OK...I am thinking about switching to Leftie

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

A few months ago, I started feeling a sharp pain in my right, armed elbow. I think we all know what THIS is... Anyway, I have continued to fence, and the pain has slowly gotten much worse. At this point, when I wake in the morning, bending my arm at all causes a sharp jolt of pain (it sure helps me wake up, though!) The problem was caused by the fact that I am a heavy "flicker." The added force necessary to bend the blade over someone's shoulder with the new timing really did me in.

I have been fencing, rightie, of course, for close to 20 years on and off. I am thinking about switching to leftie for at least a while to give my tendonitis time to heal (at least my MASK will still work as a leftie!)

Has anyone here switched sides? How did it go? What advice do you have? Was it harder to re-learn footwork or bladework? I am curious to hear your stories.

[Rabid Monk]

I switched after only a few months of fencing. Not enough experience to give much feedback.
(I'm mostly ambidextrous. I write left handed, but that's about it, and with practice, writing with my right hand would be indistinguishable from my left.)

However, I still occasionally fence right-handed, and can offer some insight from that perspective. You already know the footwork and blade patterns, and how they should go. So learning them won't be hard. The area you will find challenging is the lack of muscle memory. So you'll know how to do a move, and you'll know you are doing it wrong. It'll be like starting again, with big, slightly wild motions, but at least this time you can spot many of your mistakes and take action to fix them.

Just practice on it to get the muscles used to the motions, and don't let the beginner-style flailing discourage you.

I've got a nice post elsewhere on this subject. I'll try to dig it up.

edit: Here

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Thank you, Rabid. Regarding not letting my movements get "big and wild," do you mean I shouldn't let them be any MORE big and wild than they already are?

[EpeeAce]

I went left handed for a while-I felt very uncoordinated and slow in my footwork. Once I accepted that I was not going to be as competitive as when I fence righthanded it was easier to practice.

I spent 2 months fencing lefty- then went back to righty using an arm band after I went to see a doctor.

The pain has actually gone away since I changed my grip on the handle slightly-(thanks to Boris Lukomsky)-I still wear the arm band as a precaution but I've been pain free for 3-4 months.

Unfortunately I have had to cut back my fencing schedule and am not competing or practicing as much as before. However the pain was gone before I stopped working as much.

Have you tried an arm band on your elbow?

Tim

[Rabid Monk]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

Thank you, Rabid. Regarding not letting my movements get "big and wild," do you mean I shouldn't let them be any MORE big and wild than they already are?

Yes, that's be the goal to reach for.

[achilles_heal]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

Has anyone here switched sides? How did it go? What advice do you have? Was it harder to re-learn footwork or bladework? I am curious to hear your stories.

i switched for a year while i was rehabbing surgery. footwork ultimately was harder. never was anywhere near as good as rightie footwork.

bladework in some ways was very hard at the start but actually it helped me to get rid of some stubborn bad habits once i switched back to rightie.

as a coach, i am glad i had this experience as i can simulate a left handed fencer in lessons sometimes and can understand fencing issues related to hand dominance more effectively.

[Phaeton]

Well, looks like we righties are losing another one to the mutant horde. Fight on against the sinister foe my majority-of-the-population bretheren!

There are a lot of coaches out there (mainly those born left-handed mutants) that have picked up teaching right handed for the simple reason that giving all lefty lessons probably isn't the best idea in the world. I've had lessons from a few mutants myself who were teaching right handed, and they were definately great lessons. Next tournament you head to ask around. There's probably atleast one convert to the evil church of "La mano izquierda".

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by EpeeAce

Have you tried an arm band on your elbow?

Tim

Thank you for your experience with this. Yes, I have two of them. I use a large band which goes from mid-bicep to mid-forearm with velcro tightening straps. It DOES help. Just not enough to let my arm heal yet...

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by Phaeton

Well, looks like we righties are losing another one to the mutant horde. Fight on against the sinister foe my majority-of-the-population bretheren!

There are a lot of coaches out there (mainly those born left-handed mutants) that have picked up teaching right handed for the simple reason that giving all lefty lessons probably isn't the best idea in the world. I've had lessons from a few mutants myself who were teaching right handed, and they were definately great lessons. Next tournament you head to ask around. There's probably atleast one convert to the evil church of "La mano izquierda".

Curiously, as a rightie, my FAVORITE opponents are lefties. I was one of very few righties on my college team...lots of lefties at Beloit way back when. I got a lot of practice against lefties. I hope I can bring some of that knowledge of mirror-image fencing to bear against righties if I switch.

[Phaeton]

I probably train more with left handed people than right handed people when all is said and done, and actually I too have a preference for fencing lefties. There do seem to be a lot of them (disproptionate to the population percentage) running around.

[mackillian]

I switched from right to left a few months ago due to a rotator cuff injury (which is finally being surgically fixed next week ).

The bladework was easier to pick up than the footwork. Though with the bladework, your brain will default to right-handed parries and such at first. The footwork was harder because my right foot was Determind To Lead while my left foot Only Wanted To Follow. At first, my right foot kept swinging forward (leaving me dead in the water) until my muscles got a better idea of the new memory they were supposed to form. However, the right foot's tendency to want to come forward made learning a left-handed fleche quite easy.

Drilling a lot helps to form the muscle memory. Be prepared for much frustration on the strip, as your brain knows what to do, but hasn't connected how to do it while fencing left-handed. Distance can be an issue at first as well. I kept ending up way closer to my opponent than I thought I would (even though I loved fencing lefties when I was a righty).

It's entirely worth it, though, because fencing with your non-dominant hand is way better than not fencing at all.

[wbowman]

I fenced left-handed for one season quite a few years back because of a bad case of tendonitis in the elbow of my weapon arm. I do some things left-handed anyway, so maybe it was less of a problem for me than it might have been for a pure right-hander.
The most awkward thing at first was footwork. I could fleche but not lunge. Manipulating the weapon was the second problem, especially in foil. I could see what I needed to do, but had trouble making the damn thing do it. In epee, I got by reasonbly well by by extending into attacks. In sabre, I could do just one thing -- a sort of diagonal upper-right to lower-left cut.
Fenced with a right-handed jacket the whole time, which is probably not recommended. I was only fencing in small local tournaments at the time, so nobody ever objected (maybe they didn't even notice).

[Ordway]

I am currently in rehab for tendonitis of the right arm... same old story About six weeks ago, when I realized that continuing to fence with the pain was a non-starter, I asked my coach if I should switch to lefty while it healed. He said that if it was going to keep me out a long time (like a year) then yes, but if it was relatively short term, it would be better for me to not fence, than to fence lefty, because it would confuse me and mess up my actions. So for the past six weeks I've been doing footwork only, at practice (I still go, twice a week, to do conditioning, footwork, and refereeing).

Note that I'm a serious competitive fencer. If I were a recreational fencer I'd just switch sides and have fun with it. But where I'm at now, I want to be as good as possible, and that means not having any cross-brain interference.

I also can't emphasize enough that just time off isn't enough. I'm also 1. going to the physical therapist every week, 2. taking anti-inflammatories, 3. doing a set of stretches and strengthening exercises with weights 2x a day, 4. icing my elbow 2-3 times per day, and 5. getting acupuncture treatment 2x week. (And 6. praying... a lot...)

I'm going to fence in Miami. And then I'm going to take some time off!

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Thanks for your input, Ordway. About 12 years ago, I would have taken your approach, too. Now I'm a 37 year old (38 in July) fencer for fun (I like to win, but....). I'm probably closer to serious coaching than serious competition now, so going leftie may help me more than hurt me.

[Go? Fencing?]

I hurt my right (dominant) arm very badly almost four years ago (non-fencing reason), and actually kept fencing with it for a couple years (fencing didn't hurt it like writing did). About a year and a half ago I started fencing lefty. The footwork was very easy for me to pick up (though I still need to work on it), and the bladework was also fairly easy (in general- I still need a lot of work on my fine muscle control). I fenced ambidextrously for a while, but because of the way righty fencing affects my shoulder/back muscles, under my massage therapist's suggestion, I fence almost exclusively lefty now. Maybe when (if) my right arm ever heals completely I'll fence righty more, but I doubt at this point that I'd go back to fencing exclusively righty. I like being ambidextrous.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by Go? Fencing?

I hurt my right (dominant) arm very badly almost four years ago (non-fencing reason), and actually kept fencing with it for a couple years (fencing didn't hurt it like writing did). About a year and a half ago I started fencing lefty. The footwork was very easy for me to pick up (though I still need to work on it), and the bladework was also fairly easy (in general- I still need a lot of work on my fine muscle control). I fenced ambidextrously for a while, but because of the way righty fencing affects my shoulder/back muscles, under my massage therapist's suggestion, I fence almost exclusively lefty now. Maybe when (if) my right arm ever heals completely I'll fence righty more, but I doubt at this point that I'd go back to fencing exclusively righty. I like being ambidextrous.

G? F?, you should come up with a screenprint idea from this!

[Ordway]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

Thanks for your input, Ordway. About 12 years ago, I would have taken your approach, too. Now I'm a 37 year old (38 in July) fencer for fun (I like to win, but....). I'm probably closer to serious coaching than serious competition now, so going leftie may help me more than hurt me.

FWIW, I'll be 33 in August, so I'm not that much younger than you, and I only started being really seriously competitive about two years ago.

[remise]

I fence both right and left handed. I have two lames and jackets - one for each side. What's curious for me is that I am stronger with my right side, but faster with my left. It only takes a moment or two for my brain to 'default' to whatever side I'm using. I think this will probably be what happens with you in time.

Depending on who's signed up for the tournament determines which side I use.

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Originally Posted by remise

I fence both right and left handed. I have two lames and jackets - one for each side. What's curious for me is that I am stronger with my right side, but faster with my left. It only takes a moment or two for my brain to 'default' to whatever side I'm using. I think this will probably be what happens with you in time.

Depending on who's signed up for the tournament determines which side I use.

Veeeeery curious! Have you ever fenced with both sides at once?