stick handling question!

[jazz4all 9]

I'm a lefty player that write left too. However, a lot of fundamentals said that the dominant hand on the top of the stick. I tried and switched to righty for 2 weeks but my stick handling weren't as good when i'm using lefty stick. But, my shot velocity is increasing a lot and gives me more control when playing D. Should i change to a righty player?

[ibeck 38]

Well if you can't stick handle or shoot as a righty don't switch. Simple

[flaming_june 2]

How long have you played as a lefty? Did you have more power and agility in your upper hand while playing as a righty compared to left? Finally, is your left wrist more dexterous than your right?

Do you have more range of motion in your left wrist or right?

[chk hrd 164]

I'm a lefty player that write left too. However, a lot of fundamentals said that the dominant hand on the top of the stick. I tried and switched to righty for 2 weeks but my stick handling weren't as good when i'm using lefty stick. But, my shot velocity is increasing a lot and gives me more control when playing D. Should i change to a righty player?

oldschool fundamentals. Go with what feels best to you. If you have been playing for any small length of time trying to switch would be almost impossible.

[jazz4all 9]

How long have you played as a lefty? Did you have more power and agility in your upper hand while playing as a righty compared to left? Finally, is your left wrist more dexterous than your right?

Do you have more range of motion in your left wrist or right?

almost 2 years. The first time i picked my first stick, its a left handed stick. Maybe its weird but for controling puck, i'm a lot better as lefty. But in terms of shooting power and wrist strength, my left wrist is the strongest. The best range of motion is on my right wrist. Is this normal?

[Sniper9 535]

where did you get that info from? your dominany hand should be on the bottom.. the top is just for manuervering and a guide... when you lean into your shot you are using your bottom hand to torque the stick.. im right handed in hockey, baseball, throwin, writing, everything. it does not make sense that yoru strong hand is up top... holding the butt end..

[MyBoxersSayJoe 133]

I'm lefty, write with my left hand, stick handle and shoot lefty.

I know a lot of righties that play lefty, though.

[MURedhawk 0]

where did you get that info from? your dominany hand should be on the bottom.. the top is just for manuervering and a guide... when you lean into your shot you are using your bottom hand to torque the stick.. im right handed in hockey, baseball, throwin, writing, everything. it does not make sense that yoru strong hand is up top... holding the butt end..

Many nations disagree with you (and many players) Do you really think all of the lefties from Europe are left hand dominate?

http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2006/09/why-do-most-nhl-players-shoot-left.html

[DolomaticDangles 13]

It's weird I do everything lefty in sports but i write righty

[wrangler 157]

I use my left hand for gripping and lifting, and my right for more control-oriented stuff. I'm right-handed, and my right eye is dominant, FWIW.

Seems to me I heard that one hand tends to be better at gross motor control, and the other at fine. Never heard how that relates to which hand you use for which activities. I'd like to hear more about this, if anyone knows.

[tareatingrat 4]

I'm pretty sure I play with the wrong hand (I'm a righty). I do most things with my right hand (reach for stuff, write, throw, etc.) so I'd say I'm right hand dominant.

But, that's how I started. My hands have never been very good, however, but I've always had a strong shot.

I've been practicing my stickhandling for about 30 minutes a day every day for the past three weeks (I'm using the Kwik-hands kit). Huge difference in terms of wrist strength already, and I'm starting to unlearn some bad habits.

Eventually, I'm going to try grabbing a left handed stick and going through the Kwik-hands program again to see what that does for my opposite hand...

I'd say just go with what's more comfortable and practice. Especially if you've already been doing it for two years.

[pby 0]

I'm pretty sure I play with the wrong hand as well. I'm right handed but shoot right.

would like to play left but invested too much time and money into right hand sticks that its not really an option to switch.

[chippa13 1844]

This has been discussed at length here before but the prevailing wisdom is that the younger you start playing hockey with a stick, the more likely that your dominant hand will be at the top of the stick.

[wrangler 157]

This has been discussed at length here before but the prevailing wisdom is that the younger you start playing hockey with a stick, the more likely that your dominant hand will be at the top of the stick.

Makes sense. For me, I started baseball and softball years before hockey, so it felt natural to hold the stick on the same side as the bat.

[jazz4all 9]

Maybe it's too late to switch hand? I wonder if different nations = different style. Here in Indonesia, 3/4 of players shoots right and they were righty. and only around 6-7 lefties. It seems like we were taught that way for beginning. And they can stick handle with that and some really" good.

[Sniper9 535]

Many nations disagree with you (and many players) Do you really think all of the lefties from Europe are left hand dominate?

http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/archives/2006/09/why-do-most-nhl-players-shoot-left.html

That link you sent me says most euros are righties....

How many left handed players do you know compared to right? I know 90% of the players I know are RH. I know stats are that there are a lot of lefties in the NHL in the earlier days, but IMO, does it make sense that your STRONG hand be on the top where it is acting as a swivel? There are different reasons for people who use their right hand for penmanship and the opposite for swinging a club.

to each their own. I think it all comes down to whichever you start playing with as a kid and is more due to chance than anything.

[MURedhawk 0]

That link you sent me says most euros are righties....

How many left handed players do you know compared to right? I know 90% of the players I know are RH. I know stats are that there are a lot of lefties in the NHL in the earlier days, but IMO, does it make sense that your STRONG hand be on the top where it is acting as a swivel? There are different reasons for people who use their right hand for penmanship and the opposite for swinging a club.

to each their own. I think it all comes down to whichever you start playing with as a kid and is more due to chance than anything.

Yes, I agree. That link says that most are righties. Population in any area is about 90% righthanded so it makes sense. The difference is that most kids in "hockey areas" are taught correctly to use dom hand up top. Many theories why the US is a little different (baseball and hitting being one of them)

There has been a lot of good discussions on many other sites about the benefits of one versus the other. (dominate eye plays a role as well)

The greatest player to ever play the game, Mario, is right handed and has dominate hand at bottom. So a pretty good example on doing it the other way.

[Larry54 243]

I always figured that whatever side you train more becomes your dominant side. Ovechkin writes with his right hand, plays hockey right but throws a ball with his left. Raphael Nadal writes right-handed and started playing right-handed when he was young. His coach made him switch to left-handed. I think it was to have more power on his two-handed backhand. There are other examples of this in pro sports. So I wouldn't worry about where you place your "dominant" hand on the hockey stick. If you've gotten used to one side, it's not worth switching.

[jazz4all 9]

i see. I'll keep on training and especially begin to work out on my wrist muscle to be able to generate the same power as my left wrist. Thanks for your opinions and advices guys! GBU

[flaming_june 2]

to each their own. I think it all comes down to whichever you start playing with as a kid and is more due to chance than anything.

Though I agree on preference, I still think proper coaching in what's accepted method is how most get into their hands. Others are due to what they feel is more comfortable or what they've been taught about writing in school.

almost 2 years. The first time i picked my first stick, its a left handed stick. Maybe its weird but for controling puck, i'm a lot better as lefty. But in terms of shooting power and wrist strength, my left wrist is the strongest. The best range of motion is on my right wrist. Is this normal?

In my say so it's best to have the hand with most range of motion as the top hand, which is opposite of what you played for two years as (according to your description).

[Jordan 13]

where did you get that info from? your dominany hand should be on the bottom.. the top is just for manuervering and a guide.

Doesn't work that way up here in Canada. The vast majority of minor hockey players here shoot left, while the majority of the population is right handed.

Article on it here:Hockey Stick Divide

[Ralphiv#13 0]

Why try to fix something that isn't broken?

[Stoop 1]

Just curious, Jazz4all, if you eventually made the switch or not? Has anyone made the switch? I use a right-handed stick because I write and bat right-handed, so I picked the stick that said "right-handed."

But I just started an adult learn-to-play class, and one of the teachers mentioned the dominant hand on top thing. And so I went back and read several of the discussions of the topic here on this board.

My right hand is certainly more talented than my left (insert joke here), but my left arm overall is stronger, due to a minor injury as a kid. With a right handed stick, I at least feel a little bit like a hockey player. With a left hand stick, I just feel like a child. But I am still a beginner, and thus suck, so I could probably make up the difference in a few weeks. As adults go, I'm probably as good a candidate as you'll find.

Currently I'm leaning toward not trying to switch to lefty sticks, though I'd love to hear even a single success story if it's out there. If there are no success stories, and the benefit to having my right hand on top isn't that great, I don't even want to invest the few weeks to switch.

Finally, I was pretty surprised to hear about the top-hand idea, because I also thought of the bottom hand as doing/controlling the majority of the manuevering, both stick-handling and (more obviously) shooting. I think of the top hand more as a pivot point that shifts around as necessary. So is that backwards? Are Canadian kids taught to use the lower hand as more of a pivot point and the top hand does the majority of the stickhandling work (like billiards)?

[beth 0]

Just curious, Jazz4all, if you eventually made the switch or not? Has anyone made the switch? I use a right-handed stick because I write and bat right-handed, so I picked the stick that said "right-handed."

But I just started an adult learn-to-play class, and one of the teachers mentioned the dominant hand on top thing. And so I went back and read several of the discussions of the topic here on this board.

My right hand is certainly more talented than my left (insert joke here), but my left arm overall is stronger, due to a minor injury as a kid. With a right handed stick, I at least feel a little bit like a hockey player. With a left hand stick, I just feel like a child. But I am still a beginner, and thus suck, so I could probably make up the difference in a few weeks. As adults go, I'm probably as good a candidate as you'll find.

Currently I'm leaning toward not trying to switch to lefty sticks, though I'd love to hear even a single success story if it's out there. If there are no success stories, and the benefit to having my right hand on top isn't that great, I don't even want to invest the few weeks to switch.

Finally, I was pretty surprised to hear about the top-hand idea, because I also thought of the bottom hand as doing/controlling the majority of the manuevering, both stick-handling and (more obviously) shooting. I think of the top hand more as a pivot point that shifts around as necessary. So is that backwards? Are Canadian kids taught to use the lower hand as more of a pivot point and the top hand does the majority of the stickhandling work (like billiards)?

Stoop, if the righty stick feels more natural to you, then you might as well stick with it. I'm right-handed, and my first day trying hockey I used a right-handed stick, and it just felt wrong. So I've been using a left-handed stick ever since. The one problem I'm running into now, is while the top half of my body is comfortable and happy with the lefty, my legs seem to have trouble with weight transfer while shooting. It didn't even occur to me that this might be a problem until I asked my coach how to get my legs to work and he suggested going to the batting cages to practice weight transfer. Well, that won't work because I bat the opposite of how I shoot! So I think that's why my legs are having a hard time. Just something else to consider.

[Stoop 1]

Stoop, if the righty stick feels more natural to you, then you might as well stick with it. I'm right-handed, and my first day trying hockey I used a right-handed stick, and it just felt wrong. So I've been using a left-handed stick ever since. The one problem I'm running into now, is while the top half of my body is comfortable and happy with the lefty, my legs seem to have trouble with weight transfer while shooting. It didn't even occur to me that this might be a problem until I asked my coach how to get my legs to work and he suggested going to the batting cages to practice weight transfer. Well, that won't work because I bat the opposite of how I shoot! So I think that's why my legs are having a hard time. Just something else to consider.

That makes sense about the lower body. I'm sure my baseball swing is part of my right-handed hockey shot, for better or worse. I looked at some of the surveys of hand-side here, and there were very, very few posters who batted right and used a lefty stick (or v.v.). And I went to stick & puck today with both sticks, and the ice just magnified the difference between the two. Leaning even more so to sticking with the right.