Does being left or right-handed effect your ability to make shots consistently?
I’m right handed and find that my accuracy when making shots from the left flipper is lower than making shots from the right flipper.
This is the case not only on games such as IMdn, JP, and GotG when the right orbit (x2) and lower scoop are generally considered tight shots, but also on tables which are more symmetrical such as MM, Met ramps etc.
Just wondered if anybody else had the same experience?
Same here. Show me a shot on the right side of the playfield, and I suck royally at it. I’m right handed. Could be coincidence, but I think being right or left handed does play into it.
I think right or left handed might be some of it, but I think there are also other factors.
People have dominant left or right eyes, and the playfields are often shifted to the left due to the shooter lane placing the right flipper more towards the center.
I’ve never actually thought about the correlation, but you might be onto something. I’m ambidextrous and never noticed or actually thought of any difference between using my left and right flippers.
I don’t personally notice a difference in shot making due to hands but I far and away favor my right hand when making saves with the ball at the flippers.
I believe it has some effect for sure. At Pinburgh this year I had a discussion with Keith Elwin about the plunger. I’m left handed and I can’t stand that every game has the plunger on the right side. Disregard the handful of games that have a secondary plunger on the left, I’m referring to the main plunger, it is always on the right with maybe an exception for 1 or 2 rare or old games.
Moving the plunger to the left side would then open up new geometries for shots on the play field. Someone do it!
Funhouse and Roadshow don’t count ? J/K
None of the Multimorphic games so far have a plunger on the right.
Certainly there is someone out there who could analyze game scores en masse, and then see if there is any correlation between success on certain machines, depending on your dominant hand?
(Trying to think of examples of games where one hand is dominant. First two that come to mind: BK2K for righties, TZ for lefties?)
I don’t notice any difference and I suspect my accuracy is only slightly better for my dominant right hand. You really see this on games that return ramp shots to the inlanes. I can combo the ramps on Wonka forever, despite the weak factory flipper settings. Ironman and the new Elvira are the same. The right ramp entrances aren’t wider for those games, you’re making those shots repeatedly. Dont sell your left hand short.
When making big moves, it also doesn’t matter. If slide saving to the right, left hand and arm do most of the work. Accurate (mostly) from either side.
Doctor Who for lefties.
There are a lot of left orbit all day games for right handed players and not many (and no common games I can think of) games with a similar right orbit all day strategy for the left handed among us.
The plunger is almost always on the right side, which puts the ball on the right flipper more often than the left. So you get more practice with your right hand. It’s weird but I noticed it doing drills (Shoot every shot once.) that it’s much harder to shoot from right to left than from left to right. That’s my experience. And yes there’s definitely games like BK2 or Theatre that are right flipper exclusive (separate from handed-ness).
For saves, just pick your favorite side and lean into it. So for me that’s right (right-handed player).
I’m left handed, but I’ve learned to save in a more right dominant manner. Not sure if it really makes that much difference, but I seem to tilt less not banging the machines near the tilt bob.
I tilt more than most people who nudge the machine to the same degree as I do, but I’m left handed and tend to push from the left rather than the right when nudging. Since the tilt bob is always on the left side near your hand, that could be causing it.
And I would say if a tilt bob is maladjusted it’s always to the left side of the ring.
I have a definite handiness problem but it’s not shot related. Rather, I tend to heavily favor right-left hits when slapsaving, and there are times after missing a save I see that it likely would have been successful as a left-right hit instead. If the ball is ever so slightly off-center heading SDTM, you have to start with that side, otherwise you’re moving the first flipper tip away from instead of into the ball…
I’m always proud of myself when I do a successful left to right slap save. It’s rare that I try/execute it.
Being wrong-handed, I feel obligated to share that I don’t believe I suck any more with my right than my left, but it’s not something I’ve really thought about. If I am better with one side than the other, I’d assume I must’ve played more on games where that side’s corresponding shots are more important. I also may just not be good enough to even tell if one side is better for me. My left hand definitely is dominant for nudging, though.
I’m a lefty. I feel like my shot accuracy is pretty balanced with each hand. Where I do suffer is with things like live catches and drop catches. I’m very good with these things on the left, so drop catches on games like Metallica, AFM, GB, etc are second nature. But on the right I’m not nearly as good. So many blown live catches to outlane on the right. Almost never on the left.
No difference to me. I shoot just as bad on both side.