Relationships between Hand and Eye Dominance and Direction of Experienced Gymnasts and Non-Athletes

Abstract

Activities, such as gymnastics, diving, and figure skating, involve whole-body rotational movements. Athletes in these sports decide at an early age whether m turn to the left or to the right and usually maintain that preference throughout their participation in the activity. However, few investigators have attempted to determine what factors influence the performer's decision to turn either to the left o r to the right. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine the relationship between eye and hand dominance and direction of rotational movement in experienced gymnasts and non-athletes. Fifty-one college-level gymnasts and 120 non-athletes participated in the experiment. Following tests of eye-and-hand dominance, the preferred direction of turning was observed for each subject in four simple gymnastic maneuvers-the simple jumpup-and-turn, cartwheel and the swivel-hips and seat-drop-full twist (SD-full-mist) on a trampoline. Phi coefficients for each of the four movements were computed between direction of movement and eye dominance and between direction of movement and hand dominance. N o statistically significant correlations were noted when all 171 subjects were pooled, either between direction of movement and eye dominance or between direction of movement and hand dominance. N o significant correlations were observed either for 115 subjects of like dominance, e.g., left-eyed and left-handed, or for all 56 subjects of opposite dominance. A small positive relationship existed between eye dominance and direction of movement in the S-D-full-twist for the 120 non-athletes ($ = .29, p < .05). For example, those non-athletes who were right-handed exhibited a slight tendency to turn to the right in the SD-full-twist. Of rhe non-athletes, 38 were of opposite dominance, e.g., left-eyed, right-handed. For this group, a correlation of .39 was observed between eye dominance and direction of movement in the S-D-full-twist ( p < .05). For the 33 athletes of like dominance, a phi coefficient of -.34 was observed between eye dominance and direction of movement in the jump turn ( p < .05). The only other smtistically significant relationship observed was between hand dominance and direction of movement in the swivel-hips maneuver on the trampoline for the 51 athletes ( $ = -.31, p < .05). Although the correlations cited above are statistically significant, they seem to be too low to be of practical value. N o consistent correlations were found between direction of turning and either eye dominance o r hand dominance in either experienced gymnasts o r non-athletes. Apparently, other factors must explain the direction of turning chosen by participants in activities requiring rotational movements.