Doing things with hands that are rarely used can develop new neural pathways. Here are some basic steps you can try to learn to write with your left hand.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Practice Writing
Step 1. Understand the complexities of writing with your left hand
Understand that in order to control your rarely used hand, your brain literally has to build a new neural network.
- This is neither a quick nor easy process, so you should be prepared to spend hours practicing if you really want to be able to write with both hands.
- Developing these motor skills will probably give a picture of the baby's life.
Step 2. Start slowly
Start writing the letters of the alphabet in capitals and lowercase, then continue to write sentences. Once you're comfortable writing with your left hand, start practicing cursive letters.
- If your writing is very messy at first, start tracing large pieces from books or magazines. Buying children's writing practice paper may also be helpful because it has widely spaced lines for capital letters and a dotted line in the middle to adjust the font size.
- Another way that might help is to observe how left-handed people write or ask them for tips.
Step 3. Practice writing all the letters
Repeat "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" or "Five boxing wizards jump quickly" to improve your left-handed writing skills. The two sentences above are great to use because they use all the letters of the alphabet.
- You should also practice writing most commonly used words as this will familiarize your muscles with common letter combinations. A list of most of the words common in each language can be found on Wikipedia.
- Be prepared for the fact that your left arm and hand muscles will hurt after practicing writing. This happens because you are training certain muscles for the first time.
Step 4. Draw the basic shapes
Drawing basic shapes will help strengthen your left hand as well as give you more control over the pen or pencil.
- Drawings of people, square-shaped houses with rectangular chimneys, round-headed cats with triangular ears, the goal is to improve left hand skills, not become a famous painter.
- Try coloring it too so you're more comfortable with your left hand.
- Also, try to draw a straight line from left to right with your left hand. That way, you'll practice pushing instead of pulling.
Step 5. Practice writing mirror letters
For left-handed writers, pulling the pen to the left is easier than pushing it to the right. Thus, writing backwards (to the left) with the right hand will be easier than writing to the right.
- You can write backwards (from right to left) or practice writing mirror letters by reversing the shape of the letters.
- Writing to the left is also beneficial because that way you won't smudge the ink or tear the pages when writing with a pen. However, the results won't be easy for others to read, so try to only use them in your diary (like Leonardo DaVinci!)
Step 6. Use the right pen
Liquid ink pens, especially gel pens, are worth a try because they don't have to be pressed hard when writing.
- This kind of pen will make you more comfortable when writing and prevent your hands from cramping at the end of your workout.
- Just be sure to use an ink that dries quickly or it will blend onto the paper as your hand moves across the paper.
Step 7. Be realistic about the results
Don't expect real results in just one day. The time it takes to create neat, legible writing with a hand that is rarely used may be quite long.
Part 2 of 3: Retraining the Brain
Step 1. Resist the temptation to use the right side of your body
You may be surprised to realize how deeply ingrained a habit is, both physically and mentally. Changing habits by involving other activities will help the brain to accept it more.
- If you're used to opening doors with your right hand, start with your left.
- If you're used to putting your right foot first when climbing stairs, start with your left.
- Keep practicing until stepping with your left foot first feels natural and easy to do.
Step 2. Do simple daily work with your left hand
The right activities to start with are:
- Eat (especially when using a spoon).
- Wipe nose.
- Wash dishes.
- Brushing teeth.
- Dial a phone number and write a short message with a cell phone.
Step 3. Practice more subtle movements
Once your left hand is comfortable with rough movements like rubbing and rubbing, start fine-tuning your hand-eye coordination.
- Start by tracing. Clear edges to write on will help to focus the eye on the lines, and the left hand traces them so that the two work in sync.
- Trace your right hand on the paper. Pushing the pencil into a 3-dimensional shape will help guide the left hand.
- Enhance it by tracing a 2-dimensional image. You can think of it like removing the barrier on a bowling lane.
Step 4. Tie your right hand
The hardest thing is actually remembering to always use your left hand throughout the day. So you need a way to remind yourself not to use your right hand.
- The thumb is almost always used in all movements of the right hand. Not being able to use it freely is a powerful way to be aware of its use at all times. So, try to tie the thumb and index finger of your right hand with a piece of string.
- You can also try wearing the glove on your right hand or putting your right hand in your pocket or behind your back.
Part 3 of 3: Strengthening the Left Hand
Step 1. Practice throwing the ball
Throwing and catching a ball with your left hand is a fun way to strengthen your left hand and improve your hand-eye coordination. Simply squeezing the ball firmly with your palms can also help strengthen your fingers.
Step 2. Exercise with a racket
Playing tennis, squash or badminton and gripping the racket with your left hand is a great way to strengthen your hands so you can better control your writing movements.
Step 3. Lift weights
Use a small weight of 2.5 kg (or less) then lift with your left hand. You can also try exercising each finger separately by lifting very small weights with one of the fingers of your left hand.
Step 4. Use your left hand to operate the computer controls
Change the mouse control so that it can be used with the left hand. Also, try pressing the space bar with your left hand. It is more difficult than you think!
Tips
- Also practice on iPad with the iPad stylus. You don't need to press too hard with your left hand.
- Try to write slowly at first. If you write too fast, you can hurt your hand.
- As you practice writing with your left hand, try to be calm and steady as you move. Don't be frustrated if the results are bad!
- If you use your left hand a lot when you move, try not to move it too much. The vibration in the left hand is the trigger. Try to stay calm and focused.
- Left-handed but want to use the right hand? Do all the steps in this article, but change the direction, for example from left to right.
- You can also write letters or draw shapes with your right hand and compare the results with your left hand.
- Practice writing on the whiteboard.
Warning
- Be sure to rest your arms and hands frequently. Overuse can cause injury, so you have to be careful.
- Left-handed writers should push the pen across the surface of the paper when writing sentences in English, German, French, or other languages written from left to right. As a result, the paper will tear, but this problem can be easily avoided with proper posture and pen. On the other hand, this is not a problem for left-handed writers when writing sentences in Hebrew or Arabic written from right to left.
- In some cases, writing with your left hand may cause health problems or problems.
