Your handedness and how you shoot
- Thread starter Summer Rose
- Start date
Fremitus Borealis
Flügelstürmer
Right handed, shoot right. When I was a kid and all we could get were those ****** Franklin street hockey sticks with the plastic blades, they only ever really came in right curve, so it was pretty much decided for me. Of course, "curve" is a relative term, because so many of them were warped beyond belief 
Righty who shoots right.
I can't vote on the poll though:
"Voters: 127. You may not vote on this poll"
maybe not enough posts.
I can't vote on the poll though:
"Voters: 127. You may not vote on this poll"
maybe not enough posts.
I'm left handed and shoot left. I feel that even though I'm smaller , I can still shoot the puck better than a lot of guys that are bigger and string than me. Maybe it has to do with technique but I think it's because my dominant hand is on the bottom.
dubey
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 60 in 73 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Me:Right handed, shoot right. I equate it to the US thing, as well as the top hand being similar to the bottom hand in baseball. I bat right handed, and am used to quickly moving that right hand on the bat similar to that on the hockey stick. Just my opinion though.
My brother on the other hand is awkward. Shoots pool, and shoots a gun like a lefty. Completely right handed in baseball, soccer, and hockey though. I always tell him he should play hockey left handed because his shot is equivalent to that of an eight year old.
Write = right
Shoot = left
Swing = left
Maybe I don't follow but in baseball isn't your dominate hand always at the end of the bat? For me it is always my right hand
Right handed, bat right, shoot left. Pretty sure your dominant hand is further from the bottom of the bat.
Two articles of interest
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html
http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl-draft/insider/post?id=143
I'm firmly in the "encourage dominant hand on top" but maybe not so far as to force it.
I have two boys, both right handed, one shoots left the other right. The one that shoots left needs very little shooting instruction, at 5 he can roof the puck without flicking. The right shooter requires a lot of work on his shot, much more than his peers (stickhandling, skating, playmaking are all good). Try playing with a pipe or TP roll on your lower hand and you will probably notice that your top hand is doing most of the work most of the time. Developing strength in your less dominant hand is much easier than improving its dexterity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html
http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl-draft/insider/post?id=143
I'm firmly in the "encourage dominant hand on top" but maybe not so far as to force it.
I have two boys, both right handed, one shoots left the other right. The one that shoots left needs very little shooting instruction, at 5 he can roof the puck without flicking. The right shooter requires a lot of work on his shot, much more than his peers (stickhandling, skating, playmaking are all good). Try playing with a pipe or TP roll on your lower hand and you will probably notice that your top hand is doing most of the work most of the time. Developing strength in your less dominant hand is much easier than improving its dexterity.
CarpeNoctem
Chilling w The Chief
Good post. I really feel the bold is true, and it's not entirely fair for me to speak on it, because I've always had good hand-eye and very fast reflexes but I've gotten a lot of compliments on deflections and stuff like that (can't say for sure where that comes from). Plus, I've been told I have a good wrister by a retired NHL player and another for my backhand. Dominant hand on top helps backhanders, for sure.
Ozz
Registered User
Weird, I feel my lower dominant hand helps w/backhanders, and mine is often harder than many people around the league's wrist shots
The way I've usually heard it described is that having your dominant hand on top gives you more control and helps with finesse/accuracy, while having your dominant hand on bottom gives you more power.
biturbo19
Registered User
- Jul 13, 2010
- 25,158
- 13,055
I'm a right-handed person who shoots Right. It's just natural for me, idk. It's not like i was steered in some weird direction early on by my parents or something...
My dad is also right-handed, but shoots Left as per normal-ish for a Canadian. And had a bunch of hockey experience and stuff. So it's not like i was led down some weird wrong path early...
For me, shooting right is what feels right.
As a goaltender where i spent most of my youth, i catch left...like you'd expect from a right-handed goaltender. But like Schneider and Luongo...i'm still a natural RH shot as a skater (hence them both being horrendous puck-handlers).
As a skater, i have a strong preference for LW over RW as a RH shot...the ice just seems so much more open to me from my off wing. Though as a defenceman, i strongly prefer to play on my strong side.
Certainly some interesting ideas about Eye Dominance and stick handedness from Caeldan in the other thread though. I fit the profile on a Left Eye Dominant, Right-handed, Right-hand shooter to a tee.
I have actual Lefties scattered all throughout my close family tree though. And i actually do some random things basically left-handed.
My dad is also right-handed, but shoots Left as per normal-ish for a Canadian. And had a bunch of hockey experience and stuff. So it's not like i was led down some weird wrong path early...
For me, shooting right is what feels right.
As a goaltender where i spent most of my youth, i catch left...like you'd expect from a right-handed goaltender. But like Schneider and Luongo...i'm still a natural RH shot as a skater (hence them both being horrendous puck-handlers
).As a skater, i have a strong preference for LW over RW as a RH shot...the ice just seems so much more open to me from my off wing. Though as a defenceman, i strongly prefer to play on my strong side.
Certainly some interesting ideas about Eye Dominance and stick handedness from Caeldan in the other thread though. I fit the profile on a Left Eye Dominant, Right-handed, Right-hand shooter to a tee.
I have actual Lefties scattered all throughout my close family tree though. And i actually do some random things basically left-handed.
Fremitus Borealis
Flügelstürmer
I'm a right-handed person who shoots Right. It's just natural for me, idk. It's not like i was steered in some weird direction early on by my parents or something...
My dad is also right-handed, but shoots Left as per normal-ish for a Canadian. And had a bunch of hockey experience and stuff. So it's not like i was led down some weird wrong path early...
For me, shooting right is what feels right.
As a goaltender where i spent most of my youth, i catch left...like you'd expect from a right-handed goaltender. But like Schneider and Luongo...i'm still a natural RH shot as a skater (hence them both being horrendous puck-handlers
As a skater, i have a strong preference for LW over RW as a RH shot...the ice just seems so much more open to me from my off wing. Though as a defenceman, i strongly prefer to play on my strong side.
Certainly some interesting ideas about Eye Dominance and stick handedness from Caeldan in the other thread though. I fit the profile on a Left Eye Dominant, Right-handed, Right-hand shooter to a tee.
I have actual Lefties scattered all throughout my close family tree though. And i actually do some random things basically left-handed.
I agree with the bolded part. I shoot right, but prefer to play on the left. It just feels like I have a much better angle on the net, especially when I go into the corners, or am low in the faceoff circle. Also I like being able to totally tee off on one-timers off the faceoff when they're on the right side of the net.
cujoflutie
Registered User
It's a matter of preference. Passing is a lot harder as is puck handling on your off wing. When I did play out, I preferred LW as a right handed shot but prefered RD as i found it hard to clear the puck out of my end or keep the puck in the other end as LD.
JS19
Legends Never Die
Elias Pettersson
I'm not a troll
- Jan 22, 2014
- 3,843
- 1,827
This thread blows my mind. There is no way that there is a 50/50 split between righties and lefties... If you look at nhl teams, around 70% of their roster shoots left.
Canadians are still a plurality in the NHL where the "dominant hand on top" theory is prevalent. None of us here play in the NHL (to my knowledge), though some of us may act like we do on the ice sometimes.
Righthanded, plays left. It makes no sense to have your lesser hand on top. You stickhandle with your top hand alone a lot, and it's your steering hand.
However it's worth noting that there are probably a lot of ppl who have learned to write etc with their "wrong hand", especially if they're right handed, or thinks they are, rather.
So if we accept the concept of the dominant hand, then going by your writing hand is not necessarily correct, but most of the time it is. And if we don't accept the dominant hand theory, then you should always play with your writing hand on top, since this is the hand where your motor skills are most likely the most developed. So, writing hand should always be the default top position. I would only recommend going against this if someone have a strong preference for the other.
However it's worth noting that there are probably a lot of ppl who have learned to write etc with their "wrong hand", especially if they're right handed, or thinks they are, rather.
So if we accept the concept of the dominant hand, then going by your writing hand is not necessarily correct, but most of the time it is. And if we don't accept the dominant hand theory, then you should always play with your writing hand on top, since this is the hand where your motor skills are most likely the most developed. So, writing hand should always be the default top position. I would only recommend going against this if someone have a strong preference for the other.
cujoflutie
Registered User
I wonder if this thread is due to people attempting to strategize which way they shoot. I played on several teams growing up and never saw an equal number of right shooters vs left.
Presumably all or most NHL players started playing as kids and simply held the stick the way they felt comfortable and away they went. It’s possible some of the voters here either chose the way they shot as adults based on strategy or had parents who forced them to shoot a certain way due to strategy).
There are quite a few misconceptions about the direction someone should shoot; people wrongfully assuming they should shoot on their dominant side or the same way they golf/bat.
Myself, I didn't choose to shoot left strategically. My first ever experience holding a hockey stick or something close to it was as a little kid, using a broom to sweep around a piece of Christmas tree trunk my dad cut off the bottom of the tree that year, whilst on rollerblades. I held it with my left hand as the bottom hand, and a week or so (or whatever) later, one of my Christmas presents was a left-handed street hockey stick. I've shot left ever since.
I did briefly experiment with switching for strategic purposes because of wanting to try my dominant hand on top, but that was basically a failure. I could pass and stickhandle but not shoot.
