"It's Not Political, but More Canadians Are Lefties"

[Kathryn41 3,205]

It’s Not Political, but More Canadians Are Lefties

By JEFF Z. KLEIN

Published: February 15, 2010

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — What is the difference between a Canadian and an American? The old question is coming up again here at the Olympics, with answers involving eagerness for war, ketchup, the pronunciation of toque or the ability to identify poutine and the Tragically Hip.

(photo) Sidney Crosby, left, who will play for Canada in the Olympics, shoots left-handed, while Alex Ovechkin (Russia) shoots right.

But none may be so simple as how one holds a hockey stick. According to sales figures from stick manufacturers, a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades.

Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there.

For years, how a hockey player picked up his stick was of little importance. The blades were straight and a player could swing the sticks from either side. Two Hockey Hall of Famers from the mid-20th century — wing Gordie Howe and goalie Bill Dunham — actually played ambidextrously.

But the advent of curved blades in the ’60s not only spelled the end of the classic backhand shot, it also meant that manufacturers had to label sticks L and R, and inventory personnel had to ship more left-handed sticks (with the blade curving to the right) to Canada and more right-handed ones to the United States.

“I have no idea why this is so,” said Mike Mountain, who is in charge of hockey sticks for Easton, a sporting goods manufacturer based in Van Nuys, Calif. “But it has been true for years, and it doesn’t change; it stays consistent over time.”

Roughly 60 percent of the Easton hockey sticks sold in Canada are for left-handed shots, Mountain said. In the United States, he said, about 60 percent of sticks sold are for right-handed shots. Figures over the years from other manufacturers have put the ratio discrepancy between the two countries as high as 70 to 30.

The difference even trickles over into golf, where the swing is not unlike that of a slap shot. According to the Professional Golfers Association, 7 percent of Canadian golfers play left-handed, which is proportionally more than any other nationality. The reason is probably that Canadians pick up a hockey stick first and are therefore imprinted by the time they take up golf. Especially if they are from Quebec, where hockey players are even more left-handed than players in the rest of Canada.

Oddly, British Columbia — sometimes said to be the most American-like of the Canadian provinces — skews the other way. “The rest of the country goes 2 to 1 in favor of left sticks, but it’s reversed in B.C.,” said Marc Poirier, a customer service representative who handles Canadian orders for Warrior Sticks.

Europeans also tend to be left-handed shooters. The International Ice Hockey Federation does not keep figures by European nationality, the communications director Szymon Szemberg said. But, he said, lefty shooters have predominated. “For long spells, the great Soviet teams of the ’80s never had a player who shot right,” Szemberg said.

The Canadian journalist and author Bruce Dowbiggin noted the Canadian-American handedness split in his 2001 book, “The Stick: A History, a Celebration, an Elegy.” On Dowbiggin’s Web site a reader named Kent Mayhew suggested the difference may have to do with how old a player is when he first picks up a hockey stick.

“The top hand on a hockey stick has to be able to handle the torques of a stick while the bottom hand just has to handle the weight with no torques,” he wrote. He theorized that American children, who tend to take up hockey when they are older and bigger, can afford to put the stronger hand, generally the right, on the lower part of the shaft for more precision.

A lot of experts would argue, however, that having the dominant hand on top makes for better control and stick-handling.

The United States Olympic women’s hockey coach, Mark Johnson, is in that camp, but he said: “Whether you’re living in a hotbed hockey community or you live in a naïve place where you don’t really know hockey, and you’re a mother or a father taking your daughter to a hockey shop, you’ll ask, ‘Which way do you write?’ If she says right-handed, well, she’s going to be right-handed.

“That’s generally not the way you want to do it. You want your dominant hand on top of your stick. But you look around and there’s a lot of right-handed female players, more so than with men.”

Rest of the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/o...l?th&emc=th

Edited February 16, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

I'm right-handed and have always shot right...though I used to prefer playing on the right side too (I played defense). Trying to play left-handed just felt wrong...though I was a switch-hitter in baseball, so I don't really know what to make of that.

I, too, have always found it interesting how many left-shooters there are in the league. I never noticed that it was primarily Canadians though.

I found this comment very odd:

British Columbia — sometimes said to be the most American-like of the Canadian provinces —

Really? B.C. the most American-like of the Canadian provinces? I always thought Alberta had that distinction...

[DeadPoolX 9]

More Canadians are left-handed? Well, that just goes to prove how "sinister" Canadians can be.

I'm right-handed and have always shot right...though I used to prefer playing on the right side too (I played defense). Trying to play left-handed just felt wrong...though I was a switch-hitter in baseball, so I don't really know what to make of that.

I, too, have always found it interesting how many left-shooters there are in the league. I never noticed that it was primarily Canadians though.

I found this comment very odd:

Really? B.C. the most American-like of the Canadian provinces? I always thought Alberta had that distinction...

Yeah, that seems a little odd. I'd definitely say Alberta is more like the U.S. than British Columbia. Maybe the article means the northwestern states? I'm sure there are a lot of similarities between BC, Oregon and Washington State.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Interesting read Kathryn!

I really have no idea why that is. Maybe putting your right hand on the top of the stick gives you better stick control? I've never played hockey, I'm just an observer, so that's just a wild guess.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

More Canadians are left-handed? Well, that just goes to prove how "sinister" Canadians can be.

The weird part is that it's NOT that more Canadians are left-handed...it's just that more SHOOT left. I really can't wrap my mind around that. When I hold a hockey stick, I want the power to be down the shaft, closer to the blade because I have more control of the stick (and as a result, my shot) that way. My left hand just steadies it. It's just so weird to me how right-handed people can use their dominant hand as the "steadying" hand...

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Interesting read Kathryn!

I really have no idea why that is. Maybe putting your right hand on the top of the stick gives you better stick control? I've never played hockey, I'm just an observer, so that's just a wild guess.

The only thing I can think of is if a right-handed, left-shooting hockey player puts more of his BODY into the shot than his actual arms / wrists. Still, that would likely only be a factor in slap-shots. With wrist-shots, and even snap-shots, the arms and wrists would still need to have most of the power.

Maybe J&K and FlamesRN, our resident regular hockey players, will chip in!

[trailmix 77]

I found this comment very odd:

Really? B.C. the most American-like of the Canadian provinces? I always thought Alberta had that distinction...

You mean that broad generalization

I would venture to say that we are no more or less 'American like' than our BC Brothers and Sisters.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

You mean that broad generalization

Oh, that's totally what I meant. Sorry if that wasn't totally clear.

I don't endorse the perception -- just aware it exists.

[Sam and Ben 2]

I'm a lefty. But the only sport I ever played left-handed was badminton.

[JlovesA 109]

I was just reading yesterday how there may be a correlation between the amount of violence in a given place and how many left-handers there are in that place. Lefties have the advantage in combat and it could be nature's way of keeping so many people from being killed. Interesting, eh?

P.S. I'm left-handed...just try to take me!

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

My father's a lefty too -- a fact he repeatedly reminded me of when I finally beat him in an arm wrestle when I was sixteen. I tore some cartilage in his shoulder, too!

Funnily enough, I'm ambidextrous in some things. I don't even notice it, but sometimes while eating I'll be using my fork in my left hand, knife in my right hand, and others vice versa. I'm comfortable playing piano with my left hand too (i.e.: I could easily play a "right hand" melody with my left hand). I can't write with my left though...at least, not to any intelligibility level beyond that of a six-year-old's...

[Texanadian 10]

I'm right handed.

I slap shot best using a right handed approach. But I do a better wrist shot holding my stick left handed. Growing up I always used a right handed stick, simply because that's what I had (Titan stick with Mike Bossy's signature etched in it if you're wondering). Having said that I've never had any issues with using a left handed stick. What I gain in wrist shots with the angled stick I lose in slap shot and vice versa.

I shoot basketball with my right hand, but if I'm leaping, my left foot will be the forward foot.

I seem to be rare in this, but when it comes to eating, I keep my fork in my right hand and use my left hand for the knife. I've never seen the benefit in switching hands to cut your meat. Nor does it seem any easier to cut meat with my right hand.

Edited February 16, 2010 by Texanadian

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Interesting read Kathryn!

I really have no idea why that is. Maybe putting your right hand on the top of the stick gives you better stick control? I've never played hockey, I'm just an observer, so that's just a wild guess.

Whichever hand is lower on the stick gives you the most control. For example, a wrist shot...its all in the "twist of the wrist" to get the puck in the air.

Myself, I'm mainly right-handed, but slightly ambidextrous.

I shoot a hockey stick LEFT.

Throw a ball RIGHT

Switch-hitter in baseball

Write RIGHT

Shoot a firearm LEFT

[DeadPoolX 9]

Because my Dad is left-handed, I first learned how to use a mouse with my left hand. I'm right-handed and easily relearned how to use a mouse with my right hand. One added benefit of this is that I can now use a mouse right-handed or left-handed.

For all you lefties out there, there's a mouse called the Logitech MX 610 that's specifically designed for left-handed use. I got it for my Dad and he really likes it.