Why Do Left-Handers Excel at Certain Elite Sports But Not Others? (theguardian.com)

Nicola Davis, writing for The Guardian: From cricketer Wasim Akram to baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw and table tennis star Ding Ning, the world of sport has no shortage of left-handed players. But now researchers say they've worked out why lefties are overrepresented in some elite sports but not others. The study, published in the journal Biology Letters, suggests that being left-handed is a particular advantage in interactive sports where time pressures are particularly severe, such as table tennis and cricket -- possibly because their moves are less familiar to their mostly right-handed opponents, who do not have time to adjust. "The data suggests that the heavier the time constraints are operating in a sport, the larger the proportion of left-handers," said the study's author, Dr Florian Loffing of the University of Oldenburg in Germany. "We are less used to playing lefties, and [so] might end up in not developing the optimal strategies to compete with them." While it is thought that about 10-13 percent of the population is left-handed, it has long been noted that in certain interactive sports there is often a surprisingly high proportion of left-handers playing at elite levels.

Comments

Any baseball player or fan could tell you that

[damn_registrars]

This is why left-handed pitchers are so valuable. Baseball players grow up mostly batting against right-handed pitchers, and the movement of a pitch from a left-handed pitchers is almost the mirror image of what they are used to.

Re:Any baseball player or fan could tell you that

[vux984]

I disagree. I mean the theory is sound, but it somewhat falls apart because even though only 10% of people are left handed, because they do so well and are so desirable in these positions / sports they are heavily over represented in them, and the overrepresentation is going to dilute the effectiveness.

I mean around 30%+ of baseball pitchers are left handed.
Half of the top fencers in the world are left handed.

The 'unfamiliarity' advantage of being left handed might be high when its a 90/10 split... but when every other match up is vs a lefty its not a 'mirror image of what you are used to' it becomes 'what you are used to'.

Re:Any baseball player or fan could tell you that

[bloodhawk]

The reality is whiel they may be disproportionate at the top they are NOT that way where most people learn, practise or play the majority of their matches. Even in Fencing where they are around half at the top, you still will not practise with or fight nearly half your matches with lefties. They are an oddity and uncomfortable to compete against even in sports where they are in significant numbers at the top.

Laterality

[g01d4]

Surprised the study didn't extend to include left/right footedness in football (aka soccer) and maybe kick boxing. Laterality isn't limited to hands.