Are you lefty or righty?

[Andres]

Originally Posted by Leublu tennis

I'm a rightie all the way. But its amazing how many here are lefties. Isn't the overall population of lefties something like 10%? And, yes, in some countries the cultural tradition was to make everyone a rightie.

It's not. We are proud of being lefties, and that's why we post in this thread. You don't see every righty on this forum posting here. It'd be pointless

And yes, Argentina is (was?) one of those countries.

[Rickson]

Of course it's the righty way of jumping for layups and it's my stronger launching leg and that's why it's unusual that I prefer jumping over objects with the right foot rather than the left. One possibility is that because my left hamstring is more flexible, I prefer to launch with the right foot so my more flexible left leg is in front of me instead of trailing.

[mikeler]

I'm a righty, but played my less skilled high school teammates left handed for a few years just so I'd have a challenge when I played them. Now, if an opponent hits behind me or I just can't reach a backhand, I'll hit a left handed forehand. I have hit a few passing shot winners with the shot, but mostly I use it to throw up a defensive lob. The surprise on a new opponent's face is great when they ask after the point "Did you hit that left handed?". I can play ping pong equally good with either hand.

[Rickson]

It really is fun developing the off hand. I wish I could develop that lefty serve so I could do damage on the ad side.

[Andres]

Originally Posted by Rickson

It really is fun developing the off hand. I wish I could develop that lefty serve so I could do damage on the ad side.

Why don't you improve your kickserve, then?
A lefty slice serve will always bounce low. Most people find it easier to hit a hip-height BH return of serve than a shoulder-height BH return of serve

[FastFreddy]

I play tennis lefty but serve lefty and righty and hit overheads lefty and righty. My two hand back hand is really my hockey forehand(slapshot) I made a list since alot of people ask me if I am more lefty or righty. I am 50/50 certain things I am lefty and others righty and some I can do with either one. I can shoot my hand gun righty two hands and just as well lefty one hand. But when it comes to the shotgun I shoot righty but have to close my left eye. Since I am left eye domiant. I should try shooting the shotgun lefty then I will not have to close my left eye. I was told 13% of the world is lefty.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by crystal_clear

How to tell which my dominant eye is?

Which eye do you keep open when shooting things with a gun or shooting things with your finger? This is likely to be the eye that your brain choses as the dominant view? Try these links for some simple tests:

BASC Eye Dominance Test
Determining your Dominant Eye
Ocular dominance
.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by Leublu tennis

I'm a rightie all the way. But its amazing how many here are lefties. Isn't the overall population of lefties something like 10%? And, yes, in some countries the cultural tradition was to make everyone a rightie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-handedness

According to a couple sources, about 7-15% of the human population is left-handed. I recall reading an article quite some while ago that studies indicated that about 25% of the the population should be left-handed, but more than half of all lefties are coerced into righthandedness.


Any one see any figures on eyedness (dominant eye)?
.

[TennisNinja]

I'm righty, but if I was lefty it'd be a much bigger advantage!

[AlphaCDjkr]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

Do you also have a foot preference when kicking a football, a soccer ball (futbol), the dog, or your little brother?

Oh, I kick my dog all the time. I would just much prefer a little brother to kick, but all I've got are two older sisters (I could still kick them but then they would scream. Screw that.)

Um. I kick stuff with my right foot.

Wait, what? So I'm left footed... and right footed? What is this madness??

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

Note that you can also be left-eye dominant for right-eye dominant. This is not necessarily contingent on which eye has the superior acuity. I am predominantly left-handed but right-eyed. This makes me cross-dominant.

BTW, I am also right-footed.

I'm right eye dominant, with the whole "look at distant object through gap in fingers test", but when I shoot my friends' bow (hes crazy) I close my right eye... I leave my left eye open.

I see that I'm just of mess of pseudo-dominant preferences.

[Rickson]

This is why it's important to be ambidextrous and ambipedal. Practice kicking that soccer ball with both feet, use both hands for basketball, jump over objects with either foot, and throw baseballs with the left and right hand.

[AlphaCDjkr]

Originally Posted by Rickson

This is why it's important to be ambidextrous and ambipedal. Practice kicking that soccer ball with both feet, use both hands for basketball, jump over objects with either foot, and throw baseballs with the left and right hand.

Soccer? Baseball? What are these... things? I thought the world revolved around tennis.

Needless to say I'm quite hopeless at left handed tennis.

[Rickson]

Being American, I can understand not knowing soccer, but baseball is a must.

[Storm_Kyori]

I'm also hopeless when it comes to throwing anything with my left except for the tennis ball when serving.

[AlphaCDjkr]

Originally Posted by Rickson

Being American, I can understand not knowing soccer, but baseball is a must.

Its mostly that I dislike soccer and baseball in the first place. Its just me though. They just don't appeal to me

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by crystal_clear

Well, I use right foot to jump over a hurdle but my left foot is stronger (I stand my left foot alone longer than my right foot.) Am I right footed or left footed?

Originally Posted by AlphaCDjkr

Oh, I kick my dog all the time. I would just much prefer a little brother to kick, but all I've got are two older sisters (I could still kick them but then they would scream. Screw that.)

Um. I kick stuff with my right foot.

Wait, what? So I'm left footed... and right footed? What is this madness??

Perhaps footedness is not quite as simple or straightforward as handedness and eyedness (eye/ocular dominance). Most of us have a strong preference for a particular hand/arm for most, but maybe not all, tasks. Even tho' I throw primarily right-handed and perform a few minor tasks with my right arm/hand, I am primarily left-hand dominant.

With the feet it may vary a bit more for various tasks -- climbing stairs, kicking a ball, sprinting preference, hurdles, skateboarding, surfing, wakeboarding, snowboarding, martial arts, footwork & jumping patterns for various sports, etc. I would go with ball-kicking and starting foot preference for stair climbing as strong indicators, but I'm not really sure is these are really representative of preference most of our foot/leg tasks. Check these links for more insight:

CoachesEducation.com/sprints/george-payan-apr_02.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footedness#Testing_for_footedness

When kicking a ball, the non-kicking leg must support/balance the body for a brief time. The kicking leg/foot, however, might be quicker, stronger, more accurate or more coordinated. In the case of jumping hurdles, one may have a strong preference for which leg leads. However, it should be noted that, in this case, the opposite leg provides quite a bit of the initial leg drive. In the 1st link above, it appears that sprinters would also have a preferred leg (when setting up in the starting blocks).

Originally Posted by AlphaCDjkr

...

I'm right eye dominant, with the whole "look at distant object through gap in fingers test", but when I shoot my friends' bow (hes crazy) I close my right eye... I leave my left eye open.

I see that I'm just of mess of pseudo-dominant preferences.

So in the eye dominance test, the background view "jumped" when you closed your right eye, correct? If so, then you are indeed right-eyed. If you are closing your dominant eye when shooting a bow, perhaps you should try switiching to shooting with the opposite hand/arm so that you can use your dominant eye for aligning the target (aiming).

Take a look at the BASC link (and the other links) that i provided in my previous post for problems arising with shooting guns if the shooter is cross-dominant. Note that cross-dominance can be a problem for some types of shooting, especially if the eye preference is very strong. If is is a weak preference then it may not be a probelm at all.

On the other hand, cross-dominance can be an asset for batting in baseball and cricket or for shooting in hockey. For tennis, your eye dominance may make it somewhat easier to judge incoming balls on your backhand side than on your forehand side, or vice versa.

[crystal_clear]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

Which eye do you keep open when shooting things with a gun or shooting things with your finger? This is likely to be the eye that your brain choses as the dominant view? Try these links for some simple tests:

BASC Eye Dominance Test
Determining your Dominant Eye
Ocular dominance
.

I am left-eyed dominant while I am right-handed. So I am cross-dominant. What a surprising!

[AlphaCDjkr]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

So in the eye dominance test, the background view "jumped" when you closed your right eye, correct? If so, then you are indeed right-eyed. If you are closing your dominant eye when shooting a bow, perhaps you should try switiching to shooting with the opposite hand/arm so that you can use your dominant eye for aligning the target (aiming).

Take a look at the BASC link (and the other links) that i provided in my previous post for problems arising with shooting guns if the shooter is cross-dominant. Note that cross-dominance can be a problem for some types of shooting, especially if the eye preference is very strong. If is is a weak preference then it may not be a probelm at all.

On the other hand, cross-dominance can be an asset for batting in baseball and cricket or for shooting in hockey. For tennis, your eye dominance may make it somewhat easier to judge incoming balls on your backhand side than on your forehand side, or vice versa.

Lots of interesting info, thanks. I would attempt to shoot with my left hand instead, but I don't believe my left arm is strong enough to hold the bow steady...

Because the last time I tried shooting the bow with my right eye open, I shot the brick wall. Whoops. Then I had to run away as the spinning, rebounding arrow twirled toward me... (totally didn't even come near me though.)

And I've never actually paid attention to eye dominance for tennis, regarding FH/BH side... I think I'm going to test that out.

Thanks for all the great info

[Mdubb23]

Both. I write, eat, bowl, and golf lefty, and play tennis, throw, and shoot righty.

[jms007]

Extreme lefty. Write, play tennis, use scissors with my left...take shots in soccer with my left, though I think i pass better with my right foot as it's less "sensitive" and more stable. I throw like a girl with my right hand.