Left - Right handedness compensator?

I'm left handed but growing up in a right handed world, I have adapted. If the world were perfect, lathe headstocks would be to your right and all the handles to your left.

In a car, I'm fine.

Motorcycles, I turn better to the right than the left, but I'm getting better.It only comes into play when pushing the limits.

Friday I took the afternoon off to go flying. I got towed to 3000 ft., hooked into a thermal and rode it up to 6300 feet! I stayed up for about 90 minutes.

Here's the quandary.... I noticed that when turning right, I'm fine. Smooth, good speed control, well coordinated turns etc. When I hit a thermal that lifts the left wing tip, indicating one to my left; I turned left.

I noticed that my speed fluctuated, banking was erratic and I (no idea why) tried to sit up straight in the seat, leaning away from the turn.

WTH?

How does one get over this kind of thing?

I know, I know, practice, practice, practice. I've not had this issue to this degree with any other endeavor.

Anyone else have this? I've not seen it to this degree before.

Dan

Maybe you're not just left handed, you're left armed.

Being right handed, it was a conscious battle for me to make a motorcycle turn left as well as it would turn right. Left turns just did not flow naturally. So you are not alone, just built backwards.

might be yur default position, disconnect brain, reboot

I've been playing hockey for about 18 years now, and reffing for 5. I'm on the ice a LOT, and am a very competent skater. To this day, I have to think about making a sharp turn to the right or doing a hockey stop facing the right. I can do it just about as well as the other way, but I have to think about it vs. it being completely natural the other way.

I'm pathetically left-handed, and agree - driving is fine, no real preference or problem turning either direction. But when I'm on a bicycle and do anything involving spinning, I'm rotating clockwise.

I'm left handed as well, but I think everyone (righties or lefties) has a preferred side for turning, whether it's in a car, a plane, a motorcycle, or on skis.

All you have to do is break your left arm so badly that you can't do anything with it for half a year or so. Your right will take over=]
Worked great for me, but in reverse, so now, aside from writing, which I still can't do legibly lefthanded, I can do whatever with whichever hand I want.

I think there's some other full set of preferences mixed around.

I'm right handed, prefer left hand corners on motorcycles, ride a skateboard and snowboard "goofy foot" (right foot forward, facing left), and hold a hockey stick with the blade down on my left, with my right hand on the end of the handle.

Regarding that last item, I guess that's normal for a right-handed Canadian, but backwards for a right-handed American

Mtn, I don't know what it's called; but when skating and turning you know how one foot goes in front of and outside of the other? I can turn right fine, left I'm going down hard.

When flying a glider you have to use your right hand on the stick, your left hand is used to run the spoilers, air brakes. If you have enough money, someone will hand make one with "other handed" controls.

BTW, Friday was the first time I ever had to put on the brakes to get out of lift. You can't fly within 500 feet of a cloud. I was in serious lift, getting sucked up into a cloud; hit the brakes and put in full dive inches from cloud base. I can't imagine the tremendous forces involved in anything thunderstorm like!

Dan

Not much to add, other than that as a righty, I've always been better at turning left for some reason (except when I'm in a voting booth).

Nonetheless, I absolutely love hearing your glider stories.

Awareness is half the battle, at least!

I'm righty, and I'm totally unaware of anything that I don't do perfectly!

My grandpa only had one arm. It's not so bad. He went the other way though, he was right handed for 35 years, and then left handed for 35 years. He found a guy that only had a right hand and they'd go halfsies on mittens. Now that's a grassroots solution to a problem if I ever heard one.

My great grandfather was right handed until he lost his right arm. After that he drove a milk truck (three speed floor shifter) with only his left hand for about 25 years. He was an american badass=] lol

corytate wrote: My great grandfather was right handed until he lost his right arm. After that he drove a milk truck (three speed floor shifter) with only his left hand for about 25 years. He was an american badass=] lol

Mine also continued to drive manual transmission farm trucks, flat bed F-350 dualies and the like. One day he driving a little too quickly and the Ohio State Highway Patrol nailed him.

Trooper says "Can I see your driver's license?" Grandpa hands it over... "Sir, you only have one arm."

Grandpa: "I know that."

Trooper: "You're driving a stick shift."

Grandpa: "Pretty well I'd say."

After the ticket, the trooper took his license and said he'd have to retake his driver's test since his information had not been updated. He goes to take the test, in his truck, and passes. Driver test guy tells him he can have his license back, since he passed the test, but with an automatic transmission only provision, since he's an amputee. Grandpa gets pissed, argues with him, convinces him that he should have a full license. Was so mad he went inside and got his chauffer's license too.

Practice is the only answer. Your left handedness makes it more noticeable, but almost everybody suffers from it. Want a test? Put your jacket on, paying attention to which sleeve you put on first. Now try to put it on other arm first.

LainfordExpress wrote:

corytate wrote: My great grandfather was right handed until he lost his right arm. After that he drove a milk truck (three speed floor shifter) with only his left hand for about 25 years. He was an american badass=] lol

Mine also continued to drive manual transmission farm trucks, flat bed F-350 dualies and the like. One day he driving a little too quickly and the Ohio State Highway Patrol nailed him. Trooper says "Can I see your driver's license?" Grandpa hands it over... "Sir, you only have one arm." Grandpa: "I know that." Trooper: "You're driving a stick shift." Grandpa: "Pretty well I'd say." After the ticket, the trooper took his license and said he'd have to retake his driver's test since his information had not been updated. He goes to take the test, in his truck, and passes. Driver test guy tells him he can have his license back, since he passed the test, but with an automatic transmission only provision, since he's an amputee. Grandpa gets pissed, argues with him, convinces him that he should have a full license. Was so mad he went inside and got his chauffer's license too.

massive round of applause for Grand-dad!

One of my favorite perserverance stories was in DIRT BIKE magazine back in the '70's, had to do with a guy who lost his left arm in an industrial accident. He nearly died, but when he finally did recover he went back to driving an Econoline van with three on the tree and went back to racing MX by moving the throttle, clutch and front brake to the right side of the bars. Now that's determination.

914Driver wrote: Friday I took the afternoon off to go flying. I got towed to 3000 ft., hooked into a thermal and rode it up to 6300 feet! I stayed up for about 90 minutes. Here's the quandary.... I noticed that when turning right, I'm fine. Smooth, good speed control, well coordinated turns etc. When I hit a thermal that lifts the left wing tip, indicating one to my left; I turned left. I noticed that my speed fluctuated, banking was erratic and I (no idea why) tried to sit up straight in the seat, leaning away from the turn. WTH? Dan

I've never been in a glider, does yours have a center stick/yoke? If so, are you switching hands when you turn? If so, why? If you're keeping the same hand on the controls the whole time, your problem is quite the puzzle.

I think it is more of a wiring issue than left-or-right-handedness. As a for instance, I was a southpaw by birth, but my mom and teachers all trained me to be a righty. I still do many things with both hands like use a mouse or a calculator. But when I play video games I always have to invert the up/down controls. I cannot retrain my brain, alas I have tried, but I cannot.

Osterkraut wrote:

914Driver wrote: Friday I took the afternoon off to go flying. I got towed to 3000 ft., hooked into a thermal and rode it up to 6300 feet! I stayed up for about 90 minutes. Here's the quandary.... I noticed that when turning right, I'm fine. Smooth, good speed control, well coordinated turns etc. When I hit a thermal that lifts the left wing tip, indicating one to my left; I turned left. I noticed that my speed fluctuated, banking was erratic and I (no idea why) tried to sit up straight in the seat, leaning away from the turn. WTH? Dan

I've never been in a glider, does yours have a center stick/yoke? If so, are you switching hands when you turn? If so, why? If you're keeping the same hand on the controls the whole time, your problem is quite the puzzle.

Using my example, I could always throw a dirt bike into a right turn, kick the back out, slide, you name it but only in a right turn. It was automatic, I could do it without even consciously thinking about it. In a left turn, doing the same thing required (like Dan mentions) having to overcome my body's desire to just not do it at all. And like him I have no problem in a car, both left/right turns are accomplished with no drama. Well, with no more drama than my lack of skill produces in both directions.

Curmudgeon wrote: Using my example, I could always throw a dirt bike into a right turn, kick the back out, slide, you name it but only in a right turn. It was automatic, I could do it without even consciously thinking about it. In a left turn, doing the same thing required (like Dan mentions) having to overcome my body's desire to just not do it at all. And like him I have no problem in a car, both left/right turns are accomplished with no drama. Well, with no more drama than my lack of skill produces in both directions.

While I see your point, to some extent you're using both hands. If you're in a single seat/tandem seat aircraft though, you're pretty much always going to use the same hand on the stick/yoke. Unless gliders do it differently because there's no throttle?

ransom wrote: I think there's some other full set of preferences mixed around. I'm right handed, prefer left hand corners on motorcycles, ride a skateboard and snowboard "goofy foot" (right foot forward, facing left), and hold a hockey stick with the blade down on my left, with my right hand on the end of the handle. Regarding that last item, I guess that's normal for a right-handed Canadian, but backwards for a right-handed American

Nah, I think that it has more to do with the majority of folks starting out playing hockey did not have parents playing hockey, so they just assume that right handed=right handed. Today I reffed probably 2-3 kids that were holding the stick the wrong way. Of course, I think that they should all be using straight sticks at least until squirts, but I digress.

FWIW, I am a righty in most everything and a lefty in hockey as well. I would be a lefty in golf if I had access to a lefty golf set when I was a kid.

I think I play hockey lefty because I was always stuck in goal. I just got used to it. Somedays I'll fight it and go righty. Need to find a curveless stick. Damn you, Bobby Hull.

I'm right handed, but was born left lefty and forced to switch. I ride a bike with my left hand when holding something and don't do nearly as well riding with my right hand on the handle bars.