becoming more sinister

to kill time, one of the things i’ve been doing is throwing a ball against a wall in my apartment. but i’ve been throwing left-handed, even though i am right-handed.

i have put a lot of practice into throwing right-handed over my life, without ever really giving it much thought. (and by that i mean it is something i have done a lot, not some skill i have been cultivating.) and all that practice translates into throwing right-handed being an essentially thoughtless, natural-feeling act.

throwing left-handed does not really feel like that, although with just a little practice i can sort of feel how the mechanics are the same (if backwards). but both the wind-up and follow-through still feel strange.

according to an old article in the atlantic monthly, john goodman had to learn to throw (and hit) left-handed for the babe, in which he played babe ruth. after the movie was released, he said “i’ll never say something like ‘he throws like a girl’ again. it’s not easy to learn how to throw.”