Teaching myself to throw left-handed

[emu!]

I've heard that left-handed people use their right cortex and are more creative. So my idea is to strive to develop my right brain to be more inclined to help my musical abilities (or lack of)...also, it's kinda slow here at work and someone brought in one of those nerf balls...

[CatfishStudios]

Interesting Ive also noticed that MANY musical virtuotso's display classic signs of Bipolar disorder. From Wolfgang to Hendrix and from Wagner to Roy Buchanan

[jimd]

If you are left handed and can throw a ball 60 feet 6 inches you can have a nice career as a relief pitcher. You don't even have to be good.

[FirstBassman]

It's a piece of cake.
I've been throwing left-handed my entire life.

Don't know if it's helped my musical abilities at all though.

[ajgus]

I've noticed a lot of pitchers play guitar too. Atheletes want to be rock stars & rock stars want to be atheletes. The grass is always greener...

[CatfishStudios]

...which makes me think of a Robert Hunter lyric that Ive taken as a truism..."The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter, either side of the hill" ...this may also apply to left/right handed guitarist?

[Dennis68]

Originally Posted by CatfishStudios

...which makes me think of a Robert Hunter lyric that Ive taken as a truism..."The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter, either side of the hill" ...this may also apply to left/right handed guitarist?

..or the one, Get back back to your own side of the brain....

[surfoverb]

I've read that Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) who's a competative fencer (nearly made the British Olympic team)learned as a righty and it wasn't until years later he switched lefty as it was his natural position...I know from playing tennis after I developed a 2 handed backhand I can now switch hit in baseball. Although I suppose one can develope a 'handedness' you will always be that right/left dominate. In hockey I'm a lefty but in golf (and everything else) I'm a righty which is weird.

There's a trick soccer coaches do where they stand behind a player and without warning push them forward and which ever foot the player sticks out first to balance determines which side of the brain is dominate i.e. left foot=right

[mikespe]

As a physical education teacher I can tell you that right or left don't matter BUT by trying to learn to switch from right to left or left to right is activating brain cells that you don't use often. Your brain got so used to being right or left handed that when you switch it stimulates learning and can very well stimulate creativity. If you look a guys like Einstein and other "geniuses" you'll see they used MORE of their brain than the average person. The average person only uses about 10-15% of their brain. A guy like Einstein used about 30% of his brain.

[pbenn]

My grandfather tried to get me to hammer a nail left-handed. He said it would develop the brain. He was born about 1900 and learned this either as a kid or in the army.

[Dennis68]

Originally Posted by pbenn

My grandfather tried to get me to hammer a nail left-handed. He said it would develop the brain. He was born about 1900 and learned this either as a kid or in the army.

Most military and police have required ambidextrous firearm training for over a century. Training develops weak hand technique along with non-dominant eye control over the sights.

You can practice right at your computer. Hold up both index fingers about 5 inches apart in front of you and focus both in-line towards an object 6 feet or greater away from you. Then practice using left eye then right eye to focus on the distant object in-inline with your fingers....

Congratulations, you're now using your entire brain! LOL!

[jimd]

Originally Posted by surfoverb

I've read that Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) who's a competative fencer (nearly made the British Olympic team)learned as a righty and it wasn't until years later he switched lefty as it was his natural position...

His first fencing coach should be shot. Lefties have a huge advantage in fencing. I don't remember the statistic exactly, but it is something like "over half of the world champion fencers are left handed."

[ce24]

I can tell you are a very smart person...everybody's born right handed the smart ones get over it and go lefty

cheers ce24.

[mudbean]

Originally Posted by jimd

If you are left handed and can throw a ball 60 feet 6 inches you can have a nice career as a relief pitcher. You don't even have to be good.

It helps if you can bring it at 90 mph +.

mud

[ajgus]

A good friend of mine pitched in the minors. 6' 6", 200+, left-handed...unfortunately his velocity never topped out high enough. Low 90's was about all he could muster on the gun.

[scooteraz]

I am naturally left brained. Very left brained. Very right handed.

I remember as a kid having a hard time being able to dribble a basketball with either hand, or shooting right and left lay-ups. Then I worked and worked and worked and got to the point where I could do both. At the time, Rick Mount was something of a phenom at Purdue; he could shoot jump shots either hand. So, I worked more, and got pretty good with either hand, out to about 18 ft. jumpers. I was no Rick Mount, but in league and pickup ball, being able to shoot with either hand was a definite benefit.

Later in life, I played a lot of softball because the guys I worked with loved softball. Trained so that I could switch hit. That was beneficial for playing softball.

However, I didn't get better musically until I practiced like crazy. No more creative musically, no more intuitive, no more "natural". So, while I think I got benefits from learning to go from my natural hand to opposite hand, I don't think it made much difference in musical (or other abilities, save athletic) abilities.

BTW, my brother is naturally ambidextrous, and he sucks a music. And he should have all of those right left connections. Nor does he exhibit much of any of the so called right brain affects.

I realize that two data points among 5 billion people aint nothin but anecdotal BS, but at least for me, and my brother, we don't exhibit the affects attributed to learning with the opposite hand.

Still, learning an athletic trick such as throwing, batting or shooting either handed, is its own reward.

[gtech]

I am lefty when I play hockey, baseball or use a showel. But I am righty for guitar, etc...

That must be why people find it funny that I have a serious side and an artistic side.

[F1rocco]

Probably should start with tossing left handed first....Might throw your arm out throwing if your not used to it........Start with tossing against a wall...

[giginthesky]

i was a righty. bone cancer in my right arm ended that. i'm now both handed. years ago, i had to learn to throw lefty in order to have a catch with my son. it feals natural now.

[surfoverb]

Originally Posted by jimd

His first fencing coach should be shot. Lefties have a huge advantage in fencing. I don't remember the statistic exactly, but it is something like "over half of the world champion fencers are left handed."

It could be the other way around, the point is he was just as good or better after he switched. My friend fences and I know it takes and incredible amount of strength, speed, balance and agility.

[bingchof]

Originally Posted by mikespe

The average person only uses about 10-15% of their brain. A guy like Einstein used about 30% of his brain.

Last time I looked at a PET scan... the whole thing was workin'

This type of thing is myth, more of a 'metaphor' than to be taken literally. It's trying to get at the fact that we aren't very efficient in our approach to cognitive tasks, not that we LITERALLY aren't using parts of our brains.

-b

[mikespe]

Originally Posted by bingchof

Last time I looked at a PET scan... the whole thing was workin'

This type of thing is myth, more of a 'metaphor' than to be taken literally. It's trying to get at the fact that we aren't very efficient in our approach to cognitive tasks, not that we LITERALLY aren't using parts of our brains.

-b

Yea your WHOLE brain works and does something...however, when it comes to learning knew skills, memory, creativity...things we CONSCIOUSLY do my percentage is correct. I have seen many studies on this when they compare the average person's brain with someone who is considered a "genius". But yes the whole brain is used for things like breathing, heart beat, dreaming, speech, seeing, feeling, and other bodily functions.

[bingchof]

Originally Posted by mikespe

however, when it comes to learning knew skills, memory, creativity...things we CONSCIOUSLY do my percentage is correct. I have seen many studies on this when they compare the average person's brain with someone who is considered a "genius". But yes the whole brain is used for things like breathing, heart beat, dreaming, speech, seeing, feeling, and other bodily functions.

Nope.... not true. When the brain is working efficiently, LESS cortex is involved, not more. Some examples... dyslexic readers use MORE cortex (and more bilaterally) than fluent readers when performing reading tasks (fMRI studies). Patients with multiple sclerosis use MORE brain regions to perform the same cognitive tasks than do healthy controls performing the same tasks. Same for those with traumatic brain injuries.

The empirical literature is full of examples like this. When it comes to cognitive efficiency, Less is More. (this is what I do for a living, by the way).

Again, the 10% thing is merely a metaphor... kinda' like, if I didn't spend 90% of my time surfing TDPRI, I'd probably get a lot more done.

[bingchof]

Originally Posted by mikespe

But yes the whole brain is used for things like breathing, heart beat, dreaming, speech, seeing, feeling, and other bodily functions.

Oh... and this is misleading also...

breathing/heart rate (and more other "bodily functions" that you don't have to think about) = brainstem

seeing = occipital lobe (pretty big area, bit still just the back)

Feeling- did you mean emotions (limbic system [i.e., subcortical]) or sense of touch? (parietal lobe)

By the way, these regions are so heavily networked that it is really disingenuous to split it up like this, but at the same time, shows why the "10%" thing is problematic. Even when doing the simplest tasks, you have to recruit enormous brain networks...

[bingchof]

Check this out too...

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp

I'll shut up now. :-)