Are left handed people faster in sports

[tmoan]

i have read an article a long time ago about left handed people being faster than right handed people in sports.

it was because the impulses received from sensory neurons end up in the one hemisphere in the brain and has to pass to the other one then a message is sent to motor neurons in right handed people.

while in left handed people there is no message sent across the brain because one hemisphere is responsible for receiving sensory impulses and sending motor messages.

therefore left handed people should be faster by some milliseconds because there is no message being sent between the hemispheres

can anyone help me out with some studies that supports this claim and give your opinions and references about this matter.

thank you

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Whilst there can be some differences in the lateralization for brain function in left and right handed people it is by no means absolute. There do seem to be a lot of studies on handedness and sport, but I'm skeptical of the strong claim that left handed people always have this advantage and if this is an advantage at all.

Also at the speed in which neurons conduct, ~85microseconds per cm, I doubt there would be much of an advantage if this turned out to be real.

 

[DaveC426913]

I'm skeptical of the strong claim that left handed people always have this advantage and if this is an advantage at all.

It is certainly an advantage in 1:1 sports such as fencing.

Right-handers are not used to fencing with left-handers, whereas left-handers are quite used to fencing with right-handers.

 

[Pythagorean]

From personal experience: fencing I dominate, basketball I suck at.

Actually though, with fencing, I fence a lot of friends who aren't trained and they don't have the expectation of a right handed opponent, so they don't have those habits.

Some of them are quite trained by now against a left hander only.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I used to be a fencing instructor at a summer camp. A fellow instructor was left handed and I got very used to handling him.

Though I feel I should mention that this is a little off topic from the OP that referred to a possible left-hand advantage due to brain function rather than training.

 

[Pythagorean]

I would love to do an fMRI or something and see if I'm wired half backwards.

 

[bobze]

I suspect Ryan is right. I think, because the overlap in "speed" in R vs L opponents is far, far greater than conduction velocity, there is no way such a "advantage" in conduction distance could ever be quantified.

 

[Ouabache]

In baseball a left handed batter can reach first base faster than a right handed batter.
This might seem to support the notion that lefties are faster, but actually the lefty leaves
the batters box at least a step or two closer to first base than a righty.

The fencing advantage in one-on-one sports, has a parallel in tennis & pingpong.
Right handed players are not used to playing a south-paw.
I am a lefty and made use of the advantage in the examples I mention.