inprove in school.

Here's a very simple test:

Take a quarter and tape it to the wall 10 feet away
5 feet up.

Put Your Thumb (either one) and
touch your nose and then extend
that Thumb straight outwards keeping
it aimed at that quarter and
having both eyes opened
and NOW:

CLOSE YOUR RIGHT EYE AND THEN
YOUR LEFT EYE.

THE EYE THAT THE QUARTER STAYS
CENTERED ON YOUR THUMB IS YOUR
DENOMINATE EYE!

(Yes, the eye that's not centered on
the quarter will "jump" off or move)

Sounds so simple - huh?

Go try it!

[Amy]

Hi Brandi, I too (still though) have the same question in my mind. can you pls explain?
Thx, Amy

[PurpleAngel]

I am mostly right handed, although I can write with both. I play all sports left handed, and I use scissors left handed. I am sure that it is because I have "lazy eye" and they messed up the surgery I had when I was 4. My vison in my right eye is 20/2000, so I use my left eye for everything.