more common to be a lefty?

[superflipgirl]

So I'm a righty(gymnastics and everywhere else) and I thought it was more common to be a righty in gymnastics since most people are right handed. When I first started on my gymnastics team, most of the people were righties. Now I think I was wrong. Almost EVERY new person who's joined our team since then is a lefty, when I look at videos of people doing gymnastics on youtube, the majority are lefties, and I watch cheerleading videos and in a lot of them EVERYONE tumbling is a lefty. Last year, everyone on our high school team was a lefty also. Do you think it's more common to be a lefty in gymnastics? Why is this if it's more common to be right handed? Does it have to do with right handed people being left brained? Please help, I'm really confused!

 

[clrmom]

Interesting question. My dd is a lefty and so is my ds. DD is currently in gymnastics and DS "retired" from the sport. Both have/had several members of their teams that are left-handed. I will be interested to hear other responses.

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

One of my DGD's does her gymnastics to the left although she is right handed...don't know why...so I guess I am no help here...at the gym though I have not seen that many lefties..most of the kids are righties when I watch them do their routines.

 

[coachmolly]

I usually seem to have more righties and am a righty myself. However, it does seem like it is more common for right handed people to be "left footed" in the gym rather than the other way around.

 

[loveforgym]

That is weird. It's also weird because i'm righty in gymnastics for like 90 percent of things. Because all my skills are righty but i start my bwo with my left leg up and i always hurdle with my left leg on vault and front tucks. I also twist to the left (unless rightys are supposed to) idk lol. And my little sister, when i teach her some skills i noticed she's a lefty. Maybe they just don't think about to be lefty or righty when they first start so they end up being whatever?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

please don't confuse be left handed or right handed.

worldwide, the most dominant round off is left round off. this is for both men's and women's. left twist is the most dominant. the most dominant round off yurchenko with a twist is left round off to left twist.

the reason is that it is more likely than not that the athlete is right handed. the kick of the back leg is right, the push from the floor or hand mat comes from the right arm and then wrapping a left twist comes from the right arm.

 

[ZZMom]

please don't confuse be left handed or right handed.

worldwide, the most dominant round off is left round off. this is for both men's and women's. left twist is the most dominant. the most dominant round off yurchenko with a twist is left round off to left twist.

the reason is that it is more likely than not that the athlete is right handed. the kick of the back leg is right, the push from the floor or hand mat comes from the right arm and then wrapping a left twist comes from the right arm.

This is so interesting. ZZ is left handed and does everything left handed in gymnastics. But I wonder if kids (including her) are being led into using their dominant hand as a guide rather than other considerations. For example, in hockey a right handed person should "shoot left" since the power for the shot comes from the left hand while the "brains" of the shot comes from the right hand (the dominent hand). Many parents and coaches mistakenly guide right handed children to shoot right which likely creates issues for them throughout their careers. A smart coach gives a child a hockey stick with a straight blade (no bias to right or left) and lets the child play with it for a couple of years to see which way of shooting is really natural for the child regardless of right or left handedness.

I don't know if this analogy makes sense. LOL Sorry ... I'm a hockey mom

But, for gymnastics it seems to show the importance of kids learning perfect cartwheels on both sides, etc. at a young age.

Thanks for the interesting thread and post.

Best Wishes,

ZZMom

 

[gymnastjess]

So I'm a righty(gymnastics and everywhere else) and I thought it was more common to be a righty in gymnastics since most people are right handed. When I first started on my gymnastics team, most of the people were righties. Now I think I was wrong. Almost EVERY new person who's joined our team since then is a lefty, when I look at videos of people doing gymnastics on youtube, the majority are lefties, and I watch cheerleading videos and in a lot of them EVERYONE tumbling is a lefty. Last year, everyone on our high school team was a lefty also. Do you think it's more common to be a lefty in gymnastics? Why is this if it's more common to be right handed? Does it have to do with right handed people being left brained? Please help, I'm really confused!

Interesting.... I'm kind of ambidextrous
i think it mainly comes from trying to write with my left hand alot because i want to also when i hurt my hand i write with my left hand but when i try my writing is pretty much similar for both hands although in gymnastics i use my right hand for everything if i try a left handed cartwheel or handstand it is a terrible fail and feels soooo un-natural..... all the girls on my team are right handed i think (we just got some new kids a few weeks ago so im not sure about them) although i think it may have to do with their age kids at 7 yrs old don't really understand that if your right handed you should try to do a round-off with your right hand first so they tend to do whatever and pick up on that.... it's a great topic though i would like to know why also.... i think it may come with age... if a kid learns a cartwheel at 3 chances are they are barely writing and don't know if they are left or right handed

 

[sportsmom22]

My oldest daughter is right handed and always tumbled right. My youngest is right handed and tumbles left. There are only a couple of girls on her team that tumble the same way she does. I always thought it was because she broke her right arm when she was 4 and had to use her left one for so much. I will say her cartwheels look about the same in either direction.

 

[eme777]

My 3 daughters and I are all right-handed. I did gymnastics as a righty. My 2 oldest daughters are lefties at the gym. My preschooler, though, seems to be favoring the right side on her cartwheels. My middle daughter, even though she is a lefty, was taught, almost from the beginning, to do things both righty & lefty, & I think it really helped her, overall.

 

[ejgymmom]

My daughter is right handed and from the very beginning showed a preference for using her left leg to lead with. She did handstands and cartwheels left foot first. She did, however, first do her kickover by kicking her right foot first but I think that's because she felt like she could push off the floor better with her left foot. Her coach had her change it and now she can kick with her left foot. They tried the little test where they pushed her from behind to see which foot she'd step out with to catch herself and I don't think she really showed a preference either way with that one.

I am right handed as well though I use my left foot to lead for handstands and cartwheels.

 

[busymomof4]

My DD writes with her right hand but does her gymnastics with her left. At first I thought that was a little strange until I started to see other gymnasts that were the same. I think I asked her one time about it when she was younger and she just said it felt better to do it that way. I'm not sure if she started that way because she was so little and it became a habit or if it that is the way she is "programmed" to be??

 

[Blazing15]

My daughter is right handed and tumbles on the right. She used to do handstands and stuff with her left though so the coach told her she had to stick to her dominate side which is her right. She is the only one on her pre-team out of 11 girls that does it on the right side. Every other girl on her pre-team does everything left handed. She has to remind the coaches every once in a while when they see her lined up on the other side of the beam and stuff.

 

[gymnast695]

I write left handed, and do everything in gymnastics lefty, but I leap righty! That's the only skill I do righty out of everything I can think of. And my teammates, most of them write with their right hand but do gymnastics lefty. Weird, although what Dunno says does kind of make sense. I guess I'm just odd

 

[superflipgirl]

Thanks guys I think I understand now, however I do think there are more lefties in gymnastics, EVERY SINGLE chinese gymnast who went to the olympics in 2008 is a lefty. I think it's because right handed people are left brained! I guess that just means I'm unique since I'm right handed and apparently right brained in gymnastics!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

okay, i said not to confuse being left handed or right handed. if you round off left it is more likely than not that you are right handed. and as i posted, the overwhelming majority of gymnasts perform left round offs and left twists. this means that it is more likely than not that they are right handed. and as you will see below, as well as almost all the chinese team, they left round off which is "right" hand dominant. and again you will see that he kexin then twists left off the table which requires 'wrapping' with the right arm. and when you punch a left round off from the board, guess which leg takes on the most load and most punch...answer below...

YouTube - He Kexin Vault prelims @ 2008 Chinese Nationals if you guessed right leg you guessed correctly.

 

[Kiwi]

I am left-handed for writing but I do round-off to the left and lead with my left leg for handstands, hurdles and leaps. I can cartwheel both ways but my right-handed cartwheel is pretty awful. Actually I can sort of handstand and leap off my right leg too but not very well. I'm not totally left-handed, I write left-handed but do some other things right-handed, I guess I'm mix-handed, or just mixed up!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

no...maybe just ambidextrous!

 

[coachmolly]

okay, i said not to confuse being left handed or right handed. if you round off left it is more likely than not that you are right handed. and as i posted, the overwhelming majority of gymnasts perform left round offs and left twists. this means that it is more likely than not that they are right handed. and as you will see below, as well as almost all the chinese team, they left round off which is "right" hand dominant. and again you will see that he kexin then twists left off the table which requires 'wrapping' with the right arm. and when you punch a left round off from the board, guess which leg takes on the most load and most punch...answer below...

YouTube - He Kexin Vault prelims @ 2008 Chinese Nationals if you guessed right leg you guessed correctly.

This makes total sense if a I think back to my early gymnastics days when I did some skills left and some right, with coaches desperately trying to get me to pick one side or the other. I did carthweels and roundoffs "righty" so with a left twist, but skills with no twist (leaps and I feel like there was something else) as a "lefty". Maybe that's why I couldn't get the hang of twisting, I always went right!
Or maybe I was just totally backwards and there was no rhyme or reason for why I did things the way I did.

 

[gymgurl]

Well i am Right handed left footed, i do everything with my left foot in gymnastics but i'll kick with my right foot weird. same goes with my handedness i am slightly confused somethings i do with my left, others my right