Shot Handedness in the NHL

[MNRube]

Always funny when you golf in Minnesota or Canada and half the course is lefties. Usually they hit the ball a mile and have no short games

 

[SuperScript29]

Dominant hand should be at the knob end of the stick.

Different folks different strokes.

 

[SniperHF]

I've always been curious if eye dominance matters and to what extent in hockey. Probably not nearly as important as say in baseball but still interesting. Like is a cross eye dominant right handed left eyed person in theory slightly more advantageous as a left handed shot. Prolly not measurable.

 

[TGWL]

Dominant hand should be at the knob end of the stick.

It's not that it "should be", it's that some prefer to have the control at the top with your dominate hand. There is no "should be" when it comes to which side you shoot. Some prefer to have a quicker, harder release, and shoot right while being right handed. It's about what make you comfortable and shouldn't be a forced "you're supposed to", thing. The worst thing you can do is force somebody to play in the opposite direction they feel comfortable holding a stick.

 

[SuperScript29]

It's not that it "should be", it's that most prefer to have the control at the top with your dominate hand. There is no "should be" when it goes to which side you shoot.

Looking at the top-20 NHL point leaders of all time, 8 of them shot right, and of those 7 were right handed. So at the end of the day it's really just preference.

 

[MessierII]

Well it’s super common because more than 50% of hockey players (actually 60%+) shoot left (different depending on where as I think it’s different Canada vs Us for some reason) and less than 5%.

The why? If you buy into dominant hand being on top, you’d suggest that in hockey, unlike other sports like baseball and golf, you play quite regularly with one hand on the stick, so that would be your dominant hand.

That said, I shoot right and I’m guessing almost everyone that shoots right is right handed and almost everyone that shoots left is right handed, so it really doesn’t matter in my mind. I think it comes down to how you learned to play.

What I find really interesting is when fathers shoot opposite of their sons as you’d thinks he father would be showing the son from a young age how to do it.

I get the dominant but no one thinks about that you just do what feels natural. Holding a hockey stick and golf club are fundamentally the same grip at least in my brain. I have no idea how people’s brains can flip their grip like that with something so similar. My father does it in fact. Left in hockey right in golf. I’m left in both.

 

[Coffee]

I get the dominant but no one thinks about that you just do what feels natural. Holding a hockey stick and golf club are fundamentally the same grip at least in my brain. I have no idea how people’s brains can flip their grip like that with something so similar. My father does it in fact. Left in hockey right in golf. I’m left in both.

I have a buddy who switches to left in golf by the time summer comes

 

[Toby91ca]

I get the dominant but no one thinks about that you just do what feels natural. Holding a hockey stick and golf club are fundamentally the same grip at least in my brain. I have no idea how people’s brains can flip their grip like that with something so similar. My father does it in fact. Left in hockey right in golf. I’m left in both.

There is pretty much nothing similar to gripping a hockey stick and a golf club, other than one hand at top followed by another, but the grip is totally different and positioning is totally different…including using one hand in hockey a lot of the time.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

How many people write with one hand but throw with another? And how many of those people are young-ish? That is the strangest thing to me if it doesn’t involve a child being forced to write with their right hand like back in the old days

 

[bossram]

Thank you! I've been saying the lever/fulcrum thing for years and people always act like I'm nuts. While it's true that both hands work together, the hand on top snapping back generates way more power than the hand in the middle of the stick. And if you're strong enough to hold your hands closer together, the power is magnified (because the fulcrum is further away from the blade end of the stick).

Yeah, the bottom-hand in hockey is really just there to hold the stick. It shouldn't really be doing the majority of anything shooting or stickhandling wise.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

I get the dominant but no one thinks about that you just do what feels natural. Holding a hockey stick and golf club are fundamentally the same grip at least in my brain. I have no idea how people’s brains can flip their grip like that with something so similar. My father does it in fact. Left in hockey right in golf. I’m left in both.

Which way do you swing a bat?

I’m right hand dominant but left in golf, hockey, baseball. It was only recently where I realized that most people aren’t the same handedness in all 3. To me it’s the same.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I've always been curious if eye dominance matters and to what extent in hockey. Probably not nearly as important as say in baseball but still interesting. Like is a cross eye dominant right handed left eyed person in theory slightly more advantageous as a left handed shot. Prolly not measurable.

I’m a right hand dominant left shot with left eye dominance lol, why would that be slightly advantageous though?

 

[Yukon Joe]

For the couple of years that I would coach very young hockey (like 5 years old) I would just recommend parents get a straight wooden stick, and the kid will figure out which way feels most natural for them.

There was at least one kind, maybe two, who had a curved stick that they would insist on holding backwards. After a couple weeks of this the parents wound up getting them a new stick.

I mean, I kind of wish I had forced my kids to hold a stick right-handed. Both wound up playing defence, and right-shot D are always in demand. But it wasn't worth the hassle when they were 5, and they certainly aren't changing now.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

One thing that’s never made sense to me is people who shoot left in hockey but golf right. It’s super common for some reason.

That's me. I'm right handed in everything else, but LH in hockey has always been easier. I can make precise adjustments with my right wrist at the top, accurately reach one handed, etc. The left arm helps stabilize and generate power, which requires less dexterity in my estimation.

 

[MessierII]

Which way do you swing a bat?

I’m right hand dominant but left in golf, hockey, baseball. It was only recently where I realized that most people aren’t the same handedness in all 3. To me it’s the same.

I bat left as well. Same as you I am right handed but left in hockey golf and baseball.

 

[Bounces R Way]

How many people write with one hand but throw with another? And how many of those people are young-ish? That is the strangest thing to me if it doesn’t involve a child being forced to write with their right hand like back in the old days

It's strange to me too. I'm extremely right dominant to the point where I doubt I could properly wipe my ass with my left hand.

Hit right in hockey, golf, lacrosse, baseball, even snowboarding and skateboarding I ride goofy. About all my left hand does above basic competency is hold a knife and type and I'm pretty sure I couldn't kick a soccer ball over 30 yds with my left foot. I have a buddy who could switch his hands in ping pong and hit it about as well with either but he said he wasn't ambidextrous.

 

[TheAngryHank]

For parents out there ,throw your kid a broom ,watch them sweep. What ever hand is on top of the broom will be on top of a hockey stick.

 

[Shark Finn]

Most goalies have their glove on the left hand so right-shooting maniacs who throw bombs to the blocker side have a better chance of scoring goals.

 

[Straight Fire]

I'm right handed at everything

 

[93LEAFS]

How many people write with one hand but throw with another? And how many of those people are young-ish? That is the strangest thing to me if it doesn’t involve a child being forced to write with their right hand like back in the old days

Mike Vick signs with his right, and throws with his left. I believe it's due to while growing up his dad wanted him to stiff arm with his right. Tua Tagovioloa also signs right but throws with his left. It's sort of weird because while throwing lefty in baseball is considered a big advantage, it's not really viewed as a positive in the NFL, as a majority of playbooks have to be flipped for a left handed QB. It's not as bad as it used to be as teams now heavily value pass protection on both sides, and strong-side/weak-side matters less as teams flex out TE's and don't use FBs much anymore.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

I’m a right hand dominant left shot with left eye dominance lol, why would that be slightly advantageous though?

It puts your dominate eye in the front when you blade off and allows you to better assess the play a fraction of a second sooner than the reverse.

Think baseball. Dominate eye facing pitcher allows a person to read the pitcher and ball easier. Dominate eye towards catcher requires more time to make a neck twist to pick up the pitch...and that delay could be the difference between a hit and a foul ball.

 

[AtlantaHockeyFanatic]

Sorry for bumping an old thread, but I was doing a google search of how to shoot & hold a stick for lefties, & this thread came up.

I got my first stick today (a used one, so it wasn’t expensive), & me being left handed, I purchased the “left handed” stick. I got home & tried it out, & it just feels awkward. When I hold it with my left hand on top, it feels way better, but my curve is facing the wrong way, which tells me I need a righty stick, & I’m going to exchange it tomorrow. I know I should have done all of that in store, but I was in a rush.

Is it normal for your stick to be the opposite of your natural handiness?

 

[koyvoo]

I'm ambidextrous and learning something new can be an absolute pain. A lot of the time it's easier just to pick a hand and stick with it. I eat with my left hand, write with right hand, shoot right handed etc. I've been dabbling in tennis recently and I want a racket for each hand.

That’s cheating

 

[OrangePMD]

Is it normal for your stick to be the opposite of your natural handiness?

As you quickly found out by yourself, each individuals hockey stick handedness comes down to personal preference, and they only wrong way is the one that feels wrong to you.

But to answer your question, numbers show that playing with your dominant hand on top is the most common way.

 

[paragon]

Thought this was an interesting dive into the differences between left and right shooting players.

The video makes several assertions, some that are fairly commonly accepted beliefs such as RHS fwds generally make the best snipers, as well as some that I hadn't really considered in that most of the best defensive defenseman shoot left as they are better able to use their dominant hand to make one handed plays with their stick. Didn't realize just how pronounced the righty defenseman domination of the offensive categories was either. Also wasn't aware just how much lefties prevail at the top of the draft, since 1990 there have been 25 RHS players selected with a top 3 pick while there have been 77 LHS.

Good video.