Ambidexterity

[VinylxScratches]

I always wondered if I am ambidextrous. When I drive, I prefer to use my left hand only for turning while my right sits passively on the wheel. Opening doors is left handed. I write with my right hand. I just switched my mouse to my left hand and I can manage doing it. I feel more coordinated with my left hand. Is there a term for people that selectively choose what hand to use for certain functions? No jerking off jokes plz.

 

[zanejohnson]

<----- true ambidextrous..


i cant write great with my left hand, becaue i've never practiced... completely equal on either side in basketball... throwing objects... actually prefer to shoot with certain arms from certain places (not layups, that just depends on side of the goal for the most part)

weird facts though... i'm like a rare genetic something.. i got green eyes (which is rare something like 11 percent of population) i'm "left faced," super rare, i also have dimples on only one side of my face (left side) oh and i'm type o neg too

even stranger, i broke the tradition that went back generation of the first son having 2 boys and a girl.. i had 2 girls...

one got green eyes and dark hair, one got light hair and blue yes... mother is hazel eyed/brown haired...

 

[zanejohnson]

on another note, noticed your user name:

check out a little set i spun for some friends tonight
http://www.ntin.net/~zanejohnson/DJ&#37;20Contraption/2 sided sword.mp3

 

[destrekor]

Most ambidextrous people are better at different things with a certain hand.
So... the term you are looking for is ambidextrous?

I'm mainly right handed, but can use my left hand for various tasks with variable proficiency.

Anything that requires more fine manipulation of digits, certainly requires my right hand. And I am terrible shooting left-handed (my body doesn't understand what to do, and I'm right-eye dominant). Same with batting, or opening just about anything.
But driving, if I'm doing it one-armed (most often the case unless the road is treacherous or very rough) I'm far better with my left arm (far more control is arm-based versus specifically the hand itself).

For more benign tasks, I can use my left hand effectively enough, but most often I can do it better with my right hand.

I wouldn't consider myself ambidextrous though, as most "important" tasks I cannot do well at all with my left hand. Driving is just about the only thing I specifically do left-handed the majority of the time, and probably because I simply developed the skill with that method because I'd rather lean ever so slightly toward the middle of the car than I would prefer to lean toward the door - I feel more out of touch with the vehicle when I'm far off center like that. That, and I like to have my right arm rest on the center console/fold-down middle seat, and free to operate controls.

If I learned to drive in a right-side-drive vehicle, I'd probably drive right-handed.

 

[pontifex]

I thought ambidextrous meant you could use both hands equally, not just certain things with both hands?

 

[brianmanahan]

I ARE SPESHUL

yes, yes you are

 

[zanejohnson]

I thought ambidextrous meant you could use both hands equally, not just certain things with both hands?

who knows... i just know growing up i guess the docs told my parents i was.. so i've always just been... stuff like, dribbling, batting from both sides came naturally to me.. i was point guard on the basketball team because i could handle the ball both directions well...

could i pick up a pen and write legibly.. nah.. feels foreign.. but i've never in my life tried to practice that.. always wrote right handed..

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm right handed, but for whatever reason when I eat an ice cream cone, I use my left hand. No idea why, it's just natural.

 

[vi edit]

I'm borderline. I write and throw right handed, but I golf and bat left handed. I can also bowl pretty consistently in the mid 100's with my left hand. But finess things like writing are not that natural feeling.

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

My son is in first grade and I swear he is. He writes now with his right hand because the teachers have made him. He still throws right/left. He is learning basketball and is just as good dribbling and shooting left handed.

 

[zanejohnson]

My son is in first grade and I swear he is. He writes now with his right hand because the teachers have made him. He still throws right/left. He is learning basketball and is just as good dribbling and shooting left handed.

he more than likely is, i remember not understanding why most other kids couldnt dribble equally.. that i think was the first time i ever realized what it meant...

 

[Kaido]

There was a girl in my art class back in high school who was ambidextrous. She could draw with both hands at the same time. She got her artwork done in like half the time, too...I have no idea how her brain processed all that information, but I've seen it in action!

 

[vi edit]

My son is in first grade and I swear he is. He writes now with his right hand because the teachers have made him. He still throws right/left. He is learning basketball and is just as good dribbling and shooting left handed.

When I was in first grade I used my left hand for most writing and stuff like scissors. Then I broke my left wrist and was in a cast and immediately followed that up with a broken left collar bone. Over the 12 weeks or so of being gimped up on my left side I started using my right hand for writing and more dextrous stuff. But most sports I go southpaw.

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

he more than likely is, i remember not understanding why most other kids couldnt dribble equally.. that i think was the first time i ever realized what it meant...

I remember not being able to dribble worth a shit at that age with my left. He is running and switching hands no problem. Now if only he grows to be 6'9... Or maybe I can teach him to pitch lol.

 

[vi edit]

I remember not being able to dribble worth a shit at that age with my left. He is running and switching hands no problem. Now if only he grows to be 6'9... Or maybe I can teach him to pitch lol.

Keep him working on lefty. They are uber valued in baseball.

 

[zanejohnson]

I remember not being able to dribble worth a shit at that age with my left. He is running and switching hands no problem. Now if only he grows to be 6'9... Or maybe I can teach him to pitch lol.

nice, you should explain to him that since he can use both instantly he should always try to make sure he doesnt let one get ahead of the other, develop them both at the same time...

 

[ponyo]

Keep him working on lefty. They are uber valued in baseball.

pretty much. you can suck as left hander and still have a job.

if he's asian, lefty pitcher or NFL field goal kicker.

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

nice, you should explain to him that since he can use both instantly he should always try to make sure he doesnt let one get ahead of the other, develop them both at the same time...

Yeah he is working both, still learning the fundamentals, having fun. He was throwing the football the other day left handed and his coach was confused because he swore he was throwing right the practice before lol. We have quite a few left handers in our family, I wonder how ambidexterity comes about, I haven't done much research on it.

 

[zanejohnson]

Yeah he is working both, still learning the fundamentals, having fun. He was throwing the football the other day left handed and his coach was confused because he swore he was throwing right the practice before lol. We have quite a few left handers in our family, I wonder how ambidexterity comes about, I haven't done much research on it.

i dunno about the genetics of it, would be cool to learn, somebody wiki it....

he's gonna dominate in basketball/baseball if he hones those skills its an advantage

 

[CrazyAznDriver]

i dunno about the genetics of it, would be cool to learn, somebody wiki it....

he's gonna dominate in basketball/baseball if he hones those skills its an advantage

Meh I'd be happier if he was a doc like his mom lol, but sports were fun for me growing up, so I hope he enjoys them. 2 out of 4 of his grand parents are lefties 1 was ambidextrous when little and forced to be a righty in grade school. His mom and I are righties.

 

[zanejohnson]

Meh I'd be happier if he was a doc like his mom lol, but sports were fun for me growing up, so I hope he enjoys them. 2 out of 4 of his grand parents are lefties 1 was ambidextrous when little and forced to be a righty in grade school. His mom and I are righties.

well we know being x handed means usually one side of the brain is dominant too...

 

[Lemon law]

Having a dominant hand and eye is something shared by almost all humans. With right hand domination being about 10x as more likely as being left handed. And its extremely rare to find humans who are truly ambidextrous.

One of my best friends in high school and later was left handed and we found ways to turn that into a group advantage. As we found ways to wade the same creek to fish for small mouth bass without getting into each others way.

Later on in college I learned left handed people tended to be more creative, but paid a price in a statistically significant lesser lifespan.

Go figure as I too am baffled.

 

[0roo0roo]

I can mouse about 90% as effectively with my left as my right. Trying to play a fps game as a lefty and it breaks down though.

I doubt most folks claiming ambidexterous could switch hands wasd +mouse and play a fps at the same skill.

Some of you are making it sound like one hand is useless, ever play piano...or type

 

[MtnMan]

I always wondered if I am ambidextrous. When I drive, I prefer to use my left hand only for turning while my right sits passively on the wheel. Opening doors is left handed. I write with my right hand. I just switched my mouse to my left hand and I can manage doing it. I feel more coordinated with my left hand. Is there a term for people that selectively choose what hand to use for certain functions? No jerking off jokes plz.

darn, for that is the true test of ambedexterity

 

[CRXican]

I'm right handed but drink beer with my left. Can't let go of the mouse after all.