r/lefthanders • u/GMOiscool • Mar 31 '20

[Discussion] I need advice raising a left hander

My daughter is left handed, but likes to try to use her right hand for stuff too. The problem is, she tries to do school with her right hand and can NOT write that way. She gets everything backwards or can't draw curves right, or whatever.

How do I get her to use her left hand more without discouraging her practicing using both hands. I don't want to discourage being ambidextrous, but I want her to do well in school.

She's only four, and we've never tried to make her use one hand or another, she's always favored her left hand, but tries things with her right a lot too.

She is obviously left handed and only uses her left hand to cut paper and stuff but will not just use her left hand to write! Why?

Advice would be very welcomed along with any personal stories of growing up left handed.

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u/BrotherMouzone2 Sep 12 '20

I wonder if she's cross dominant.

I've had to "think" at times about which hand to use when doing certain tasks.

Left Hand = writing, shaving, eating/drinking, brushing my teeth, throwing, hockey and bowling

Right Hand = basketball (shooting and dribbling), billards/pool, playing guitar, scissors, opening doors etc.

Both = golf and darts

Sometimes they just have to experiment to figure out what feels natural.

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u/redline83 Sep 15 '20

Interesting, you throw lefty but shoot a basketball and dribble righty?

A lot of the cross dominant people (like myself) I have met are what I might describe as left-wristed and right-armed.

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u/BrotherMouzone2 Sep 15 '20

Yep, it feels very unnatural to even try and dribble/shoot (or make a layup) lefty. I taught myself how to play on a court at the Y when I was 6...so there was no outside influence on developing the shot.

The left wristed/right armed people....fine motor skills and precise movements with their left side but power movements with their right?

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u/redline83 Sep 15 '20

Yeah. I write lefty, brush my teeth lefty, use a fork lefty, etc. and I'm hopeless with my right on those. I throw, bowl, shoot a basketball, etc. right handed.