Left-handed? Right-handed? Ambidextrous?

[kingcreole]

My son is in kindergarten, so he's 5 going on 6 in April. To this day, we don't know what his dominant hand is, which I find bizarre.

The queen is a lefty, I'm a righty. Our princesses are both righties. The prince, however, is doing things with both hands. During preschool, when he was learning to write his name, he would literally start writing his name with one hand, and finish writing with the other. One day, he would color with his left hand. The next, he would color with his right hand. When he was learning to throw, he would throw with both hands, and neither looked awkward.

Nobody has pushed him one way or the other. We figure he'll eventually do whatever is most comfortable. Now, it seems he is going to write with his left hand, but ... he plays basketball like a righty. He bats righty. He throws righty. His dominant foot for soccer seems to be his right foot.

Anyone here ambidextrous? Just curious to hear any other stories like this.

 

[forever_town]

My right hand is dominant. I write with, throw footballs or baseballs with and do almost everything righthanded.

When I was learning strokes in the swimming pool at summer camp as a kid, the counselor who was teaching us proper form was a lefty, so I learned to come up for air on my left hand side. I've been told that's usually what lefties do.

When I used to play pick up soccer, I used to be more accurate with my left foot than I was with my right. I'd hit harder with my right than I would with my left, but I was more likely to get the ball where it needed to go with my left.

I once threw a frisbee with my left and people who saw it commented. Eventually, however, I ended up being able to throw farther with my left than I could with my right. The kicker is that I can only throw a forehand with my right hand, but if I want to throw DEEP, I'm using my left to throw a backhand.

 

[User 1019]

Bats right, throws right, eats left.

 

[LongTimeListener]

You can make $750,000 a year being left-handed, and you don't even have to be good. Mike Magnante made more than $5 million in a career that started at less than mediocre and declined for 10 consecutive years.

Break that kid's right elbow right now.

 

[bumpy mcgee]

My right hand is dominant. I write with, throw footballs or baseballs with and do almost everything righthanded.

When I was learning strokes in the swimming pool at summer camp as a kid, the counselor who was teaching us proper form was a lefty, so I learned to come up for air on my left hand side. I've been told that's usually what lefties do.

When I used to play pick up soccer, I used to be more accurate with my left foot than I was with my right. I'd hit harder with my right than I would with my left, but I was more likely to get the ball where it needed to go with my left.

I once threw a frisbee with my left and people who saw it commented. Eventually, however, I ended up being able to throw farther with my left than I could with my right. The kicker is that I can only throw a forehand with my right hand, but if I want to throw DEEP, I'm using my left to throw a backhand.

I too swim "lefty". I play pool and guitar lefty and am left-footed, but other than that, everything else is right-handed.

 

[SpeedTchr]

I can do only one thing well with my left hand...

 

[BrianGriffin]

I'm right-handed. But I remember struggling to hit in pee-wee baseball, then one day I turned around at batting practice and swung left-handed and it was like an epiphany (had a similar epiphany two yeas later the first time I wore my new glasses to BP). I've been a left-handed hitter ever since.

Years later, as a very bad late-night pool player, I was playing one day and as I lined up an inevitable miss, I heard somebody comment that I was left-handed. I had never really paid attention, but indeed I played pool left handed. Not something I ever thought about, just what was natural. Later, I figured out that I would cut my steak left-handed (again, not thinking about it). Made it easy because the steak knife was in my left, the fork in my right. No need to put either down.

That's about the extent of my left-handedness as far as I can tell. Don't know if I was forced to be a righty early and the lefty stuff just naturally came out later, or if I just do some things lefty and some righty. I don't think I'm ambidextrous because, for example, I couldn't DREAM of trying to write legibly with my left hand. And I remember trying to learn golf and after some initial struggles swinging right-handed, I decided to try swinging left-handed, since I was a left-handed hitter. If I was bad swinging a golf club right-handed, I was downright ugly trying with lefty clubs.

So my advice is don't worry about it. The kid will figures out what works best.

 

[apeman33]

I can eat with either hand, which comes in kinda handy because I can only manipulate a knife with my right.

My dad was a lefty in an era in which they tried to force you to be right-handed. My grandmother told my dad's teachers to leave him alone.

We had a girl a few years ago who set records as a softball pitcher. I asked her dad one day who taught her to bat left-handed. He said that she was naturally left-handed but learned to throw with her right because when she first started playing, nobody had left-handed gloves anywhere in their little bitty town. So, yeah, she was a dominating pitcher with her off hand.

 

[kingcreole]

My brother-in-law is a righty, even in golf. But my wife taught him to hit when he was little, so he hits left-handed. My wife is a lefty in every sense, but plays golf right handed.

I can't do anything with my left hand. Well, that's not entirely true, but you get the point.

How many people are truly ambidextrous? Be kind of cool if the ol' prince is.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I do everything right-handed except grip lids and play pool.

 

[wedgewood]

I'm a little screwed up. I write with my right hand, but bat and kick lefty. I golf righty, though. Correction: I golf horribly, righty or lefty.

 

[Versatile]

I can eat with either hand, which comes in kinda handy because I can only manipulate a knife with my right.

My dad was a lefty in an era in which they tried to force you to be right-handed. My grandmother told my dad's teachers to leave him alone.

We had a girl a few years ago who set records as a softball pitcher. I asked her dad one day who taught her to bat left-handed. He said that she was naturally left-handed but learned to throw with her right because when she first started playing, nobody had left-handed gloves anywhere in their little bitty town. So, yeah, she was a dominating pitcher with her off hand.

Jim Abbott was supposedly naturally a righty. I can assure you he didn't pitch with his right hand.

 

[Chef2]

Every time I see the word "ambidextrous"......I think if Kilborn......."ambidextrous and amphibious"

Have a good friend (who absolutely despises Phil Mickelson) whose 4-year old boy LOVES to golf. The kid is right-handed at everything else except golf. We call the kid "Little Phil" much to the outrage of his father.

 

[Ace]

I am not ambidextrous, but some things I do left handed (write, eat, throw, bowl) and some things I do right handed (scissors, tennis, golf, bat, kick).

Not sure why.

 

[Songbird]

My son is in kindergarten, so he's 5 going on 6 in April. To this day, we don't know what his dominant hand is, which I find bizarre.

The queen is a lefty, I'm a righty. Our princesses are both righties. The prince, however, is doing things with both hands. During preschool, when he was learning to write his name, he would literally start writing his name with one hand, and finish writing with the other. One day, he would color with his left hand. The next, he would color with his right hand. When he was learning to throw, he would throw with both hands, and neither looked awkward.

Nobody has pushed him one way or the other. We figure he'll eventually do whatever is most comfortable. Now, it seems he is going to write with his left hand, but ... he plays basketball like a righty. He bats righty. He throws righty. His dominant foot for soccer seems to be his right foot.

Anyone here ambidextrous? Just curious to hear any other stories like this.

My parents didn't notice I was a lefty till 6th grade. Yet I'm both:

throw with right, kick with left
switch-hitter
write with left
eat with left
scissors with left, knife with right
don't play guitar, but when I strum it's lefty

 

[Ace]

There are things I can only do left-handed, things I can only do right-handed, and things I can do with both.

Can only play a guitar lefty. Can only shoot a basketball lefty.

Can only eat righty. Can only write righty.

I can throw a football equally well with either hand. But I can only throw a baseball righty.

But I'm weird.

king,

Does it may you feel better to think your son will grow up to be like me and Creosote?

Best of luck!

 

[Chef2]

I can eat with either hand, which comes in kinda handy because I can only manipulate a knife with my right.

My dad was a lefty in an era in which they tried to force you to be right-handed. My grandmother told my dad's teachers to leave him alone.

We had a girl a few years ago who set records as a softball pitcher. I asked her dad one day who taught her to bat left-handed. He said that she was naturally left-handed but learned to throw with her right because when she first started playing, nobody had left-handed gloves anywhere in their little bitty town. So, yeah, she was a dominating pitcher with her off hand.

Jim Abbott was supposedly naturally a righty. I can assure you he didn't pitch with his right hand.

boo.

 

[Clambake Clem]

My two year old steams the ball at me with his left. I look at Darren Oliver and Jim Poole and pray he keeps it up. Daddy needs a new Benz.

 

[bigpern23]

I'm right-handed, but I cut steak, drink and open jars mostly with my left hand.

I look like a complete spaz if I try to throw lefty. It's quite ugly.

 

[kingcreole]

There are things I can only do left-handed, things I can only do right-handed, and things I can do with both.

Can only play a guitar lefty. Can only shoot a basketball lefty.

Can only eat righty. Can only write righty.

I can throw a football equally well with either hand. But I can only throw a baseball righty.

But I'm weird.

king,

Does it may you feel better to think your son will grow up to be like me and Creosote?

Best of luck!

My son never had a chance with me as a father any way.

Watched him eat his cereal this morning. He held the spoon with his right hand.