Overrepresentation And Higher Frequency Of Left Handers In Interactive Sports

Scientific studies on handedness have been conducted in order to determine why there is an overrepresentation and higher frequency of left hander’s in interactive sports, and if co-factors such as types of sport or level of activity have an influence on this bias. Different hypothesis mentioned in various studies will be explored that support the right or left hand dominant theory such as the negative-frequency hypothesis, innate-superiority hypothesis, and the strategic advantage hypothesis in athletes and amateur sportsman compared to the general population. An experiment involving 321 randomly chosen subjects within Sydney, Australia were asked to participate in and complete a series of simple hand related tasks under the supervision of

Out of the 321 active subjects of varying age and background, 235 completed the survey excluding those who were ‘both’ handed. Variables such as sports played, how often they are played, what their dominant hand used in everyday activities such as writing, and what hand was used in a reaching task (which in this case, can be similar to typical sport movements) were compared in a series of statistical tests. Results demonstrated that although left-hand dominance is indeed overrepresented in interactive sports, right hand-dominance is evidently still abundant in the general population and amongst amateur athletes of various age groups. Studies have continuously stated that left-handers in interactive sports have more of an advantage over right-handers due to their

et al 2012. & Loffing, F. et al 2010 & Hagemann, N. 2009 & Raymond, M. et al 1996) On the other hand, studies propose that within the general population and sportsmen alike, 90% are right handed. There have been many proposed theories as to how this can be including the negative frequency hypothesis, the innate-superiority hypothesis and the strategic advantage hypothesis. The most common reason being the negative frequency hypothesis which explains such a difference in hand dominance; right-hand players are so familiar with playing against other right hand players, so when the time comes to play against a left-hander, his or her usual strategies/skills become unaccustomed, and so might result in having to change their ways (leading to loss). In such high speed, close contact sports, athletes are required to play accurately and proficiently with high levels of concentration. When playing against a left-hander, right-handers can find it difficult to interpret their future actions and intentions. Therefore, further supporting the negative-frequency hypothesis, left-handers have more of an advantage in these interactive ball sports (Schorer, J. et al 2012 & Loffing, F. et al 2010 & Hagemann, N. 2009 & Raymond, M. et al