LW/RW

[redfire11]

Growing up playing hockey I was a RHS C. I am right handed and used my dominant hand at the middle of the stick for power in my shot and quickness and pull on the faceoff. I don't understand why kids now are taught to use their strong arm at the top of the stick. Your top hand is a pivot and your bottom hand is your power. I find that there are fewer RHS players coming up in Canada/US when stats say average population is 75 to 80 percent right handed. 

Any thoughts.

[Fins&FIre15]

I've had this debate with my brother on a few occasions and there is one thing I may be on to:

 

Throughout history it seems like most of the games snipers have a right shot tendency where as the games best passers and puck handlers seem to be left handed.

There are exceptions to that theory of course, but I think the dominant hand allows for more control and precision with passing when used on top of the stick, and like you said right handed players can garner more power.

 

Just my opinion any way.

 

[travel_dude]

38 minutes ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

I've had this debate with my brother on a few occasions and there is one thing I may be on to:

 

Throughout history it seems like most of the games snipers have a right shot tendency where as the games best passers and puck handlers seem to be left handed.

There are exceptions to that theory of course, but I think the dominant hand allows for more control and precision with passing when used on top of the stick, and like you said right handed players can garner more power.

 

Just my opinion any way.

 

 

I don't know.  I am right handed, play golf right, swing at BB right, shoot right.  I don't believe that the left/right handed tendency has anything to do with it, as there is not that many southpaws in the world to justify the argument.  It's closer to a 50/50 split than that.

[Fins&FIre15]

10 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

I don't know.  I am right handed, play golf right, swing at BB right, shoot right.  I don't believe that the left/right handed tendency has anything to do with it, as there is not that many southpaws in the world to justify the argument.  It's closer to a 50/50 split than that.

 

This is where I'm weird, I'm right handed, but I play all two handed sports left handed.

 

I'd definitely like to know IF there is a science behind what handedness you choose and what effects that choice. Could just be "well holding it left handed feels the best" or it could have to do with things like which eye sees better or your posture, or your dominant foot even. The body is natural asymmetric, so I wonder if that could have anything to do with that as well.

 

I could easily be overthinking this and its as simple as "I grab things with my dominant hand/arm so when I reach for stick, bat, or club, I grab with my right hand first, and the left is naturally put in the other position.

 

 

[robrob74]

2 hours ago, Fins&FIre15 said:

 

This is where I'm weird, I'm right handed, but I play all two handed sports left handed.

 

I'd definitely like to know IF there is a science behind what handedness you choose and what effects that choice. Could just be "well holding it left handed feels the best" or it could have to do with things like which eye sees better or your posture, or your dominant foot even. The body is natural asymmetric, so I wonder if that could have anything to do with that as well.

 

I could easily be overthinking this and its as simple as "I grab things with my dominant hand/arm so when I reach for stick, bat, or club, I grab with my right hand first, and the left is naturally put in the other position.

 

 

 

 

I think it has to do with our favourite player maybe? I mean, don't some kids shoot left because so and so shoot left? Is there more than that? 

[travel_dude]

35 minutes ago, robrob74 said:

 

 

I think it has to do with our favourite player maybe? I mean, don't some kids shoot left because so and so shoot left? Is there more than that? 

 

I had two older brothers that used opposite curves.  I shot the way it felt the most normal.  Same with golf and baseball.  Watching TV in black and white, you were lucky to tell the difference between Montreal and Toronto.  

 

Maybe it's tied to left brain/right brain dominance.

[jjgallow]

http://www.livescience.com/19968-study-reveals-lefties-rare.html

[The_People1]

I'm right handed but shoot left playing hockey and golf.  I can bat both sides in baseball.

 

One thing i've always found interesting with baseball is that they have discovered right handed batters prefer high pitches and left handed batters prefer low pitches.  Being a switch hitter, i thought this wouldn't apply to me since i'm one person so i must have one consistent preference... but no.  When i swing Right Handed, i want that ball to be just above my stomach height.  When i'm batting Left Handed, i want that ball to be at knee-height.

 

 

[The_People1]

On 3/15/2017 at 11:45 AM, redfire11 said:

Growing up playing hockey I was a RHS C. I am right handed and used my dominant hand at the middle of the stick for power in my shot and quickness and pull on the faceoff. I don't understand why kids now are taught to use their strong arm at the top of the stick. Your top hand is a pivot and your bottom hand is your power. I find that there are fewer RHS players coming up in Canada/US when stats say average population is 75 to 80 percent right handed. 

Any thoughts.

 

To answer your question directly, if you were only given a choice of one hand to use on the stick, then which hand would you use?  Because when you are playing without the puck, which is 90% of the time, you should use one hand on the stick to get sticks in the lanes and maximize reach.  You would use your dominant hand.  To me, as a right handed person, I would not be able to poke check with any degree of confidence using my left hand on the end of the stick. Thus, I would recommend holding the stick with your dominant hand at the top.

 

I think that's why left hand shots are better stick handlers because they have more control of their stick at all varying degrees of reach.  From Gaudreau to Patrick Kane to McDavid, most of the best stick handlers in the NHL are left shots.

 

Right shots usually shoot harder.  Almost all the hardest shooters in the NHL are right hand shots like Chara, Weber, etc and this is in disproportion to the ratio of RHS to LHS.  With the dominant right hand on the bottom, you can generate additional flex in the stick compared to left handed shots on the bottom who rely heavily on the shoulder dip to compensate for arm weakness.

 

In terms of shot accuracy, I think it's just a matter of practice.  Both shot hands can be equally accurate with their shots.

[Heartbreaker]

When I was a kid, I played my first two seasons with a straight stick. I am right hand dominant, and I have a right handed shot. When I started playing, I was just more comfortable on my right side, and I don't recall ever trying to play on my left. 

 

I found an article on right hand vs. left hand shots that was interesting here, and it also provides evidence that there's disparity between Canada and the US: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html

 

It has been true for many years that there are more left handed shooters in the NHL than there are right, and some teams have been able to use this to their advantage. The left wing lock was designed to exploit this fact. Per: http://www.hockeyplayer.com/paid/publish/article_549.shtml

 

2) The defensive team will need to have a power advantage over the opposition. Part of this advantage is a result of there being more left handed shooters in the NHL (and youth hockey) than right handed shooters. So if the puck is dumped into the left corner, the opponents will have their right defenseman and right wing on the forehand but their center will probably be on his backhand (if they are all fighting for a loose puck in the corner). On the contrary, the defensive team will have their center, left wing, and left defenseman on their forehand.

 

Love. 

[redfire11]

On 2017-03-17 at 1:33 AM, The_People1 said:

 

To answer your question directly, if you were only given a choice of one hand to use on the stick, then which hand would you use?  Because when you are playing without the puck, which is 90% of the time, you should use one hand on the stick to get sticks in the lanes and maximize reach.  You would use your dominant hand.  To me, as a right handed person, I would not be able to poke check with any degree of confidence using my left hand on the end of the stick. Thus, I would recommend holding the stick with your dominant hand at the top.

 

I think that's why left hand shots are better stick handlers because they have more control of their stick at all varying degrees of reach.  From Gaudreau to Patrick Kane to McDavid, most of the best stick handlers in the NHL are left shots.

 

Right shots usually shoot harder.  Almost all the hardest shooters in the NHL are right hand shots like Chara, Weber, etc and this is in disproportion to the ratio of RHS to LHS.  With the dominant right hand on the bottom, you can generate additional flex in the stick compared to left handed shots on the bottom who rely heavily on the shoulder dip to compensate for arm weakness.

 

In terms of shot accuracy, I think it's just a matter of practice.  Both shot hands can be equally accurate with their shots.

It is true some of the hardest shots come from rhs ie. Hulls, Ovi, inginla, Weber. I also agree there is an advantage to using your dominant hand when poke checking or single handed stick use but I find I use my dominant hand to push my stride like a Olympic sprinter pushing off using my arm to pump my stride. It would be interesting to find the norm for how our youngsters are being taught.

[robrob74]

1 hour ago, redfire11 said:

It is true some of the hardest shots come from rhs ie. Hulls, Ovi, inginla, Weber. I also agree there is an advantage to using your dominant hand when poke checking or single handed stick use but I find I use my dominant hand to push my stride like a Olympic sprinter pushing off using my arm to pump my stride. It would be interesting to find the norm for how our youngsters are being taught.

 

Youre forgetting Al MacInnes! 

 

[CheersMan]

On ‎2017‎-‎03‎-‎17 at 1:33 AM, The_People1 said:

 

To answer your question directly, if you were only given a choice of one hand to use on the stick, then which hand would you use?  Because when you are playing without the puck, which is 90% of the time, you should use one hand on the stick to get sticks in the lanes and maximize reach.  You would use your dominant hand.  To me, as a right handed person, I would not be able to poke check with any degree of confidence using my left hand on the end of the stick. Thus, I would recommend holding the stick with your dominant hand at the top.

 

I think that's why left hand shots are better stick handlers because they have more control of their stick at all varying degrees of reach.  From Gaudreau to Patrick Kane to McDavid, most of the best stick handlers in the NHL are left shots.

 

Right shots usually shoot harder.  Almost all the hardest shooters in the NHL are right hand shots like Chara, Weber, etc and this is in disproportion to the ratio of RHS to LHS.  With the dominant right hand on the bottom, you can generate additional flex in the stick compared to left handed shots on the bottom who rely heavily on the shoulder dip to compensate for arm weakness.

 

In terms of shot accuracy, I think it's just a matter of practice.  Both shot hands can be equally accurate with their shots.

 

Chara is a lefty, so was Sourey, Iafrati and Bobby Hull.  Lefties have owned the hardest slap shot for a few decades now.

[The_People1]

2 hours ago, CheersMan said:

 

Chara is a lefty, so was Sourey, Iafrati and Bobby Hull.  Lefties have owned the hardest slap shot for a few decades now.

 

I stand corrected.  LHS rulez da world!