'You throw like a girl!' 'MythBusters' puts the classic insult to the test.
Is the myth true?
We've been culturally trained to believe that throwing a ball is a boy's game and not a girl's game.
“You throw like a girl!"
"You play like a girl!"
"You run like a girl!"
"You [insert random verb] like a girl." Doing things "like a girl" has historically been considered an insult and a way to express that girls are inferior to boys. Pop culture sure hasn't helped.
Boys must actually be better at throwing balls then, right?
The hit show "MythBusters" decided to find out. They wanted to see if there's a distinct difference in the way a guy throws a ball versus the way a girl throws a ball.
They put eight people in four different age groups up against each other to analyze their throws. They had the subjects throw with their dominant arm first. Then they had them use their non-dominant arm because, without practice or training of any sort, it's sort of like you're throwing for the first time. This is when the real results showed.
When using their non-dominant arm with zero training, the guys were more accurate, but the girls threw faster.
When using their non-dominant arm with zero training, the guys were more accurate, but the girls threw faster.
A different test showed that, yes, there is a distinct difference in the way a guy throws a ball versus the way a girl throws a ball: Men throw more horizontally, and women throw more vertically.
Boys and girls throw differently, but that doesn't mean boys are better at throwing.
The myth that throwing like a girl is a lesser thing does not hold up. GOODBYE, MYTH.
Mo'ne Davis is like, "duh."
Watch the segment for all of the science-y, ball-throwing goodness: