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Profiling the different types of laterality in high-performance male and female Gaelic footballers
Date
2025
Abstract
When performing sporting tasks, individuals may use a single side for all tasks (consistently unilateral), both sides equally on each task (consistent bilateral), different sides for different tasks (mixed laterality) or opposing sides when performing tasks with hands versus feet (crossed laterality). Previous research has largely focused on analysing laterality within a single skill. This study used notational analysis to investigate laterality profiles across four skills (two with the hands: hand pass and hop; and two with the feet: kick pass and solo) within high-performance Gaelic Football players. Fifty females and 83 males completed sufficient trials on all four skills to be included. While the majority of players were unilateral, some players displayed a different laterality profile. No player was consistently bilateral for all four skills. Chi-squared tests of independence revealed minimal differences between males and females in levels of partial bilaterality, crossed laterality or mixed laterality. Left-sided male and female players were significantly less lateralized than their right-sided counterparts for all assessed skills. Overall, findings show that laterality is complex, idiosyncratic
and non-binary. Recognizing the idiosyncratic nature of limb dominance has numerous applications for coaches involved in player development, opposition analysis and sport scientists involved in talent development.
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
Routledge Taylor and Francis
Citation
Laterality Asymmetries of Brain, Behaviour, and Cognition, 29 (5–6), 574–595
Collections
Files
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Dillon_2025_Profiling.pdf
Adobe PDF, 1.04 MB
Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
External Link
Type
Article
Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/