Unbalanced Grip Pressure

[MissionaryMike]

I've just started going through B.S.'s Practical Pistol. He mentions that shooters are divided between either gripping all out w/ both hands, or gripping as hard as they can w/ the non-dominant hand and slightly less w/ the dominant hand for increased dexterity in the trigger finger, which is B.S.'s preference.

In future dry and live fire sessions, I'm going to try out the second method, but thus far, I've been applying the methodology of gripping hard w/ both hands. My only problem is, my dominant hand (right) grips the gun way, way harder than my left hand for no other reason than my right hand and forearm just naturally being much stronger than my left. As an aside, I do tend to shoot 1-2" left of my POA on 10-15 yard shots. I don't really practice longer shots than that, but I'd assume it would be more like 3-4" left on 20+ yard shots. I'm not sure if it's an effect of my grip pressure or not.

Does anyone else struggle w/ an imbalance between their dominant and non-dominant grip/hands? Should I buy the next level CoC gripper and beef up my left side and just chill out on my right side and let it wither away? I thought about adjusting the grip pressure on my right hand to match my left, but I'd have to back off so much strength in my right hand that it not only feels awkward, it goes against the two grip philosophies mentioned in the book.

Edited July 7, 2016 by MissionaryMike

[MarkCO]

Yes, the strongest grip you can gain through exercise will be a benefit. Equal strength grip training increased my strong side grip, but I gained a higher percentage in my weak hand, now they are pretty close to equal. Most people have a difficult time with unbalanced grip pressure when their hands are together and I would assert that a lot of people who "think" they have 70/30 (percent) grip pressures are closer to 60/60 or 70/70. If you have a great 2011 with a great trigger, then you can get away with 80/80 (and not fatigue) which, I would assert is the best combination and where a lot of top shooters end up.

I tend to run about 60/60 (I shoot striker fired pistols mostly), but I increased my grip strength through exercise and that made a huge improvement.

It took Manny Bragg a little bit to see that, with about an 80/40 grip, after about 6-10 shots, I had relaxed my weak hand and was opening up groups and pulling POIs from my POAs. Took me about a year to get the strength and balance I needed, and the results were very rewarding.

Edited July 7, 2016 by MarkCO

[mjmagee67]

I use the 100% with both hands method!! Just hold the gun tight and shoot.

[JD45]

Get both hands as strong as u can from grippers.

Then fix what you need to in shooting.

[MemphisMechanic]

I've been working hard on crushing the gun with the weak hand and letting my dominant hand relax. Leaving it loose all the time makes that same relaxed grip automatic when you're faced with an array of 1 yard targets to shred. You know, the ones you tense up on and get trigger freeze while shooting?

And my grip exercise has been... A dummy gun. We have a 7 year old running loose in my house, so while I routinely dryfire a few nights a week after he's in bed, the dummy gun offers the change to teach gun safety to him AND to pick a gun up a dozen times a day until the ultra-tight weak hand hold has become natural. I don't see the point in spending time squeezing a coil spring to build grip strength in my weak hand when I can do it by gripping a pistol. I want that super tight weak hand to become a habit and I want to make it stronger. So I pick up a pistol and grip it as often as it occurs to me.

This is the same way I retrained myself to use the thumbs-forward grip when I first began shooting matches as that "floppy & low grip" guy. Pick up a gun three dozen times a day, correctly, until it becomes habitual. Then begin to do it as fast as you can.

Edited July 7, 2016 by MemphisMechanic

[MissionaryMike]

I've been working hard on crushing the gun with the weak hand and letting my dominant hand relax. Leaving it loose all the time makes that same relaxed grip automatic when you're faced with an array of 1 yard targets to shred. You know, the ones you tense up on and get trigger freeze while shooting?

And my grip exercise has been... A dummy gun. We have a 7 year old running loose in my house, so while I routinely dryfire a few nights a week after he's in bed, the dummy gun offers the change to teach gun safety to him AND to pick a gun up a dozen times a day until the ultra-tight weak hand hold has become natural. I don't see the point in spending time squeezing a coil spring to build grip strength in my weak hand when I can do it by gripping a pistol. I want that super tight weak hand to become a habit and I want to make it stronger. So I pick up a pistol and grip it as often as it occurs to me.

This is the same way I retrained myself to use the thumbs-forward grip when I first began shooting matches as that "floppy & low grip" guy. Pick up a gun three dozen times a day, correctly, until it becomes habitual. Then begin to do it as fast as you can.

Good advice. But I thought grip strength is pretty much universally accepted to assist in recoil control, so there should be a benefit in gaining hand and forearm strength.

[ScottieShootz]

To me there is more than just gripping the gun. I've got one of the grip strengtheners and use it for both hands. But my recoil control was always better when I'm shooting under the timer/pressure than just doing whatever else. It really only hit me a few months ago when I sat down and broke down what I'm feeling in a match compared to everything else / combined with some Travis Haley given information.

Recoil control in my mind was always, grip down on the gun hard, tighten up the arms/ shoulders and lock your wrists. The key thing I have not recognized consciously is utilizing your chest muscles and tightening your core. Doing the old crush a walnut technique with your palms causes your chest to tighten as if you are doing flys in a workout. Consciously doing this now in my dryfires and live fire practice has greatly increased my split times to equal my match speed times. Thusly, has allowed me to push past my recent plateau.

Using the crush a walnut technique for me I have found takes out the notion of trying to lift your elbows up and away from your body as you can physically tell the difference in your "crushing" ability by pulling your elbows down towards your body.

Now, is this the best way to shoot, who knows, but I'm an athletic/gym person and this works best for me.

[MemphisMechanic]

Good advice. But I thought grip strength is pretty much universally accepted to assist in recoil control, so there should be a benefit in gaining hand and forearm strength.

There is. But crushing a gun a few dozens times a day and doing a half hour of dryfire practice with that same extreme grip pressure builds those muscles too.

I'm just saying that I spend all of my time squeezing a pistol grip to get my forearms stronger, versus squeezing a spring widget.

[MissionaryMike]

Good advice. But I thought grip strength is pretty much universally accepted to assist in recoil control, so there should be a benefit in gaining hand and forearm strength.

There is. But crushing a gun a few dozens times a day and doing a half hour of dryfire practice with that same extreme grip pressure builds those muscles too.

I'm just saying that I spend all of my time squeezing a pistol grip to get my forearms stronger, versus squeezing a spring widget.

Sure, that makes sense. If I go hard w/ my grip training aid, it doesn't take much for me to tire out - maybe 10 minutes. I guess the rest of the time I'm training my grip strength just the same as you during dry fire.

[P.E. Kelley]

[MissionaryMike]

Thanks, Pat. As always, you give out some good, solid info. I'm subscribed to you, so I've already seen the one you posted. Here's another one from Taran Tactical's Youtube channel that features Bob V. talking about his grip. At 1:36, Bob says, "If you're not squeezing the gun harder with your support [non-dominant] hand than your strong [dominant] hand, then you're doing something wrong." I guess that pretty much explains where he stands w/ the whole both hands vs support/strong hand grip pressure debate.

[P.E. Kelley]

Thanks, Pat. As always, you give out some good, solid info. I'm subscribed to you, so I've already seen the one you posted. Here's another one from Taran Tactical's Youtube channel that features Bob V. talking about his grip. At 1:36, Bob says, "If you're not squeezing the gun harder with your support [non-dominant] hand than your strong [dominant] hand, then you're doing something wrong." I guess that pretty much explains where he stands w/ the whole both hands vs support/strong hand grip pressure debate.

At about the 3 minute mark (in my video) I mention that I am in agreement with Robert Vogel.

Edited July 9, 2016 by P.E. Kelley

[Daft]

I think its Taran asking twice about how and where the weak hand gets on the pistol.

[johnbu]

I found I really WASN'T gripping near hard enough. Sadly, gripping hard activated elbow tendonitis. Being old sux. Gotta change things slower than expected to avoid injury.

[MemphisMechanic]

I'm 36 and still have that issue. Dryfire for 20 mins means serious soreness the next day. Being a mechanic on heavy equipment (cranes, dozers, bucket trucks) for 10 years takes a toll on you. My strong wrist and offhand elbow are nearly always damaged to some extent.

The more frequently I dryfire, as long as I was careful not to overdo it as I built up to regularly doing it...the less it bothers me and takes me beyond, er, baseline injury level.

[tdp88]

I'm having trouble gripping with my hands alone. I feel a lot of tension in my arms and shoulders when doing dry fire. Anyone have an suggestions for taking pressure out of arms and focusing on hand grip alone?

[lgh]

14 hours ago, tdp88 said:

I'm having trouble gripping with my hands alone. I feel a lot of tension in my arms and shoulders when doing dry fire. Anyone have an suggestions for taking pressure out of arms and focusing on hand grip alone?

There should not be tension in your arms and shoulders. When you lock your wrists with a strong grip, the arms, shoulders, and trunk take the recoil without additional tension. (We're not shooting bazookas, just handguns.) You might be creating the tension by having your elbows too high or low.  Experiment with getting your elbows at such a height that your hand contact on the gun is maximized, like they show in the videos. Since everyone is built a little different, your elbow position can be different than others when contact is maximized. Then squeeze. As others have pointed out, you can increase the force of the squeeze by using grip strength devices or just gripping the gun a lot.

 

Or ... It might be a general fitness issue if you have a desk job and don't do resistance-type workouts. i.e. the gun gets too heavy to hold up.

[Dr Mitch]

Buy some grip exercisers.  Work on your grip.  Grip hard with the weak hand. 

 

You need to be able to feel your triggering in your strong hand.  Feel the shooting.