JJEH
Member
According to a 2001 online article at Scientific American dot com, "approx. 70%-95% are right-handed and a minority of 5%-30% is left-handed." It also says that "an indeterminate number of people are probably best described as ambidextrous." I don't know if that is true and it honestly doesn't matter. Point is almost everyone has a weak hand.
Now, are you ambidextrous? If not, do you simply accept the fact that you have a weak hand or do you try to make it equal? I honestly didn't think much about it until I had a motorcycle accident. I had four surgeries and my whole body was in pain. One day I was in the "meeting room" and could not reach around with my strong hand to properly employ bath tissues as I was used to. That's when I had to think about this serious issue. "What to do when I cannot use my strong hand for quite some time?" I thought. And some other unpleasant stuff that I thought out loud at that time but cannot tell here.
Getting hurt is really easy (doesn't always have to be your fault though) but getting through it with all the pain and restrictions to your body is a whole different story.
A few years back I visited Ireland and had to drive a rental car with manual transmission. Not only did I have to get used to driving on the "wrong side" of the road, no, my brain and left hand had also get used to operating a 5-speed m/t while the pedals are still the same. After the second day everything went way smoother than the first. Being a car guy it was really fun after getting used to it, despite the fact that sometimes I didn't get every gear I desired.
But that's why you need to practice with your weak hand every day for all kind of situations. It starts with everyday business, like brushing teeth, making coffee, using keys, typing on a keyboard/phone, etc. you get the picture. Start with small and simple things and then see how it goes. But you need to start. Today. Now.
Once you are comfortable with those tasks try the same with your firearm(s) next time you are at the range. It's an important thing to learn, especially since you'll never know in what kind of situation life will throw you.
Have you ever tried to draw your handgun from your strong side with your weak hand? Did you ever rack the slide of your semi-auto pistol one handed? Or reload your revolver with one hand only? Shoot your rifle with your other hand? At first it sucks, but what are you going to do if you have no other choice? Learn how to shoot with your weak hand, draw, reload, re-holster, use a speed loader/-strip, how to use a baton, knife, stick, Taser, sword, whatever you desire.
I know three reasons why you should do that. One, you might have to defend yourself and/or your loved ones with your strong hand/arm disabled. Second, you might have an accident that temporarily or indefinitely disables your strong side hand/arm. Third, you go on vacation to a country where people drive on the other side of the road and simply have no other choice as to get along with it. If you know more reasons please comment below.
Learning how to use your weak hand (so as new things in general) can be fun, never forget about that. But please be careful!
Bottom line, with the proper training and the right mindset your weak hand soon will become an equal hand and ready for whatever life has planned for you! The more comfortable you are with using both of your hands, the more likely you have a chance to survive certain situations!
Weak, strong, ambidextrous? What now? | estradaarmory
Now, are you ambidextrous? If not, do you simply accept the fact that you have a weak hand or do you try to make it equal? I honestly didn't think much about it until I had a motorcycle accident. I had four surgeries and my whole body was in pain. One day I was in the "meeting room" and could not reach around with my strong hand to properly employ bath tissues as I was used to. That's when I had to think about this serious issue. "What to do when I cannot use my strong hand for quite some time?" I thought. And some other unpleasant stuff that I thought out loud at that time but cannot tell here.
Getting hurt is really easy (doesn't always have to be your fault though) but getting through it with all the pain and restrictions to your body is a whole different story.
A few years back I visited Ireland and had to drive a rental car with manual transmission. Not only did I have to get used to driving on the "wrong side" of the road, no, my brain and left hand had also get used to operating a 5-speed m/t while the pedals are still the same. After the second day everything went way smoother than the first. Being a car guy it was really fun after getting used to it, despite the fact that sometimes I didn't get every gear I desired.
But that's why you need to practice with your weak hand every day for all kind of situations. It starts with everyday business, like brushing teeth, making coffee, using keys, typing on a keyboard/phone, etc. you get the picture. Start with small and simple things and then see how it goes. But you need to start. Today. Now.
Once you are comfortable with those tasks try the same with your firearm(s) next time you are at the range. It's an important thing to learn, especially since you'll never know in what kind of situation life will throw you.
Have you ever tried to draw your handgun from your strong side with your weak hand? Did you ever rack the slide of your semi-auto pistol one handed? Or reload your revolver with one hand only? Shoot your rifle with your other hand? At first it sucks, but what are you going to do if you have no other choice? Learn how to shoot with your weak hand, draw, reload, re-holster, use a speed loader/-strip, how to use a baton, knife, stick, Taser, sword, whatever you desire.
I know three reasons why you should do that. One, you might have to defend yourself and/or your loved ones with your strong hand/arm disabled. Second, you might have an accident that temporarily or indefinitely disables your strong side hand/arm. Third, you go on vacation to a country where people drive on the other side of the road and simply have no other choice as to get along with it. If you know more reasons please comment below.
Learning how to use your weak hand (so as new things in general) can be fun, never forget about that. But please be careful!
Bottom line, with the proper training and the right mindset your weak hand soon will become an equal hand and ready for whatever life has planned for you! The more comfortable you are with using both of your hands, the more likely you have a chance to survive certain situations!
Weak, strong, ambidextrous? What now? | estradaarmory
That's gotta hurt. Funny how the lack of a capital letter can change the whole sentence structure when first reading it.
