Despite Lucien Freud’s artistic genius, he is said to have had child like, unjoined writing. Like many of his generation he was forced to write with his right hand. Watching Freud at work on the brilliant documentary on Sunday, he is clearly a natural left hander. It was considered sinister to be left handed in his day and as a left hander myself I can remember being a bit of a novelty – and chief ink smudger – in the classroom.
As a mature single myself but a generation below Freud, the practice of forcing children to convert to a right hander was largely dropped. Nowadays, I sometimes write lines with my right hand as it is good for the brains of over 40s. Recent statistics put left handers at about 40% of the population which is an extraordinary turnaround. It is a relief to see that nature’s way isn’t being interfered with these days. It can be a huge advantage to be left handed in many walks of life. Left handed tennis players can really flummox their partner – the finest example being Nadal. Nadal is interesting as he is right-handed in all pursuits except tennis – it has been a winning tactic to adopt and possibly has a bearing on his massive success.

