Lefty Changes Writing Position

[DanielCoffey]

As a child of the mid-70s, I was fortunate to not be forced into right-handedness but was not coached in proper posture or pen holding. I seem to have settled into lefty underwriting and have never had issues with smudging. At school I wrote with the paper highly slanted but that was more due to lack of space. Now I have the paper moderately slanted and my writing has a natural left slope or straight up/down if I work at it. I think it will take a lot of effort to develop a reliable right-slope.

[chris.hale]

I'm closest to #2, but manage to do it with my wrist straight and paper vertical. My writing has no discernible slant, but I've just had a quick go with the page rotated anti-clockwise and it actually felt like it might work better for me.

 

I've never had a problem with smudging, but as I tend to write small and fast I have a bad habit of scrawling rather than forming my letters properly. If I can force myself to slow down and size up a bit it's fairly legible though.

[Chris H]

My daughter is left handed and to avoid issues with writing, my wife and I taught her to write underhand. That way we could also mirror any writing instruction book. She uses fountain pens and dip pens and has no problem.

 

Chris

[Moagy]

I'm a 5, all the way! No smudges, no problems, any resulting bad handwriting is purely a question of my preferred Mach 2 writing speed and inherent laziness.

 

By the way - I hate to criticise the fine work of Mr Mottishaw, but there is no way the lady in No 8 can be classified as an "underwriter". Her hand is not underneath the pen and angle of the pen is pointing slightly towards her suggesting that she may be an overwriter. However, if there is such a thing as a neutral writer - neither up nor down, this may be it.

[torstar]

I'm a 7 dropping an inch further down and no known twist of the pen.

 

Any 4s on the board?

 

Did your teacher threaten to have you locked up?????

Edited June 7, 2011 by torstar

[Bogon07]

I think I tend towards 6 or 7 with the page tilted more anti-clockwise and the hand slightly more above the line.

Just tried underwriting and ended up with a consistant backward slope to the writing.

 

I also find it interesting to see the variety of different grips in those examples by left handers.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Was always unhappy with my writing. Always dragging my hand through what was just written, smudging paper and hand.

Couldn't use erasable pens, forget about fountain pens, (or so I thought; now see a number of lefty over-writers using).

Somewhere along the way developed a liking for fine point Japanese gel pens, (a gateway drug to fountain pens for sure).

While surfing for pens and handwriting improvement articles, got the idea to try changing to writing underhand.

A few weeks getting used to it and now a few years later, and many fountain pens collected, feel very uncomfortable overwriting.

 

Have any other lefties changed to underwriting?

 

I've tried but it hurts my shoulder. Go figure.

 

The teachers tried to force me into right-hand writing but it never took and they gave up. Oddly enough now I can write somewhat legibly with my right, if I care to.

 

I've seen your avvy somewhere. I just know it.

[torstar]

Was always unhappy with my writing. Always dragging my hand through what was just written, smudging paper and hand.

Couldn't use erasable pens, forget about fountain pens, (or so I thought; now see a number of lefty over-writers using).

Somewhere along the way developed a liking for fine point Japanese gel pens, (a gateway drug to fountain pens for sure).

While surfing for pens and handwriting improvement articles, got the idea to try changing to writing underhand.

A few weeks getting used to it and now a few years later, and many fountain pens collected, feel very uncomfortable overwriting.

 

Have any other lefties changed to underwriting?

 

I've tried but it hurts my shoulder. Go figure.

 

The teachers tried to force me into right-hand writing but it never took and they gave up. Oddly enough now I can write somewhat legibly with my right, if I care to.

 

I've seen your avvy somewhere. I just know it.

 

 

 

Without any attempt to write with the right hand I can write almost better on boards with chalk and markers than my left hand.

 

Math tutorials were led with the right hand at the request of students.

[coyotewhisper]

As being a fellow sinstral I can relate. When I had first started my journey I had a salesclerk tell me that it would better for me to look at rollerballs, fountain pens did not work well for lefthanders. About 100 fountain pens later I am proff that lefthanders can use fountain pens. I too write underhand and have for years, I do not ever recall writing overhand with the hook. I have printed for years have recently return to script.

[sbruno33]

Was always unhappy with my writing. Always dragging my hand through what was just written, smudging paper and hand.

Couldn't use erasable pens, forget about fountain pens, (or so I thought; now see a number of lefty over-writers using).

Somewhere along the way developed a liking for fine point Japanese gel pens, (a gateway drug to fountain pens for sure).

While surfing for pens and handwriting improvement articles, got the idea to try changing to writing underhand.

A few weeks getting used to it and now a few years later, and many fountain pens collected, feel very uncomfortable overwriting.

 

Have any other lefties changed to underwriting?

 

I've tried but it hurts my shoulder. Go figure.

 

The teachers tried to force me into right-hand writing but it never took and they gave up. Oddly enough now I can write somewhat legibly with my right, if I care to.

 

I've seen your avvy somewhere. I just know it.

 

 

Can only write right handed if I am also simultaneously writing backwards with my left...

[dasmart]

i write with my left hand hooked over the top. it only still smudges whenever my wrist area is slanted too low or pionted towards my body, if i keep my wrist. i tend to rest my hand on my pink area instead of the side of my palm, i don't find this to be painful at all because with the fountain pen, almost no pressure is needed any ways.

[Giordana]

Was always unhappy with my writing. Always dragging my hand through what was just written, smudging paper and hand.

Couldn't use erasable pens, forget about fountain pens, (or so I thought; now see a number of lefty over-writers using).

Somewhere along the way developed a liking for fine point Japanese gel pens, (a gateway drug to fountain pens for sure).

While surfing for pens and handwriting improvement articles, got the idea to try changing to writing underhand.

A few weeks getting used to it and now a few years later, and many fountain pens collected, feel very uncomfortable overwriting.

 

Have any other lefties changed to underwriting?

 

Hello, I haven't changed to underwriting...yet. Since high school, I've been complemented on my cursive, that it even reminds people of the Declaration of Independence! Thanks to the hook approach, I haven't had problems with writing with fountain pens. However, I've been wanting to try out writing with flex, and well...seems like I'll have to change to underwriting. Sigh.

[whitelily]

Was always unhappy with my writing. Always dragging my hand through what was just written, smudging paper and hand.

Couldn't use erasable pens, forget about fountain pens, (or so I thought; now see a number of lefty over-writers using).

Somewhere along the way developed a liking for fine point Japanese gel pens, (a gateway drug to fountain pens for sure).

While surfing for pens and handwriting improvement articles, got the idea to try changing to writing underhand.

A few weeks getting used to it and now a few years later, and many fountain pens collected, feel very uncomfortable overwriting.

 

Have any other lefties changed to underwriting?

 

I have been a lefty all of my life. I guess that I should be surprised but I never have written over-writer or with a hook. After I saw that hand position, I always thought it looked painful. I have has much more success with tilting the paper.

I´m the same - I´ve always been an underwriter.

[francoamerican]

Resurrecting and old post. Anybody fully convert from left handed side writer to an underwriter? I'm new and have been trying switch.

 

JP

[sidthecat]

I vary position a lot, but the tendency is overhand. About two straight years of practice and my slant is becoming consistent.

[Purrceyz]

I started out as a left sidewriter. As a result, I failed printing 3 years in a row due to smudged work. My mom asked them to give me harder pencils but they were not very accommodating to lefties in the 60s. I remember the teacher refusing to give me a writing "licence"(permission to write cursive rather than print) in gr 4 due to messy work. Some time around grade 5-6, I figured out how to underhand write. By middle school, I spent a lot of my time practicing my writing with cartridge Schaeffers. I tilt my paper about 30 degrees and remain an underhanded writer.

 

BTW, my husband is a lefty overhand writer. Both of us had dads who were lefties originally but forced to switch (my father had a stammer as a result.) Both of our kids are right handed. It only became an issue when my daughter's kindergarten teacher wanted us to teacher how to tie her shoes a certain way - I explained I would teach her "bunny ears" (the way I taught myself) since we are both lefties, we could not teach her the righ thanded method she wanted.