Being left-handed helps in foil and épée at the top level: left-handers are overrepresented among the world's best fencers in those weapons. In sabre, the weapon our club teaches, the advantage is much weaker, and in men's sabre a large 2025 study found none. Height is less decisive than people think: a study of 130 trained fencers found no link between body measurements and the speed of their attacks, while leg power did matter. Fencing has no height or weight classes, and any body type can start.
Left-handers in fencing
About 10% of people are left-handed. Among elite fencers the share is higher. The usual explanation is familiarity: left-handers are rare, so their opponents are less used to how left-handed fencers move.
The largest recent study looked at 15,099 senior athletes in the top 300 of the year-end world rankings from 2004 to 2023, in épée, foil and sabre, and in table tennis, tennis and badminton (Simon, Loffing and Frasnelli, 2025). In fencing as a whole, left-handers were overrepresented across the rankings, more so near the top.
Why sabre is different
The same study found that sabre had fewer left-handers than épée and foil, and less sign of an advantage for them:
- in women's sabre, left-handers were overrepresented only in ranks 1 to 100;
- in men's sabre, the data showed no evidence that being left-handed helps.
That matches older data from French championships from 1979 to 1998, in which the share of left-handers in men's sabre was about the same as in the general population, even among the top fencers. The authors suggest the differences between the weapons may come from how each one is fenced: each weapon makes its own demands on movement and has its own target.
For a left-handed child starting sabre, the honest summary is: being left-handed will not hold them back, and it is not a shortcut either.
Height and reach
A taller fencer with longer arms and legs can reach further with a lunge, and it is natural to assume that wins bouts. The research is less clear. In a study of 130 well-trained fencers from seven national teams, in all three weapons, the authors found no association between body measurements, such as height, weight and arm span, and the speed of three common attacks. Leg power, measured by jumps, did correlate with how fast the fencers lunged (Ntai and colleagues, 2021).
That does not prove height never matters in a bout; the study measured attacks, not results. It does say that power and technique, which training builds, count for a lot.
No height or weight classes
Fencing events are divided by weapon, by sex and by age, and in some events by rating, never by height or weight. A short fencer and a tall one fence each other under the same rules. Distance, timing and choosing the right moment, the skills a fencer trains every week, work at any height. Fencing rules for beginners explains how a bout runs.
What it means for your child
- Tall or short, right- or left-handed, your child can start. Nothing in the research says otherwise.
- What changes results is training: leg power, footwork, timing, and the habit of reading a partner. Sabre fencing for beginners describes the first skills.
- Do not choose a weapon for handedness. For most families the practical choice is a club they can reach every week.
At our club children start from age 4, in groups by age, and the first class is free. We lend the mask, jacket, glove and blade, and parents are welcome to watch the first class. A teen starting late can read sports for a 12 or 13 year old who is starting late.
Call Coach Pasha at (408) 592-1244. If he is on the strip, leave a voicemail: he calls back within 24 hours. Or leave your number and he calls you.
Where these findings come from
- Simon T, Loffing F and Frasnelli E, "Prevalence of left-handers and their role in antagonistic sports: beyond mere counts towards a more in-depth distributional analysis of ranking data", Royal Society Open Science, 2025 (full text, doi 10.1098/rsos.250303).
- Ntai A, Tsolakis C, Smirniotou A and Paradisis G, "Anthropometric and leg power factors affect offensive kinetic patterns in fencing", International Journal of Exercise Science, 14, 919-931, 2021 (full text).
Both read on October 22, 2026.
