Dominant Hand on Top of stick?

[Wrecker]

Should your dominant hand be at the top of the stick?

I've read that your dominant hand should be at the top.
I'm in my 30's have played hockey since I was 5.
I shoot, write, throw, bats right.

I feel that it makes sense this way as your dominant hand is the hand doing most of the moving. However most people shoot left and most people write and throw right.

I've always felt shooting right was a disadvantage as most goalies catch left and therefore a right shooter is more often to shoot glove side then blocker side.


I've never given this much though but now I have an almost 3 year old son who likes to shoot the ball around. He is very good at holding a hockey stick and a pencil. He shoots left (with a right curved stick i need to get a straight stick).

When I was a kid i was just handed a straight stick and basically told to have two hands on the stick. I did break my left arm when i was 6 and played hockey with a cast on (i don't think that would fly now of days haha) maybe that is how i ended up shooting right....


Thoughts? is it just what ever you feel more comfortable is the way you should shoot?

 

[Goonzilla]

I can see how there is some benefit to having the dominant hand at the top of the stick, but only when you have one hand on the stick, which isn't the norm. Even if you just hold the stick in each hand in turn and see how much easier it is to move it about, but handling and shooting left is just foreign to me as a right hander.

I eat, hit balls, write, throw, punch, etc with my right; and don't think there's anyway I could ever generate the same power shooting left, strength or technique wise.

I imagine you'd need to pick it up right at the start to be able to benefit from it.

I find and would have thought it easier for everyone to flex or load up the stick with your dominant hand down lower, but heaps of guys do it different.

 

[Auston Marlander]

I am right handed and shoot left. I have a hard and accurate shot, no issues at all. Strangely enough I play golf right handed. hockey is the only thing I do left.

 

[mashedpotato]

I'm right handed and my left hand is on top of the stick.

I think I just naturally picked up a stick when I was younger and voila.

I've tried Shooting left and it doesn't feel right...

 

[Summer Rose]

I'm a natural southpaw who shoots left, and am the only one I know of that I know in person.

I was about to say "someone" ran an interesting poll about handedness and which way they shoot a while back, but then I discovered it was me and I remembered it existing, but forgot that it was me who posted it


Here are the results:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1613395&highlight=


Edit: since the votes were public in that poll, I discovered there is in fact someone I know in person (just met him a few times as a ref) who's also LH/LH.

 

[PIMking]

Shoot right, write right, bat left and right.

I tried to play with a left handed stick in a stick and puck and it was awful.

 

[Wrecker]

I'm a natural southpaw who shoots left, and am the only one I know of that I know in person.

I was about to say "someone" ran an interesting poll about handedness and which way they shoot a while back, but then I discovered it was me and I remembered it existing, but forgot that it was me who posted it


Here are the results:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1613395&highlight=


Edit: since the votes were public in that poll, I discovered there is in fact someone I know in person (just met him a few times as a ref) who's also LH/LH.

My cousin (sons god father). Same age as me same hockey experience Writes Left, Shoots Left, Throws left.

When my wife saw my son shooting opposite as I was and my left handed cousin shooting the same as my son she said oh no hes going to write left. I said no most people don't shoot and write like us haha.

My son favors his right hand when coloring.

My cousin said he heard that kids who start playing hockey earlier in age tend to shoot left. Although that does make sense for the 2 of us.

 

[MattGTI]

Left handed in almost everything. I shoot right. Dominant hand on top.

 

[Wrecker]

I was about to say "someone" ran an interesting poll about handedness and which way they shoot a while back, but then I discovered it was me and I remembered it existing, but forgot that it was me who posted it


Here are the results:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1613395&highlight=

Nice poll.
Looks like being right handed and shooting right or left is pretty evenly split.
Although in my experience playing on teams there seems to be more left shooters then right (I don't know what hand they would write with).

Looks like if your left handed you have a 67% chance of shooting right.


As a kid i thought people like me would make a bad goalie because i would glove left but that gives you a left curved goalie stick. Goalies slide their blockers to the end of the stick and use there glove in the middle to shoot the puck.
I think now that shooting that way is awkward anyways so a goalie would probably just get use to it.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Should your dominant hand be at the top of the stick?

I've read that your dominant hand should be at the top.
I'm in my 30's have played hockey since I was 5.
I shoot, write, throw, bats right.

I feel that it makes sense this way as your dominant hand is the hand doing most of the moving. However most people shoot left and most people write and throw right.

I've always felt shooting right was a disadvantage as most goalies catch left and therefore a right shooter is more often to shoot glove side then blocker side.


I've never given this much though but now I have an almost 3 year old son who likes to shoot the ball around. He is very good at holding a hockey stick and a pencil. He shoots left (with a right curved stick i need to get a straight stick).

When I was a kid i was just handed a straight stick and basically told to have two hands on the stick. I did break my left arm when i was 6 and played hockey with a cast on (i don't think that would fly now of days haha) maybe that is how i ended up shooting right....


Thoughts? is it just what ever you feel more comfortable is the way you should shoot?

Yes. I'm a righty who does everything with the right hand including shooting the puck. I'm a pretty good shooter and stickhandler. Those are my two main strengths in hockey.

I'm 19 years old, I started playing hockey at the age of 10. I wasn't a very good stickhandler to begin with, but after years of practice and by growing up, my left hand became significantly stronger. I can't imagine myself with my dominant hand on top of the stick. The shooting motion feels very awkward when I try to shoot the other way.

Also, I prefer shooting glove side, I like to beat the goalie with power rather than precision.

 

[Ozz]

I'm RH for everything. I can shoot ok lefty, but have never done so under pressure. Stickhandling feels weird, even holding a lefty stick feels weird for a while. Best I can recall, as a kid the store gave me a righty because I was a righty

As far as dominant hand on top, I don't know. I feel both hands are pretty equal in what they give to my shot, although my right bottom hand may push harder. I like having my dominant hand on the bottom in case I have to let go and push someone away while carrying the puck.

 

[rawkstar]

Hehe yeah my 2 year old has one of those cardboard wrapped sticks, they're straight. He does everything right handed, but holds the stick left and shoots left. Kind of reinforcing the whole dominant hand on top theory. I think the thinking there is sound because so much is done with the top hand, having your dominant hand be on top makes a lot of sense and should be an advantage.

Being a right handed shooter is not anything like any sort of disadvantage, its not like if you're a right handed shot you always shoot to the right of the goalie. In fact you're probably a lot more likely to shoot left of the goalie if you put too much follow through into your shot. Anyone can shoot anywhere, being a righty doesn't make you more likely to shoot in any particular area.

I think if anything people who are right handed and shoot right probably are able to process and have better spacial awareness of the puck and stick being on their right side better than left. Which might explain why some people don't use their dominant hand as their top hand.

Like myself - I am right handed as well and I am much more comfortable shooting right. It could explain my stone hands, maybe I should retrain myself. Maybe then my kid and I can share sticks.

 

[RockTheRed8]

If I had a kid starting to play hockey, I'd probably have them try to learn with their dominant hand on top. That seems to be the more popular way, though it obviously varies, and your top hand does all the stick handling while your bottom hand is more just a fulcrum for shooting. Starting as an adult though, I went ahead and went with a right handed shot. I'm absolutely brutal at anything left handed and I figured since I'm not a kid about to spend my whole life getting to my max potential I'd go with what I should be able to learn faster rather than what might be best overall way down the road.

I've always thought this was kind of interesting though and have tried to remember to pay attention to Caps when I've gotten autographs and things like that. All of the players I remembered to pay attention to signed with their right, except for Eric Fehr who shoots right. Ovi(RH), Kuzy(LH), Backy(LH), Laich(LH), Wardo(RH), Orpik(LH), Green(RH), Oshie(RH), Carrick(RH), Erskine(LH), Johansson(LH), Wilson(RH), Holtby(catches left), Peters(catches left) all signed with their right hand. Ovi did throw a football with his left at Heinz Field for the 2011 Winter Classic though.

 

[Sinistril]

I can't imagine there being any advantages to having it either way that outweigh the most important advantage of shooting - comfort.



I think the way you were taught, and the way a lot of us were taught, which is by being given a straight stick and being told to figure it out is by far the best way to go. You naturally find your comfort level. I would never give a kid a stick with a curve or tell them to use their dominant hand in any way that would inhibit their ability to find their own comfort level.

 

[StLHokie]

I can't imagine there being any advantages to having it either way that outweigh the most important advantage of shooting - comfort.



I think the way you were taught, and the way a lot of us were taught, which is by being given a straight stick and being told to figure it out is by far the best way to go. You naturally find your comfort level. I would never give a kid a stick with a curve or tell them to use their dominant hand in any way that would inhibit their ability to find their own comfort level.

Having your dominant hand as your top hand gives the advantage of better puckhandling, as most stick handling is done with the top hand. You see that most of the best puck handlers in the league play with this setup (Kane, Crosby, Datsyuk, Ribeiro)

On the other side of the coin, a dominant lower hand tends to give you a stronger shot. Ovechkin, Stamkos, Kessel, and others all shoot with their dominant hand on the bottom.

 

[Phosphophyllite]

I always though it was weird to have dominant hand on the bottom because basically no one I know save for my dad does that. First time I put on a pair of skates at like 5-6 years old I was given stick and immediately felt that only way to hold it is with my left hand on top. So yeah that's why I shoot right, which is pretty rare here because mostly lefthanded people do it. I also do/throw everything with left hand and use every stick/bat/whatever just like I use a hockey stick.

 

[Caeldan]

I still feel that the way you shoot ends up more being determined by your dominant eye as opposed to your dominant hand, if left to your own devices.

 

[vyse]

. Ovi did throw a football with his left at Heinz Field for the 2011 Winter Classic though.

that's weird considering he writes/signatures with his right hand

 

[CarpeNoctem]

Do most things in life as a righty, shoot lefty. HOWEVER, I suspect a lot of kids are taught or forced to be righty in daily life and are truly lefties, and that's why they should right handed in hockey.

 

[CarpeNoctem]

that's weird considering he writes/signatures with his right hand

Not very unusual because it's definitely easier to write as a righty and a lot of teachers forced kids to do so

 

[RockTheRed8]

Not very unusual because it's definitely easier to write as a righty and a lot of teachers forced kids to do so

That's a good point and not something I had thought of. Maybe he's truly left handed, but was taught to write with his right. Although I do know people that are just weirdly different for different things, being taught to write with his right regardless seems more likely. So if that's the case you can put him in the dominant hand on top camp.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

that's weird considering he writes/signatures with his right hand

His dominant foot is the left one, so it makes sense for him to throw and kick a soccer ball on the left side. I think he may be somewhat ambidextrous given that he writes with his right hand and he shoot with a RH stick. He's a freak, he probably has more strength with his non dominant hand than most men with their dominant hands.

 

[DevsFan84]

Interesting article about this:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl-draft/insider/post?id=143

It's weird how things can vary so much geographically. I work for a large hockey retailer, and our stores in certain areas tend to sell more lefty or righty sticks. I think it has something to do with how coaches are teaching kids, and how much hockey knowledge a parent has when they introduce their kid to the sport, but that is really a complete guess on my part.

 

[vyse]

Interesting article about this:

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl-draft/insider/post?id=143

It's weird how things can vary so much geographically. I work for a large hockey retailer, and our stores in certain areas tend to sell more lefty or righty sticks. I think it has something to do with how coaches are teaching kids, and how much hockey knowledge a parent has when they introduce their kid to the sport, but that is really a complete guess on my part.

ya the shops near me have 3 times the amount of left sticks compared to righty. its hard being a righty haha

 

[biturbo19]

I still feel that the way you shoot ends up more being determined by your dominant eye as opposed to your dominant hand, if left to your own devices.

This is some interesting stuff...


I'm definitely one of the weird RH shooting Right Handed people, but i'm also Left Eye dominant. I do some things naturally left-handed though, and have a ton of lefties in my family. Maybe there really is something to that...Hmmm...



The other extension of this that's really interesting to me, is the way that "same-handedness" might apply to players with a preference or aptitude for playing their off wing. Like the obvious Ovie, Kovalchuk, etc examples.

As a righty who shoots right, i have a strong preference for the LW if i have a choice. It just feels more natural and the ice feels more open to me on the "off wing". Seems to be a bit of a theme.

As a defenceman though, i'm way more comfortable on the RH side though...so who knows.

And as a goaltender, which i spent most of my youth playing...i was, like Cory Schneider for example...a natural RH shooter, who played goal with a LH glove.