Using Your Non-Dominant Hand

M

MRpink

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Probably the best tool in W&SS is your brain, but next would probably be your hands. I'm right-handed, like many of you, and even this smiley :jerkit: (okay, bad joke, its 2am and I still need to finish my term paper).

I rely on my right hand for everything, and just recently I was thinking in a survival situation if my right hand got hurt, I would die. I tried using my left hand to brush my teeth and use chopsticks, and it was pretty difficult. No way I could handle a knife effectively.

Anyone here ever think about that or prepare for that by using your non-dominant hand for everyday stuff? I think with enough practice, I could train it to be like my right hand.
 
Well, first you sit on it until it falls asleep, you see...and then. Oh, you mean other stuff? All the time, I'm fairly ambidexterous, although I still say I'm right hand dominant. Comes in handy from time to time if you are required to multitask. A good exercise is to start tapping your fingers with your thumb, like you were counting on them, then alternate in the other direction. Now do this with your left hand, then do them both at the same time...in opposite directions.
There are others, but that's a small start to gaining offhand dexterity, once you have the fingers trained work your way up.


Gautier
 
Hahaha!!

Thanks for the exercise tip. The one going the same time, but opposite direction gets tough after the 4th count.
 
Don't mention it. Was hoping I made myself clear enough for you to understand. I'd say once you get to the point where you can constantly strum both thumbs along your fingers in opposite directions without thinking about it or counting, it's time to move on to some more complicated things. Like rotating your wrists in opposite directions and so forth. Then again, just practicing the little things like you were talking about; e.g. brushing your teeth, eating, etc. will develop coordination and dexterity in time too. Just takes longer, and the exercises you can do in spare time, sort of like doodling or fidgeting with a knife.


Gautier
 
I hurt my hand and wrist helping a girl out , her car bonnet blew up and bent inside out over her roof , and wouldnt shut again , she was stopped in a dangerous place , we happened by just as she stopped , all I thought of was to help her get the bonnet shut / roped down and her on her way again and out of danger from the traffic
I punched the bonnet back into shape sort of , enough that it would shut without hitting on the motor anymore .
I roped it down , shook her hand and seen her drive off , crossed back to my car and found I had trouble opening the door , my hand was beginning to swell up ...
I spent a week with a sore swollen hand and wrist , ( I had it xrayed to see if Id cracked anything it hurt that much ) before it began to ease up ... that was a 3 months ago , and only this last few days have I been able to swing my machete again or roughhouse with the kids

in that few weeks , I learned to twirl machetes left handed ( I can spin them in both hands now like windmills dunno what good it is tho ) , to chop and slice and dice with my knife , I cant write for crud tho left handed , tho it is a bit better than it was when I began , at least I can print legibly now :)

little things as using my knife for carving were hard , but I learned them enough to manage , shooting my bow was out , throwing stuff was no good too , hopeless

now I get brain jam when both hands want to do a job :) .. weird thing to have happen
 
To start, tie simple knots with only your weak hand. One handed knots can come in pretty handy in the outdoors. Clove hitch, bowline, overhand, even hitches to start.
Write your name with your left hand, or print the alphabet, or draw simple shapes.
Get a children's coloring book and stay within the lines when you color it.
Flip open an ambidexterous knife with your left hand. Over and over again, until you are proficient. If, for no other reason, than you might have an excuse to buy a new knife.
 
Break the fingers on your right hand. You'll learn how to be left handed real quick.
That's what happened to me, and I still played basketball, just left handed.

Keep brushing your teeth with your left hand, you'll get the hang of it. It takes practice because the small muscles aren't developed like they are in your right hand. This is why children's handwriting looks terrible, because they are still developing the small muscles.
 
That may be the good thing about being left handed. In a right handed world we learn young how to do things right handed. We try hard not to but so many things are made backwards for you people we adapt.
I'd love to see right handed people all of a sudden be forced to use left handed stuff.
 
I broke seven bones in my right (dominant) hand as a kid. While it healed, I was forced to teach myself to use the other hand, including handwriting.

I've managed to keep my basic ambidexterous motor skills by using my non-dominant hand as much as possible on the weekends. After a while, using both hands for everyday tasks becomes second nature.

(I guess I'm all set for when I have a stroke, huh?)

I suggest you start out with coarse motor skill like opening and closing cabinets, pounding in nails, etc. before you attempt fine motor skills like brushing your teeth, writing, etc. You'll know you're on your way when you can write with one hand and do math calculations with the other at the same time! ;)

It's also good to practice important skills like shooting using your non-dominant hand (and eye). It would really suck to miss out on the elk of a lifetime because a little twig caught you in the eye while going down the trail.
 
I fractured my left thumb playing football my senior year in high school, of course I'm left handed. What a pain in the @ss that was, I could barley get dressed at first and my writing had more in common with pictographs then the written English language, but after 8 weeks or better I was getting pretty good at about anything one would do with a strong hand except throwing, that skill never really developed off hand.

So you can tie your strong hand behind your back, or break it or just start try using your weak hand for eating, writing, cutting things, etc. all the practice will help.

Helle
 
I'm ambidextrous and can switch back and forth but i do tend to have a favorite hand/side for different functions.
I shoot long guns right handed but i shoot pistols left-handed.
I bat left-handed but i whittle and precision carve righthanded.
I can hammer,and chop (axes/machetes/knives) equally well with both hands.
I type with my left but write with my right.
Mostly some activities seem to favor one hand or the other.
I choose to shoot long guns right handed because i when i shoot them left handed i get hot brass in my face. With airguns i can go either way.
And to me writing from left to right just seems easier with the right hand.

If you want to gradually get used to using your odd hand try using it to brush your teeth every day.
Just take it easy because some toothbrushes have hidden sharp edges that can gouge your gums, lol.

A friend of mine is catastrophically right-handed, he refers to his left arm as his sleeve filler!
Once he tried to use his left hand to twirl his nun-chucks, it worked good for about 15 seconds. Then he lost control and he managed to whack his left thumb with one of the wooden chuck handles. After that he had a thumbnail sized blood blister under that nail for well over a year.
 
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