Am I Ambidextrous?

weirdly accurate.

Am I Ambidextrous?

Am I ambidextrous?

Probably not at everything: for most people the other hand is a little behind, though often less than they expect. In an open 2024 dataset of 128 adults tapping a phone with each hand (Lima and colleagues), the other hand kept a median 93% of the dominant hand’s speed, and 26 of them — about one in five — were as fast or faster with it. This ambidextrous test measures your own gap instead of asking which hand you prefer, because you already know which hand you write with.

It asks one question, which hand you write with, and then sets three jobs, each finer than the last, with the hands taking turns. Speed: ten seconds of index-finger tapping, the same protocol as Lima’s study, so this job can be compared with those adults. Aim: eight sewing buttons, one at a time, each smaller, with the left hand’s layout mirroring the right’s; the score is buttons per second, misses included. Steady: a brass thimble runs a figure-eight for nine seconds, faster and faster, and the score is the share of time your fingertip stays on it, as on the classic pursuit rotor. The order of the hands flips for the middle job so practice favours neither. Each job gives the other hand’s score as a share of the writing hand’s, and your overall number is the geometric mean of the three.

Only the speed job has population figures behind it; for aim and steady the page compares your two hands with each other and says so. The labels level (within 5%), close (5–15%) and a real gap are our own cut-offs, and short runs are noisy, so a small gap can flip on another try. It is not a medical or neurological test, and handedness is a trait, not a problem.

What the test measures

One thing: how far apart your two hands are, and whether the gap grows as the job gets finer.

The task

  • One question first: which hand do you write with? It only names your hands; it isn’t scored
  • Speed: ten seconds of tapping per hand, the rules of Lima et al.’s (2024) smartphone finger-tapping study
  • Aim: eight buttons shrinking from about 70 to 30 px on a phone, mirrored between hands
  • Steady: follow a thimble around a figure-eight for nine seconds as it speeds up (time on target, as on a pursuit rotor)
  • Hands alternate in every job, in the order writing–other, other–writing, writing–other

Your result

  • Your other hand as a percentage of your writing hand, averaged over the three jobs
  • A plain sentence on the pattern: level everywhere, a gap that grows with finer work, or your other hand winning a job
  • Speed against 128 adults: how your two hands’ gap compares, and how even each hand’s rhythm was
  • What research says about which skills differ between hands and which can catch up
  • A verdict on every tap, button and second, and a balance beam that tips toward your stronger hand
  • A shareable card and a link that asks a friend whose hands are closer

Before you start

  • About two minutes; free, no sign-up
  • On a phone: lay it flat on a table and use one index finger
  • On a computer: a trackpad is best; with a mouse, move it to the other hand when asked — switching the mouse over is part of what gets measured
  • Your results are worked out in your browser; a challenge link carries your result after the # in the address

Ambidexterity and handedness FAQ

Is this test free? Do I need to sign up to see my result?

Yes, it’s free, and there’s nothing to sign up for: no account, no email, no payment. Your result appears on this page the moment you finish, and you can share it or play again straight away.

How do I know if I’m ambidextrous?

Compare what your two hands can actually do, not just which one you reach for. Researchers usually ask people which hand they use for everyday tasks; this ambidextrous test instead times both hands on the same jobs. If your other hand comes within about 5% of your writing hand at speed, aim and steadiness — this test’s own cut-off, not a clinical one — you are close to ambidextrous at those tasks.

What percentage of people are left-handed?

About 10.6%, according to Papadatou-Pastou and colleagues’ 2020 meta-analysis of 200 studies and about 2.4 million people: 11.6% of men and 9.5% of women. The figure depends on how you ask — 9.3% when only the writing hand counts, 18.1% when everyone who isn’t firmly right-handed is included — and studies of East Asian participants find 5.7% against 11.1% for European ancestry.

Is my non-dominant hand normally slower?

A little, at tapping. In Lima et al.’s 2024 data on 128 adults, the other hand reached a median 93% of the dominant hand’s tapping speed, and its rhythm was typically about 24% more uneven. Still, 26 of the 128 tapped as fast or faster with the other hand, and 43 kept a more even beat with it.

Can you train yourself to become ambidextrous?

Some skills look more trainable than others. Flowers (1975) argued that fast, repetitive movements depend on practice rather than on which hand does them. In a single-person study, Peters (1976) found that after 1,300 ten-second tapping trials the non-preferred hand caught up with the preferred hand’s speed but not its even rhythm.

Why do the jobs get finer?

Because hand differences tend to show in finely steered movements more than in fast ones. Flowers (1975) concluded that the essential difference between the preferred and other hand lies in controlling a movement as it happens. Todor and Doane (1977) found, in 63 adults, that stated hand preference predicted which hand performed better less and less as tasks got harder.

Is the non-dominant hand worse at everything?

No. Lab reaching studies find the dominant arm better at shaping a movement’s path and the non-dominant arm better at holding an accurate final position (Wang & Sainburg, 2007). In about 7,000 children in Bristol’s ALSPAC study, 24.2% did better with the left hand on a pegboard, far more than the roughly one in ten who write left-handed.

Is this a medical or neurological test?

No. It is a two-minute comparison of your own two hands on three small jobs. A gap between hands is normal, handedness is a trait rather than a problem, and nothing in the result says anything about your health.

Where the numbers come from

The speed comparison uses the first ten seconds of each run in Lima et al.’s open raw data (128 adults with both hands), recomputed with this test’s formulas. Aim and steady have no population figures, so they compare your two hands only. The 5% and 15% cut-offs are our own. The site does not publish its own players’ data.