Why is the phrase "Math was never my strong point" more common (about twice as much according to a simple Google search) than "Math has never been my strong point" when the last one makes more sense? Is it because the former phrase is shorter?
The question came up here when @StoneyB replied with "Proofreading was never my strong point" to a comment made by @tyler-james-young
Update:
Here is an example from OALD, Oxford's Advanced Learner's Dictionary, found in the Sense 13 of the word Strong:
good at something
- The play has a very strong cast.
- Mathematics was never my strong point(= I was never very good at it).
Best Answer
When editing or proofreading, you should generally avoid changing things that are intelligible in their original form.
That said, the difference in tense between "was never" and "never has been" is significant enough that I, as a reader (and professional editor), find myself expecting "was never" to be followed by one of two things:
1) An explanation of how the situation changed (how the speaker became better at math or gained confidence in math), or 2) A continuation of discussion in past tense, such that whether the speaker's math skill improved would be irrelevant.
To give credit where it's due, much of this is discussed in comments to the question.