On a similar thread...left handed players

Shorty

Shorty

A banger at best...
Silver Member
Has anyone ever noticed that left handed people seem to learn the game of pool faster and better than right handed people? I have yet to see a bad left handed pool player...seriously. It is like their brain can see and make shots better or something. I have been playing for some 20+ years and this is just a general observation I have seen.

Does anyone know of any scientific evidence to support this? I once had a pool Professor tell me to warm up shooting shots both left handed and right handed...to excercise both sides of my brain so to speak.

Shorty
 
Shorty said:
Has anyone ever noticed that left handed people seem to learn the game of pool faster and better than right handed people? this is just a general observation I have seen.

Does anyone know of any scientific evidence to support this?

Shorty
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In SHORT...No and No.
 
I do not have ay scientific to support this, but I remember reading or seeing someone say that all left-handers are better at anything they pursue. Thet may not pick the game up faster, but I agree with the better part. I may be wrong, so therefore I have protected myself in a FULL METAL JACKET, so FIRE AWAY!

I can't say if left-handed pool players play better than right-handed players.But just in case the right-hander does win playing pool, the lefty will take him in hand to hand combat.http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6773 And that is a fact. Is it relative? I would say so!
 
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Good Point Shorty!

That's an interesting thought Shorty. Maybe since there are so few lefties in the game, it's kinda like when a guy plays a girl. No DUDE likes to be "beaten" by a "girl" so the lefties up their game a little to show what they got. Lefties are like a minority to me. I'm a natural Lefty, but I shoot right-handed. I am currently self-teaching myself to play left handed, but it's kinda tough re-learning everything all over again. A friend of mine has a lefty brother who played phenomenal. Everything looked so natural. Watching him literally was like watching an artist paint a mural. When I watch people like Archer, Reyes, Strickland, etc.. I don't see that as much.
 
It has been said on here before, but I'll repeat. The only thing scientific that I know of is the eye dominance thing. Something like 70 percent of people are right eye dominant. In most (ball) sports where you throw, hit, swing, etc....etc., being opposite handed as eyed, it puts the players dominant eye closer to the target. This doesn't mean they are going to be the best, but it does give them a small advantage in perception of the action.
 
CaptainJR said:
It has been said on here before, but I'll repeat. The only thing scientific that I know of is the eye dominance thing. Something like 70 percent of people are right eye dominant. In most (ball) sports where you throw, hit, swing, etc....etc., being opposite handed as eyed, it puts the players dominant eye closer to the target. This doesn't mean they are going to be the best, but it does give them a small advantage in perception of the action.
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Hey thanks for that feedback Capt...as always you have good input, unlike some who respond here. I just know that the lefties I have seen that take the game seriously play really really well...and I agree...they have a very smooth form and hit the ball well.

Thanks again guys,
Shorty
 
Not really pool related, but I find it interesting that there are certain areas the us Lefties are dominant :)

Oddly enough, I sell electrical supplies...though I am not an electrician by trade.

I noticed that ( IMO ) the majority of my customers are left handed.

Considering that Lefties are a minority and there are more than our share doing electrical work, it makes me wonder how many other skilled trades are dominated by left handed people.

Here's a little test I found. I scored 12. Go figure :)
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/brain.htm#quiz
 
Cool test. Scored an 8 myself. One other really neat one is

http://www.ircbeginner.com/files/fun/brain.exe

You have to download it, and I suggest virus scanning it (although I just did and it comes up clean with Symantec anti-virus, 5/30/05 virus updates).

Back on topic, I think that left handed people's brains might get more of a workout in everyday life since the world is basically built for righties. They are forced to think with "both sides" much more often than right handed people like me.

The weird thing about lefties and pool is that I can *never* see their patterns. I don't know whether it is because they are working the ball to some place where they can reach it easier or they just don't see things the same way. Even with right-handed people who are much better than me, I can usually see what their plan is. Lefties, only if it's straight in.

I used to play in a scotch-doubles 9-ball league (partners, alternating shot) and one of the better teams was a lefty and righty. They used to talk for 5-10 seconds before each shot to make sure that they were always on the same sheet of music because even though both of them were good, they had a lot of trouble playing position off each other's shots.
 
Wow...someone finally came up with one of my major complaints.

I'm left handed and I REALLY hate it when a right handed player (during practice, playing around or competing) tries to tell me where I should leave the cue ball next. I see completely different patterns when I look at a table than a right handed player sees. It's as simple as that.
If people would stop trying to correct things that they don't even understand, my life would be MUCH easier.

I think that an earlier poster hit it on the head. The reason that left-handers tend to succeed in things that they really concentrate on is that we're used to thinking with both sides of our brains on a regular basis. If you don't believe me, if you are right handed, try doing everything left handed for 1 day...even 1 hour! I do many things right handed every day. I'm an accountant/bookkeeper so I even have an advantage using a 10-key. I use it right handed and write with my left hand so I never have to put down my writing utensil.

My sincere apologies for my longish post!
 
I agree with Capt.JR's comment:

Quote - The only thing scientific that I know of is the eye dominance thing.

I'm only speaking from my own experience. I'm left eye dominate, but yet right handed when stroking. Right eye has monocular diplosis. (one eye sees double) When I have to make a left handed shot, I flip the table around.

The way I piture it, is to imagine the table having pivot points at the center diamond foot rail and the center diamond at the head rail. Flip it once so that the right rail is not the left rail.

My visual processing happens in the right hemisphere of the brain, but my mechanical (muscles) are processed in the left hemisphere of the brain.

People who are dominent in both right eye and right mechanical, see things usually one way. Same goes if dominence is left for both. Each have a hard time describing shots to each other, because (usually) each side looks for the "comfortable spot" to leave the cue ball so that when the shooter is in their stance, the shot is more consistent.

The cue ball spot isn't the same for a left hander vs. a right hander. No easy answer to the OP on this one. Just depends who's observing what, and when.

Only my humble opinion.
 
Im left handed and I disagree with it all. As for the dominant eye thing, you use both eyes to see, what I mean is that your eyes fix on a target together. Just try playing pool with 1 eye closed dominant eye or not. As for the myth that all leftys are good. Well Im a decent B level player, and if you think about it most peoples game and stroke mirrors their personality, it sounds kooky but think about it. Too, I know plenty of leftys that suck. Anyway thats my opinion.
 
puckdaddy said:
just a little tidbit.....4 out of 5 of the last presidents were left handed
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Wow thats an amazing fact! Gonna have to share that one with some buddies.
 
Shorty said:
Has anyone ever noticed that left handed people seem to learn the game of pool faster and better than right handed people?
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It could be one of several reasons. Just the "look" of a left-hander looks smoother. But, if you look at them in a mirror, it doesn't look any different than a right-hander.

That being said, a left-hander is dominantly using the right side of his brain, the side that determines creativity. It's a good theory. Too bad the one guy that keeps expounding on it doesn't understand it.

Fred <~~~ right-brain dominant
 
Personally ...

I think it is the one missing rib thing that makes the difference .... lol
 
im right handed in everything but pool. grew up playing lefty and i play ok righty but dont think ill ever be as smooth then lefty. cant use a bridge lefty tho which i dont understand.
 
whitewolf said:
It is not only a theroy, it is a FACT.
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No kidding Ray. It's a theory that I am 100% in agreement with. The problem is that you don't realize how much you don't know about it.


So Fred, you see when I brought up the thread asking how intelligence affects pool playing, everyone fell for the ruse and only one poster thought of the left brained right brained possibilities.
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Did you even bother reading your own thread?

It has been proven that lefties use the right side of their brain more, which is the creative side.
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That's just what I said.



After many hours of discussion, my wife and I have concluded that the best pool players use both sides of their brains even though they probably have a dominant right side usage.
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No $hit Sherlock. This is exactly what I replied to you and Laura the first time you said it. I'm glad you finally caught up and see the forest throught the trees.




Fred, are you a lefty or righty? One thing for sure, you are so left brained it isn't funny. I have been reading your posts for 2 years now and this is a FACT :D For example, who else but a dominant right side person would conclude that by observing their statistics (win/loss %) in APA 9 BALL that they must discard their Predator shaft after a year of usage. Instead of seeing the forest, you must look at the trees (statistics) to figure what is going on in your life. But I like your statistics Fred. Keep up the good work. WW
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Again, you simply have no reading comprehension. You've never met a truly left-braind dominant persona, that's for sure. Just because I can appreciate statistics and physics doesn't mean it is my dominant persona. And anyone from these boards can pipe up who have met me to say if they thought for one second that I had a left-braind persona.

And your lies about my Predator experiments just prove how confused you are. I stopped the tryout with Predator because I wasn't playing better after a year and half with it. End of story. I have little regrets (notice, once again, I didn't say I had no regrets).

I am and always have been balanced in my right and left brain activity, and I'm damned proud of it. I realize this is something you have no concept of, as you obviously have little left-brained comprehension. I am and always have been a creative writer and poet. My family life has always revolved around the arts. Theater and visual. The fact that I'm an engineer has confused you. Seek help.

Fred
 
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Okay...put your gloves down!

I started this thread out of a curiosity. I been playing pool since I was 11 years old, started with bumper pool as a matter of fact. Some of my earliest memories are of Fats and Mosconi playing on ABC. I been playing for some 22+ years, although my skill level does not reflect it. I wanted to see if my general observation of lefties playing stronger at times was true or not.

Here is the whole left brain vs. right brain as I understand it...now I may be totally wrong here. When you are right handed, you are using your left side of your brain, which is analytical and deals with processes more. When you are left handed, you use the right side of your brain in which you tend to be more creative and spontaneous. Again, I was told by a VERY good pool player to warm up with both hands...just to stimulate your creative juices as well as warm up your repetitive analytical side as well.

I think most of the points here were right on track, in that lefties do make good pool players...they are more creative and can get out in different ways than right handers. They are not scared as much when they are "out of line" cause most of the world to them is already out of line. We live in a right handed world. Make sense?

See my point? I know it's hard to see...but if you bend over and look you just might get it. Ya see, the world looks totally different when you're not even three foot tall...*smirk*

Shorty
 
whitewolf said:
I passed the CPA exam, even though I have average intelligence LOL.

And you say that I have no left brain comprehension.
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Do you even bother reading your own posts? You've been constantly acusing me of being left-brain dominant. And I'm telling you you're wrong and you wouldn't know what being left-brained means. You really don't. And you can't follow a thread. You're comprehension is either poor or you're too lazy to read what you yourself write and what I or anyone respons. So now what? Do I keep responding to your lies and mistruths just to have you not understand what you write yourself?

If you truly knew what it's like to have a balanced left and right brain persona, then you'd know that I am notleft brain dominant. Since you don't get it, then I have to assume that you don't know what it's like. If you'd like to know what it's like, you might want to ask me about it. As I said, you obviously don't know what a true left-brained dominant persona is like. You're just guessing based on your limited understanding of the theory.

Fred
 
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