Switching arms

Long shot is my guess. Most people I know who try to throw with the other arm......sorry ladies....throw like girls.

Want to know the odds. Next time at the field ask 10 kids to switch hands and throw.....actually I might do it at next practice to just get a laugh.

I would guess that if we had some experience with 15 year olds who had never played before, it might be instructive. Even more instructive would be experience with 15 year olds who had never played before and who were made to use their non-dominant hand.

I think it could be done, but it obviously would take a lot of repetitions.

My junior year in college I had an arm injury that resulted in me being limited to DH duty (I'm an OF). In an effort to get back on the field I spent about 2 weeks trying to teach myself how to throw and field by throwing with my left hand. As hard as I tried, I couldn't do it. I would assume that it would take a lot of work over a long period of time.

Not sure why this would be any harder than learning to switch hit. I don't think thats easy to do, but some have done it.

My son at twelve had a sore elbow and couldn't throw for 4 weeks. He played lefty in centerfield for his LL team. In four weeks he was able to get the ball to the general area of the cut off man and once he threw a 4 hopper to home to stop a runner from scoring. From his development, I assume it would take at least a few more years(10 or 12) for him to even come close to what he could as a righty. It would take an intense amount of work IMO to even have a chance. Add that to what it takes to develop one arm and I don't think there is enough time in the day for both. Maybe if you started when you were 4, but not at 12 or above.

My 15 year old is a natural righty first baseman who couldn't throw in the fall due to an arm injury. He played some JV games at 1B lefty. He learned to throw well enough that you couldn't tell he was a natural righty when throwing back to the pitcher, or throwing ground balls to the infielders.

But live game situations was a little different. You become accustomed to doing things without thinking and switching arms requires thinking about things you're used to just reacting to. Arm strength is clearly different too and just takes time to develop...many months of long toss. I am certain it can be done at some positions (1B, 3B, 2B), less at others (SS, C, P). The key is do you have a feel for it in your finger tips. If you can throw the ball where you want, you can develop the strength. If you can't control the ball, it's an uphill battle. To do it, you have to change your life to the other hand and just do everything with the weak hand...eat, brush your teeth, drink, open doors, etc.