South-paw ?

[P.C.]

Just a simple curiosity.

I am amazed at how many left handed people there are.

 It came to me when I used to work at a golf course, and the huge percentage of left handed golfers....or golfers who are left handed. (there's a difference.....A lot of left handed people golfed right handed)  It became apparent when we were constantly running out of left hand club rentals.  The Golf Association 'guidelines' says that only 5% of golfers are left handed....and in my experience, it was MUCH greater.

I'm less curious about if you golf....just left hand or right handed, period.

[kingy]

im right handed, but if i do sports like baseball, hockey, golf, i swing left handed. if you take a look at most hockey players in the nhl, they shoot left handed but i bet most of them are right handed.

[P.C.]

Now that's unusual...(I think).  I know of many left handers that will do sports RIGHT handed, but seldom the other way around.[/DIV]I'm SO right handed....I can't even watch TV left handed....or talk on the phone left handed.[/DIV]Seriously.

[kingy]

if you really want a challenge, try brushing your teeth with your left hand...

without hurting yourself.

[weird al]

Why are there more right- handers than left? Doesn't seem to be anything definitive out there. I have my own theories (about everything, natch, that nobody ever agrees with...well, hardly ever), but I wonder what everybody thinks about this. Pretty big discrepancy - 9:1 or 7:3 or thereabouts.

[kitten]

That is strange.  There were six of us in my immediate family, and only one was left-handed.  She learned to become ambidextrous when she broke her left arm, But she still prefers her left hand for anything that requires precision.

[P.C.]

Well, I wasn't joking about not being able to watch TV left handed.....as ridiculous as it sounds.  If I am seated in a chair or couch, and 'prop' my head with the leaning on the elbow position.....if I rest my head, in that postition on my left hand....I have zero comprehension of what I'm watching.  Same with talking on the phone....I don't understand what I'm hearing, if I'm holding the phone in my left hand.

Is there anyone else that is that affected in this way

[weird al]

Are you a leftie or a rightie? As a right-hander, I need the phone to be in my left hand so I can take notes, etc. with my right. It definitely feels odd to have the phone in my right.  Btw Ali G. is on at 10, followed by Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, two of the best things to ever hit the idiot box.

[kitten]

Now that's really different.  It seems to be a natural disinclination that has  slipped into a complete aversion.  Since your mind totally rejects that left-handed leaning position, it will be very uncomfortable when forced into it.[/DIV]That has really got me curious.

[P.C.]

It IS odd....and I know that.  I was just curious if I'm an odd-ball.

I remember this story that they did on 60 Minutes years ago, about a young girl in grade 6, whose parents were called to the school to discuss their daughters illiteracy.  They were dumbfounded, as they claimed their daughter was an avid reader.  The 'professionals' explained it was common for people who were illiterate, to go to great measures to cover up their problem....often going through the motions in an exaggerated manner.

The parents started quizzing their daughter on the contents of what she had said she was reading....comprehension was clearly excellent.  The teachers on the other hand, had the opposite results.

They disected the issue with a fine tooth comb (to condense this) only to discover that the child read in the same chair, in the same position at home ALL the time. (head on the foot-rest of a recliner, with feet and legs up the back of the chair.)  After lengthy testing, realized that this position 'tilted' her brain to allow her to read.  Of course this option was not available to her at school.  So it turns out, both the parents AND the teacher were correct.

Weird.  A bit off topic, but interesting.

[P.C.]

No lefties yet ?   Hmmm, me thinks my theory is in the terlet again.  

[kitten]

Not necessarily.  The person who knows the answer just hasn't turned up yet.  (I think he's fasting on a mountain in Tibet!)  

[P.C.]

I wish there were a way of getting a clearer picture of this.  It's something I've been curious about for years.  Apparently my Dad was a south paw, who was forced to become 'normal' as they classed it back in the day.  He did everything right handed in the years that I 'knew him', but found out when he was older, that he was firmly 'persuaded' to use his right hand.  My son is also left handed, but plays most sports right handed.  I lean towards thinking that left handed people have talents and skills that are often left untapped because of tools and such favouring right handed people.

I remember when I clued into my son's left handedness, and bought him proper scissors for 'crafting' etc......it was like I opened a new world to him.  I knew he was creative and observant of all things beautiful, but it wasn't apparent from the 'work' he put out.  He was also dyslexic, but that's a whole different ball of wax.  

[kingy]

i know back in the day, south paws were pretty much discouraged to use their left hands. my boss who is older and left handed said that when she was in school, she would get her hand smacked with a ruler if she used her left hand so basically, you have to learn to do everything with your right hand.

it may have something to do with the left being associated with the devil.

[kitten]

Yeah, that's right.  They tried to make my sister ino a right-hander, but at that time you had to learn penmanship with a fountain pen, and the ink kept smearing across the pages.  So they finally gave up and her marks improved considerably after that.