I think most righties shoot left based on how many left shots there are in the pros. My understanding was always that you want to be strong with your stick when you take your lower hand off. If you shoot left, you are never taking your right hand off the stick, so your dominant hand is always active. Would love to hear an experienced player tell me if I have the right idea here.
I’m left and shoot left and the thought of switching gives me an existential crisis. I can’t imagine trying to hold my stick the other way at all. When I learned a lot of players did what you say it blew my mind.
Im right and shoot right. When I found out that all my other right handed friends shot the other way it blew my mind too. I think its like how when you swing a baseball bat, your non-dominant hand is on the end of the bat, it just feels the same when holding a hockey stick.
Question- what foot do you kick with in soccer? And if you snowboard/skateboard, what foot do you place at the front?
I feel like the timeline of learning different aspects of hockey- when someone first starts playing has a lot to do with deciding their eventual shooting direction. If a kid learns to skate before they pick up a stick, I think lower body laterality will have an influence on their choice for shooting direction, whereas a player who learns to stick handle before learning to ever skate will have their handedness influence their shooting direction. In other words, a player who learns hockey from the arms first will use their arms to decide their shooting direction. A player who learns hockey from the legs first will use their lower body laterality to decide their shooting direction.
I am 100% dominant left everything and always have been.
When I played goalie in lacrosse I held my stick in my left and would have to transition it to play the ball. When I play net in hockey I hold the stick in my right, but I’m not super experienced in being a hockey goalie.
It's a very old way of asking if you are a Rangers or Celtic fan (or Prot or Catholic).. [What foot do you kick with?](https://youtu.be/RtkmkpltM2E?si=YqF67zoq0MLkfKpW)
Hockey Canada recommends your dominant hand at the top not the bottom.
I write left, throw right, swing a bat/club right, hockey stick would be right. Kicking is weird though, if a soccer ball I'd kick right but if kicking a football it would be left.
That's a good explanation.
Someone probably handed me a stick when I was little and I grabbed it with my right hand. Same thing with baseball. I batted left until I was 10 and then could switch hit.
Never tried right hockey.
That’s pretty impressive then I’ve never actually tried to learn lefty but my left hand is unless trying to control the puck. For me I rely on my bottom hand for strength when controlling the puck or even shooting.
I’ve come to learn your actually supposed to pull back on your top hand along with the forward force of your bottom hand hence why some shooters in the NHL are automatic.
I feel like my left hand is pretty strong when I have one hand in my stick I can stick handle seamlessly steal pucks with the Datsyuk scoop.
I’m thinking it’s a preference thing for sure fortunate for me my problem wasn’t my skill and smarts it was my skati-
I didn’t make it because I broke my leg I had scouts watching in the crowd birds chirping at me walking down the tunnel I’d be in if wasn’t for that damn broken leg.
/s
My theory from watching my son and his teammates grow up playing hockey was that a lot of them learned to skate with a hockey stick in their hand. At that point they are using the stick more for stability so it's probably more natural to use their dominant hand on top and then are used to that when they start shooting.
Because I played baseball first I batted right so I shot right. Playing goalie i caught with my left just like baseball.
I can’t swing a bat or throw a ball left handed but i can shoot a puck pretty well from playing Goalie.
My understanding is there is a distinction between the US and Canada. American righties shoot right, Canadian righties shoot left. Maybe influence of baseball and how you’d hold a bat?
This is probably better suited to /r/hockeyplayers
I had a conversation about this with somebody once (I’m righty always, they shoot left) and they said it’s because they want their strong hand on the knob for one handed stick use, defending, and stick handling from the end.
in some eastern european countries some force the top hand to be the dominant hand, it can lead to more strength up top that the bottom will eventually catch up with. you are better off doing what is comfortable and easier for you biomechanically speaking, you will
develop the muscle memory and technique over time, favoring one over the other for now isnt really worth it
Always heard the phrase, "strong hand is top hand", and that this goes back to the days when stickhandling was much more important than shooting; with the dominant hand on the butt of the stick, you're supposed to be more dexterous with puck control. FWIW.
i’m 90% sure it’s just a safety thing, honestly. when you’re doing skills like tomahawks and drives and sweeps and block tackles, you expect it to all come from one side, so if it’s all of a sudden coming from the opposite it’s a great way for someone to get super hurt—especially because field hockey only wears goggles, mouthguards, and shinguards as protective gear. i think left handed sticks are straight up banned in any and all higher level competition.
I’m left handed in hockey, baseball, golf, etc.
It’s natural for me. I am right handed but can do some things with my left hand. I wear my watch on my right hand too.
Everything is the same side for me - righty. Never made a conscious decision, it's just what felt natural. I don't think my dominant hand being on top would make me any better because it's not like the dominant hand is all that faster at learning a brand new skill that mainly involves wrist motion and not fine motor skills like your fingers.
I'm a righty and I shoot right handed. I think having my dominant hand on the bottom vs the top is the reason I have a great wrist shot and decent snap shot but a pathetic slap shot. Now I just play with a 65-75 flex and fully embrace the quick release wrister and occasional snap shot.
I'm right handed and shoot left handed (but I also golf and bat left handed - they're the same motion so I'm not sure why anyone would switch). The reason is because when I was 2 years old and picked up a hockey stick that's just how I naturally held it. Handedness just seems to be innate. You can learn to do it the other way and some people are naturally ambidextrous but for most people you just naturally have a side that feels better the same as you do with handwriting.
People who grow up playing baseball tend to hold their sticks with their dominant hand low, as that is more similar to how you hold a bat. I’ve heard anecdotally that because of this more American players tend to play with their dominant hand low (which means a right-handed shot for right-handers) while Canadian players tend to play with their dominant hand high, but I don’t know if there’s any truth to that.
Righty that’s does all other sports righty but shoot lefty in hockey.
Just felt natural that way and so that’s how I played.
https://youtu.be/5PoVCDYHJKM?si=cIfKKsCDOeXN-XwO
I experimented with both. I am right handed. I can shoot much harder lefty, but receive and puck handle significantly better as a righty. I chose to go righty
I was one of few left handed shooters on my teams growing up. Most of the people who shot right were also right handed. I never really understood why I managed to shoot left. I also swing a bat and golf club left. My dad shoots left and is right handed so maybe I just copied him. He also swings a bat left but swings a golf club right. It makes no sense to me. There are so few left handed golfers and I don't understand how you swing one thing one handed, but another thing the opposite way.
Right handed and I bat and golf right. Play hockey lefty.
My swing speed is higher righty when I do a golf swing/ swing a bat. But that motion is high sticking and does fuck all for shooting a hockey puck well. My slap shot and snapper is harder lefty.
Think with you having to put your strong hand way down on the stick negates most of the power you would get from shooting righty as a right handed person in hockey.
Also having the one handed carry with your strong hand is nice.
Also 90 % of the floorball sticks provided for recess was lefty sticks and we never had a righty stick in my house growing up.
I swing left handed side even though I am right handed on just about every sport with a stick. I do this with baseball and even golf so I presume I would do the same for hockey.
As a lefty I only feel comfortable shooting left. Same with golf, same with baseball. It's more comfortable all around.
With music though I can only seem to pick it up right handed. Drums and guitar were so confusing to me when I tried to set up left handed.
When I was a toddler my dad kept giving me his lefty sticks, and I kept turning it over. So he gave in and got me a righty and it’s been that for all sports since
I started in my 30s after a childhood of playing baseball almost year round, there was no chance of not holding it the same way I’d hold a bat or golf club.
this is anecdotal but my dad and i are both right hand dominate, yet use left and right handed sticks respectively. I have noticed, i have a better shot on my forehand, but a weaker backhand. While he has a great back hand and far better stick handling than me. My thought process is you get more flex on the stick using your right hand verse your left, while you get more finesse on your top hand going with your right hand there verse left.
again that’s just comparing two people though and not a great sample size.
I’m ambidextrous so I can do everything from either side. The only thing I can’t do is write left handed, but that’s because I used to get a ruler to the knuckles if I tried to do that when I started school.
Likely has to do with what felt comfortable for hockey. I’m right handed and I shoot left for hockey. My youngest son is left handed and shoots right handed for hockey. That then carried over to baseball and golf for me as I play lefty for
both. However I don’t think that is the norm as most left handed shooting hockey players I know golf and bat right.
Your dominant hand on top for control and power. That's the reason. I'm righty and I shoot left. My right hand is always on the stick which means it's controlling it. The left hand is strictly a guide
So for me it came down to the advice I was given to shoot and how the aim works off the blade. My left arm was stronger but my right arm has better control so I shot right although I'm right handed. I also started at 18.
Strong arm/wrist/hand on the bottom to maximize and control power on shots, passing, receiving, etc...
Control of the stick with the weaker arm/wrist/hand can be learned and further developed to become second nature.
Strengthening the weaker arm/wrist to equal the stronger arm is not feasible.
/
Sorry, lost in the mists of time. Probably the first time I picked up a stick to shoot, I batted right before playing hockey, then later golfed right. A right handed person definitely has more power shooting right.
For me it’s because that’s the way my dad shoots and the first hockey stick I ever used was his. Same with golf, baseball, and even fishing. My dad taught me the way he did it. Which was right handed.
That being said, I worked in sports retail when I was in high school and college. People from my generation and after (1980-2000) tend to be more right handed. While older guys like from my dads generation, tend to shoot left. Don’t know why that is, but 6ish years of selling hockey sticks, that’s something I noticed.
I’m right handed but I shoot left in hockey, and also bat left and swing left in baseball and golf, respectively. Think I’ve always felt more comfortable having my dominant hand at the top of the stick/bat/club. I learned how to play hockey around 4 years old, though, so why I shoot left I have no idea. It’s just what little me was comfortable with and I stuck with it.
If you grew up golfing and batting right, it's most natural for you to shoot right, because in both those cases your dominant hand goes closest to the point of impact.
So... When I was young my dad bought me a left-handed stick, because he'd done research on it and it said your dominant hand should go on top.
So I started out with a lefty stick, and I HATED it. Nothing at all felt correct. So he finally switched me to a righty and I then didn't struggle as much.
It's less talked about, but I would struggle if I had to be a goalie because I grew up catching with my left hand (baseball). And your dominant hand is supposed to be your trapper hand, but I'm way better catching with my left from playing baseball (catcher, to be specific). To this day if you throw something to me I default to my left hand to catch it, and arguably my hand-eye is oddly enough just a tick better with my left hand.
But catching left and shooting right would be a bit awkward (though I know some very good goalies do it).
The theory is to have your dominant hand on top so you have better fine motor control for shooting, puck moving etc. It's easier to build power in your non-dominant hand than it is to build fine motor control.
There’s no right or wrong way to do it, it’s a preference thing at the end of the day and whatever is most natural is the correct way for you.
In Canada, we mostly learn dominant hand at the top, which is why you see more left handed shot Canadians than right, as right handed people are obviously more common.
It’s less common for people to swing differently in golf than the way they shoot in hockey, but again it’s personal preference. It’s also harder to find left handed clubs, so it’s possible they learned to swing right in golf, but shoot left in hockey at a young age, and it stuck.
Left handed clubs being rare is a market thing. I think last time I looked 3% of golfers golf left, except in Canada where it’s in the 30% range. The manufacturers just don’t make as many left handed clubs to sell.
I live in Canada which may skew it a bit since there’s a higher percentage of lefty golfers than anywhere else as far as I know, but I’ve yet to golf with someone who swings differently than they shoot in hockey.
It definitely happens, just less common in my experience. Could be different depending where you live.
For the vast majority of people, it’s just whichever way feels right for them
Or left
This comment needs more love 👏
This comment needs more love
I think most righties shoot left based on how many left shots there are in the pros. My understanding was always that you want to be strong with your stick when you take your lower hand off. If you shoot left, you are never taking your right hand off the stick, so your dominant hand is always active. Would love to hear an experienced player tell me if I have the right idea here.
I’m left and shoot left and the thought of switching gives me an existential crisis. I can’t imagine trying to hold my stick the other way at all. When I learned a lot of players did what you say it blew my mind.
Im right and shoot right. When I found out that all my other right handed friends shot the other way it blew my mind too. I think its like how when you swing a baseball bat, your non-dominant hand is on the end of the bat, it just feels the same when holding a hockey stick.
Question- what foot do you kick with in soccer? And if you snowboard/skateboard, what foot do you place at the front? I feel like the timeline of learning different aspects of hockey- when someone first starts playing has a lot to do with deciding their eventual shooting direction. If a kid learns to skate before they pick up a stick, I think lower body laterality will have an influence on their choice for shooting direction, whereas a player who learns to stick handle before learning to ever skate will have their handedness influence their shooting direction. In other words, a player who learns hockey from the arms first will use their arms to decide their shooting direction. A player who learns hockey from the legs first will use their lower body laterality to decide their shooting direction.
I am 100% dominant left everything and always have been. When I played goalie in lacrosse I held my stick in my left and would have to transition it to play the ball. When I play net in hockey I hold the stick in my right, but I’m not super experienced in being a hockey goalie.
Protestant, what does that have to do with anything?
Less than no clue what you’re talking about
It's a very old way of asking if you are a Rangers or Celtic fan (or Prot or Catholic).. [What foot do you kick with?](https://youtu.be/RtkmkpltM2E?si=YqF67zoq0MLkfKpW) Hockey Canada recommends your dominant hand at the top not the bottom.
Well that had me fucking rolling. God I miss Robin Williams
I write left, throw right, swing a bat/club right, hockey stick would be right. Kicking is weird though, if a soccer ball I'd kick right but if kicking a football it would be left.
That's a good explanation. Someone probably handed me a stick when I was little and I grabbed it with my right hand. Same thing with baseball. I batted left until I was 10 and then could switch hit. Never tried right hockey.
That’s pretty impressive then I’ve never actually tried to learn lefty but my left hand is unless trying to control the puck. For me I rely on my bottom hand for strength when controlling the puck or even shooting. I’ve come to learn your actually supposed to pull back on your top hand along with the forward force of your bottom hand hence why some shooters in the NHL are automatic. I feel like my left hand is pretty strong when I have one hand in my stick I can stick handle seamlessly steal pucks with the Datsyuk scoop. I’m thinking it’s a preference thing for sure fortunate for me my problem wasn’t my skill and smarts it was my skati- I didn’t make it because I broke my leg I had scouts watching in the crowd birds chirping at me walking down the tunnel I’d be in if wasn’t for that damn broken leg. /s
My theory from watching my son and his teammates grow up playing hockey was that a lot of them learned to skate with a hockey stick in their hand. At that point they are using the stick more for stability so it's probably more natural to use their dominant hand on top and then are used to that when they start shooting.
Because I played baseball first I batted right so I shot right. Playing goalie i caught with my left just like baseball. I can’t swing a bat or throw a ball left handed but i can shoot a puck pretty well from playing Goalie.
Whatever feels natural and comfortable. Don't think too much into it.
Strong hand, top hand.
Strong hand, bottom hand.
My understanding is there is a distinction between the US and Canada. American righties shoot right, Canadian righties shoot left. Maybe influence of baseball and how you’d hold a bat?
I've heard this as well. Also why it seems like there are so many more great American RW and RD. For a while at least.
American. Right handed. Shoot left
Well of course I’m not saying this is a law of nature or anything.
This is probably better suited to /r/hockeyplayers I had a conversation about this with somebody once (I’m righty always, they shoot left) and they said it’s because they want their strong hand on the knob for one handed stick use, defending, and stick handling from the end.
in some eastern european countries some force the top hand to be the dominant hand, it can lead to more strength up top that the bottom will eventually catch up with. you are better off doing what is comfortable and easier for you biomechanically speaking, you will develop the muscle memory and technique over time, favoring one over the other for now isnt really worth it
Always heard the phrase, "strong hand is top hand", and that this goes back to the days when stickhandling was much more important than shooting; with the dominant hand on the butt of the stick, you're supposed to be more dexterous with puck control. FWIW.
came from field hockey where everyone has to play righty, even if they’re a lefty elsewhere in life, so it just transferred over for me
Interesting. What's the point of that rule?
i’m 90% sure it’s just a safety thing, honestly. when you’re doing skills like tomahawks and drives and sweeps and block tackles, you expect it to all come from one side, so if it’s all of a sudden coming from the opposite it’s a great way for someone to get super hurt—especially because field hockey only wears goggles, mouthguards, and shinguards as protective gear. i think left handed sticks are straight up banned in any and all higher level competition.
I’m left handed in hockey, baseball, golf, etc. It’s natural for me. I am right handed but can do some things with my left hand. I wear my watch on my right hand too.
Everything is the same side for me - righty. Never made a conscious decision, it's just what felt natural. I don't think my dominant hand being on top would make me any better because it's not like the dominant hand is all that faster at learning a brand new skill that mainly involves wrist motion and not fine motor skills like your fingers.
Right, and I learned recently it’s not a 50/50 split in the NHL, 60% of players shoot left.
I go left in hockey and golf. Bat right though.
I'm a righty and I shoot right handed. I think having my dominant hand on the bottom vs the top is the reason I have a great wrist shot and decent snap shot but a pathetic slap shot. Now I just play with a 65-75 flex and fully embrace the quick release wrister and occasional snap shot.
I'm right handed and shoot left handed (but I also golf and bat left handed - they're the same motion so I'm not sure why anyone would switch). The reason is because when I was 2 years old and picked up a hockey stick that's just how I naturally held it. Handedness just seems to be innate. You can learn to do it the other way and some people are naturally ambidextrous but for most people you just naturally have a side that feels better the same as you do with handwriting.
People who grow up playing baseball tend to hold their sticks with their dominant hand low, as that is more similar to how you hold a bat. I’ve heard anecdotally that because of this more American players tend to play with their dominant hand low (which means a right-handed shot for right-handers) while Canadian players tend to play with their dominant hand high, but I don’t know if there’s any truth to that.
Righty that’s does all other sports righty but shoot lefty in hockey. Just felt natural that way and so that’s how I played. https://youtu.be/5PoVCDYHJKM?si=cIfKKsCDOeXN-XwO
I experimented with both. I am right handed. I can shoot much harder lefty, but receive and puck handle significantly better as a righty. I chose to go righty
I was one of few left handed shooters on my teams growing up. Most of the people who shot right were also right handed. I never really understood why I managed to shoot left. I also swing a bat and golf club left. My dad shoots left and is right handed so maybe I just copied him. He also swings a bat left but swings a golf club right. It makes no sense to me. There are so few left handed golfers and I don't understand how you swing one thing one handed, but another thing the opposite way.
give a kid a hockey stick and see which side they use it. no magic i play right dominant on the bottom
Right handed and I bat and golf right. Play hockey lefty. My swing speed is higher righty when I do a golf swing/ swing a bat. But that motion is high sticking and does fuck all for shooting a hockey puck well. My slap shot and snapper is harder lefty. Think with you having to put your strong hand way down on the stick negates most of the power you would get from shooting righty as a right handed person in hockey. Also having the one handed carry with your strong hand is nice. Also 90 % of the floorball sticks provided for recess was lefty sticks and we never had a righty stick in my house growing up.
I swing left handed side even though I am right handed on just about every sport with a stick. I do this with baseball and even golf so I presume I would do the same for hockey.
Not hockey, but I find it super weird that I snowboard goofy footed, but skate regular. Brains are weird.
I play with my dominant hand on the bottom, which for me means I'm right handed and shoot right. It really comes down to what feels right I think.
Hands together vs hands apart. I golf and bat right, shoot left.
I shoot left because when I started playing the left haded sticks were on sale.
I feel like a lot of people mirror the hand that the person who taught them played. Completely anecdotal, but surprisingly high % as a parlor trick.
As a lefty I only feel comfortable shooting left. Same with golf, same with baseball. It's more comfortable all around. With music though I can only seem to pick it up right handed. Drums and guitar were so confusing to me when I tried to set up left handed.
When I was a toddler my dad kept giving me his lefty sticks, and I kept turning it over. So he gave in and got me a righty and it’s been that for all sports since
I started in my 30s after a childhood of playing baseball almost year round, there was no chance of not holding it the same way I’d hold a bat or golf club.
this is anecdotal but my dad and i are both right hand dominate, yet use left and right handed sticks respectively. I have noticed, i have a better shot on my forehand, but a weaker backhand. While he has a great back hand and far better stick handling than me. My thought process is you get more flex on the stick using your right hand verse your left, while you get more finesse on your top hand going with your right hand there verse left. again that’s just comparing two people though and not a great sample size.
I shoot right. Bat left and golf left. I'm left handed. I feel like I'm rare
I’m ambidextrous so I can do everything from either side. The only thing I can’t do is write left handed, but that’s because I used to get a ruler to the knuckles if I tried to do that when I started school.
Likely has to do with what felt comfortable for hockey. I’m right handed and I shoot left for hockey. My youngest son is left handed and shoots right handed for hockey. That then carried over to baseball and golf for me as I play lefty for both. However I don’t think that is the norm as most left handed shooting hockey players I know golf and bat right.
Your dominant hand on top for control and power. That's the reason. I'm righty and I shoot left. My right hand is always on the stick which means it's controlling it. The left hand is strictly a guide
I duel wield. Keep ‘em guessing
So for me it came down to the advice I was given to shoot and how the aim works off the blade. My left arm was stronger but my right arm has better control so I shot right although I'm right handed. I also started at 18.
Left hand is best hand
Left. Because I'm right handed.
I’m a goalie. Shoot Lefty and I’m also a Lefty in general. Just feels more comfortable and I like keeping my dominant hand free for glove saves
Left. I just feel like I have more control and I’m pretty accurate that way.
Strong arm/wrist/hand on the bottom to maximize and control power on shots, passing, receiving, etc... Control of the stick with the weaker arm/wrist/hand can be learned and further developed to become second nature. Strengthening the weaker arm/wrist to equal the stronger arm is not feasible. /
Sorry, lost in the mists of time. Probably the first time I picked up a stick to shoot, I batted right before playing hockey, then later golfed right. A right handed person definitely has more power shooting right.
For me it’s because that’s the way my dad shoots and the first hockey stick I ever used was his. Same with golf, baseball, and even fishing. My dad taught me the way he did it. Which was right handed.
That being said, I worked in sports retail when I was in high school and college. People from my generation and after (1980-2000) tend to be more right handed. While older guys like from my dads generation, tend to shoot left. Don’t know why that is, but 6ish years of selling hockey sticks, that’s something I noticed.
I’m right handed but I shoot left in hockey, and also bat left and swing left in baseball and golf, respectively. Think I’ve always felt more comfortable having my dominant hand at the top of the stick/bat/club. I learned how to play hockey around 4 years old, though, so why I shoot left I have no idea. It’s just what little me was comfortable with and I stuck with it.
If you grew up golfing and batting right, it's most natural for you to shoot right, because in both those cases your dominant hand goes closest to the point of impact. So... When I was young my dad bought me a left-handed stick, because he'd done research on it and it said your dominant hand should go on top. So I started out with a lefty stick, and I HATED it. Nothing at all felt correct. So he finally switched me to a righty and I then didn't struggle as much. It's less talked about, but I would struggle if I had to be a goalie because I grew up catching with my left hand (baseball). And your dominant hand is supposed to be your trapper hand, but I'm way better catching with my left from playing baseball (catcher, to be specific). To this day if you throw something to me I default to my left hand to catch it, and arguably my hand-eye is oddly enough just a tick better with my left hand. But catching left and shooting right would be a bit awkward (though I know some very good goalies do it).
When I picked up a stick the first time shooting left just felt right
Right handed, shoot left, bat left, golf left. Don't meet many like me.
The theory is to have your dominant hand on top so you have better fine motor control for shooting, puck moving etc. It's easier to build power in your non-dominant hand than it is to build fine motor control.
In some places they teach put the dominant hand on the bottom as a young kid, and it helps improve stick handling.
There’s no right or wrong way to do it, it’s a preference thing at the end of the day and whatever is most natural is the correct way for you. In Canada, we mostly learn dominant hand at the top, which is why you see more left handed shot Canadians than right, as right handed people are obviously more common. It’s less common for people to swing differently in golf than the way they shoot in hockey, but again it’s personal preference. It’s also harder to find left handed clubs, so it’s possible they learned to swing right in golf, but shoot left in hockey at a young age, and it stuck.
Left handed clubs being rare is a market thing. I think last time I looked 3% of golfers golf left, except in Canada where it’s in the 30% range. The manufacturers just don’t make as many left handed clubs to sell.
That’s not true at all it’s not less common for people to swing differently. The vast majority of people shoot left in hockey but right in golf
I live in Canada which may skew it a bit since there’s a higher percentage of lefty golfers than anywhere else as far as I know, but I’ve yet to golf with someone who swings differently than they shoot in hockey. It definitely happens, just less common in my experience. Could be different depending where you live.
That’s weird.. Out of 20 guys on my hockey team probably 15 are lefties but we only have 3 lefty golfers, the rest are right handed including myself