Heads or tails

When I was at school the perceived wisdom was that when you flipped a coin you should always call the side that was on top and flip it from waist height so that it went up as high as your head and let it fall to the ground.  Doing that, supposedly you should win more often than you lose.  Interesting, because an American professor of mathematics has done research suggesting that there may be something in it. Don't understand the maths which is horribly complicated, but it concludes that the "topside" will come up winner some 51% of the time.  Of course, whether or not you find that sufficient of an "edge" is another matter.