Double Your Sport Skill

Please note: This is a downloadable PDF Ebook and not a physical book.

What do tennis great Rafa Nadal, ice hockey star Gordie Howe, soccer god Pelé, Patrick Mahomes II, NFL quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, basketball hero Kobe Bryant, rugby star Jonny Wilkinson and cricket legend Kane Williamson have in common? They are all ambidextrous or can kick with either foot. Add to this list Major League Baseball pitcher Pat Venditte of the Miami Marlins, who regularly pitches with both hands.

Greek philosopher Plato advocated ambidexterity, and one incredibly advanced culture existing some two thousand years ago, the Scythians, practised cultivating equal skill with the limbs on a national scale. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who produced works of incomparable beauty during the Renaissance, did not play much sport. What is interesting is that they could use either hand with equal facility.

British author Charles Reade wrote in 1878 that ‘every child is ambidextrous until some grown fool interferes’. There are fascinating cultural reasons for the predominant use of the right hand, arising from prehistoric hunting practices of our distant ancestors. This has led to a development of the left hemisphere of the brain, which concentrates on linear thinking and can be juxtaposed with the right brain, which embraces artistry and holistic, conceptual thinking. The advantages of ambidexterity lie, therefore, not only in the acquisition of two skilful hands but in the increase in creativity as well.

Prejudice against developing ambidexterity was comprehensively debunked by a fascinating study conducted in 1943 by an academic in South Africa. She conducted an interesting experiment with young children in which they were trained to use their non-dominant hands. To her surprise, not only did their skill, power and posture improve, but their academic results also rose by up to seven percent.

The theory is a must for coaches, parents of young sports enthusiasts, and sports fans. As legendary cricket coach Bob Woolmer says,

‘[I]t is possible that parents and coaches will in future begin to train both hands for co-ordination and strength, with potentially revolutionary results: a generation of ambidextrous cricketers.’

Christopher Nicholson