The term ambidexter in English was originally used in a legal sense of jurors who accepted bribes from both parties for their verdict.
Famous examples include Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin,[5] Nikola Tesla,[6] James A. Garfield,[7] and Leonardo da Vinci.
Against the Cincinnati Reds in the ninth inning, Harris (then a member of the Montreal Expos) retired Reggie Sanders pitching right-handed, then switched to his left hand for the next two hitters, Hal Morris and Ed Taubensee, who both batted left-handed.
In the 21st century there is only one major league pitcher, Pat Venditte of the Seattle Mariners, who regularly pitches with both arms.
During his career, an eponymous "Venditte Rule" was created[14] restricting the ability of a pitcher to change arms in the middle of an at-bat.
In his 1999 season, Wagner captured the National League Relief Man of the Year Award as a Houston Astro.
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Brett Cecil is naturally right-handed, but starting from a very early age, threw with his left.
NBA stars LeBron James, Larry Bird, Kyrie Irving, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, John Wall, Derrick Rose, Chandler Parsons, Andrew Bogut, John Henson, Michael Beasley, and Jerryd Bayless are ambidextrous players, as was Kobe Bryant.
Charlotte Hornets power forward Miles Bridges is a left-handed shooter; however, he dunks the ball and blocks shots more frequently with his right hand.
Former Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert shoots his hook shots equally well with either hand.
Former Oklahoma City Thunder left-handed point guard Derek Fisher used to dunk with his right hand in his early years.
With skateboarding, whether one pushes with their front or back foot determines whether they are considered regular v. regular-mongo or goofy v. goofy-mongo.
[19][20] Notable switch skateboarders include Rodney Mullen, Eric Koston, Guy Mariano, Paul Rodriguez Jr., Mike Mo Capaldi, and Bob Burnquist.
Also, in mixed martial arts, many naturally left-handed strikers like Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva will switch stances in order to counter opponent's strikes or takedown attempts to stay standing.
This is done as it gives access to a strong and precise jab from the lead hand, which is arguably the most important strike in boxing for setting up combos and interrupting your opponent during their attacks.
[citation needed] Left handed fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto, Andre Ward, and Gerry Cooney fought in orthodox.
Australian batsman George Bailey also due to sustaining an injury, taught himself to throw with his weaker left arm.
Alastair Cook, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan, Ben Dunk, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Travis Head, Chris Gayle, Gautam Gambhir, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Smriti Mandhana and Kagiso Rabada are natural right-handers, but bat left-handed.
[23] Jofra Archer warms up with slow orthodox left-arm spin, and Jos Buttler practiced left-handed as a club cricketer.
While he lacks power in his left arm, his ability to alternate hands allows him to take shots that would otherwise require awkward cueing or the use of a rest.
[25] O'Sullivan was summoned to a disciplinary hearing in response to Robidoux's formal complaint, where he had to prove that he could play to a high level with his left hand.
In figure skating, most skaters who are right-handed spin and jump to the left, and vice versa for left-handed individuals, but it also down to habit for ballerinas.
Olympic Champion figure skater John Curry notably performed his jumps in one direction (anti-clockwise) while spinning predominantly in the other.
Ambidextrous receivers can make one-handed catches with either hand; linemen can hold their shoulders square and produce an equal amount of power with both arms; and punters can handle a bad snap and roll out and punt with either leg, limiting the chance of a block.
He won the Vezina Trophy, then for the National Hockey League's goalie with the fewest goals allowed six times out of only seven seasons.
[30] The traditional martial arts tend to feature a larger number of practitioners who have intentionally developed ambidexterity to a high degree, compared to athletes in combat sports.
This is because unlike sports, which have structured rules and common player preferences, traditional martial arts are intended for situations such as self-defense, in which a wider array of physical challenges may occur.
He typically kicks with his right leg in Sweet Chin Music, but uses either arm for his signature elbow drop, depending on the position.
[32] Due to a physical advantage on the space of time needed when matching the ball with the racket simultaneously with tagging the opponent's movement, being laterality-crossed on eyedness with handedness may be a decisive factor for outstanding performance, since the hand which strikes the ball can do it while the overriding eye, matching with this hand, can be tagging the opponent's movement-decisions.
A degree of ambidexterity is required in surgery because surgeons must be able to tie with their left and right hands in either single or double knots.