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This article was co-authored by Joel Giffin, PT, DPT, CHT and by wikiHow staff writer, Aly Rusciano. Dr. Joel Giffin is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and the Founder of Flex Physical Therapy in New York, New York. With over 15 years of experience as a Certified Hand Therapist (CHT), Dr. Giffin treats the whole body and specializes in rehabilitation of the hand and upper extremities. He has treated Broadway theater performers backstage at shows such as The Lion King, Sleep No More, Tarzan, and Sister Act. Flex Physical Therapy also specializes in occupational and pelvic floor therapy. Dr. Giffin earned his Master’s degree in Physical Therapy with honors from Quinnipiac University and received his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree with distinction from Simmons College. He is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Society of Hand Therapists.
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Most people are naturally right-handed or left-handed, but some are ambidextrous, which means they can use both hands equally well. So, can you do that? Can you train yourself to become ambidextrous? Yes, you most certainly can! We spoke to physical therapist Joel Giffin to bring you the best tips and advice to become ambidextrous. By following the exercises below, you’ll be writing and doing activities with both hands equally in no time!
How do you become ambidextrous?
Train yourself to become ambidextrous by performing small tasks with your non-dominant hand. Try writing your name, brushing your teeth, opening doors, or vacuuming with the hand you use the least often.
Steps
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Do exercises to strengthen your non-dominant hand and fingers. Your non-dominant hand is most likely a lot less strong than your dominant hand, which makes it harder at first to become ambidextrous. Lift some light weights with your non-dominant hand every other day, with a focus on keeping a tight grip to work your hands rather than your arms. Use heavier weights as you go to continue strengthening your hand.[1]
- Lifting weights is one of the best ways to strengthen your hand, but you can also use a grip exerciser.
- You may also benefit from juggling or simply tossing a ball up into the air with your non-dominant hand to improve hand-eye coordination. Giffin explains that the best way to become truly ambidextrous is by “doing exercises and activities focusing on coordination and function.”
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Use your non-dominant hand to move your computer mouse. Switching your mouse hand helps you increase the dexterity of your non-dominant hand. Simply move your ordinary mouse over to the opposite side of the computer and use it as you normally would from here on out.[2]
- You can also opt to invest in an “ambidextrous” mouse, but it’s much simpler to just use an ordinary mouse.
Tip: Switching mouse hands allows you to work the keyboard with your dominant hand while reducing the risk of carpal tunnel.
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Start performing small daily tasks with your non-dominant hand. Use your non-dominant hand to do things like brush your teeth, open doors, put on accessories, or clean up around the house. Do this as consistently as you can to make using your non-dominant hand feel less awkward.[3]
- Try to do as much as you can with your non-dominant hand, such as applying soap and shampoo when you bathe. You may not realize it, but you probably do most of these small tasks with your dominant hand.
- Make sure to brush your teeth correctly when using your non-dominant hand. If you’re not comfortable brushing with this hand, you may inadvertently underbrush.
- If you play an instrument, try playing with your non-dominant hand instead of your dominant hand.
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Eat and cook with your non-dominant hand after a few days. Use your non-dominant hand to move pots and pans, stir food, and serve meals. Hold your silverware with your non-dominant hand and use it to move the food to your mouth. You may have to do this slowly at first to avoid dropping the food, but it will get easier with time![4]
- It’s best to spend a few days getting used to performing small tasks with your non-dominant hand first, since cooking with boiling water or other heated materials can be a bit more dangerous.
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Tie your dominant hand behind your back for more of a challenge. This method forces you to exclusively use your non-dominant hand to do everything. This is a great way to make your mind and body quickly adapt to using this hand, but you may want to do it after a few days of practice first.
- The easiest way to do this would be tie your dominant wrist with rope, then tie the other end of that rope to the belt loop on the back of your pants. This may be difficult to do yourself, so you ask someone to help you.
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Hold a pen with your non-dominant hand as you would with your dominant hand. Write with your good hand in the mirror to see how it would look writing with your other hand. This gives you a clear visual cue to the method and helps your brain picture the same action for your non-dominant hand. Then, practice holding the pen or pencil with your non-dominant hand so that it feels more comfortable.[5]
- Avoid “clawing” your hand. It may be tempting to grasp the pen as tightly as possible, causing your hand to ball up like a claw, but this stops you from writing effectively and can end up hurting your hand.
- Giffin recommends using a high-quality pen or pencil so you don’t have to press hard on the paper.
Tip: To make it easier on yourself, use a pen that flows easily and is comfortable to hold (e.g., one with a rubber grip).
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Start by tracing the alphabet with your non-dominant hand. Start with lowercase letters, and once the feeling becomes natural, switch to uppercase. This helps “introduce” your other hand to the movements involved in writing. Aim to produce straight lines and clean curves, but don’t worry if you make a lot of mistakes at first. Perform this practice routine for at least 10 minutes a day until you feel comfortable making clean movements.
- Your hand may strain at the beginning—just take a break and try again later. The tension will eventually go away.
- Be sure to trace out the alphabet using your non-dominant hand in lowercase, uppercase, and cursive letters (if you know cursive).
- Giffin advises to “make sure that the paper you’re writing on is secured.” This way, you won’t have to worry about the paper sliding out from under you.
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Move on to writing letters without tracing and drawing simple shapes. Ensure that your paper is secure (taped to the table, for instance) and start drawing butterflies, vases, symmetrical objects, letters, shapes, and whatnot. Although you may think your writing is awful at first, write a couple of lines every day from the start. You can only get better with practice!
- It may be helpful to buy a handwriting book with exercises you can follow. Using your non-dominant hand to color in a coloring book can also be helpful.
- As you do this, pay attention to which letters you struggle with the most and spend some extra time practicing them.
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Practice writing your name and full sentences. Your name is likely the writing movement you’re most familiar with, so it’s a good set of letters to practice on. Try writing out a 3- to 5-sentence paragraph every day to get more comfortable with writing at length with your non-dominant hand.[6]
- Don’t keep writing the same paragraph over and over. Write a different one every day so your non-dominant hand doesn’t get used to one paragraph only.
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Be sure to practice writing every day to improve your skills. Practice these techniques daily for at least a month to build the habit. Soon, you’ll be writing much more comfortably with your non-dominant hand![7]
- Try keeping a daily journal that you write in exclusively with your non-dominant hand.
Expert Q&A
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Share a quick video tip and help bring articles to life with your friendly advice. Your insights could make a real difference and help millions of people!
Tips
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Some studies have shown that those who are ambidextrous have more difficulty in math and language, while others claim that ambidextrous people have improved brain function.[8] [9]Thanks
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There’s no way of telling how long it’ll take you to become ambidextrous, so keep practicing and honing your skills! And remember, everybody is different.Thanks
Tips from our Readers 
- If you want to practice letters of the alphabet a different way, try writing pangrams, or holoalphabetic sentences, that have all 26 letters of the alphabet. Try writing something like "five boxing wizards jump quickly" or "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."
- Try holding your phone and typing text messages with your non-dominant hand. Use your phone with your non-dominant hand as much as possible to train your brain to concentrate on those muscles.
- Order left-handed scissors and use them to cut coupons or paper to strengthen your palm, fingers, and wrist.
Video
References
- ↑ https://www.imse.iastate.edu/files/2021/03/SchweigerDrew-thesis.pdf
- ↑ https://medium.com/@hb20007/10-reasons-you-should-put-the-mouse-on-the-left-if-youre-right-handed-20510d5e211d
- ↑ https://www.imse.iastate.edu/files/2021/03/SchweigerDrew-thesis.pdf
- ↑ https://www.imse.iastate.edu/files/2021/03/SchweigerDrew-thesis.pdf
- ↑ https://altayba.ae/blogs/healthtips/adopt-non-dominant-hand-exercises-to-stimulate-brain-activity
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da2Fpb1pvr8#t=22s
- ↑ http://www.thebioneer.com/become-ambidextrous-increase-creativity/
- ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0028393298000396
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/sep/03/can-you-boost-your-brain-power-by-making-yourself-ambidextrous
About This Article
Medical Disclaimer
The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.
To become ambidextrous, start by trying to write a few lines with your non-dominant hand each day. Choose a pen that flows easily for writing and grip it gently. After you've been doing this for a while, write out the alphabet using upper case, lower case, and cursive letters each day. If you want to build more strength in your non-dominant hand, lift weights with it or use it to mix ingredients while cooking. Finally, consider brushing your teeth or eating with a spoon using your non-dominant hand so you get used to it performing everyday tasks. To learn how to do mirror writing or juggle with your non-dominant hand, keep reading!
Reader Success Stories
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"I'm not fully ambidextrous yet, but I can feel it working! I can't wait to be able to skip those assignments where the teacher says "draw this with your non-dominant hand". Thank you so much! I also really want to just impress people."..." more
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