Lefties vs Righties

tim913

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Have studies been done to see if left handed players have an advantage over right handed players or vice versa. I was reading that left handed bowlers, boxers and fencers have an advantage due to the differences of left/right brain functions in interactive sports. Something to do with spatial dexterity, 3D imaging, and attentiveness. Weird stuff!
 

tim913

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think the bowler’s advantage had something to do with the spin on the ball over righties
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I don't have any studies but I'm a bit different than most because I play golf right handed, play baseball right handed, swing a hammer right handed but write left handed and play pool left handed. Essentially power is on the right and finesse is on the left - never have been able to figure out if it's a plus or a minus.

Oh, and can't shoot with right hand to save my life.
 

Rusty in Montana

Well-known member
Just remember this if a right handed person uses left side of the brain and a left handed person uses their right side predominantly this means that we left handed people are in our right minds ha ha
I don't know of any study done on it but I've heard that a left handed player is harder to hook while playing pool .
 

MmmSharp

Nudge is as good as a wink to a blind bat.
Silver Member
I know that In boxing and fighting in general lefties advantage is attributed to being more familiar and use to an right handed opponent. A righty is not use to fighting a lefty but a lefty is use to fighting a righty.

I can't see pool having an advantage. Head to head competitive sports like boxing or tennis creates repeated actions that a lefty will do differently so it throws off the opponent's game when they react to it. I am a lefty and i dont see ant advantage. I am jealous of those right handed pool cues. Guys with those cues beat me every time.

I never thought about bowling. But that makes sense about the oil breakdown. The less use side of the ally is more reliable.
 

VarmintKong

Cannonball comin’!
You’re right Tim, that was quite the slog. I guess what I get out of it is that handedness is more important in an interactive sport where early recognition of your opponent’s movements allows you to predict what’s coming and counter accordingly.

As far as the pool table goes, I think it’s important to keep your opponent’s handedness in mind; don’t try to leave a shot that would be hard for you, but one that would make it hard for your opponent to set up naturally for. We have to think about reflections and mirror images regardless, right?

On the flip side, when working with someone try to put them in a comfortable position to slot for their next shot. I screw this up all the time with my wife, who shoots opposite of me. I’ll set up a pattern or drill and when she steps up to the table, I can see her struggling to settle into her stance.
 

dquarasr

Registered
I can attest to the bowler's scenario. When the overwhelming majority of bowlers are right-handed, they first spread the lane dressing (the oil used to lubricate the wood or synthetic lane material), down the lane, delaying the bowling ball's hook and power into the 1-2 pocket. Then, as more bowling is done on the lane, the oil begins to get picked up by the bowling balls, forcing the bowlers to move left and/or change equipment with different hook potential or break points as their normal delivery hooks more. This redistribution and removal of the lane oil by the balls was even more pronounced with the advent of reactive resin bowling balls in the 90s.

As has been stated, lefties (assuming there are few), don't need as much adjustment or wild and numerous equipment changes during matches.

It's one of the reasons I gave up bowling: I'd walk into a bowling alley with two bowling balls and adjust to the changing lane conditions with technique; other bowlers would simply break out a different $200-250 bowling ball of the four or six they'd bring in, and continue to use the same speed, hand positions, releases, or lines.
 

hotelyorba

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think those of us who play pool left handed are just naturally more intelligent and more gifted.
I agree and me being a lefty has nothing to do with that, I promise.

On topic, I heard many times that lefties are more creative, something to do with the corresponding brain half. But I don't know if I'm much more creative than any righty I know, so don't know how much truth there is in that.
 

grobbs

Greg R
I don't have any studies but I'm a bit different than most because I play golf right handed, play baseball right handed, swing a hammer right handed but write left handed and play pool left handed. Essentially power is on the right and finesse is on the left - never have been able to figure out if it's a plus or a minus.

Oh, and can't shoot with right hand to save my life.
Haha exactly the same here, yet I swing a hammer lefty.

Power with right hand, accuracy with left.

Makes me a horrible tennis player as I keep switching hands... and could never figure out a guitar. Ping pong I'll use either hand, depending how I'm feeling that day.
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
on the second page they said this
Aggleton and Wood (1990; see also Wood & Aggleton, 1989) studied this through comparisons with sports corresponding to this profile that simultaneously reveal no strategic–tactical advantages: snooker, darts, 10-pin bowling, golf, and soccer (goalkeepers). None of these sports revealed any overrepresentation of left-handers. Grouios et al. (2000) applied the same approach to study the distribution of handedness in highly skilled athletes in interactive (n 576) and noninteractive (n 536) sports. They found a higher probability for the occurrence of left-handers in interactive sports such as boxing, fencing, tennis, and basketball, but not in individual sports such as cycling, gymnastics, or swimming
notice lefties were over represented in INTERACTIVE SPORTS ONLY
 
  • Sad
Reactions: Pin

middleofnowhere

Registered
I don't have any studies but I'm a bit different than most because I play golf right handed, play baseball right handed, swing a hammer right handed but write left handed and play pool left handed. Essentially power is on the right and finesse is on the left - never have been able to figure out if it's a plus or a minus.

Oh, and can't shoot with right hand to save my life.
I think I heard that Mike Segal is actually right handed.
 

Hoogaar

Registered
Haha exactly the same here, yet I swing a hammer lefty.

Power with right hand, accuracy with left.

Makes me a horrible tennis player as I keep switching hands... and could never figure out a guitar. Ping pong I'll use either hand, depending how I'm feeling that day.
Same as well. I recently started playing darts - wasn't sure which hand to use. I throw a baseball right handed, but stuff like shuffleboard I would use my left. Ended up going left with darts, but I think right would have been just as easy to pick up.
 

mikemosconi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Actually, some of the very best left handed pool players in history do almost everything else right handed- I believe that was the case with Mike Sigel and Steve Mizerak. so they are more right brain wired to begin with- not sure why either chose to play pool lefty. I have a brother who does everything right handed except write with a pen or pencil and he does not know why he chose lefty for writing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pin
Top