It s a good thing I heal quick. Most of the twinges in the right side are gone and I can cough comfortably again. But still mostly using left arm. Last week I was running a nice Brazil but this week I am struggling with an Ethiopian. It's making me wonder about the coffee. The distance between ristretto and normale is almost nothing. One half step on the Macap. Tight and hard to pull lowest, but fast flowing on the next up. Could just be aging out but I wonder if I messed up the alignment of the burrs when I cleaned it over the weekend. Anyway I just ran the last of the Ethiopian this morning so will see how the next up pulls.

At this point my left is pretty much on par with my right as well.

I was wondering what the difficulty in pulling with the non dominant hand was about and then I realised that everyone posting was using the manual lever machine, not a spring lever!

Sorry to hear of the OP's injury and the assault, and thankfully he's OK and healing up.

LObin wrote:I hope your feeling better! That's a scary story...

I own 2 La Pavoni's one of which is in a tight kitchen corner at the cottage. I often end up pulling shots with my left hand over there and use my right hand during the week, on my Professional.

I guess I'm getting use to it cause it feels pretty natural. Two things that definitely help:
1. I often use less pressure when pulling medium dark roasts. Something like 5-6 bar which doesn't require much force.

2. I have a PPK on my Professional which, as someone already mentioned, helps compensate with the lost in proprioception when using your non-dominant hand.

I just posted this video elsewhere to show my finished Professional project. I had to use my left for this pull.

Pretty good, right!

Hope your well and fully ambidextrous by now! Cheers!

Sure looks tasty! Nice pour too.

I keep almost buying the ppk from coffee sensor but keep not doing so. After 15 years with my Stradivari I feel I have reached a pretty high level of proficiency with it and have a decent feel for the pressure I am using on each pull. I am not sure it would even be something I would look at as I pull since I usually just watch the stream and let my body feel the pull and change if it feels like I need to. Love the experience of manual levers. Best purchase I have ever made in my 45 years.

Left handed really only threw me the first day. After that I adjusted. This evening I pulled a ristretto lefty and while it was a little more difficult to get the pressure I was capable. I was not at all while the twinges from my right side were still pulling at me.

At this point I am calling myself almost healed. I still get a twinge when I stretch the right too high but I can do almost anything I could do before.

Here's a pic of my setup at present. The Stradivari is not fully functional at the moment as she needs some parts and I haven't gotten around to it yet. Time always seems to get away from me.

Anyone tried hand grinding with the non dominant hand?

It's kind of wobbly!

I have a new bench top grinder and after the first day of seasoning burrs and pulling a few shots I woke up the next morning with a slightly sore shoulder. So I started to grind with my other arm and I was twice as slow due to my brain trying to turn the handle in an oval pattern as opposed to circular. Think I'll persist though because it will lessen the likelihood of injury due to muscle imbalance.

I'm left handed and crank with my right hand while securing the Pharos to the counter with my left

I have faced this problem due to a combination of arthritis and a local muscle reaction after a covid booster shot. I am using a spring lever, so a certain amount of force is needed. After struggling with trying to find a posture that worked, I began simply using both hands on the lever. The usual hand does little more than provide proprioception and a little guidance. The other hand provides most of the force. I just put one hand on top of the other when I grab the lever and lean forward into the pull. I actually like the technique enough to consider making it my permanent move.

Jim