What makes CS2 harder for left-handed players?

The standard setup to play CS2 or any other shooter is to use the mouse with the right hand and the keyboard with the left hand. Of course, that is because roughly 90% of the world's population is right-handed.

The few left-handed pros out there like Özgür "woxic" Eke and Lucas "urban0" Urbano are forced to either adapt to use the mouse with the left hand or invert the standard setup. For urban0, though, using the mouse with his right hand feels as bad as writing with his right hand.

"Since the first day I used the PC, I used the mouse with my left hand," urban0 said in an interview with Dust 2 Brasil.

"So, when I started playing CS, I started with the mouse on my left hand because I was used to it, and I didn't try to change. I think it's very hard for lefties to use the mouse with the right hand. It's like try writing with the right hand."

However, inverting the standard setup is harder than it looks. urban0, for example, had to change a lot of keybinds, including the traditional "WSAD" for moving around the map.

"It was a bit hard to adapt all the keybinds to use grenades, to quick switch, and stuff like that. It took me some time to find a setup that felt right. I also miss using a smaller keyboard for more comfort. I have to use full-size keyboards because I need the arrow keys for movement, like WASD, and the numpad for binds, such as 'E' on '0' and '+jump' on '1'."

Physio explains how the brain interacts with the body

On top of talking with urban0, Dust 2 Brasil also interviewed Cristiani Junqueira, a Physiotherapist who holds a Masters Degree in Sports Science and is studying for a Doctorate in Neuroscience. Junqueira explained how body movement is connected to our brain.

Our brain is divided into two sides (or hemispheres), and each one controls the opposite side of the body. The left side of the brain commands the right side of the body and is more connected to skills such as logical reasoning, analysis, and motor control. Meanwhile, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and is more associated with creativity, spatial perception, and emotions. These two sides communicate through the corpus callosum, a kind of bridge that connects the hemispheres.

Hand preference is related to the natural tendency to use one hand more, whether consciously or not. Lateral dominance, on the other hand, refers to how much one side of the body is more specialized in certain activities. Some people have such a dominant hand that they simply cannot perform the same movement with the other. Training and adapting to daily activities can help strengthen the use of a hand for a specific function.

Junqueira said that lefties frequently go through hardships to adapt to a "right-handed world", which may affect their comfort and gameplay.

As Junqueira noted, precision and coordination are some of the key areas to get ahead of others in CS2. Given that Counter-Strike rewards those who are faster, the left-handed players almost certainly have to put in more effort, at least during the adaptation process.