How to Write With Your Opposite Hand

Co-authored by Joel Giffin, PT, DPT, CHT

Last Updated: July 14, 2024 Approved

Becoming ambidextrous has all kinds of advantages, especially for writing. If you injure your dominant hand, for example, you can easily switch to your other hand when you need to write. Learning how to write with your opposite hand takes a lot of time and practice, but many people do it successfully.^{[1]
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Research source} Start small. Trace your hand and draw simple shapes to get your non-dominant hand used to write. Then advance to writing out the alphabet and simple sentences. Strengthen your non-dominant hand by doing more daily tasks with it regularly. With some patience, you can successfully learn how to write with your opposite hand.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Warming Your Hand Up

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1
Hold the pen or pencil the same way you do with your dominant hand. The first step to changing your writing hand is holding the pen or pencil properly. This can be difficult if you’ve never done it before. Use the same grip as you would use with your dominant hand. This trains your non-dominant hand to use a writing instrument.^{[2]
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- For a reference, sit down and hold the pen in your dominant hand. Then trade hands and try to mirror the way you held the pen in your dominant hand. Take a picture of your dominant hand holding a pen if you need more guidance.
- Don’t hold the pen tightly. This is a common mistake people make when using their non-dominant hand. A tight grip makes your writing worse and also stresses your hand muscles.
- If you're learning to write with your left hand, it's common to smudge your writing. Use a pen without gel ink. Also avoid erasable pens. These varieties smudge much worse. Hold the pen 2–3 cm (0.79–1.18 in) from the tip so your hand rubs on the page less.^{[3]
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2
Trace your hand as a warm-up exercise. Once you’re holding the pen with your non-dominant hand, do simple tasks to introduce it to writing. Place your dominant hand down on the paper. Then trace around it with your non-dominant hand. This loosens your hand up and trains the muscles in this hand to write.^{[4]
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- Turn to a new page and repeat this activity a few times before moving on. It will feel awkward at first. Continue until you feel more comfortable holding and moving the pen in your non-dominant hand.
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3
Draw simple shapes when you feel more comfortable. After loosening your hand up with a tracing exercise, move on to making shapes without something to trace. Turn to a fresh page and draw simple shapes like a square, circle, and triangle. Focus on forming these shapes as legibly as possible. Draw shapes until you run out of room on the page, then switch to a new page if you feel like you need more practice.^{[5]
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- Work slowly when you draw these shapes. Pay attention to forming the shapes, not working quickly. Speed will come with time. Right now, train your muscles to get used to writing.
- If you need a reference, draw these shapes with your dominant hand first. Then switch hands and try to copy these shapes.
4
Make a connected line of waves across the page. After you feel comfortable drawing some disconnected shapes, move on to a more connected design. A wave shape requires more precision than simple shapes. Start by using your dominant hand to draw a line of connected waves across the page. Then switch hands and try to copy this design with your non-dominant one. Start a new line when you reach the end of the page.^{[6]
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- Another design to draw is a line of upward loops like a cursive lowercase “L”. Extend these loops across the page.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Forming Letters and Sentences

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1
Begin your exercise by writing out all the letters of the alphabet. After you’re comfortable forming shapes, train your hand to form letters. Write out every letter in the alphabet, both the capital and uppercase versions. Work slowly and focus on forming the letters. When you’re proficient at writing the alphabet, it’s easier to string the letters together into words.^{[7]
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- Write on loose-leaf or notebook paper and try to stay between the lines. Write large at first. Extend your letters through two rows instead of one.
- When you’re just starting out training your non-dominant hand, begin every practice session with this exercise.
2
Write out simple sentences. Once your hand is used to forming letters, put those skills to use by forming sentences. Something simple like “I am writing this sentence with my left hand” gets your hand moving and accustomed to forming words. Then write more sentences until you fill up a page.^{[8]
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- Repeat writing each sentence a few times before moving on to a new one.
- Copy sentences out of a book or magazine if you can’t come up with your own at first.
- If you aren’t ready for sentences yet, try just writing out your name a few times.
3
Switch back to your dominant hand to observe how it writes if you get stuck. Inevitably, you’ll run into a word or shape that your non-dominant hand just can’t seem to form. This might happen a lot in the beginning. If you do get stuck, give the pen back to your dominant hand. Write the same thing with this hand and observe how it moves. Also notice how your hand feels and the muscles you use for this task. Then give the pen back to your non-dominant hand and try to copy these motions and feelings.^{[9]
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- Write with your dominant hand in front of a mirror to get a better view of how it moves and forms words. Try to copy these motions with your other hand.
4
Practice mirror writing. Mirror writing is an exercise where you write a word with your dominant hand, and then write it backwards with your non-dominant hand. The two words next to each other look like they’re in a mirror. Start off writing in print. Then advance to doing this activity in cursive.^{[10]
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- As a very advanced technique, some people write the same word in opposite directions at the same time. Try this out when you feel confident in your ability with both hands.
Learning to write with your non-dominant hand takes time and practice. In the beginning, your writing might be nearly illegible. It’s easy to get discouraged, but keeping track of your progress helps you see how far you’ve come. Do all your exercises in a notebook. When you feel like quitting, flip back to the earlier days when you were just starting. Compare that to where you are now. You’ve almost certainly gotten better, and you’ll keep getting better as long as you practice.^{[11]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Strengthening Your Non-Dominant Hand

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1
Do exercises for your non-dominant hand. Since you use your non-dominant hand less often than your dominant one, its muscles are much weaker. This makes it harder to write well with your non-dominant hand. Increase this hand's strength by doing hand exercises that work these muscles and improve your dexterity.^{[12]
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- Warm up and stretch your hands before working them out to avoid injuries and pulled muscles.
- Doing bicep curls with dumbbells strengthens the muscles in your wrists and forearms. Squeezing hand grips specifically targets your hand muscles.
- Something simple like squeezing a stress ball will also help strengthen your hand. Do this while you’re watching TV or on your daily commute.
2
Learn an instrument that requires both hands to play. Many instruments require coordination between both hands to operate. Play one of these instruments to improve your overall dexterity and get used to using both hands together.^{[13]
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- Guitar, for example, requires you to strum with one hand and fret the strings with the other. Since both hands need to work together, this activity improves your coordination. Other choice include bass guitar, piano, and drums.
- On many stringed instruments, you can flip them upside down and play them the opposite way with your other hand. When you get proficient enough, try this exercise to further strengthen your non-dominant hand.
3
Use your non-dominant hand for more daily tasks. Any activity you do with your non-dominant hand strengthens it and gets your body used to using it. This will benefit your writing. Start doing more activities with your non-dominant hand to train yourself to use it in your daily life.^{[14]
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- Try brushing your teeth and holding a fork with your non-dominant hand.
- Buttoning your shirt with your non-dominant hand is a good exercise that requires more precision.
- Don’t do activities that could be dangerous if they aren’t done correctly. For example, driving with your other hand isn’t safe until you’re very proficient with it.

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Tips

Remember to write large at first. Making small letters will just smudge your writing in the beginning. Focus on forming the letters clearly before trying to make your writing smaller.

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Take your time. Speed will come with time and practice.

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