Why I Play Left-Handed...And How That's NOT The Weirdest Thing I Do

[@Zazafe3101]

I’m left handed and never thought about changing to playing left handed gonna give it a try

[@ichbuttermirdenlachs]

5:20 an exception i would like to add here are source games, since crouching doesn't push your body downwards, it rather pulls your legs up. so when trying to reach higher ledges, in i.e. counter strike, you essentially jump and instantly crouch to pull your legs up. it's the same for tf2 but there you also need to crouch jump to get better rocket jumps. a somewhat weird control schema i have because of those games is jump on scrollwheel for bhopping, but thats relatively widespread. i also really like your approach of binding primary fire to space bar, i notice myself often pushing down way too hard on LMB, so i might try that. great video as always!

[@Casual314]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video 💖

[@blackblitz2011]

I play the controller with the left hand and mouse on the right i use L3 to jump, analog stick to move (of course), mouse to aim, L2 to crouch and L1 to ping. all abilities and shooting are on the mouse bound to extra buttons. i played apex got to preditor with controller, got to gm with controller on PC with support. the problem was I kept losing due to movement with the keyboard, I'm just too slow and it hurts my hands. with controller, I can move but my aim isn't as good as when I'm using m&k. so i just fused the two together and now I'm playing the best I've ever done. (some characters I'll use a controller for like Moria and Brig but) I really think people should experiment to find what works best for them. glad to see you've got your own unique setup Casual

[@Casual314]

Yeah in theory a joystick is better for movement since you're not limited to just eight directions, and you can adjust how fast you're walking. I've thought about the idea of using a controller-mouse combo, but I didn't know people actually did it.

[@madnessman1520]

An interesting fact about about nichogdh the ow Pro player he mentioned was that he also used to be a really good tf2 player and got banned because they thought he was using a script to ads spam at an inhuman level to fuck up his hitbox, so he got his mom to record him doing it on camera so he could prove he wasn't actually cheating he actually just had an ungodly reaction time and got unbanned

[@Casual314]

Damn now that is a gamer. As terrible as being banned is, people thinking you're cheating is actually kind of an accomplishment (assuming you're not actually cheating).

[@jamesbarbalo2025]

I use esdf instead of wasd

[@Casual314]

I've heard of that one before, tried it a little bit, but since my hands aren't very large it puts my pinky too far away from the shift

[@jamesbarbalo2025]

i just don't use shift@@Casual314

[@jaxsolaris1177]

I use QWSE, I find it more comfortable laying my fingers out farther with W and I strafe with forward more than I would backward so it just feels better to me. I also use the fire button on my mmo mouse that’s to the side of my left click for melee and some of the mouse buttons for abilities.

[@levanoon9286]

I use IJKL

[@HARMEtrd]

glad the resolution got fixed, vids are looking absolutely beautiful

[@Casual314]

Yeah I might just stick to 21:9 if people don't mind it. I think the only time it looks really weird is if someone watches on a really small screen

[@Ahmad_Jihad]

I love trying to find even better ways to control and play games than the universal ways, you are a next-gen gamer

[@zairvix]

I don't know how I never noticed when seeing your birdseye cam it was left handed, this was fascinating I may spend a day trying to get a play of the game this way for fun :)

[@Casual314]

Yeah you should try it, you'll understand for a moment what it feels to be beginner again and it might be kind of funny to see

[@idonteven]

I'm left handed and I've always played games and used the computer right handed, but I soon realized how handicapped and at a disadvantage I was by not aiming with my dominant hand because my aim was always very bad. At first I forced myself to do all every day tasks with my right hand to gain more dexterity with it, and after doing that for a few years it became natural to me but my aim was still bad. So eventually around 2019 (I've been using PCs right handed since 2003) I just started using the mouse with my left hand, and after going through the pain of relearning every single thing with swapped hands, my aim improved much faster after that. Everyone has different potential and improvement rates with each of their hands, but using the dominant hand to aim is recommended if you don't want an uphill battle. Now I can play shooters or any game with the mouse on any side just like you, so you're not the only person on the internet at least :D I can attest to the pain you've been through relearning to coordinate all mouse and keyboard movements in a shooter with swapped hands. If the left wasn't my dominant hand I would have never gone through that torture, but I can see how you could go through it as a challenge.

[@Casual314]

Nice, I've always thought there had to be other's out there. That's an interesting experience realizing you're strongly left-handed. I think there's some research findings that suggest that some people have more asymmetric brains that might cause this effect. Your ability to surpass your right-hand so quickly could be evidence for this.

[@BOOMbear214]

Super interesting! I appreciate how you gave it a try and stuck with it. Goes to show how adaptable people can be.

[@sylphredo]

As someone with a disability on my right arm, if feels so natural for me to play with my left hand on mouse to the point i switched some of my characters abilities buttons from keyboard to mouse (on scroll wheel). I only use 2 of my right hand fingers to move my characters and with time i find it quite comfortable playing that way !

[@Maxzurr]

I also use my left hand for the mouse even though im right handed for everything else. I use the arrows keys to replace wasd and in every game jump is right shift and crouch is right control. For Overwatch, I use numpad 1 for ability 1 and numpad 2 for ability 2. My ult is hashtag and my reload is delete. Melee is numpad 5 and interact is numpad 4 and i also use isert, home, page up/down for comminucation binds.

[@hotaru44]

I don't know why I got recommended this video since I don't play OW. But since this is a video about gaming left-handed, I can give you my take on it as a lefty myself I've been playing left-handed ever since I started pc gaming and even on console, my fire button was the left trigger due to my claw grip. All I can say is that if you're a lefty and play right-handed, I recommend staying that way because I've always played at a disadvantage with my weird keybinds and the lack of accessibility for left-handed gamers. Whenever I start a new game, I would have to at most an hour to rebind every single key and fix any conflicts that occur from that and sometimes they won't let me even use one of my usual movement keys so I'm basically not allowed to play the game anymore On most games, I bind my melee to Enter but for some games, enter would open chat which mean that I'm locked out of a key I could use and muscle memory would cause me to lose fights. Not only that but my jump bind is the alt key which can sometimes be detrimental to my gameplay as if I were to jump and melee at the same time, my game would enter windowed mode and cause me to lose the firefight from the lag. Just like you, I have my movement keys to P L : " because it feels more comfortable than the other ones, and since I use alt to jump, it allows me to have a free key with the spacebar for anything like an ability or movement mechanic (Though, I'm starting to use spacebar as my melee on my newer games due to the problems the enter key give me and it allows my pinky to focus on other keys) For mice, side buttons can be detrimental to you depending on your grip. Fortunately, I use a finger grip which allows me to press the side buttons with my ring finger which also opens up a lot freedom with your keybinds There's really no reason to play left-handed because most of the time it's just "how can I keep up with the right-handed people" instead of "I'm left-handed so I have an advantage" like in sports. The only advantage I can say that I have against right-handed gamers is because I bought a keyboard and mouse that specifically compliments my left-handedness. My keyboard is compacted with the arrow keys being next to my normal keys which gives me extra keys to work with but other than that, there's really nothing

[@Casual314]

Yeah there's definitely no advantage, it's just something weird and fun to learn. I think the lack of peripheral support is the biggest reason not to switch.

[@g4e4rman54]

​@@Casual314 So you realy dont think you are better with your right hand, than your left? I just had the idea to maybe switch and see how fast I can catchup with my dominant left hand and wanted to know if I am better with my left hand. I always thought that my dominant hand felt kinda wasted pressing on the keyboard, while my right hand did all the hard stuff.

[@RayJames-mk3yq]

As a lefty my first time at the PC as a kid I instinctively swapped the mouse to the left side, it was the peripheral analogous to writing so of course I would use my writing hand with it. It honestly surprised me when I learned the vast majority of left handers just took it on the side it came on and learned that way. Though obviously in the end their decision proves far more convenient than mine as most mice are made for the right hand. Also CS2 killed support for left handed guns after 24 years of allowing it. RIP.

[@Casual314]

Yeah the limited amount of peripherals is the worst thing. Companies barely even make true ambidextrous options these days.

[@extofer]

i’m also a lefty and I have never felt this way. If anything I think the keyboard in my left hand feels more natural and fast to start typing instead of moving it from a mouse. I think this just goes to show how different experiences shape different outcomes. I never had that instinct to swap.

[@songhong5624]

I have my jump bind to F Melee - Scroll Fast reaction Ability - Space The other Ability - Ctrl (press with palm) Interact - E Crouch - Shift Toggle crouch - Caps lock Communication: Side mouse - Enemy ping (no wheel) Count down - 1 Fallback - 2 Group up - 3 I'm going in - 4 No - 5 Yes - 6

[@AreoSky]

I like your hands! they seem happy 😊

[@Casual314]

Interesting, I don't know what happy hands look like, but I'm glad I have them 💖

[@jingping5948]

Sounds like insanity to me. Definitely might try some of the ideas like toggle ads and reload button though. Great video as always btw.

[@PineappleSquuid]

You always have the most interesting vids man, love them!

[@Casual314]

Thanks man 💖

[@TsumugiPython]

this is a very interesting perspective! Personally I've made (or making) the switch to left hand mouse as I am a lefty but I'm basically ambidextrous other than the fact that I can't write with right hand and playing games with left felt weird movement wise (the mouse actually feels significantly better in my left hand). Edit: I should add that there are certain fps games I play ambidextrously (will switch mid game/match cus it's fun to) and certain games do just feel better left handed for me (osu is a good example). and I'm happy I'm not the only person who likes spacebar as primary fire lmao

[@rua893]

im left handed and when i decided to get into pc gaming i made sure to learn from the start as a lefty

[@zedrico8577]

Wow super surprising! i been trying the left hand thing for 2 weeks now and extremely tough, like way more than i thought.... I not understand how my wife feels when she tries to play video games. I feel like i'm playing an FPS for the first time.

[@Casual314]

Yes one reason I encourage people to try playing left-handed is to experience the game as a beginner might. I find that it helps people sympathize much better with beginners, since long-time FPS players tend to forget what it's like to be one.

[@k_e_K_e___]

My brother is left handed but he always played games right handed, thanks to this video I tried a new control scheme where I use my mouse side buttons to jump and reload with my left click, and my primary fire is on spacebar, so far I like it!

[@Casual314]

Nice, glad to see someone joining the fire on spacebar club

[@animox6303]

I do have the feeling that i reached a skill ceiling with aiming right handed as a lefty. I always aimed right and after many years of gaming till like 1 months a go i decided to swap and it feels more natural. The problem is just the movement but im working on it cause i feel like i can surpass that skill ceiling with my dominant hand which has those fine motor skills.

[@CasioSilver]

When Fortnite's BR mode came out I started using ESDF and my left thumb a lot more for pressing keys other than space with a more angled kb but I do use spacebar for Kovaak's I should get some foot switches so I can use my whole body to play games at this point XD (edit cause I forgot to write the 'weird' thing I do, I don't usually see a lot of people do this at least) I grew up with a three button mouse, No wheel on top, so my grip was always three fingers on the top and thumb/pinky on the sides so when I got a wheel mouse then I just used the wheel with my middle finger to mwheeldown=jump and I used to bhop/kz a ton back then so it's just huge habit from this days. Now I run a mouse with a button below the wheel so I use this for ADS in games I need it since I find the position comfy and the buttons there are usually small and have a light click

[@Casual314]

That's interesting, I've heard of people that use the "1-3-1" grip with 3 fingers on top, but it's probably a pretty rare grip style. Never heard of a 3 button mouse though.

[@jjurss7263]

"you never need to jump and crouch at the same time" Nobody tell him

[@Casual314]

Haha I have been told that in some games crouch-jumping is an important technique. If I eve play those games, I would probably rebind or double bind jump to something else

[@jjurss7263]

@@Casual314 I was thinking of TF2 because I'm an old man and I crouch and jump constantly in that game haha For Overwatch its definitely not something that you need to worry about, so I totally get where you're coming from

[@Dontreadthis0]

As a lefty who learned on right might try left handed just to see what its like

[@Casual314]

It's worth a try, you might be surprised how unnatural the controls feel.

[@jonasan-san]

Those are some wild controls! Just trying to imagine them makes my head hurt xd But I do very much enjoy hearing people's reasoning for custom controls. I've told people I use wasd for my skills in Diablo instead of the standard 1234 since it allows me to easily reach all the other keys on that side of the keyboard, and pretty much everyone had an anurism... My OW2 controls are pretty standard except I bought a keyboard with a split spacebar so that I could easily crouch with my thumb because I don't like the way my hand tenses up when I strain my pinky downward to hit ctrl. I also use a g502 cause it has 2 macro buttons beside LMB that I use for E ability.

[@Casual314]

Interesting use of the G502. I've handled that mouse a bit before, and it's quite a heavy mouse from what I can remember, but it's got an ergonomic design that I can see some people preferring.

[@YenJ_ow]

Im just flabbergasted.

[@SQUNTO]

giga ultra galaxy brain

[@Casual314]

Brain is indeed giga ultra galaxy

[@bcpyc]

Oh wow the gameplay is not cropped anymore!

[@Casual314]

Yeah I'm just going to upload in 21:9, and as long as people don't hate it, I'll just stick with it.

[@DonDoland]

Nah this guys just built different

[@daysetx]

I'm surprised by hearing about PlanetSide 😊

[@lucacuneo7218]

I have been messing around with using different control schemes. I used to play SC2 and used a very space bar dependant system. I might try out swaping fire for spacebar

[@Casual314]

Yeah I recommend trying it, it doesn't take too long to get used to, and you can always return the "normal" way if you don't like it.

[@extofer]

as a lefty I don’t view mouse on the right as a “right handed” way of playing in the same way I don’t feel like the traditional controller set up is right-handed. It’s not the same kind of thing that was forced on us like right handed desks and spiral notebooks. To me, playing with the mouse on the right is natural feeling and always has been.

[@Casual314]

It's right handed in the sense that the fine motor control is on the right-hand. The keyboard hand is still important but the difficulty of that skill is far less demanding than the mouse. If it's true that motor function is asymmetric in the brain, then there would, in theory, be a reason to prefer the mouse on one side over the other.

[@extofer]

@@Casual314 yeah I mean this is just my perception, but adapting to the mouse on the right was non-existent when compared to all the other things I have had to adapt to in my lifetime when it comes to right-handed bias. I’ve never had a problem with my fine motor skills using the mouse on the right. I don’t view it the same as writing on paper, drawing or eating - all of which I very much have a problem using my right hand for. It’s also possible that coming from heavy console gaming as a child conditioned me since a controller is historically essentially the same kind of thing. Your directional controls on the left, your button presses/abilities on the right. It’s also a reason that as time went on and controllers evolved, I was able to quickly adapt to dual thumbsticks, buttons on the left shoulder, etc. I’m 44 and computer usage wasn’t extremely high until my teens. So making the transition to keyboard and mouse for gaming didn’t feel unnatural. It was just new. It’s a fascinating subject though.

[@SatorruGojo]

do you have a kovaks playlist i can use to play i injured my right hand and have started doing the exact same thing grinding kovaks right now im not naturally left handed

[@pysarix2389]

I'm a leftie and never learnt how to play right handed, I use the arrow keys with my right hand and num pad 0-9 are all key bound with my pinkie finger :D

[@Casual314]

wow that's a lot of pinky finger action

[@pysarix2389]

@@Casual314 Yup! for games like Overwatch with only a couple of abilities it isn't too bad but when I used to play WoW or sometimes when i'm on RS and need 8-10 keybinds..Yeah all of them are pressed with the same finger. Its not the best way but its a work around that works so hey

[@its_lucky2526]

i use space bar to walk forward, w to shoot. people say it's weird but it's just natural to me

[@its_lucky2526]

troll btw

[@Casual314]

I thought you were serious for a second. Literally wouldn't be able to shoot and move backward at the same time😆

[@mage0534]

Only "weird" control I have is crouch on Q. Apparently that's not aight lol

[@easydrive2236]

I use my right hand because my right arm is stronger. My weaker left hand tends to be shaky, whatever i do

[@Casual314]

I've heard that some people have very strong hand preferences, such that even skills they've never done are preferred on one hand. I've always wondered if it's a genetic thing or not. I myself don't really feel a preference for right or left if I'm learning a new skill.

[@AtlantisBrooke]

As someone who plays controller i been told mine are weird. Specifically for mercy because of how many buttons you have to push. Left trigger - ga Left bumper -crouch Left 3 - rez Right trigger -heal Right bumper -db Interact - circle (what was crouch)

[@Casual314]

Makes sense, those controls seem to keep your thumbs on the joysticks for 99% of the time

[@AtlantisBrooke]

@@Casual314 ye and i have long fingers/thumbs and a form of hypermobility so I can usually bend my thumb in a way that it stays on the joystick and can push other buttons with the knuckle lol

[@yungkayzy]

Can i ask why does everyone have their wasd changed? I don’t understand

[@zedrico8577]

I was just thinking about the whole using space to shoot primary, my concern with it is that its not intuitive to Moria and Maugu? Dual handed characters for you must feel slightly off, even though im sure you get use to it really quick. Also, by chance could you pin a comment with you keybinds so we dont have to rewind the video?

[@jayysoon]

Hey, would u drop your keybinds, im switching to my left hand due to an injury

[@Va-jx8ye]

I just left OW2 and returned to chess. No team, no need to aim, no RNG. Every win, draw and loss is yours.

[@Texansfan59]

I would not beable to do anything in ow left handed 😂

[@dovid-19]

Bro that's so fucking weird to do. Probably the weirdest thing to do

[@sunkenrockkk]

Hi i was born left handed i learn right hand first on video game now am ambidextre i have better aim on my left hand(am left handed) but i feel good on both

[@codex0451]

Ive used x,alt,z,c for the past 20 years.

[@Casual314]

Now THAT is unorthodox

[@reaperskyoki]

What mouse do you use for left handed? been looking for one and I swear i'm not finding many that seem all that good

[@babyquakes]

I shoot with space it's hard to aim while clicking

[@Casual314]

Especially in some games where you have to spam-fire semi-auto weapons, I find it significantly more comfortable

[@qazxc-v]

yo cambie el mouse a mi mano izquierda ya pasaron como 10 meses y tengo mejor punteria me acostumbre rapido y lo siento comodo reemplaze wasd a oklñ recargo con u saltar con espacio practicamente lo mismo solo que invertido asi mismo como 1234 a 0987 y shift derecho para agacharme es cuestion de acostumbrarse con el tiempo saludos

[@Va-jx8ye]

My comments keep disappearing for some reason

[@xyntify1029]

Do you use the spacebar to shoot in aim trainers aswell?

[@Casual314]

Yes I do, that was where I first tried it and found it to be more comfortable

[@Mr.Firewall]

Do not get into the trap of a video every day. Others Content creators done it and their channel stopped growing. Quality of videos matters.

[@Casual314]

Thanks for the advice 💖

[@b1-4663]

Isn’t Emongg left handed?

[@Casual314]

According to what I found on the internet, he plays with the arrow keys, but he still has his right-hand on the mouse.

[@LinusLiveTV]

2 mins of pandering.