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Known for his balletic touchdown celebrations and dazzling one-handed catches, Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has become one of the most electrifying wide receivers in the NFL.
In less than two full seasons, Beckham has already put together a career's worth of jaw-dropping displays of athleticism - most famously his one-handed touchdown catch against the Cowboys last season that Cris Collinsworth called the greatest catch he'd ever seen.
Because the LSU product is a natural righty, the majority of his patented one-handed grabs (included the one against the Cowboys) have come with his right hand. But relying on his right hand, apparently, isn't sufficient, and now Beckham is forcing himself to become a lefty in the most mundane areas of his life in order for his left hand to catch up to his famous right.
Kevin Clark has a terrific piece in The Wall Street Journal today about Beckham's quest for ambidexterity, which includes brushing his teeth three times a day with his left hand and writing with his left instead of his right.
"Anything I can do with my right hand, I've gotta do with my left," Beckham told Clark.
Other important switches include swinging a baseball bat (which he practices around his house), shooting a basketball, and kicking balls lefty instead of righty.
From Clark:
"My left-handed shot now looks better than my right," he said. (He did admit his left-handed shot is less accurate but that's besides the point.)
He also decided to start kicking balls with his left foot, just to help the balance of the body in hopes it will help his left hand. In short, he has shifted everything from the right side of his body to the left.
If it sounds like a gimmick, it's not. The science behind Beckham's decision checks out, and it's a wonder that more wide receivers and tight ends in college and in the pros aren't working to catch their nondominant hands up.
Clark continues:
Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery, said Beckham's idea to use his left hand for things like teeth brushing helps his "neuromuscular activation patterns," which is the connection between the brain and the muscles and nerves. It is not about the strength of the non-dominant hand, exactly, but about "recruiting different muscle groups" with repetitive activities, Metzl said.
Considering Eli Manning's not-infrequent errant throws, once Beckham's left hand catches up to his right, there may just be no ball that he won't haul in. Still, at least one member of the Giants isn't so pleased about Beckham's affinity for one-handed catches.
That's head coach Tom Coughlin.
"Two hands, please," Coughlin said during training camp. "Two hands on the ball, thank you very much. Ball security as well."