Cross-dominance, also known as mixed-handedness

Handedness

Handedness is a human attribute defined by unequal distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hands. An individual who is more dexterous with the right hand is called right-handed and one who is more skilled with the left is said to be left-handed...

, mixed dominance, or hand-confusion, is a motor skill

Motor skill

A motor skill is a learned sequence of movements that combine to produce a smooth, efficient action in order to master a particular task. The development of motor skill occurs in the motor cortex, the region of the cerebral cortex that controls voluntary muscle groups.- Development of motor skills...

 manifestation where a person favors one hand for some tasks and the other hand for others. For example, a cross-dominant person might write with the left hand but throw primarily with the right. Ambidexterity

Ambidexterity

Ambidexterity is the state of being equally adept in the use of both left and right appendages . It is one of the most famous varieties of cross-dominance. People that are naturally ambidextrous are rare, with only one out of one hundred people being naturally ambidextrous...

 is a well-known but rare variant of cross-dominance, but cross-dominant people may also be left or right-handed rather than ambidextrous.

It can also refer to mixed laterality

Laterality

Laterality is the preference that most humans show for one side of their body over the other. Examples include right-handedness or left-footedness. It may also apply to other animals, or to plants.- Human laterality :...

, which refers to a person favoring eyes, ears, feet, or hands on one side of the body. A person who is cross-dominant can also be stronger on the opposite side of the body that they favor; for example, a right-handed person can be stronger on the left side. Cross-dominance can often be a problem when shooting or in activities that require aim, although athletes can still achieve success in sports that require accuracy, like passing in American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and shooting in basketball.

In baseball

Because curveball

Curveball

The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...

s and slider

Slider

In baseball, a slider is a pitch that breaks laterally and down, with a speed between that of a curveball and that of a fastball....

s, the most commonly used breaking pitches in the game, curve in the direction of a pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

's non-throwing hand, a batter who bats from the same side of home plate as the pitcher's non-throwing hand enjoys an advantage. In turn, since most pitchers are right-handed, this means that left-handed batters enjoy a noticeable advantage over their right-handed counterparts. However, being a right-handed thrower is more advantageous in the field. Every fielding position can be played by a right-handed thrower, although left-handers enjoy a slight advantage at first base

First baseman

First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...

. On the other hand, left-handed throwers are completely absent at the highest level at the other infield positions and at catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

. While switch hitting

Switch hitter

In baseball, a switch-hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed.-Baseball:Usually, right-handed batters hit better against left-handed pitchers and vice-versa. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher. Such pitches are often...

 exists so a batter can put pressure on a pitcher by hitting the opposite hand of the pitcher’s throwing arm, it has gained some criticism because a batter will always be more dominant from one side of the plate than the other; therefore, depending on the throwing hand of a pitcher, the switch hitter may be unreliable. So, many baseball players are trained at being cross-dominant, with batting solely left-handed and throwing solely right-handed to suffice to this advantage. Also, some right-handed throwers' right-eye is the dominant eye, which if batting left-handed, would make the ball easier to see. There are also players like Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henley Henderson is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for nine teams from 1979 to 2003, including four stints with his original team, the Oakland Athletics. Nicknamed The Man of Steal, he is widely regarded as the sport's greatest leadoff hitter and baserunner...

, who bat right and throw left; but this serves as a substantial disadvantage and is only done because the player is simply just more comfortable playing that way, which demonstrates that cross-dominance in the sport can sometimes be natural instead of being a strategy.

Sports

• Adriano
  Adriano Leite Ribeiro
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• Kobe Bryant
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• Brett Cecil
  Brett Cecil
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• John Cena
  John Cena
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• Cesc Fàbregas
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  Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona.Fàbregas started his career as a trainee with Barcelona but was signed by Premier League side Arsenal in September 2003 at the age of 16...
  
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• Sourav Ganguly
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• Sachin Tendulkar
  Sachin Tendulkar
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• LeBron James
  LeBron James
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   - Professional NBA basketball player
• Derrick Rose
  Derrick Rose
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• Donovan McNabb
  Donovan McNabb
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• Shawn Michaels
  Shawn Michaels
  Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
  
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• Rafael Nadal
  Rafael Nadal
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• Ronnie O'Sullivan
  Ronnie O'Sullivan
  Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...
  
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• Abedi Pele
  Abédi Pelé
  Abedi Ayew, known professionally as Abedi Pele is a former Ghana International football player and captain. Having been given the nickname "Pelé" in recognition of his superior ability that evoked comparisons to Brazilian great Pelé, he found fame in France's Ligue 1 with Lille OSC and Olympique...
  
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• Juninho
  Juninho Pernambucano
  Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Jr. , commonly known as Juninho or Juninho Pernambucano, is a Brazilian footballer and dead-ball specialist, currently playing as a midfielder for Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A club CR Vasco da Gama. He is considered to be one of the greatest free kick takers of all time...
  
  - Professional association footballer
• Maria Sharapova
  Maria Sharapova
  Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ,. is a Russian professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. A US resident since 1994, Sharapova has won 24 WTA singles titles, including three Grand Slam singles titles at the 2004 Wimbledon, 2006 US Open and 2008 Australian Open...
  
   - Professional tennis player
• Michael Vick
  Michael Vick
  Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...
  
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• David Villa
  David Villa
  David Villa Sánchez , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. He can also operate as a winger....
  
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• Anderson Silva
  Anderson Silva
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   - Mixed Martial Artist
• Billy Wagner
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  William Edward Wagner , nicknamed "Billy the Kid", is a retired Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He pitched for the Houston Astros , the Philadelphia Phillies , the New York Mets , the Boston Red Sox , and the Atlanta Braves...
  
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• Kumar Sangakkara
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  Kumar Sangakkara is a Sri Lankan, Sinhalese cricketer and the former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is a left-handed top-order batsman...
  
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• David Gower
  David Gower
  David Ivon Gower OBE is a former English cricketer who became a commentator for Sky Sports. Although he eventually rose to the captaincy of the England cricket team during the 1980s, he is best known for being one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of the modern era. Gower played 117 Test...
  
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Arts

• Ludwig van Beethoven
  Ludwig van Beethoven
  Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
  
   - Composer
• Tom Cruise
  Tom Cruise
  Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
  
   - Actor
• Jimi Hendrix
  Jimi Hendrix
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• Joe Perry
  Joe Perry
  Joe Perry may refer to:*Joe Perry *Joe Perry **Joe Perry *Joe Perry...
  
   - Guitarist
• Henry Rollins
  Henry Rollins
  Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
  
   - Singer
• Michelangelo
  Michelangelo
  Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
  
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• Shigeru Miyamoto
  Shigeru Miyamoto
  is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
  
   - Modern day video game designer for Nintendo
  Nintendo
  is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
  
  
• Oscar Wilde
  Oscar Wilde
  Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
  
   - Playwright and poet
• Leonardo da Vinci
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  Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
  
   - Renaissance artist and scientist
• Herman Li
  Herman Li
  Herman Li is a British Chinese musician, best known as a guitarist for the power metal band DragonForce.-Playing style:Li draws influences from rock, all sub-genres of metal as well as video game music and often mimics sounds from popular retro games from the late 80s, early-90s arcade, and PC games...
  
   - Guitarist (DragonForce
  DragonForce
  DragonForce are an English power metal band from London. Formed in 1999, the group is known for its long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-based lyrics, and electronic sounds in their music to add to their retro video game-influenced sound. Guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman are the only two...
  
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• Janick Gers
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  Janick Robert Gers is an English musician, best known for being one of the three current guitarists in Iron Maiden, along with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, as well as his earlier work with Gillan and White Spirit.-Career and Personal Life:...
  
   - Guitarist (Iron Maiden
  Iron Maiden
  Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
  
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• Michael Angelo Batio
  Michael Angelo Batio
  Michael Angelo Batio also known as Mike Batio or MAB, is a guitarist and columnist from Chicago, Illinois. His work has encompassed many genres, notably metal and its subgenres. Batio was voted the "No. 1 Shredder of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine in 2003...
  
   - Guitarist
• Mark Hamill
  Mark Hamill
  Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
  
   - Actor
• Ringo Starr
  Ringo Starr
  Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
  
   - Drummer
• Benjamin Rojas
  Benjamín Rojas
  Benjamín Rojas Pessi . His nickname is Benja or Nano. Is an Argentine actor, singer, musician and model. He is perhaps the best known for his roles in Chiquititas, Rebelde Way, Floricienta, Alma Pirata, Casi Ángeles and Jake & Blake...
  
   - Actor
• Sarah Jessica Parker
  Sarah Jessica Parker
  Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
  
   - Actress
• Dianne Wiest
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  Dianne Wiest is an American actress. She has had a successful career on stage, television, and film, and has won two Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. Wiest has also been nominated for a BAFTA Award.-Early life:...
  
   - Actress
• Hugh Jackman
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  Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
  
   - Actor
• Sylvester Stallone
  Sylvester Stallone
  Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
  
   - Actor
• Jim Carrey
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  James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
  
   - Actor
• Adam Levine
  Adam Levine
  Adam Noah Levine is an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the front man and guitarist for the pop rock band Maroon 5. He is also a coach on the American talent show The Voice.-Early life:...
  
   - Musician
• Chris Martin
  Chris Martin
  Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
  
   - Musician
• Robert De Niro
  Robert De Niro
  Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
  
   - Actor
• Jorge Maggio
  Jorge Maggio
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   - Actor

Sciences

• Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
  
   - Scientist
• Richard Feynman
  Richard Feynman
  Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
  
   - Scientist
• Benjamin Franklin
  Benjamin Franklin
  Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
  
   - Scientist
• Nikola Tesla
  Nikola Tesla
  Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
  
  - Engineer and Inventor

External links

• Path to Ambidexterity - A blog to document one's attempt at becoming ambidextrous.