Dominant Hand on Top of stick?

[Wrecker]

hmmmm eye dominance. Never heard of that.

So I read if you hold your arms out make a triangle with your hands. Centre the triangle around a door knob and the close one eye. If the door knob is still there the eye that is open is the dominant eye.

I'm left eye dominant.
Shoot right.
Write right.

firing a gun i would hold it on my right shoulder and close my right eye. I'm no hunter though so i may be doing that wrong.

 

[Boot]

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

Amusingly enough it's the opposite around here. Unfortunately we don't have any dedicated hockey shops that are close (looking at 2+ hours away), and the sporting goods stores that do carry a slim selection of hockey supplies will have 80% right hand sticks, with a couple of left handed sticks shoved off to the side.

 

[Wrecker]

Interesting article about this:

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

Interesting.

Article does says dominant hand on top is an advantage but Ovechkin and Mario are right handed who shoot right.

Article says that with the dominant hand on top back handing is easier.

"majority of American people shoot right-handed while a majority of Canadian people shoot left-handed."
"international players are left shots 75 percent of the time,"

^They are saying this is due to Canadian's and others knowing more about hockey then Americans and correcting early on. As a Canadian I have never heard of some one being corrected on which side they shoot.

Gordie Howe shot both left and right. From the pictures i have seen looks like he mostly shot right. (he writes right)

 

[leftwinger37]

I'm right-handed but shoot lefty. Like others have said, hockey is the only activity that I do not perform right handed.

I personally don't think it matters very much. I am learning how to play golf at the moment and although there are "right" and "wrong" techniques for grips, most everything I have been told and have read is that it's about finding the approach that provides consistency. There are plenty of golfers with really ugly swings who can still consistently perform in spite of their perceived technical imperfection. I think this applies to hockey in the same way.

 

[lordbender]

I write righty and shoot lefty. Always felt it was the most natural.

 

[Summer Rose]

hmmmm eye dominance. Never heard of that.

So I read if you hold your arms out make a triangle with your hands. Centre the triangle around a door knob and the close one eye. If the door knob is still there the eye that is open is the dominant eye.

I'm left eye dominant.
Shoot right.
Write right.

firing a gun i would hold it on my right shoulder and close my right eye. I'm no hunter though so i may be doing that wrong.

Eye dominance is an interesting subject for me due to the deterioration of my vision from a genetic defect (keratoconus - feel free to make any "blind ref" comments as you see fit ). I was naturally left eye dominant but over the years as the vision in my left eye deteriorates much faster than in my right eye, I've re-trained my brain to be right eye dominant.

 

[CarpeNoctem]

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.

Good post, buddy. I say the same thing too. Which foot would you jump off to try and dunk a basketball? Most people who are right hand dominant in real left would leap off their left foot and therefore, it really would feel more natural in terms of balance to shoot "lefty" in hockey.

 

[Pete Mitchell]

I've always found this theory interesting... quoted from an article a few years old.

One theory is that the difference is cultural. American kids are more likely to swing a baseball bat or golf club at an early age, and then mimic the motion if they later grab a hockey stick. In Canada, where hockey is the national sport, kids practically emerge from the womb holding a stick. "In short, it depends what sports you play first."

 

[green lantern]

First off people are overanalyzing; when a 5 year old plays hockey for the first time, do you think they incorporate strategy in the way they shoot? No they just hold it whichever way is natural for them and adults should too. Left-handed pitchers have an advantage in baseball but would anyone advocate telling a right-handed pitcher to throw with their left hand to get the advantage?

While it's not uncommon to see people bat/golf one way and shoot the opposite in hockey, many people do all the same way. I've heard Canadian's are more likely to golf left-handed possibly due them playing hockey left-handed and the opposite is true for Americans.

With respect to Ovechkin writing right and throwing left, it's not unheard of. Michael Vick does the same. Wings goalie Jimmy Howard plays goal right-handed but writes with his left hand (not sure which way he shoots). Question though, are there hockey playing nations which still don't allow their kids to write with their left hands?

Now to the topic at hand, all things equal the advantage would go towards the dominant hand on top vs the bottom. For a goalie, it is much easier to shoot the puck on their catching side than stick side (this is the only case where players will learn to shoot their opposite way). But also when a player holds their stick in one hand, they'd hold in their top hand which may be why proportionally speaking, defensemen are less likely to shoot right handed than forwards- defensemen spend more time with their stick in one hand than forwards do.

 

[rh71]

I have medically-identical twins who both are dominant righties. When it came time to picking up a stick, I never influenced them (I shoot right too). One of them just felt more natural with his right hand on top so he shoots lefty (and bats lefty). They're 7 now and the lefty shooter has always shown much better stick handling as a result - much quicker and more fluid on the ice. He had a weaker wrister to start for sure compared to my righty (who's slightly taller and faster) but with some practice I would say there's very little difference in shooting anymore. I had thought that a strong hand on the bottom meant a harder wrister but it seems from watching my peers and even my kids, that is more about overall technique.

My opinion - definitely strong hand on top if you can help it.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Good post, buddy. I say the same thing too. Which foot would you jump off to try and dunk a basketball? Most people who are right hand dominant in real left would leap off their left foot and therefore, it really would feel more natural in terms of balance to shoot "lefty" in hockey.

I'm right hand dominant, I do everything with my right hand. To dunk a basketball, I would jump off my left foot. I shoot with a RH stick in hockey though.

My brain isn't wired properly

 

[Jacob]

There's gotta be something to having your dominant hand on top considering how many left-shooting righties there are in the NHL and other pro leagues, and how many right-shooting righties there are in just like, beer leagues and pick-up hockey.

I'm a lefty and I do everything left-handed, except I guess play guitar right-handed.

 

[LarryO]

There's gotta be something to having your dominant hand on top considering how many left-shooting righties there are in the NHL and other pro leagues, and how many right-shooting righties there are in just like, beer leagues and pick-up hockey.

I'm a lefty and I do everything left-handed, except I guess play guitar right-handed.

I don't know where you're from, but most beer leaguers and pick-up players are left shooters around here.

 

[Alex Jones]

I am a LH that shoots left.

When I first started playing I played with a rh stick. I tried the left and preferred it.

Supposedly playing with your dominant hand on bottom allows you to shoot better, but I'm the guy that NEVER EVER shoots the puck, so it's pretty useless for me.

If I could go back I would probably force myself to play RH. I'm way too old to switch, although every once in a while I wonder what would happen if I played in a a low level roller hockey league as a RH shot.

 

[Terry Yake]

I don't know where you're from, but most beer leaguers and pick-up players are left shooters around here.

not around where i live

playing beer league/pickup the overwhelming majority of players are righty shots

having your dominant hand on the bottom does give you a more powerful shot, hence why the best snipers in the game are almost always right handed shots. (ovie, stamkos, seguin) while having your dominant hand on top allows for better stick-handling and passing, which explains guys like datsyuk, kane, backstrom, thornton, crosby, tavares, etc

 

[Maccas]

I've got to be honest this is a topic that always fascinates me.
For me I am very much in the Dominant hand on top camp, I do literally everything right handed if I can and am apparently right eye dominant (Didn't know that until opening this thread though) but when I first picked up a hockey stick in a local store it was a righty and it just felt really uncomfortable. I latter got a left shot stick and was able to do so much more with it, I've tried using a righty a couple of times since with pretty hilarious results.
Over in the UK though there does seem to be quite a high proportion of players being right handed and shooting right. I'm not sure whether it's the lack of coaching and kids just go with what feels most comfortable or whether the abundance of field hockey (and the lack of left handed sticks) comes into play? Most kids seem to play field hockey at some point during their education and that seems to be a totally right hand dominated sport.
I can't even think about being able to shoot right handed, I'd certainly have no control over the puck as at the moment my top hand probably does about 75% of the work for me!

 

[LarryO]

not around where i live

playing beer league/pickup the overwhelming majority of players are righty shots

having your dominant hand on the bottom does give you a more powerful shot, hence why the best snipers in the game are almost always right handed shots. (ovie, stamkos, seguin) while having your dominant hand on top allows for better stick-handling and passing, which explains guys like datsyuk, kane, backstrom, thornton, crosby, tavares, etc

I was responding to Jacob's post comparing the high % of left-handers in the NHL with the low % of left-handers in beer league, like he was assuming pros knew better. But if he's in the U.S. like you are then he's comparing American beer-leaguers with NHL players of which Americans make up a small percentage. So his comparison would not be logical. In I'm in Canada where the majority play left-handed. In the U.S. it's the opposite.

 

[LarryO]

First off people are overanalyzing; when a 5 year old plays hockey for the first time, do you think they incorporate strategy in the way they shoot? No they just hold it whichever way is natural for them and adults should too. Left-handed pitchers have an advantage in baseball but would anyone advocate telling a right-handed pitcher to throw with their left hand to get the advantage?

While it's not uncommon to see people bat/golf one way and shoot the opposite in hockey, many people do all the same way. I've heard Canadian's are more likely to golf left-handed possibly due them playing hockey left-handed and the opposite is true for Americans.

With respect to Ovechkin writing right and throwing left, it's not unheard of. Michael Vick does the same. Wings goalie Jimmy Howard plays goal right-handed but writes with his left hand (not sure which way he shoots). Question though, are there hockey playing nations which still don't allow their kids to write with their left hands?

Now to the topic at hand, all things equal the advantage would go towards the dominant hand on top vs the bottom. For a goalie, it is much easier to shoot the puck on their catching side than stick side (this is the only case where players will learn to shoot their opposite way). But also when a player holds their stick in one hand, they'd hold in their top hand which may be why proportionally speaking, defensemen are less likely to shoot right handed than forwards- defensemen spend more time with their stick in one hand than forwards do.

While uncommon, switching at a young age is not impossible. Raphael Nadal started out as a right-hander. His coach made him switch to left-handed to gain an advantage, and the rest is history. And how about this guy! The Gordie Howe of pitching!

 

[Claudi27]

I think the broom test is the best to determine how you should grab a stick, I write with my right hand but I prefer to have it down in the shaft when I play, stickhandling with your 'weak' hand at the top can be improved with practice, but feeling, touch, sensation is probably simply better 'gathered' or 'transmitted' with your 'good' hand and probably can't be taught as well or as efficiently as it is juggling a golf ball for days.

Probably it's just preference, innate bias or ******** but I feel if I had my left hand down on the shaft it would feel useless, I could still stickhandle well enough because my right hand is on top, but my left arm feels like having a wooden log attached to my elbow and tied up to the shaft of a stick.

Thoughts?

 

[CarpeNoctem]

I think the broom test is the best to determine how you should grab a stick, I write with my right hand but I prefer to have it down in the shaft when I play, stickhandling with your 'weak' hand at the top can be improved with practice, but feeling, touch, sensation is probably simply better 'gathered' or 'transmitted' with your 'good' hand and probably can't be taught as well or as efficiently as it is juggling a golf ball for days.

Probably it's just preference, innate bias or ******** but I feel if I had my left hand down on the shaft it would feel useless, I could still stickhandle well enough because my right hand is on top, but my left arm feels like having a wooden log attached to my elbow and tied up to the shaft of a stick.

Thoughts?

Yeah, you have to do what feels best but the one big point I take issue with is that people think "strong hand on the bottom makes you shoot harder". Well, that's stupid. Very, very little power on the shot comes from your hands or arms, I dono, maybe 5%. Anyone who thinks that probably isn't going to be a lethal sniper on the ice

I shoot hard, in part, because of genetics. I'm a mostly right handed person who shoots lefty and the left side of my body naturally is bigger/stronger/develops faster. It's weird but it apparently works very well for me so, whatevs.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

You should always have the same hand on top of a stick as the one on top when you're shoveling snow.

 

[LarryO]

You should always have the same hand on top of a stick as the one on top when you're shoveling snow.

I'm the Gordie Howe of shoveling. I'm constantly switching hands while I'm shoveling. With all the snow that we get here, I like to get a balanced workout.

 

[Ozz]

I'm the Gordie Howe of shoveling. I'm constantly switching hands while I'm shoveling. With all the snow that we get here, I like to get a balanced workout.

Haha - same here. I tried to imagine I was shoveling to see which way I put my hands, but I alternate and switch off so evenly I can't say which it would be. I can say though that when I have really heavy snow, I know I put my strong arm on the bottom so I can lift it more easily to toss. That would be right hand on bottom for me as a righty. So food for thought there if we want to bring snow into this

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Yeah, you have to do what feels best but the one big point I take issue with is that people think "strong hand on the bottom makes you shoot harder". Well, that's stupid. Very, very little power on the shot comes from your hands or arms, I dono, maybe 5%. Anyone who thinks that probably isn't going to be a lethal sniper on the ice

I shoot hard, in part, because of genetics. I'm a mostly right handed person who shoots lefty and the left side of my body naturally is bigger/stronger/develops faster. It's weird but it apparently works very well for me so, whatevs.

I shoot quite hard for a 6' 155 lbs guy at the age of 19. As you said, it's not in the arms, but it's not so much about body strength. It's all about technique. Most of the power actually comes from the legs, on the weight transfer. The rest comes from the flex, and a little bit from the arm strength.

Try shooting a puck without moving your feet. It will not only feel very awkward, but it won't be half as hard as your hardest shot. It feels just as awkward as pushing off the other foot to shoot with your wrong hand.

 

[ElijahR92]

I am right handed. Eat, write, bat, golf, throw, right. I shoot left though, I guess my dad gave me his right handed stick when I was little and I would turn it backhand and try to shoot left.