Thread: How can I fix a lack of ambedixterity?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

This is one of the few times being left handed is an advantage. Using our right hand is far easier then you using your left. The best way to gain facility in your left hand is just write with it in print.

But wouldn't a "lefty" have just as much trouble learning to use his/her right hand?

Originally Posted by dirtydan

But wouldn't a "lefty" have just as much trouble learning to use his/her right hand?

In theory yes. The thing is though, we live in a right handed world, so us lefties have to adapt far more in various things. I for one was not believed, by my school, to be left handed. So they decided I had to learn to write with my right hand. It was totally ridiculous, but something good came off it, I'm pretty much completely ambidexterous today

Originally Posted by Birnando

In theory yes. The thing is though, we live in a right handed world, so us lefties have to adapt far more in various things. I for one was not believed, by my school, to be left handed. So they decided I had to learn to write with my right hand. It was totally ridiculous, but something good came off it, I'm pretty much completely ambidexterous today

Wow! A kind of discrimination I never even considered......... Now that I think about it, I'm a right-handed drummer and I've gotta few buddies that are left-handed drummers. They seem to sit behind my right-handed kit with some loss of dexterity but able to hold their own. When I try to sit behind one of their left-handed kits, I'm totally USELESS! I'm hopelessly crippled by the mirror image set-up. I suppose lefties are forced to conform way more than most of us righties can even fathom.

BTW - for an experiment, I tried eating dinner tonight with my left hand........at this point, it seems like a very effective enhancement to anyone's diet program. It really forced me to slow down and savor each bite.

I suppose then left handed men dress to the right.......... what a horrifying thought!

Time and practice. I myself am the most right handed person on the planet and I can relate. When I first started, using my left hand to shave the left side of my face was the strangest thing and seemed to require laser like focus. After a while, you develop muscle memory and it's just what you do. Oddly enough though when going South/North I shave the right side of my face with my left hand and visa versa.

When I shave with both hands, I initiate most of the movements with my elbow and arm, especially on WTG, downward passes. All my right and left hands have to do is hold on to the razor and keep it at the right angle. Some of the tougher areas might involve hand movements, but I get better results when I allow the arm to initiate the movements, not the hands. My left hand may not be as dextrous as my right hand, but the arms are about equal in dexterity so I stick with them.

I'm left handed. I have trouble mostly dealing with the neck area. My right hand will freeze up and skip if I'm not careful. But I do like the idea of doing other thing's with my right hand that I normally wouldn't do to develop better motor control.

Tell you how I learned to shave with both hands .... I tried switching to the non dominant left hand and would become discombobulated looking at my hand/razor in the mirror. I said the hell with it and went back to right hand shaving. A forum member named dannywonderful posted on how he took a dull razor and practiced the moves with his left hand while sitting in his living room watching TV. I gave this a try and whaddaya know, in a day or so I was manipulating the razor in either hand with near equal dexterity. I have gone back to dominant (right) hand shaving but just saying ..... take the blade out of the shavette and practice making the moves. Pretty soon it will become second nature. Read my sig below to avoid nicks and cuts.

I am strongly right handed, and have never used my left hand shaving. Even though some here will disagree, there is just no way I could use my left hand for shaving. I do fine one-handed.

As an aside, my brother is the same way. He was holding a cup half full of ice water in his right hand, swirling the ice and water with a circular motion. He tried it with the left hand, and couldn't do it! It just sloshed water over the table. That irritated him so much that he told me he practiced for a year swirling ice in a cup with his left hand. After over a year, he was able to do it.

So, given enough time and blood, yes I could shave with my left hand. But, why? I have no problem shaving both sides of my face with my right hand.

Thanks to all of you for your input. I'll watch that one-handed video but I think I'd really like to use both hands. Interestingly, I shaved with my Shavette again this morning, and have to admit, it is getting a little easier! So practice, more practice and then a little more practice will probably do it. I taught myself to fly an airplane from the right seat several years ago, and as strange as it felt in the beginning, it's now just as comfortable to fly from the right as it is from the left. So I'll keep at it. I have actually tried the empty Shavette technique, and will do it some more -- I'd forgotten about that!

Thanks again, guys.

Bruce