Left-handed people typically wear a baseball glove on their left hand. This is because throwing with the opposite hand (which for most left-handed people is their right hand) puts more stress on the tendons in your upper arm than if you throw with your dominant hand.
The throwing hand of a baseball or softball player is referred to as hand orientation. For instance, a player who throws with the right hand is referred to as a right-handed thrower, while one who throws with the left is a left-handed thrower.
You probably know if you are right or left-handed already, but if not, just pick up and throw a baseball. Whichever hand you naturally pick up and throw the ball with is your dominant side, and you should wear your glove on the opposite hand.
Right fielder - The right fielder should preferably be a left-handed thrower so that he can better cover and release the ball that is hit down the right field line.
Why do left-handed pitchers throw differently? Left-handed pitchers often throw differently than right-handed pitchers because they have to use their opposite hand to control the ball. This means that lefties need to develop a different throwing motion and muscle memory.
Now we're ready to look at the rarest of rare breeds. As we've discussed, at four of the eight non-pitching positions on the field, one can't (at least in the modern professional game) throw left-handed.
A lefty catcher would struggle to throw out runners at third base. This is true! Whereas a right-handed catcher can keep his feet planted and make the throw, a lefty would have to pivot first. This encumbrance counts on plays in which fractions of a second make the difference between safe or out.
Infield and Catcher
Baseball administrators and coaches almost never give left-handed players a chance to play second base, shortstop, third base or catcher. Left-handers have a clear disadvantage at those positions.
But there's still the question of why a pitcher's handedness actually matters. The answer is what, in baseball, are called "platoon splits." "Platoon splits" refers to a fundamental fact about baseball: Righty hitters do better against lefty pitchers, and lefty hitters do better against righty pitchers.
Left-Handed Advantage
As it turns out, there's no arguing with the lefties on the issue of left-handed dominance in sports. In athletic contests that involve competing one on one, such as boxing and tennis, they possess an advantage that has everything to do with surprise and nothing to do with witchcraft.
Lefties make up only about 10 percent of the population, but studies find that individuals who are left-handed score higher when it comes to creativity, imagination, daydreaming and intuition. They're also better at rhythm and visualization.
In boxing and some other sports, a southpaw stance is where the boxer has the right hand and the right foot forward, leading with right jabs, and following with a left cross right hook. It is the normal stance for a left-handed boxer.
Although the percentage varies worldwide, in Western countries, 85 to 90 percent of people are right-handed and 10 to 15 percent of people are left-handed. Mixed-handedness (preferring different hands for different tasks) and ambidextrousness (the ability to perform tasks equally well with either hand) are uncommon.
So, lefties hit more singles and triples, whereas righties hit more doubles and homers.
Left-handed pitchers may throw to first base out of their delivery meaning they can mimic a leg kick to the plate and then deliver the ball to first base for the pick-off attempt. The pitchers' leg kick during a pick-off should mirror his natural delivery to the plate as closely as possible.
The last left-handed catcher to play in the big leagues was Benny Distefano, who caught three games for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989. Before Distefano, there had only been a handful: Jack Clements, Dale Long and Mike Squires to name a few.
Why Is It Harder for Lefties to Hit Lefties? Lefty batters have an advantage on right-handed pitchers, but in a lefty-lefty matchup, it's the pitcher that usually has the edge. Why? A lefty's curveball can be a nasty pitch against right-handers, but it can also throw lefties off too.
A left-handed batter can get a running start before hitting the ball by using the left-side running slap. The lefty is already several steps closer to first. Adding a running start puts tremendous pressure on the defense to make the play quickly. The play often moves the defense out of position as well.
In a 1996 study, Harvard Medical School researchers found that orthopedic surgeons, librarians and mathematicians were mostly right-handed while attorneys and architects were, as a group, “either the least right-handed or the most left-handed.” Other studies have shown that there are more left-handed people working as ...
Wright and Hardie (2012) found that left-handers reported higher levels of state anxiety but there was no difference in trait anxiety. They also demonstrated that when Trait Anxiety was controlled for, left-handers still showed a higher level of state anxiety compared to right-handers.
Brain scans indicate that left-handed people think differently from right-handed people. They tend to activate the right half of their brain more for certain tasks and functions. Experts suggest that this difference in brain function could make creativity come more easily.
Left-handedness has been discouraged as recently as the mid-20th century. At times, physical restraints have been used, such as tying a child's left hand behind their back.
Why Was 'Left' Considered Evil? The association of the directional left with evil is likely attributed to the dominance of right-handed people within a population, and consequently the awkwardness of motions made from the left side of the body. Such darkness wasn't always attached to that side, however.
If both parents were left-handed, the chance of their offspring also being left-handed was highest: 26 percent. This indicates that children of two left-handed parents have a higher chance of being left-handed, but also that three-quarters of them are still right-handed.