Sisal, regarding handedness, I'm right handed for anything requiring one hand (writing, shooting, fencing, throwing, racquet sports...). Yet, for anything requiring two hands (golf, hockey, lacrosse, and baseball), I'm left dominant. I wonder if this is a general trend. Let me just consult with my dear friend, Mr. Google.
aquinas, do you think you're truly right-handed for the one-hand activities and sports? I wonder if perhaps you are right-handed at those things because when you were little you weren't showing a dominant hand preference and you were subtly encouraged to use your right hand for them - nothing forceful, it just happens in our society. I'm left-handed, and I grew up playing golf, baseball, etc right-handed - not because I would have naturally chosen to, but because for instance, in PE at school there were no left-handed mitts. The first times I played miniature golf (and later real golf) the people showing me how to play were all right-handed, so that's how they showed me to hold the golf club and so that's how I played. I also can't cut using left-handed scissors, but I'm not all that great at using right-handed scissors - I'm just very used to them because when I was in kindergarten and we had to use scissors, there was only one pair of left-handed scissors and about 4-5 left-handed kids, so not enough to go around. I suppose I'm just enough ambidextrous that it all worked out ok, but I was never great at any of the sports I played right-handed. Many years later, as an adult, one of my friends in a softball league wanted to know why I didn't bat left-handed. I thought I didn't bat left-handed because I "naturally" batted right-handed, but I tried batting left-handed for him just to show him I couldn't. I was only *half* correct about the "couldn't" do it - it was clumsy at first because I had no idea how to coordinate eye/hands/bat etc to come in contact with the ball when I was facing the opposite direction and holding the bat differently than I had for years. OTOH, when I finally *did* connect with the ball it went further than it had *ever* gone in all the years I'd played softball... and I realized... I really was better at batting left-handed - I'd just gotten into a habit early on in life that made me think I was meant to play sports right-handed. I found the same thing out with kicking the ball for soccer too once I tried it with my left foot.
Two of my kids are right-handed and left-eye dominant - and I wonder a lot about whether or not they are really right-handed. My dysgraphic ds is tough to know - not having a dominant left-or-right is part of being dyspraxic (which he is). He's always held silverware etc with his right hand and written with his right hand, but he tried writing with his left hand just for fun a few years ago and it looked much neater than with his right hand, even though he'd never tried it before. Take all of that with a grain of salt - he's dysgraphic and *none* of his handwriting is legible enough to rely on, so who knows. But my dd9 - who is not dysgraphic and has legible handwriting is also very athletic - and she does everything sport-related left-handed. She's left-eye dominant. I wonder a lot if she's truly right-handed for handwriting or she just started with the right hand because that's what she saw other people doing or because one of us put a pencil in her right hand.
Sorry for the ramble - I find the whole eye-dominant vs handedness issue interesting!
polarbear
