Visit our online shop for your left-handed productsAdvantages of being left-handed
We often end up complaining about the frustrations of being left-handed, but there are plenty of advantages as well.
Here is a list that has been reported in various places recently – we have done features on most of these items before but it is nice to put them all in one place. It would be great to make this list longer as well! If you can think of any other advantages of being left-handed and, ideally, can provide some sort of research results or reporting to back it up, please add a comment below and we will expand the list.
10 Proven Benefits of Being Left-Handed
With only about 10% of the population being left handed, lefties are a serious minority. While they’ve endured a serious amount of prejudice (the word for left in almost every language has a less than positive connotation) and even aggression over the years, today, many left handed people are proud of their unusual handedness. And why not? After all, they have to survive and thrive in a world designed for those who are right handed. The next time someone teases you about your left handedness, bring up one of these facts that show that being left handed just might be a genetic blessing after all, offering you bigger and better abilities that can help you do everything from get a degree to kick butt at video games.
- Being left handed is an advantage in many sports. You might just come out ahead in athletics if you’re a lefty. Since most players are right handed, many are unused to dealing with those who are left handed. Take baseball for instance. Southpaws have the advantage of already facing first base when they’re at bat, can more easily keep an eye on first base when pitching and can cover a large amount of the field when playing in the outfield by having their glove in their right hand. Other sports that offer an advantage to lefties are fencing, boxing and tennis.
- Lefties have a greater chance of being a genius– or having a high IQ. Researchers aren’t sure why, but those who are left handed seem to make up a disproportionately large part of those who are highly intelligent. For example, twenty percent of all Mensa members are left-handed. When you consider that less than 10 percent of the total population is left handed, this makes for a lot of smart lefties. Some think this genius stems from being forced to use both sides of the brain more often, allowing these individuals to more easily process a large amount of information.
- Left handed men may make more money. All that genius has to lead to something, right? According to studies, left handed males who have gone to college earn 13 percent more than their right handed counterparts. The causes of this difference are unknown, but the gap is statistically significant enough that its not a simple anomaly. Oddly enough, however, the results are quite different for women, with lefties earning 5% less than women who are right handed.
- Left handed people adjust more easily to seeing underwater. Bizarre as it may sound, one of the benefits of being left handed is being able to adjust more easily to see the world around you when you’re underwater. While you may not need this ability very often, it could come in handy if you live by the sea or enjoy swimming. While it’s not quite clear why this is so, scientists think it has something to do with a different part of the brain being dominant in left handed individuals.
- Lefties are better able to multitask. One of the advantages of being left-handed is that it forces your brain to think more quickly. What this means for everyday life is that those who are lefties may find it easier to multi-task and deal with a large, sometimes unorganized stream of information. Researchers found that conversations between the left and right sides of the brain happen more quickly in left handed people. The more dominant the left handedness is, the better these abilities are.
- Some left-handed individuals have better memories. While it isn’t true for all who are left handed, data from recent studies suggests that those who come from families of lefties tend to have better memories, though only of the episodic kind. The odd thing about this study, however, was that individuals didn’t necessarily need to be left-handed themselves to have a better memory– just come from a family of lefties. These studies show that traits related to handedness may be passed down separately, though some lefties would prefer to think that their left-handed benefits just rubbed off on their right-handed counterparts.
- Generally, lefties are better at playing video games. Some of the traits that make lefties better thinkers and multitaskers also make them better at playing video games. Research conducted by Dr. Nick Cherbuin shows that lefties are better at handing large amounts of stimuli, making them naturally better at killing zombies, playing virtual tennis or fighting off alien hordes in the virtual world.
- Left handed stroke victims recover faster than right handed stroke victims. While the reasons behind this aren’t entirely clear, some believe it’s due to left handed people having to strengthen both sides of the brain when navigating a right handed world. Because many lefties are better able to use their non-dominant hand, it is easier for them to recover from a stroke that damages one part of their brain. Of course, recovery for those suffering from a stroke is never easy, no matter which is their dominant hand.
- Left-handed people are likely to be more visual than language-based, making them ideal for artistic pursuits. Research has shown that university students are more likely to major in visually-based, as opposed to language-based, subjects when they’re left handed. While another study — not comprehensive at only 103 students — showed that within the sample, 47% of art students were left- or mixed-handed. If you want to be an artist this is an amazing benefit, putting you in the likes of greats like Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Rembrandt.
- Southpaw drivers are more successful at learning to drive than right handed people. If driving came easy to you, it might have a good deal to do with your left-handedness. A driving school poll found that 57% of left handers passed their driving test first time compared with only 47% of right handers. This is pretty amazing, considering that most cars are designed with right handed individuals in mind.
Is this true in all countries, regardless of whether they drive on the left or on the right?
Here are some others to think about…
- Be a faster typist- on a standard qwerty keyboard there are about 3400 words that can be typed solely with the left hand, compared to about 450 words typed solely with the right hand.
- Less time in line. Studies show that most people veer to the right if there are multiple lines to choose from, but lefties tend to choose the line on their dominant side. A Disney World guidebook states that visitors will spend much less time in line for attractions if they choose the left-hand side when given an option.
- Get to choose your seat at the dinner table. Everyone knows you can’t sit next to a lefty, otherwise you’ll get your elbow bumped. Smart southpaws use this to their advantage to get a spot with more space. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work as well at a circular table.
- Have an easier time writing in Hebrew. Many Arabic languages, including Hebrew are written from right to left. This alleviates the problem that lefties have when writing.
Let us know what you think about these and add any more advantages you can think of by adding a comment below.
Less time in line. Studies show that most people veer to the right if there are multiple lines to choose from, but lefties tend to choose the line on their dominant side. A Disney World guidebook states that visitors
will spend much less time in line for attractions if they choose the left-hand side when given an option.
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Well, we all know that there aren’t always advantages…! Have just read an article on cracked.com that lists a whole heap of disadvantages:
http://www.cracked.com/article_19808_5-reasons-being-left-handed-screws-you-life.html
Not to put a downer on it all, but…!
Leftie- taught myself how to play the guitar, right handed player. Throw a baseball lefthanded, but bat righthanded.
Magnificent points altogether, you simply won a new reader. What could you recommend in regards to your publish that you simply made a few days ago? Any certain?
The visually oriented may very well be true . i’m great with all kind of arts i’ve tried the strongest being drawing. The only one i never tried was sculpting.
Although languages are my other strong points: i’m one of the top five best studenst in portuguese, i can score 97% in english tests without bothering to study, my teatcher oftently praises my extense vocabullary for an 8th grader learning a foreign language. and i get 5′s (1 being the worse and 5 the maximum grade) in french (tough i don’t like it much. i find it really annoying and the teatcher is obnoxious. It’s the only school subject everybody in my class hates)
little late to the party here(just like a lefty),but a couple of things seemed to be missing from the existing posts,and wanted to comment.played golf from a very young age(rightie),and if you play or know about the golf swing,the left is the dominant hand on the club.in fact,in warm-up and practice,one of the established drills is to take your right hand off the club and swing naturally.also have taken up guitar recently,as i cant play drums(very ambidextrous instrument,naturally) anymore due to some hearing issues,and chose right-handed guitar,again due to it’s dominating the industry.learned very quickly that chord changes and such are much more complex than strumming patterns(again,huge edge to the lefty).just some encouragement to lefties to find those things,even right-centric,that can be right(sic) on for us “freaks”(lol).lastly,and for my money most importantly,no king’s or world leaders have a left hand man,and if you know your bible,no one sits at the left hand of God.maybe when you get to heaven there will be a vacancy,and you can smile and take a seat.
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I wish that I had I teacher that is left-handed, like the teacher i had last year.
i am a lefty but my teacher is a rightie and she hates me because of that. I try and write with my right hand but it always turns out to be very bad handwriting.Can someone help me or i am going to jump of form to top of the school.
Tell that teatchers of yours that if she doesn’t like that caracteristic it’s probably because she’s threatened by your awesomeness…
I was thinking that with all the benefits of being left handed, why not try to make my future children left handed? For example, from birth just do most things with the baby’s left hand. Example, give a toy to the left hand, hold the left hand, put silverware in the left hand, and then put a writing utensil in the left hand. I was still writing with both hands at Kindergarten and was leaning toward my left hand, but my teacher forced me to write with my right hand and it stuck. I also wrote in mirror image for awhile. So is it a good idea to try to make my future kid a left handed person?
Kathryn In Kindegarten I did not have any problems my except for 1 time I was learning how to make the letter and I could not make it
An online friend just steered me to this site, and it’s been a fun read! I absolutely love being a leftie! So I’m a bit clumsy at times, and when I was a child I got left and right mixed up, and I always had a dirty left sleeve from dragging my hand across the page while writing with a pencil. Oh, well! I found it interesting that lefties tend to draw figures facing right, and in my case this was true. I’m also artistic, as many lefties are. Smart? I’d like to think so–LOL!
I never did learn to use left-handed scissors–they weren’t available, so I used right-handed ones, and now I can’t cut with scissors in my left hand. I use both hands for many tasks. I think many lefties learn to be slightly ambidextrous. When I learned to use a computer mouse a number of years ago, the mouse was always on the right side for my husband’s convenience. I never thought to switch it over to the left, so I learned to use a mouse right-handed. I type with a two-finger method and can go pretty fast.
I simply cannot fathom the prejudice in some cultures against left-handedness, but there’s no logic in any kind of prejudice, anyway. Left-handedness is something a person is born with. Our brains are wired a bit differently. If you try to force a child to use their right hand, you mess with their mind! I’m glad I live in a more enlightened age and place. No offense intended to anyone who feels differently.
I am also a leftie and find it quite advantageous. Both my parents were right-handed, however my younger sister and I are both left-handed out of five children.
I can do many things right handed because thats just how the world is set up and how i grew up; just accepting the situations and dealing with them and its not a big deal. The only thing that really irritates me is having to sign those credit card machines at the stores!
Also, when I write I don’t turn my paper toward the right; I keep it turned toward the left or straight! Don’t know why but its more comfortable that way and I don’t have to look like my hand is deformed while I am writing like some lefties do!
I do alot with my right hand to like use kitchen utensils and hold things
I’m proud 2 b a left handed coz i feel better during my work, i ‘m a Dental Surgeon as well as a Maxillo-facial Surgeon, during my operation procedure left hand make me more efficient than others as left sided procedure i can perform without moving my position/body but only move to the left hand as well as right hand i cam perform simultiniously,
thats why i feel proud………
Being left handed has an advantage if you use the mouse with your right hand because you can still write with your left hand, etc. and you don’t have to keep putting the pen down when scrolling on the computer.
These comments are so interesting! I never thought of the computer mouse thing, but it’s very true! And the keyring thing is one of the only right-handed things I can’t get used to. Drives me nuts!
That is so true
it boggles peoples minds at work when I do that 
I’m the same, I also use the mouse right handed. When I tried to use it left handed it felt so uncomfortable.
I use the same principle with the phone. Answer it right handed and it will leave your left hand free to write messages.
I am a teacher in a high school and I teach Geography. I find it very easy to draw the maps and diagrams on the black board while teaching. Students are surprised to see me writing with my left hand. I also type on computer with a fast speed. I am proud to be a left handed. thanks and regards.
I would love to drive a vehicle which should be left-hand drive!
[...] I subscribe to this newsletter so want to share 'top 10 advantages to being left-handed' here Advantages of being left handed | Anything Left-Handed happy Thursday Petra __________________ Miss Petra Ortiz [...]
I make a research about true lefties.
Can anyone who is true lefty is ready to fill a short survey for this?
Thanks
Ron
[...] While I certainly embrace my left-handedness, it can also be a nuisance. So, in honor of my two year old lefty, here are 5 advantages of being a lefty from Anything Left Handed: [...]
Quite a lot of these aren’t true in my case, I can’t remember anything, I wasn’t very good at learning to drive, I haven’t got good hand-eye co-ordination and I am not good at making decisions or multi-tasking, I do craft things like card-making, but they don’t always come out right.
When I was in my early sixties _ I’ll be 77 next month – my mother “confessed” that when I was very young, she would always switch forks and spoons, as well as pencils from my left hand to my right. My older sister confirmed this when I relayed this to her. I’ve always had tremendous eye-hand coordination – excellent at basketball shooting, pool and in the army had the highest scores in my company on the rifle and pistol ranges. I now believe that that these abilities were mostly due to using both hands for different tasks. I’ve always done many ordinary things as a lefty without really being aware of it until now – using a can-opener (as awkward as it is), playing cards, using a key, opening a door , etc. About 5 years ago, my wife showed me an aritcle in the paper of a Harvard study in which “other-handed” persons were more likely to have better memories – mine is excellent. I sincerely believe that if not for the if not for the idiotic prejudice vs lefties in those days – the late 1930′s in my case – I would not have had these skills. I just wish my mother had told me a lot earlier!
I hate to spoil the fun but this is terribly biased news
I believe for IQs the graph formed by left-handers consists of 2 humps as opposed to the usual normal distribution; this simply means that statistically yes, we tend to have higher IQs OR lower IQs… so it’s that we either fall short of the average or exceed the average. Many books on left-handedness will show this. I think it’s one of the most studied things in the left-handed corpus.
Most people don’t care if you do bump into them at the table, from my exp (using your left).
I think that it is an advantage in typing though. I’m actually terrible at it (given the amount I’ve to type) but the left-handedness compensates and I manage to pass as normal.
being a lefty i had a crucial time in my schooldays,but now I’m enjoying this rare gift…
Now I’m looking forward for a spouse who is lefty…
If you’re looking for a lefty spouse with the intention of having lefty kids, I have some bad news for you. Handedness is not inherited. What is inherited is the STRENGTH of handedness. For example, you could do everything left-handed and be able to do nothing right-handed. Your child could have the same strength of handedness, but be right-handed (not able to do anything left-handed). I write right-handed, but do a lot of things left-handed (some sports I am dominant with my left). My son is a lefty, but can do certain things righty. We are both considered “weak” in our handedness (by the way, his father is a righty, too – a very strong righty, too). Just thought you should know.
i am working as lecturer and i found it dificult sometime to write on board and see towards student at the same time but i am proud to be left handed ………….
too good!i am proud that god made me a left hander!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I was a Mortgage loan processor, I constantly used one of those big professional calculators which are all made for righties. With my right hand I taught myself 10 key by touch, meaning I could write in the numbers on the forms with my left, making me more efficient, and was soon the lead processor in the office.
I’m 23 years old, When I had found this web site I had discover so many thing’s about my self, and I had understand why some things happens, I had faced allot of problems in school but now I’m studying in college and I’m start getting a good degrees. I like sport’s and video games, and I’m studying computer science. Maybe the biggest problem I had faced that my hand writing in Arabic is terrible but in English I gauss it’s more better.
My writing in english is crap, but pretty fair in arabic, considering i’ve only written arabic like 1/500 the amount I write english. Try ‘speeding’ through your writing a bit.
I think eating left handed is much more efficient than te way righties do in the US.
They switch hands – cut the food, trade the knife for the fork and eat right handed.
My husband alhough a rightie is from Europe, so we both eat two handed – fork in left hand, knife in the right. Seems much less awkward.
I have always been lefthanded, and no one ever tried to force me to switch. However in my younger days, there were no left handed scissors, so I learned to use the right handed ones. Big surprise when I was in my 60′s I broke my right arm, and I was astonished to find all the things I needed it for. Door knobs turn to the right. Very frustrating
On learning to write at school, age 5, it seemed most natural to write everything mirror image from the right hand page into the middle of my exercise book. Fortunately, I soon learned to write the ‘normal’ way.
The most frustrating thing I find is trying to open a keyring to put a key on it. Whichever way round you turn it, the keyring opens the same side – it takes me forever!
I am left handed for finer skills like writing, sewing, using scissors etc, but use my right hand for sports.
I’m left-eared – cant seem to comprehend so well if I try and use the right ear!
I’m exactly the same! I do all intricate movement with my left hand and play all sports with my right hand. Also I have discovered my left hearing is better than my right. And I thought it was just me!
Learn to knit by sitting across from your instructor, ’cause it’s a lot easier to learn when actions are reversed for you. Then, when you’ve mastered that, sit beside an instructor and learn to knit right-handed. Then when you’re doing just straight rows of a stich you never have to stop and turn the knitting needles around to do the next row!
It works the same for if you’re learning to play the guitar! I used to mirror my instructor!!
I play guitar right handed, but one day a lefty firend of mine who also plays right handed was trying to show me a complicated riff and I just couldn’t get it. Then another lefty friend, who plays guitar left, came and sat down with his guitar. He showed me thr riff and I got it no problem! It was easier to learn by watching it being played the lefty way!
5% of the general population are left-handed. By the time you get to graduate school, 30% of grad school students are left-handed. Scientists thing that it’s because left-handed people’s left-side/right-side brains are more integrated from their daily using both hands more.
This is a query more than a a comment: Has any research been done on whether the percentage of left handers who get smoking related diseases is higher or lower than the figure for right handers? I ask because I am 80 years old and have been smoking for 60 years with no ill effects so far.
I don’t know about anyone else, but my sense of direction is terrible. I regularly get lost in my own hometown, whereas my mother, who is also naturally left-handed, has a wonderful sense of direction and never gets lost. My father, on the other hand, writes with his right (see what I did there?) and has almost as bad a sense of direction as I do.
I’ve noticed that I have a much stronger grip with my right hand than I do my left. My doctor even commented on it. Perhaps I’ve developed the stronger grip to compensate for the lack of skill?
When I took calligraphy, I had a hard time too, until I figured out how to make the letters backwards. It worked wonderfully for me and my writing was among the best in the class, even though I took longer than most people to write out the assignment.
As for being visual and artistic, I’d say that’s true for me too. I always learned better when I had some sort of diagrams or even just notes on the blackboard to work from. I don’t learn very well with a teacher lecturing and me trying to take notes while listening. When it comes to art, I can’t draw to save my life, but I do make beautiful jewelry.
Hi, so many interesting comments on here. I am a true lefty. Left handed and left footed. I write with my pen and hand straight and tilt my paper. Always have done although as a child in reception my old fashioned teacher used to make me write with my right hand. Consequently I can write with it neatly but it’s not comfortable. I can also do mirror writing with ease and it’s a bit of a party trick to be honnest. I can write perfectly neatly and legibly backwards and joined up. Plus I can read this mirror writing quite easily. The best trick has to be bring able to read upside down. Fab for reading to the kids in bed… But incredibly handy for reading other peoples notes in meetings…!!!!!! I read somewhere that it’s only lefties that can do this mirror writing and only circa 5% of those as well… So I feel very special being left handed!! I live in the uk and believe me learning to drive I found gear changes easy but omg my steering took a long time to master!! I love being left handed but it’s silly things that I find frustrating… like buttons on a photocopier on the right, those stupid desk and chair combos at colleges that make trying to get a file or pad and pen plus your hand on it a bit of a nightmare. Plus putting tickets in tube station ticket machines.. I just can’t do it with my right hand so end up looking very awkward. Sports were definitely fun- rounders, table tennis, fencing and bainton… Always found it an advantage to be left handed. But hockey… Hmm that was harder!
Hello Amanda,
Can i you fill a lefty survey for a work i am doing about lh ppl?
Thanks
Ron
I grew up with family members who are all righthanders. No one, even the in-laws were and are right-handers. I was taught to use my right hand when using a scrubbing sponge, an auto wax applicator and a pair of scissors. I now use both hands to achieve these and other task. This has made me feel more balanced than the average right-hander. I tend to see things with my inner visualization and can copy images that come close to the actual item I am drawing. I believe lefties are more versatile and adaptable, we have to accomodate to the right-handed world. Even my home’s kitchen is designed for a leftie, though not intentionally. My Mom was the only one who was truly ambidextrous, and I did learn a lot by watching her. Imitation is the first form of flattery, and Mom was truly a miracle in human kind.
I am from the US and I am 68 years old. I have had to adapt as all of you had to. Back then I don’t think anything was made for a left hander. I learned to play baseball right handed because we only had a right handed glove. I went to a Catholic school but was never made to switch hands. Did you all know that it is easier for a right handed child to learn how to tie shoes if they are being taught by a left handed person. You sit face to face and tie their shoes as a left handed person but the child see the process as right handed and vica versa. A left handed child should be taught by a right handed person.
Gary,
I agree wholeheartedly about learning to try your shoes. My older sister tried to compensate for me left-handed-ness by reversing how she tied her shoes when she taught me how to tie shoelaces. Consequently, I am 50 and still cannot tie my shoes to stay tied without concentrating on the tyeing. I tie them half way as a left handed person, then reverse the process, so my bows are perpendicular to the initial tie. I was 30 when I made a friend of mine work me through it one step at a time. I look forward to when I can wear Velcro shoes that do not look dorky. Probably next year.
I don’t know if this happens to you too, but it drives me crazy when after buying something and paying by credit card the shop assistant ALWAYS holds the receipt for me to sign and tilts it to my right, and when I try to take it in my hands and incline it to my left they look at me like what the hell are you doing? and explaining that I cant sign with it positioned like that gets tiresome not to mention that sometimes they don’t understand it.
I have had a similar experience…when the clerk places the receipt for signature…I just smile and turn it the other way….most of the time they are not holding on to it….if they are….I just wait a second and do the same….no one has ever commented back a word.
I’m nearly 65. My father refused to let me use my left hand but I did when he wasn’t looking. I always use my cutlery the ‘wrong way round’. I can read very easily upside down and can read and write backwards with ease – apparently something lefties find easy. But I am an atrocious speller – is this common?
Always been both Artistic and mathematical. Tremendous sense of spacial awareness so don’t get lost and can think in 3D.
Also found left foot breaking in an automatic car very easy to learn.
Love being left handed.
I’m not sure being a good speller has anything to do with being left-handed. I’m left-handed, but I am an excellent speller. Maybe it’s because us lefties use the visual side of our brains a lot more. So, I guess it is easier for us to ‘see’ words in our mind’s eye once we’ve seen them on paper? It would be interesting to do a study on this though…..
I know what you mean. I made it to the school spelling bee finals in middle school, and whenever I think of a word, I ALWAYS see it written god knows where in my mind.
I completely agree, I read a lot and whenever I need to spell something I picture it in my mind. I don’t know about you, but when I talk I can see what I’m going to say in my mind I just do it without even thinking. Not sure if that has anything to do with being left handed or not.
Greetings from Malaysia, South East Asia.. I do agree with controlling both the pedals with your left foot while driving an automatic car. We drive right handed here.. Once i was relaxing my right foot near the right corner aircon while driving with my left foot. The passengers in the cars that overtook me stared at me.. I just smiled and dove on happily knowing that i can do something that <10% (not all lefties can drive with their left foot) of the entire world population of 6billion (and growing) knows..
My left arm has always felt heavier more deliberate steady and powerful. My right has always felt lighter quicker but not as strong. Id say like thunder and lightning if i were a boxer fast quick jabs with the right a knockout club with the overhand left. Has anyone else noticed a difference like that?
Whenever I ask anyone if they have a different feeling in their left and right arms they look at me as if I’m completely mad! It’s good to know someone else has this experience.
I think it’s an advantage to be a leftie.
For my job, I can use the computer mouse with my right hand and take notes at the same time with my left hand, and call at the same time. Quite a multitasker!
Only one difficulty: writing on a white board, because while writing you’ll wipe everything out that you just wrote.
One of my best friends, a leftie, sent me this link. She knows I’ve had a “thing” for left-handed men but have never dated one. Years ago when I played raquetball I never had any problem bumping into my partners on the court until I played another right-hander. Realized then that my previous 3 women partners had all been left-handed and obviously wanted to be on the opposite side of the court to play their forehand. Years later when my son played lacrosse, the program director pointed out that he was so successful at lacrosse because he played the sport left-handed even though he wrote with his right. I hadn’t realized it. When asked, my son said he batted left-handed too. It’s harder for goalies and defensemen to defend against a leftie.
I don’t understand the getting a better seat at the table one. If you are using a knife and fork in the correct manner then you are using both hands. The only advantage left handers have is that the left hand being dominant they may have better control over their fork than a right hander may do. Can anyone explain what is meant by this one?
Being left handed, I don’t sit on the right of right-handed people. This usually means that I’ve got a corner at the table, which gives me more room. This minimizes the chance to bump someone’s arm, glass or other things when dining.
If you are bringing the food to your mouth with your right hand, and the person next to you is bringing the food to their mouth with their left hand, the arms and hands bump each other. This isn’t the same as cutting food, which is used with both hands.
What was meant I believe is that left handers get placed at the head of a long table or an end. This has always been my expierence.
It was not until I was an adult that I became aware of the switching of the hands for cutting. My mother was older when I was born, so, aside from the basic manners, I think she just gave up. I was taught to eat- unknowingly at the time – in the continental manner, so my fork and knife never change hands. My sons, however, mimicked their father and eat American style.
I started thinking of my placement at the table at an early age….
I always try to sit at the end of a table so I don’t bump elbows with the person next to me, which is generally a right handed person…it sure makes eating more pleasant…lots of my friends now realize what I am doing and are always accomodating : )
I’m a lefty and I eat american style, with my left hand. And I always sit on the left corner of the table. Afew years ago I badly sprained my right wrist playing tennis. When that happened I learned to use the sideof mt fork to cut my food and eat with only one hand. I also now playe tennis and badminton with my left hand where previously I played with my right hand.
Hi dear Cat
As a left-handed I suppose your question can be answered by keeping this famous proverb in mind: “practice makes perfect”. suppose there are lots of people who were samples of lefties but following some bad events such as a terrible accidend they lost their left hand and started to use their right one in an appropriate manner.
I wish you the best my dear
Tayeb Hassan-pour, Iranian university studend majoring in English lg. translation
I think being left handed has both advantages and disadvantages. At cricket i was effective as a left handed bowler. As a golfer I think left handers tend to “slice” more than right handers. Also most golf courses are designed to catch the leftie “out of Bounds”. As a student, a long time ago Chemistry titrations with a burette was difficult for left handers. The same applied to Physics experiments involving parallax, refraction, focussing etc.
I agree that in general lefties record higher IQs. Of course lefties cannot play hockey.
Leftys can’t play hockey? Since when? I played hockey when I was a child. While my stick was made for a right handed person, I used it the way I did my racquets and other things and drove the other team crazy. Everyone always shouted that I was playing wrong. Coach then realized that I was left handed. Just adapt to what you’re given and use it to your advantage.
Was that a joke that left handers can’t play hockey? 90% of the NHL are left hand shots despite many being right handed.
Well I don’t know what the NHL hockey sticks are like but I remember playing hockey at school in the UK and it was extremely difficult with a right-handed stick as the bottom part is curved on one side. As a lefty, holding the stick the other way round (left hand lower for better control instead of right) the curved part would be the bit you had to hit the puck with and it just doesn’t work! The sticks were quite heavy (wooden) and it was really tough to control them the ‘right’ way. Not sure if I’ve made sense..
What do you mean leftys can’t play hockey? I play left handed and have a big advantage over the righties. The never know where I’m gonna shoot since I can go both ways. When I play goalie however I play right handed simply because that is the equipment I had to play with. But my right handed brother cannot play goalie right handed, he plays left.
In Field Hockey it’s not allowed.
Had to laugh at the comment about having an excellent sense of direction. I am renowned in the family for not having one! I can get lost going round a roundabout!
As I live in France I am also driving on the “wrong side” of the road. It’s far easier to change gear with your left hand than the right or is that just me?
Me too… perhaps it’s the name as well as the left-handedness! I have a dreadful sense of direction, and often come out of shops and head off confidently, only to have to turn around before too long…
Well, I was pleasantly surprised at the not getting lost. As a left-hander I’ve found myself to be excellent at directions. Once proper directions are given to me, I tend to find the place first time. But I never attributed this to being left-handed.
Here in the USA we often use the drive up window at restaurants and drug stores. Our left arms stick out the car window so we leftys are always more efficient at using drive up windows.
Nearly all powered woodworking equipment are unsafe for leftys, especially circular saws. When Porter Cable came out with a left handed model I got one. Now I have a good excuse for not loaning it out
This is not exactly an advantage, but it does indicate how one adapts to the right handed world.
I got a left-handed corkscrew. When using a right-handed corkscrew, I put the tip of the screw in the cork, hold it steady and upright, and then turn the bottle. I have used the left-handed corkscrew in the normal manner. However, I have found when I extract the corkscrew from the cork I have become so used to the way a right-handed corkscrew works that I screw the cork I screw it into my hand.
It is fun, however, to hand the corkscrew to a right-hander and watch the show.
I believe we left handers are more observant than our right-handed counterparts. Over the years (I’m 64 now!) I’ve done my own amateur market research and asked left and right handers at random if they notice someone is left or right. Invariably the right-handers don’t BUT left-handers always are aware if a person is left or right. I worked with a colleague for over 3 years and close to my leaving the company, writing at her desk, she commented, “Oh Stevie, I didn’t realise you were left-handed!”
Has anyone else made these observations?
Lefties Rule!!
Ya, I noticed the same thing – we lefties always notice each other, while right-handed people never notice!
Yes !! Especially while watching TV or reading magazines. I’m always looking for one of us out there.. and I can strike up conversations easily with them as we…
I agree, Stephanie! I always notice if a person is left or right handed. My husband, who is a righty, NEVER notices unless I point it out!
Watch people applauding. Most people kind of hold up one hand and clap the other one into it. I, a lefty, hold up my right hand and clap my left hand into it. My few left handed friends say they do the same. On the other hand (pardon the pun) right handed people I’ve asked hold up their left and clap their right into it. My quick and totally unscientific observation of groups of people applauding finds most people holding up the left and clapping with the right, which would correlate with the majority of most groups being right handed. Try to clap opposite from the way you instinctively do. It feels weird.
I am left handed in most things, however I must be clapping right handed as I hold up my left hand and clap my right into it. I am also right eyed and eared. My brain must be really messed up..
Stephanie:
I believe this to be true. I’m always watching people’s movements and make comment when I notice that someone’s lefty. You are also correct that rightys don’t notice this at all. They seem to assume that everyone else is right handed.
My hubby and son are right handed, which I feel sorry for them on. It still drives hubby wild that I’m always veering to the left, especially at the grocery check out. We don’t wait in line much when I’m “driving”.
Yes, it’s almost instinctive. I love spotting other lefties!
I myself am always on the look out for fellow lefties. For everyone else who does the same, it is most likely because like anyone, and everything else, we need to find a sense of belonging, which is with left handed people, which in turn are rare, so we are constantly on the look out.
Definitely! Often it’s a give away if someone wears their watch on the right wrist (not always). I don’t consciously seek lefties out but I often notice if someone is one and feel an immediate kinship with them!
Haha! Yeah lefties are wayyyy more observant that righties! I notice who is left handed by looking to see which hand they use on a touch screen device like and ipod or iphone. I take public transit so I have the opportunity to observe lots of people. We lefties notice eachother! Right handed people are oblivious….
Your comment made me laugh – I had been close friends for 13 years before she realized I was left-handed !
Oh absolutely! I always notice whether someone is left handed. If you remember the dancing cockatoo on YouTube, I noticed that the bird was left footed! Watch it and see if you don’t think so, too.
Lefties are often ambidextrous. When I played baseball, I pitched and played center field. I could bat right or left handed and can play billiards the same way. When I was in Columbus ,Ohio for a seminar, we stopped at a left handed shop. There wasa sign that read “I used to be right handed, but overcame that handicap”. I would love it if this site would have a store for us lefties. I find the learning capacity and memory of lefties is true. While in college, the only courses I had to buckle down and study were Accounting some electives, and Abnormal Psychology. Folks, maybe there is a shop out in cyber space for lefties. Do a search.
I’m not at all ambidextrous – I’m useless with my right hand, and use it generally as my carrying hand, leaving my extremely dominant left to do all the work!
Got to agree with you Anne! I’m very left-hand dominant!
That’s why I’m proud do be a lefty haha and I’m very good at sports such as my favorite one Tennis, Table Tennis, Badminton and other hand-eye coordination sports.
Go all of us lefties
I love badminton and my coach (a rightie) said that he’d noticed that many lefties were better players with a wider range of shots. Our forehand plays to the opponents backhand which tends to be their weaker one so we can win shots easily… but we’re also strong on our own backhand because we most often play righties and so get to practice using ours a lot meaning the rightie is stumped. All in all, we can return ‘difficult’ shots with more ease than many right handed players!
left-handed people are smarter!!
im left-handed and i often get straight A’s…and guess what?? 4 of my cousins are also left-handed and two of them also get good exam reports!
this is year i was offered to go to my state 2nd best achived high school at first i was afraid that i would be considered “different” because of my left-handedness but i was supprised that a lot of the students there are also left-handed!!
If I have another life I will choose to be lefty again and again and again.
lefty have excellent sense of directions, they do not get lost that easy.
I’m afriad i can’t agree – my snese of direction is hopeless!
As a left handed person, i feel privileged and opportune because i always stand out wherever i find myself. It is unique being a lefty.
Ditto..
Oh yes!!!
Since polar bears can’t write, how do we know they are left handed?
All lefties can not write, wich means that all bears are lefties – CLARO.
Happy Christmas Steen.
What was said about strokes & brain hemorrhages should also apply to Alzheimers. I have read that more intelligent, more active persons suffer less from the symptoms, even though they have as much physical brain damage as other victims.
By way of a little correction…lefties are not facing first base, but their backs are towards it, making it a bit slower to have to turn all the way around to run, but nevermind, we do seem to manage! Lefty batters are difficult to pitch to, which is why the ability to “switch hit” is so valuable.
Lately I have noticed a great deal of “left handed” actors in commercials here in the USA, both in print and on TV. I put LH in quotation marks because I get the feeling that they are doing some trickery and reversing the angle, after the fact. I think this is done because the dominant world will prefer to read the text in an ad on the right side of the page or screen and if they make the actor seem LH, it clears the way for an unobscured shot of the person holding a fork or pen or whatever. The thing is–as a lefty I can “tell” that it is often faked, because the hand and actor look awkward. But I guess it shows the righties really need us! Anyone else notice this?
Happy Holidays to All
Actually as a Mom of a lefty who play softball who is also a switchhitter , their back is faching 1st base initially but when they hit the ball and follow through with their swing properly they should be facing 1st with at least 1 or 2 steps closer to the base giving them a good lead running. I have also found most switch hitters are predominatly left handed.
The article was speaking of pitchers, not batters.
He was referring to pitching with a runner on base. In that case, the pitcher is facing first base when attempting to pick off a runner.
New to the club and WOW lots of details of interest. Point of interest, after my
brain surgery I started eating with left hand. Told it my surgeon and he woke up
and wrote it in his Dr’s recovery notes. Raised in the Napa Vally on a pear farm. My
grandmother who was a handsome woman resembled Elanore Roosevelt with arms like
Pop Eye would tie my left arm behind me with rope during meals. Probably should
thank her.
I have to say that, while there is a cognitive ability in being left-handed while gaming, any advantage is lost, due the the lack of left-handed controllers (for all non-PC gaming units). I find this very frustrating, as do other left-handed gamers, because no-one makes left-handed controllers. Perhaps this would be a fruitful endeavour? Using a right handed controller means that the buttons are on the wrong side, so your reactions are slower. Argh!
Don’t need a left-hand controller. I can’t use a mouse with the buttons set up for leftys because there was no choice when they were first made. Most game controllers have dual buttons and the ability to decide how they’re set up, so this should solve your problem.
I don’t even think about it.
Not for me though. I’m a natural lefty and also a natural gamer.
There are something I do not understand – we have 12 commandments, and I can see, there is a lack for the next two.
Number 11 is:
That all “lefties” are better looking than anybody else, and a Cochrane will confirn it, I think…
The 12 commandment Is:
That all “Lefties” can do every thing better than everybody else. We just need a little time extra.
Greetings Steen
I agree left handed people need a little more time. Well that’s my experience in school my teachers considered me intelligent but I always needed more time to understand some concepts.
Possibly we are more visually oriented?
I needed more time on simple concepts. I’m still that way. I couldn’t make cookies until I was 39 and cried when I was finally successful.
If it’s something complex and obscure, I’ll get it in miliseconds. If it’s something simple and easy, my brain can’t believe that it’s as simple as that and I need to really get my head around it.
Still drives some crazy that I’m this way. Oh well.
I’m the same about seeing the difficult and yet tripping over the easy. An example: Although I passed geometry with B’s I’ll always wonder how because solving for theorems in plane geometry was extremely difficult, and I often came to class with many neatly drawn but unworked problems. However, when the occasional problem came up that no one else could solve, that would be the one problem that was a piece of cake for me. I found solid geometry easier, too. I would just see the problem in three dimensions in my mind. As I think back, now, I think I got through plane geometry with extra credit problems in solid geometry.
I sometimes spend up to 3x as much time on my calligraphy as a right handed person simply because everything, including EVERYTHING has to be done right handed, not because of smearing the ink, but rather because of the shape and direction of the stoke. It drives me nuts that I have to turn the paper many times to write one character. It’s quite irritating. Also, anyone else have the issue of spelling >becasue< like that before spell check?
Ahmed:
I don’t have trouble with because my trouble is with b’s and g’s. I’ve typed gabbage and bargage too many times to count. I have to stop and think before I type those words.
Left-handed fencers (like myself many years ago) have a most definite advantage over the others. When facing a left-handed fencer one faces a totally reversed situation and the fencer loses time and is disoriented enough to very often lose matches!
Of course this is true even for the left-handed fencer, when he or she faces another lefty…
Quite true! I used to fence, and I recall once hearing an opponent moan in despair when he saw that he was up against a lefty! It was always worth at least one point, I always thought.
Having to do a secretarial course soon after the war, I tackled shorthand. I started doing it from right to left which seemed sensible (no smudging and quicker) but was told off by the old dragon. “How would anyone else be able to read it?” I should have told her they could have used a mirror. By the time I was working my boss used a tape recorder. Am very glad of the touch typing now, though.
I’m a retired University lecturer. It was a great advantage to use the left hand at the blackboard so I wan’t obscuring from the students what I was writing or drawing. On the downside, all the equipment like slide projectors and overhead projectors in lecture theatres are designed for right-handers, but I’m ambidextrous because at my very first writing lesson at primary school, the faggot of a teacher whacked the knuckles of my left hand with her wooden ruler and insisted I go right. I can vouch for stroke victims recovering; my career was brought to an end when Fate delivered a brain heamorrhage (called “stroke” by some but I’ve since learned that’s a bit of a bucket term). So I had a close encounter with the Grim Reaper. While on the operating table, I had a discussion with the neurosurgeon (yes! it is possible; the brain has no pain receptors – the only anaesthetic is a local at the femoral artery in the groin where a catheter is inserted). I commented to him that the arrangements in the operating theatre were distinctly biassed toward right-handed neurosurgeons, but he said he could manage on either side, so we went on to talk about my specialist subject – geology – in the context of his hill-walking interests, while following the action on an enormous screen – I am priviledged to have seen inside my own brain with blood surging along some of the principal arteries. The aneurism (we with brain damage get to learn a lot of greek!) was on the right side, so I am blessed with a certain left side ataxia, but my clinical psychologist reported >>in writing<< that she could find no cognitive deficienclies – so life is converging towards normality.
I was on vacation in New England. My brother said we had to house sit a house in Woods Hole, Mass. I balked at this idea, but went ahead anyway. No TV and one little cd player. There were pics of the ocean floor everywhere.I kept wondering “Who is this person”? While we were minding his house< Bob Ballard, a PHD in geology, found the Titanic. I still wear a hooty bearing the name Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. What are you interested in? National Geographic has some good books on geology. Do you like Civil War, Jazz, baseball. Ken Burns produced and directed some of the best documentaries on the forementioned. I got mine at Amazon.comHe recently did another series on the National Parks. any questions, ask
I had a teacher tell me that I was a child of Satan because of being left handed. It was her last day on the job after I told my mom about it at lunch.
There are two leftys amongst us kids, and my daughter is also left-handed. The only disadvantage is that some of us can be dyslexic. I still have some trouble with b’s and g’s on the keyboard. Had to help my daughter with this when she was learning to read.
I also altered the way that I hold a pin because I got tired of the side of my hand being black or blue from dragging in the ink. People don’t immediately notice that I’m lefty because of this. My eldest brother still writes with “the hook”.
Mahva, I was so sorry to hear what your teacher said. I hope you have gotten over that completely. If the good God did not want left handed people in the world he would not have created us so. It’s horrible that people can be so prejudiced about it. None of my teachers ever said anything so wrong, but a few tried to change me.
This world would have already blown up if not for us lefties. We keep things balanced since we can see the whole picture better than the left-brained among us.
I’ve been in Accounting all my life and I can do my work faster because I use the calculator with my right hand and write down the figures with my left. I don’t have to stop and put down or pick up the pen to write.
I’m wondering about the driving study, because Brits drive on the opposite side, unlike the rest of the world, so perhaps that might give Lefties the advantage. I live in the US and always felt I’d be way more comfortable driving that way.
Understand – one of my first driving mistakes soon after I was on the road, was one day pulling onto the wrong side….and the disturbing thing was that for that fast moment (till my passenger began to complain loudly) it felt so right.
Brits are not the only ones in the world
i was born a left hander,in country where the steering wheel is on left side,like most of world,and i havent found any difficulty when it comes to driving..moved to another country,traffic like in UK,and it took a while to get used to a wheel on right side,because now,my dominant hand was changing gears,instead of firmly holding the steering wheel..Im able to drive both ways perfectly,but prefer wheel on the left side,with safety in mind 
I learned to drive in the US, so on the left side of the car, but have been fortunate enough to spend time in 3 different countries (including the UK) where I drove on the right side of the car. Although driving opposite of what you learned originally takes some concentration at first, it becomes rote after not too long of a time. I was disappointed, however, the first time I drove the “British” way… As a kid, I used to shift gears for my mom while I was sitting in the passenger seat in the US (so with my left hand). I always imagined that in the UK, the stick shift would be mirror-image, but it’s not… So was disappointed to find out that I still had to push the stick away from me for first gear. I was lucky enough to have had practice “shifting backwards”, so shifting from the right side wasn’t a problem for me… Still seems that first gear should be towards you and up, even from the right side of the car….
What a pity that so many L-Handers write ‘hooked’. I hold my pen in the normal way and am often complimented on my handwriting. A question of being taught properly when very young! However, I do agree that calligraphy is very difficult for us lefties, even with a reverse oblique nib. I know because I’ve tried.
I am the same way as you margaret. i hold my pen the normal way also and receive many complements about my handwriting. i tried mimicking those lh who write hooked with the paper straight it just doesnt work for me at all! i prefer holding my pen straight with the paper tilted to the side.
I also write with my hand straight, I cannot imagine that using the hooked arm way is at all comfortable. I have also been told my writing is good.
Ditto
I also tilt my paper when writing and do not hook my hand. I have very nice writing…it was a little hard sometimes as a teacher due to right handed equipment…
Same for me. Totally understand!
Writing hooked is not about proper instruction in every case. I wrote holding the pen the normal way until I was about 13. Then I had a teacher who constantly critiqued my writing, and the only way to placate her was to start writing hooked. If that had never happened, I probaly would never have started.
Not going to make assumptions as to teaching/learning practices. My handwriting is terrible because I choose to write as I wish. There are times, as late as a few days ago, where I’ve written something and couldn’t begin to tell you what it was.
When I do wish to write for others, it takes me forever because my brain’s going thousands of times faster than my head and I’d much rather type whatever it is I’m saying. I type at nearly 100 wpm, so it’s more efficient. I’ve taken to just typing whatever I need and handing that to the person.
I was taught to write well and do not write with a hook. My paper must be aligned horizontally so that the lines are vertical on the page. Never cared as to whether or not someone liked my handwriting.
i agree with hebrew would be easier to write for lh people. I ‘ve tried writting backwards many times and it seems to just come natural, like that’s the way we should be writting.
I can also write backwards very easily
I love mirror writing! I often do it when I’ve got writer’s block or feel a bit bored and feel like it gives me a creative boost!
I find that I can use the mouse with either hand, so that if I need to use the number pad on the keyboard, I can still navigate with the mouse left-handed. It is useful to be able to write lefty while mousing or talking on the phone on the right, but I do find that I tend to be left-ear dominant. I answer the phone, then have to switch to the other ear so I can take notes!
I’ve also made the case for getting special pens for writing at work. I have to write a fair amount in my job, and I hook my left hand. I avoid some of the tendonitis that I used to get by having very smooth pens that are the envy of others in the office.
Using computer;if you use the mouse in your right hand from the start, then your left hand is free to write notes-big advantage.
Mr.Angus what u said is 200 percent correct.
Don’t righties do the same? I haven’t payed attention to that.
Yep love this one!
There are many advantages to being left handed, except one! Calligraphy! As I am a hooked left hander, it has been difficult to learn this. I have, however, conquered most of it, but have cursed many times the fact that I am not right handed!
oh, I totally agree about lefties doing calligraphy. I took a class and was so frustrated as my hand blocked the lines/strokes I was making. When I began the class, I didn’t even realize I need to buy left-handed nibs for the pens!
I remember I used to do the caligraphy as a must-do, not as a like-do so I did it quickly and badly. In fact, I could write beautifully in my notebook, but not at my caligraphy- until much later on.
‘THE KINGS SPEECH’ is a must for us lefties, he was of course, a converted leftie who had a cruel, domineering father, who ridiculed him.
My theory is that LH people are more resistant to communicable diseases than our RH cousins, no magic, we shake hands with our right hand but touch our face with the left!
Did you know that all polar bears are LH [ they can also be cannibals but we wont go into that here!]
Regards
Peter
How about selling some LH Keyboards??
i never thought of that theory peter and i can see the logic of it. we do shake with the right hand and touch the left side of our faces. well at least i know i do all the time!
Intriguing theory! Would that be an evolutionary advantage though..? In which case you would expect left handedness to be on the increase if it were completely gene driven..
Of course sneezes affect everyone.. :-p
I agree with the place settings alright!
It is especially useful when one does not want to sit next to somebody … just use the hand preference to change places!
We lefties do have an advantage at the dinner table! That fork is set by our dominant hand. Ever notice that righties have to reach over their food to get their fork, risking dragging a sleeve through the stew? Or they have to use two hands, picking up the fork in the left and handing it to the right. Either way they’re slower to start digging into dinner. I always point this out to righties when they make a sympathetic comment as I take my place at the left corner of the table. They don’t seem to notice that they are at a disadvantage with the place setting, OR that I got to sit next to the most interesting person at the table!