Lefty (The Bronx and Fayetteville, NY, about 1949 and 1963)

I am a lefty, in the sense that I prefer my left hand for almost everything--though I am pretty ambidextrous. I socially identify with lefties, a lightly oppressed minority (maybe 10% of the population is left-handed). But my parents always told me that I am natural righty, trained left. That's because because my teenage father was a high-school baseball player, and he wanted me to have the advantage lefties have in most sports. He was Whitey Ford's relief pitcher at Aviation High, which, as he pointed out, meant he didn't pitch much. And he played second base. I think I have a team picture I'll post some day.

I confirmed that I was a natural righty with my father 3-4 years ago. Elizabeth is a little skeptical of this story, but besides what my parents told me, I have some supporting evidence: I am really very ambidextrous, but lefties tend to be; I kick right-footed, but evidently about 1/3 of lefty males do so. But my best evidence is this picture:


So why am I golfing right-handed in the picture below? For one thing, it's not such a big deal in sports with a two-hand grip (like batting in baseball) to change hands. But the real reason is this. Early in my golfing career, I finished a round at Lyndon Golf Course, a cheap public course across the street from the famous and exclusive Onondaga Country Club, where I sometimes caddied. The "pro", who I didn't know, came up to me and said, "you should try playing right-handed". I was a pretty know-it-all teenager, and was used to unimaginative people who couldn't get their minds around people doing things with their left hands (this was still medieval times). So I came back with a snotty, "Oh yeah, why?". He answered, "Because I just saw you play left-handed." Whoops. (Sure enough, I tried it, practiced for a few minutes, and immediately shot a way better round than I ever had left-handed. Never golfed lefty again, even though I had to get a new set of clubs.)


I'm really glad I play tennis left-handed. Besides being a big advantage if you want to run for US President (Obama, McCain, Kerry, Gore, Clinton, Bush I, Perot: all lefties), it is a big advantage in tennis in particular. (That's why Rafael Nadel's uncle trained him to be left-handed. He's the only other natural righty trained left I've ever heard of--the other way around is of course common.) I've written up the reasons it is so advantageous in tennis here.