Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes

Wei-Chun Wang; Matthew DeLang; Kelly Vittetoe; Benjamin Ramger; Susan Hilbig; Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes

Wei-Chun Wang, Matthew DeLang, Kelly Vittetoe, Benjamin Ramger, Susan Hilbig, Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum

Published in American Journal of Sports Science (Volume 6, Issue 1)

Received: 29 December 2017 Accepted: 30 January 2018 Published: 24 February 2018

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Abstract

Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.

Published in	American Journal of Sports Science (Volume 6, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
Page(s)	20-25
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Laterality Preferences, Handedness, Footedness, Eye Dominance, Athletes

References

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APA Style

Wei-Chun Wang, Matthew DeLang, Kelly Vittetoe, Benjamin Ramger, Susan Hilbig, et al. (2018). Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. American Journal of Sports Science, 6(1), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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ACS Style

Wei-Chun Wang; Matthew DeLang; Kelly Vittetoe; Benjamin Ramger; Susan Hilbig, et al. Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. Am. J. Sports Sci. 2018, 6(1), 20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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AMA Style

Wei-Chun Wang, Matthew DeLang, Kelly Vittetoe, Benjamin Ramger, Susan Hilbig, et al. Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. Am J Sports Sci. 2018;6(1):20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14,
  author = {Wei-Chun Wang and Matthew DeLang and Kelly Vittetoe and Benjamin Ramger and Susan Hilbig and Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum},
  title = {Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes},
  journal = {American Journal of Sports Science},
  volume = {6},
  number = {1},
  pages = {20-25},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajss.20180601.14},
  abstract = {Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.},
 year = {2018}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes
AU  - Wei-Chun Wang
AU  - Matthew DeLang
AU  - Kelly Vittetoe
AU  - Benjamin Ramger
AU  - Susan Hilbig
AU  - Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum
Y1  - 2018/02/24
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
T2  - American Journal of Sports Science
JF  - American Journal of Sports Science
JO  - American Journal of Sports Science
SP  - 20
EP  - 25
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8540
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
AB  - Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Wei-Chun Wang

Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, USA
Matthew DeLang

Physical Therapy Department, School of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, USA
Kelly Vittetoe

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA
Benjamin Ramger

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA
Susan Hilbig

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA; Sports Vision Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA
Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA; Sports Vision Center, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Wei-Chun Wang, Matthew DeLang, Kelly Vittetoe, Benjamin Ramger, Susan Hilbig, et al. (2018). Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. American Journal of Sports Science, 6(1), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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ACS Style

Wei-Chun Wang; Matthew DeLang; Kelly Vittetoe; Benjamin Ramger; Susan Hilbig, et al. Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. Am. J. Sports Sci. 2018, 6(1), 20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

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AMA Style

Wei-Chun Wang, Matthew DeLang, Kelly Vittetoe, Benjamin Ramger, Susan Hilbig, et al. Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes. Am J Sports Sci. 2018;6(1):20-25. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14,
  author = {Wei-Chun Wang and Matthew DeLang and Kelly Vittetoe and Benjamin Ramger and Susan Hilbig and Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum},
  title = {Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes},
  journal = {American Journal of Sports Science},
  volume = {6},
  number = {1},
  pages = {20-25},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajss.20180601.14},
  abstract = {Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.},
 year = {2018}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Laterality Preferences in Athletes: Insights from a Database of 1770 Male Athletes
AU  - Wei-Chun Wang
AU  - Matthew DeLang
AU  - Kelly Vittetoe
AU  - Benjamin Ramger
AU  - Susan Hilbig
AU  - Lawrence Gregory Appelbaum
Y1  - 2018/02/24
PY  - 2018
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
T2  - American Journal of Sports Science
JF  - American Journal of Sports Science
JO  - American Journal of Sports Science
SP  - 20
EP  - 25
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8540
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20180601.14
AB  - Laterality preferences are inherent in most sensory and motor activities, and sports are certainly one domain wherein these preferences might impact performance and outcomes. The fact that most individuals exhibit laterality preferences and that sporting demands differentially draw on these abilities makes the expression of these preferences in athletes a topic ripe for exploration. To fill this gap, the current report describes hand, foot, and eye laterality preferences in a large cohort of 1770 male athletes tested on the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery. Self-reported hand and foot preferences, as well as eye dominance measured through the Miles Test, were compared across athletes of different experience levels (middle/high school, college, professional athletes) and primary sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer) to evaluate group differences in laterality preferences. Results revealed group differences, most notably a higher proportion of left-hand and left-foot preferences in professional baseball players. These findings offer new insight into the associations among laterality preferences in a large and diverse population of athletes.
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download