Grandfather Ferruccio
It is also thanks to my grandfather Ferruccio that you are reading this article today. His great passion for golf was the trigger that naturally introduced me to the discovery of my lateral motor skills.
When I was about ten years old, I often accompanied my grandfather to the “Betulle” golf course. My task was important: carrying the trolley with his clubs. He, already advanced in age, said they were starting to weigh on him. I, on the contrary, was always happy. I still remember the precision of the emerald-colored grass and that restaurant with a buffet that seemed endless.
Golf and Laterality
In that context, a certain interest in golf also began to grow in me. My grandfather often practiced in his garden, and as soon as I heard the snap of the club hitting the ball that the “session had started,” I would run down to watch him. I enjoyed searching for balls that ended up far away, among the leaves or stuck between the stones.
One day, my grandfather gave me a club to try. After explaining the conventional technique – grip, thumb position, swing – I still had difficulties. Until I decided to follow my instinct: I took the club with my hands reversed, in a non-conventional way… and finally, the balls began to fly far.
It was then that my grandfather, with his ever-present Tuscan cigar, said to me:
I think you are ambidextrous.
A Hypothesis Takes Shape
The idea of ambidexterity began to spin in my head for years. Until, during a particularly boring class around the age of fifteen, I tried writing with the other hand just as an experiment. At first, the handwriting was illegible and the speed minimal. But with some consistency, the first results started to show.
Dictation after dictation, coordination improved. After a couple of weeks, I was already able to write more fluidly, and over time, writing with the hand I had “benched” for all that time became my favorite exercise during the most repetitive lessons.
I took notes, drew lines, sketched shapes. And improved every day. At home, my grandfather was thrilled. He kept repeating that he had always known.
Looking back, he was half right. I was not born ambidextrous in the strict sense: I was a little mixed-handed, and that reversed swing was the first sign of it. The rest — the writing, the precision, the habit — came from practice.
Training Both Hands
Over time, I began using both hands for every daily activity: shaving, brushing my teeth, cutting vegetables. Even banal actions became little coordination exercises. Every gesture was a way to stimulate that less used motor part.
After more than ten years of practice, today I hardly notice which hand I am using, not even when signing: it comes naturally to use whichever is free or more comfortable at the moment. That goes for everyday things, from the mouse to the toothbrush; for precision jobs, like using a cutter or a knife, my right hand is still the more precise one.
Not sure which side you are on yet? The ambidextrous test tells you in eight questions.
If you too feel you might have a natural predisposition or simply want to develop new motor skills and improve your coordination, training your non-dominant hand can be a useful and stimulating experience. Here is a guide to start developing this ability.
That discovery eventually turned into a book — the full story is in a dream that became a book.
If you want to follow the same path, I put everything I have learned since then into "How to Become Ambidextrous": an in-depth test and progressive exercises to train your non-dominant hand.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if I'm ambidextrous?
Notice which hand you use without thinking to write, throw, brush your teeth or cut. If you pick the same hand for almost everything, you are not ambidextrous; if you use different hands for different tasks, you are mixed-handed, which is common. Ambidextrous strictly means doing the same task equally well with either hand. A test with several questions, like the one on this site, gives a more precise picture.
When can you tell if a child is left-handed?
A preference often shows between 2 and 4 years old, but in young children it stays weak and inconsistent and keeps firming up through the early school years. Watch which hand the child uses spontaneously and let them explore both sides without forcing either.
Can you become ambidextrous as an adult?
You can train your non-dominant hand a great deal at any age, even though your dominant hand will not change. I started writing with my other hand at fifteen, and the first lines were illegible; after a couple of weeks of daily practice my handwriting was already more fluid. Adults learn movements more slowly, but they do learn them.
What does the right hemisphere of the brain control?
The right hemisphere mainly controls the movements and sensations of the left side of the body, including the left hand, and is more involved in spatial attention. The idea that it is the seat of creativity is an oversimplification: creative work uses networks in both hemispheres.
