Learning to be Ambidexrous

Screech8710 · Jul 9, 2014

I have an itch, a curiosity really. Its not that I think my handwriting is superb and I'm looking for a writing challenge, but I'm curious about learning to write with my right hand.

My reasoning as to why I'm certain it is possible:
If learning to write clearly, neatly, and efficiently involves developing the fine motor skills involved, then learning to write with the other hand involves the same, although at a possible disadvantage once the dominant has been established. And, although there is a genetic predisposition to hand dominance, genetic factors can still be influenced by environmental factors and consciously (depending on what it is, i.e., hand writing). Basically, neuron connections for various tasks and related abilities can be strengthened by regular use, or weakened through neglect. For example, if you write regularly and with a conscious effort for improvement, the muscle memory created through the reinforcement of these connections will improve and you will have better control of your hand and arm for writing. One who does not write very often and who just scribbles out whatever it is that they write, will see a decline in their writing ability, or a weakening of that muscle memory and related connections.

What do you guys think? I plan to write with my right hand frequently, mostly working on letter formation in the beginning but then graduating to full words and short sentences, and so on.

Here is where I am beginning. I wrote this page this morning, using my left (dominant) hand for a short line at the top for purpose of comparison. The rest was written with my right hand.

Cynomys · Jul 9, 2014

That's actually not bad for an early start at writing with your off-hand. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do as well with my left (non-dominant) hand without a lot of practice.

I do know that in days gone by, left-handedness was considered a "fault" which had to be corrected, so lots of people who were left-hand dominant did learn to write with their right hand, although not by choice.

I have known a number of softball players who were naturally handed one way but who learned to bat with the other hand.

andrew98 · Jul 9, 2014

Because of tennis elbow in my right arm. I've been playing racquetball two to three times per week with my left. Your brain eventually figures it all out. I'm just lucky that my regular opponent was happy to switch to playing left handed when my injury showed up. It's been a lot of fun.

I think writing left handed would be tough but is something that could be developed. Anyway, you're off to a good start, and it'll be interesting to see how this progresses.

-Andy

Screech8710 · Jul 9, 2014

Cynomys said:
That's actually not bad for an early start at writing with your off-hand. I'm pretty sure I couldn't do as well with my left (non-dominant) hand without a lot of practice.

I do know that in days gone by, left-handedness was considered a "fault" which had to be corrected, so lots of people who were left-hand dominant did learn to write with their right hand, although not by choice.

I have known a number of softball players who were naturally handed one way but who learned to bat with the other hand.

Thank you. That actually took me a long time to write. I put a lot of effort into it.

I have heard that before as well, being left handed was almost forbidden and kids were taught to be right handed.

Screech8710 · Jul 9, 2014

andrew98 said:
Because of tennis elbow in my right arm. I've been playing racquetball two to three times per week with my left. Your brain eventually figures it all out. I'm just lucky that my regular opponent was happy to switch to playing left handed when my injury showed up. It's been a lot of fun.

I think writing left handed would be tough but is something that could be developed. Anyway, you're off to a good start, and it'll be interesting to see how this progresses.

-Andy

I agree. We are able to adapt to the circumstances that may hinder us, such as an injury. You may have a head start already since you have been using your left arm for a task that requires a good coordination and control. I hope your tennis elbow is bearable and that you are recovering well.

I will post progress from time to time.

Cynomys · Jul 9, 2014

Here are a couple of articles related to your quest and to left-handedness in general:

"The effects of making a left-hander write right-handed"
http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/children/changing-left-to-right.html#sthash.TGy4Wzv3.dpbs

"History of Handedness - Recent History"
http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/history_recent.html

The first article concerns forced conversion, not voluntary acquisition, though it may have something of relevance. As for the softball player I mentioned; if I am not mistaken, a number of ballplayers have trained themselves to be ambidextrious hitters. In her case, her father had two fraternal twin daughters and decided that the speedier of the two would make a great slap hitter. In this he was right - both of them got full ride scholarships to college. However, the switch was voluntary and was not attempted in other aspects of life.

celestino · Jul 9, 2014

Great endeavour and I wish you much luck! No reason why you can't succeed!

Screech8710 · Jul 10, 2014

Cynomys said:
Here are a couple of articles related to your quest and to left-handedness in general:

"The effects of making a left-hander write right-handed"
http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/children/changing-left-to-right.html#sthash.TGy4Wzv3.dpbs

"History of Handedness - Recent History"
http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/history_recent.html

The first article concerns forced conversion, not voluntary acquisition, though it may have something of relevance. As for the softball player I mentioned; if I am not mistaken, a number of ballplayers have trained themselves to be ambidextrious hitters. In her case, her father had two fraternal twin daughters and decided that the speedier of the two would make a great slap hitter. In this he was right - both of them got full ride scholarships to college. However, the switch was voluntary and was not attempted in other aspects of life.

Thanks for sharing these, they are interesting. I am skeptical of the first website and their articles though. For all of the issues that they suggest arise from left handed children being forced to write with their right hand, they do not have any empirical research listed support their claim. The "relationship" between forced change and issues, such as bed wetting, may not be from the change itself but the method behind it. The second article lists more potential causes for the issues, citing corporal punishments and pressure from educators and parents, and accusation of consorting with the devil, for writing left handed. These would be much more detrimental to a child who is merely trying to do what is natural to them, writing with their left hand.

The father who taught his daughter the bat left handed seems to be very clever. Left handed batters in baseball and softball are generally harder to pitch to for right handed pitchers. A batter that can switch to the left handed side of the plate can gain a slight advantage of the pitcher and throws the pitcher off of their game a bit.

Cratz · Jul 10, 2014

Doing this as an adult should be much less traumatic than being forced to do it as a child. Also, I don't think it's that big a deal to be expected to perform a certain task a certain way. Certainly, for a significant portion of history, western writing was intended to be done with the right hand. This is because we write from Left to Right on the page. Lefties have always had a problem with this, and I believe there are benefits, even for a lefty, to write with the right hand. Maybe not as much anymore, but certainly with wet inks there will be less of a problem with smearing if you are writing with the right hand. It is also easier to produce a right slant with the right hand, and many classic styles require the right hand.

I don't mean to come off all Right hand prejudice, I just hope I can encourage you a little. I've attempted left-hand myself, and I found it possible, if not pleasing. I can see how, with practice, I could become proficient at it. But there's no benefit for a righty to go left, to tell the truth. I readily admit that righties have the easier road to travel when it comes to writing.

Something that comes to mind is the violin. I started learning this instrument a couple years ago, and learned that there are very specific motor-movements that are required of the left hand. These are not optional, and nor are they natural. But to play the violin, it is required that a right-handed individual develop certain very refined skills with the left hand in order to play well. It has always been this way. It is not an option to simply move the violin to the other shoulder, because each violinist has to be in sync with the violinist in the next chair. So there are skills that must be learned with the right, such as bow movement, and skills that must be learned with the left, such as fingering and vibrato.

Screech8710 · Jul 10, 2014

Cratz said:
Doing this as an adult should be much less traumatic than being forced to do it as a child. Also, I don't think it's that big a deal to be expected to perform a certain task a certain way. Certainly, for a significant portion of history, western writing was intended to be done with the right hand. This is because we write from Left to Right on the page. Lefties have always had a problem with this, and I believe there are benefits, even for a lefty, to write with the right hand. Maybe not as much anymore, but certainly with wet inks there will be less of a problem with smearing if you are writing with the right hand. It is also easier to produce a right slant with the right hand, and many classic styles require the right hand.

I don't mean to come off all Right hand prejudice, I just hope I can encourage you a little. I've attempted left-hand myself, and I found it possible, if not pleasing. I can see how, with practice, I could become proficient at it. But there's no benefit for a righty to go left, to tell the truth. I readily admit that righties have the easier road to travel when it comes to writing.

Something that comes to mind is the violin. I started learning this instrument a couple years ago, and learned that there are very specific motor-movements that are required of the left hand. These are not optional, and nor are they natural. But to play the violin, it is required that a right-handed individual develop certain very refined skills with the left hand in order to play well. It has always been this way. It is not an option to simply move the violin to the other shoulder, because each violinist has to be in sync with the violinist in the next chair. So there are skills that must be learned with the right, such as bow movement, and skills that must be learned with the left, such as fingering and vibrato.

I don't think it would be traumatic at all, at any age, if it was approached in the right way. There are plenty of tasks that are easier to perform with the right hand, and lefties adapt their abilities in order to do these tasks everyday. A computer mouse, for a simple example, is set up for right handed use and few change them for left handed use (as far as I can tell). Your violin example is the opposite of this, where a right handed individual has to improve their abilities with their left hand in order to achieve a desired sound. We are all capable of making these adaptations to some extent. Although one hand will always be the dominant hand, the opposite hand can be just as capable.

Considering that the majority of the human population is right handed, it is only natural that the majority of objects, tools, and implements be catered to right handed individuals. Writing is an interesting one though. In Western society we do write from left to right, making it a neater task for right handed people, but not ever culture does. Middle-Eastern languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew (I think) are written right to left. Which is somewhat interesting, considering that right handed majority and now that you mention writing in Western languages.

ShaneStevens · Jul 11, 2014

Interesting exercise. I have always been just a tad ambidextrous, and have had students catch me writing right handed on the board without me noticing myself. I am a very strange lefty in that my letters slant the wrong direction and I position my hand exactly like a right handed person. My teachers tried to reposition my hand, but my stubbornness would not allow it to happen.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

rickcharles606 · Jul 12, 2014

As a fellow lefty who has been "forced" to live/adapt to a mostly right handed world, I find myself doing most everything with my right hand already. About the only thing that I do with my left hand is write and throw a baseball. I've always been a lefty and in the 4th grade broke my left arm and fingers, so I learned to write with my right hand. It wasn't great, but it got me through. Not too long ago, I played around with picking up a dip pen with my right hand, simply because using the dip pen for a lefty has a few more challenges than using a normal fountain pen. I found that I can use a dip pen right handed, but speed and quality are hampered dramatically, but with practice should be able to clean it up a bit. Your thread is going to make me try this at least once a week when I practice.

I wonder if more lefties have tried this, or have similar experiences?

Screech8710 · Jul 14, 2014

rickcharles606 said:
As a fellow lefty who has been "forced" to live/adapt to a mostly right handed world, I find myself doing most everything with my right hand already. About the only thing that I do with my left hand is write and throw a baseball. I've always been a lefty and in the 4th grade broke my left arm and fingers, so I learned to write with my right hand. It wasn't great, but it got me through. Not too long ago, I played around with picking up a dip pen with my right hand, simply because using the dip pen for a lefty has a few more challenges than using a normal fountain pen. I found that I can use a dip pen right handed, but speed and quality are hampered dramatically, but with practice should be able to clean it up a bit. Your thread is going to make me try this at least once a week when I practice.

I wonder if more lefties have tried this, or have similar experiences?

It may take awhile, depending on how much time you have available to devote to the effort, but practice will increase speed and quality.

I'm sure plenty of lefties have made the attempt, or at least played around with writing with their right hand.

Screech8710 · Jul 14, 2014

ShaneStevens said:
Interesting exercise. I have always been just a tad ambidextrous, and have had students catch me writing right handed on the board without me noticing myself. I am a very strange lefty in that my letters slant the wrong direction and I position my hand exactly like a right handed person. My teachers tried to reposition my hand, but my stubbornness would not allow it to happen.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

I think there is a wide variety of hand positions for lefties. I keep my wrist straight and come in from the left, with the nib of a fountain pen facing back towards my palm.

I have been working on letter formation regularly and will post some progress soon.

asingh · Jul 14, 2014

I was a leftie as a child. Mom migrated me to rightie. I can paint, type, hold things in a firmer grip with my left (still) though. Also when I reach for something, or catch -it- is usually my left. Specially involuntarily...!

Screech8710 · Jul 14, 2014

asingh said:
I was a leftie as a child. Mom migrated me to rightie. I can paint, type, hold things in a firmer grip with my left (still) though. Also when I reach for something, or catch -it- is usually my left. Specially involuntarily...!

Your left hand is still your dominant hand so, hypothetically, you will demonstrate more power and control with your left hand and reflex reactions will still include your left a majority of the time.

Screech8710 · Jul 16, 2014

Here is some work on letter formation. I'm still fairly inconsistent but improving.

Boro62 · Jul 17, 2014

I was a lefty when I was really young but was also migrated to my right hand. I write with my right hand....throw with my right...for the most part...but sometimes I'll involuntarily use my left for catching or when using utensils while eating..moving the cup to my left and using my left hand to drink...

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Learning to be Ambidexrous

Screech8710

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celestino

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