It’s Not Political, but More Canadians Are Lefties

[KittyWampus]

It’s Not Political, but More Canadians Are Lefties
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/sports/olympics/16lefty.html

By JEFF Z. KLEIN
Published: February 15, 2010

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — What is the difference between a Canadian and an American? The old question is coming up again here at the Olympics, with answers involving eagerness for war, ketchup, the pronunciation of toque or the ability to identify poutine and the Tragically Hip. But none may be so simple as how one holds a hockey stick. According to sales figures from stick manufacturers, a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades.

Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there.

For years, how a hockey player picked up his stick was of little importance. The blades were straight and a player could swing the sticks from either side. Two Hockey Hall of Famers from the mid-20th century — wing Gordie Howe and goalie Bill Dunham — actually played ambidextrously. But the advent of curved blades in the ’60s not only spelled the end of the classic backhand shot, it also meant that manufacturers had to label sticks L and R, and inventory personnel had to ship more left-handed sticks (with the blade curving to the right) to Canada and more right-handed ones to the United States.

“I have no idea why this is so,” said Mike Mountain, who is in charge of hockey sticks for Easton, a sporting goods manufacturer based in Van Nuys, Calif. “But it has been true for years, and it doesn’t change; it stays consistent over time.”

Roughly 60 percent of the Easton hockey sticks sold in Canada are for left-handed shots, Mountain said. In the United States, he said, about 60 percent of sticks sold are for right-handed shots. Figures over the years from other manufacturers have put the ratio discrepancy between the two countries as high as 70 to 30.

The difference even trickles over into golf, where the swing is not unlike that of a slap shot. According to the Professional Golfers Association, 7 percent of Canadian golfers play left-handed, which is proportionally more than any other nationality. The reason is probably that Canadians pick up a hockey stick first and are therefore imprinted by the time they take up golf. Especially if they are from Quebec, where hockey players are even more left-handed than players in the rest of Canada.

Oddly, British Columbia — sometimes said to be the most American-like of the Canadian provinces — skews the other way. “The rest of the country goes 2 to 1 in favor of left sticks, but it’s reversed in B.C.,” said Marc Poirier, a customer service representative who handles Canadian orders for Warrior Sticks.

Europeans also tend to be left-handed shooters. The International Ice Hockey Federation does not keep figures by European nationality, the communications director Szymon Szemberg said. But, he said, lefty shooters have predominated. “For long spells, the great Soviet teams of the ’80s never had a player who shot right,” Szemberg said.

snip

[sui generis]

1. This just in: piano players frequently use both hands

:P

I'm guessing it's as much a matter of practice as it is of preference.

[happyslug]

2. One of the ways people in Northern Ireland discriminated was by asking which foot you used a spade.

Catholics almost always said they used left foot, Protestant's their right. Why the difference? How each group used a spade. If you are a farmer you tend to use long handle spades, You dig with your left foot and then push down on the end of the long handle to left up the dirt and turn it over. If you were a Protestant, you tended to be a city Dweller and your use of a spade was to dig a ditch with a short handle spade. When you use a short handled spade you dig with your right Foot for you want your right hand by the spade part of the spade to help you left up the dirt over your head. Notice what type of work you are doing determines which spade you use (if you have a choice) AND that type of work determines HOW you dig with your foot.

I suspect a similar difference in Canada and the US, With the advent of the curved hockey stick people had to decide to use their right hand closer to the blade (and this more control) or their right hand nearer themselves (And more power that can be applied via the blade). I do NOT play hockey, but if your dominate hand is nearer the object you have more control over the object (For example baseball players will tend to "Choke up" on a bat if the pitcher is really on the ball. Choking up gives ballplayers more control over the bat). On the other hand if the dominate hand is on the top of the handle means the user can provide more power to the blade (again a Baseball comparison, the longer the bat the more power one can hit the ball with, thus holding the bat at its end increases power). Thus the main difference may be that Coaches in Canada want their players to have more control, while Coaches in the US want more power. Just speculation on my part but something to think about (and it can be that Coaches in Canada want more players to control the puck and reserve power to their more powerful players, while the Coaches in the US prefer more power in more players).

[Romulox]

3. Interesting, but you've got it backwards...

A right handed hockey stick means that the left hand is near the knob and the right closest to the blade.



(lefty stick on left, righty on right)

http://hockeystickexpert.com/right-vs-left-handed-hockey-stick/

[happyslug]

4. As I said I do NOT play hockey, but the issue of Control vis Power does not change.

So it may be the Canadians want power and the American want Control, but it is something to think about. Please note, I may be wrong as to Hockey Stick as to Power and Control, for my experiences is with spades and baseball bats. I have used both types of spades and have chocked up on baseball bats and thus can make decent comments on them. I suspect it is a control vs power issue and how do you want to play (and being a team sport, many people will opt for control and leave the power to others, while others prefer power to control the issue may just be what type of mix do you want?).

Baseball is a sport where different people of different ability can play together. Thus it is possible for small people (Including women) playing baseball with much larger people. Everyone gets their chance at bat AND if their bat their have to play some position when the other side is at bat. Football is this not true, small people will be trampled on by larger players (Thus the tendency to play people of about the same size, some position tend to be heavier then others but you never see a 100 pound female playing football with 200 pound males). Basketball is similar, if you are small it is hard to play with the big boys (this is more based on height then any other factor but it is also do to the fact one "dribbles" to control the ball in basketball and that is more like holding the ball as in Football then a "free" ball as in soccer and hockey). Soccer and hockey are more like baseball when it comes to mixing players of different sizes do to the fact direct contact is NOT permitted (You can run into each other in both sports, but the nature of both sports tend to discourage such action for more then a few seconds, the inability to hold onto the ball or puck means that if you tackle someone the ball and puck is free to a third party). This "Free" Ball or puck means one can NOT use mere physical strength to prevail (Strength helps but no where near what strength does in Football). Thus it is possible for 100 pound people to play with a 200 pound person in Baseball, Softball, Hockey and Soccer (and to a more limited scale basketball) but if you put a 200 pound male among 100 pounds males and females, the 200 pound male will so dominate the game that the other players will soon become irrelevant.

Now, I am not saying that on the top end of Hockey strength is NOT determinate (As it is in Football) but at the lower ends, where the vast majority of people play, it is possible and common for people of different strengths to play each other AND the weaker players do NOT become irrelevant. A US Female Hockey teams of a few Olympic ago is a good example, all of the female players said they started to play with their brothers and continued to do so as their Brothers grew muscle during their teens. Could these women go one on one with their brothers? No, but on a team with mixed males and females, the males will NOT so dominate the game as to make the women irrelevant. This is true also of Soccer and to a lesser extent Basketball (and to a greater extent Baseball). In a baseball game do you play with five players on each side or go with nine player even if four of the players are girls? You go with the nine, for it covers the field better. The same with Soccer and Hockey (and to a more limited Extent Basketball), is it better to go shorthanded but have nothing but males or field a full team of mixed males and females? In American Football it is better to field just males, in Soccer, Hockey, Baseball and Softball, it is better to field a full team even if that means women playing with the men.

Now if you study males vs female sports, women know they can NOT compete with men on strength (and thus do not try). Instead women tend to go for more control (i.e. better techniques etc). If you play with women, you quickly see the strengths and weakness of this approach. For those men who can NOT compete on strength with other men, the strengths of the Women's method outweigh the weaknesses and quickly adopt them. Those men who can not attack those methods (Mostly the stronger men who have come to rely on their strengths).

My comment is just an observation, Control is generally a "woman's" style of playing for women can NOT compete with men when it comes to Muscle. Once you have a lot of Women playing, many men who can NOT compete with other men as to Muscle also tend to adopt such tactics. This may be the result of males and females playing together or just people of the same sex but different muscle levels playing together (i.e. 10 year olds playing with 20 year olds). This is more common with Baseball (and its cousin Softball) then any other sport, but you see it in Soccer, Basketball (to a limited degree) and Hockey (and especially the Game I played the most when I was a kid, Kickball, that cross between Soccer and Baseball, you use a Soccer type ball that is kicked but you use a baseball diamond instead of a Soccer Field).

My point is that why Canada and US have just a disparity in hockey sticks can be traced to how people learn the game and with whom. You do NOT learn to play a team sport by yourself, you play it as a member of a team and thus HOW you see yourself as a member of that team often determines how you play the game. Control vs Power seems to be the underlying issue and often Power is preferred when one is playing people of one own sex, age and size. Control is preferred when you are playing with stronger players (Notice Control is preferred by the weaker players for that is something they can compete on with stronger players, among players of the same size power is preferred).

[Romulox]

5. Now you're letting your general observations lead you afield...

In fact, the "power" vs. "control" issue is very much present in hockey, but it is often cast as a European (control, finesse) vs. Canadian/North America (checking and shot power) issue. The way putative "handedness" interacts with positional play (e.g. a left handed right winger can play closer to the boards) is also a factor.

At any rate, I was just interjecting a data point to assist you with what I said I found to be an interesting theory!

[Gene Parmesan]

6. Canadian children are taught to steer with their dominant hand

and American children are not and their parents think it looks funny because they didn't play hockey. I do not know the reasons for Golf and I don't care.

The dominant hand grip on the butt of the stick gives more control in passing (the lower hand is just a fulcrum) and shooting (keeps stick steady through the shot) and possibly less power (but that will hardly matter as the child grows up).