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Non-Dominant Hand Writing


Catrin

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I had a complex shoulder repair 3 weeks ago and will be in the shoulder immobilizer sling yet another 3 weeks. I can't stay away from my journal though, and I can't type or write with my right hand. So....have been practicing writing with my left hand. Quite legible, though the script is much larger than with the right. Also very...slow, and cursive = much better/easier than printing. Typing is almost as slow, but I do not journal electronically.

 

Curious if others here have done this? As legible as my left-hand writing is now, I'm getting curious to see how much it may improve. I'm using the underwriting approach, which is actually a bit hard on my neck - adopting a mirrored writing position has a more noticeable impact on the body than just the hand and paper position! Thank goodness for fountain pens!

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Turn your paper slightly to the right. Worth a try is if you are willing to use the three fingers grip and not move your whole wrist during writing. Does your neck point to the right side?

Edited by Schadenfreude

People who know my name, dont know my work. People who know my work, dont know my name.

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Turn your paper slightly to the right. Worth a try is if you are willing to use the three fingers grip and not move your whole wrist during writing. Does your neck point to the right side?

 

Sadly neck and left hand\fingers\shoulder are quite arthritic. I don't think it is as much writing as drawing, and am still tweaking position. There aren't many grip options due to that, which is why I'm surprised it's so legible. I will try your suggestion, and yes, my neck does try to point to the right side when I'm writing with the left hand.

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I write all my letters with a fountain pen and my non-dominant hand.

 

When I considered getting into fountain pens, I remembered the smearing and positioning issues I'd had before with my left hand, so I decided to take up the challenge of writing with my non-dominant right hand. I reasoned I could use any ink and avoid the other hassles, plus it would be something unusual. I had tried underwriting with my left, but it required retraining the muscles and switching back and forth for work. I figured I could train my right hand just like when learning to write in elementary school, since children learning to write have about the same dexterity with their dominant hand as I had with my non-dominant right hand.

 

So, I found some of the same type of cursive sheets that I learned on in school, printed them out and imagined I would just keep at it no matter how many months it took. I knocked off a couple sheets at lunch and maybe a couple each night. Surprisingly, it came much quicker than I had expected. It was just a matter of building up enough strength and coordination. I started writing shaky letters to family members, and soon added a bunch of pen pals. I was writing a letter just about every day for over a year.

 

I confess, I picked up a few sports right handed after breaking my left arm in 2nd grade, but I feel switching is totally doable and kind of fun.

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Sadly neck and left hand\fingers\shoulder are quite arthritic. I don't think it is as much writing as drawing, and am still tweaking position. There aren't many grip options due to that, which is why I'm surprised it's so legible. I will try your suggestion, and yes, my neck does try to point to the right side when I'm writing with the left hand.

Actually, your neck doesnt have to point to the right side. I think there is a tension when you learn to write with your less dominant hand (left).

 

This reminds me of people who just started playing a violin: most of them have tension because both of their hands have each different task to do (left hand's fingers task is to find the notes on the strings, right hand is trying to bow straight). If they dont solve their tension habit, they will have a bad posture and bad playing habit which can take pretty long time to unlearn, and the worst thing of keeping a bad playing habit and tension is: arthtritic.

 

It is not the same as writing, but i find it to be similar: relax is needed. I tried to use my less dominant hand to write (right hand), i noticed i had a tension in my arm: it's very tiring for me to even try finishing a sentence because it hurts. While of i write with my dominant hand, my arm doesnt hurt because it's relax.

 

My neck once hurt when it pointed to the right side for long time during writing.

People who know my name, dont know my work. People who know my work, dont know my name.

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