AZDave

Thanks Duane! I'll try caming my wrist down next time out. I'll admit that I've been shooting thumbs forward for a year now, and I didn't understand until just now that the reason is really around camming the wrist... I've been a passable pistol shot, but probably only because I've been shooting 9mm and the additional recoil is really amplifying the problems with my technique. Thinking about the responses in this thread, should my strong hand be driving the gun forward and the support hand be pulling back to keep the bottom of the grip from levering up under recoil? BTW, I just picked up the 1911 issue and found your article really helpful!

Thanks for the insight! Maybe I'm trying to hard to fight the recoil. I just picked up this 1911, and I've been shooting a Sig P229 in .40 for the last couple thousand rounds. I also did a little bit of shooting with just my thumb and forefinger that day as well, which was more accurate than my two handed shooting.... I learned it at a recent Dave Harrington class I took to work on trigger control. Beyond the support hand slipping off, I have a trigger control problem. I've started dry firing this week, as everyone seems to recommend it to improve. I just want to make sure I'm practicing the correct grip while I'm ingraining habits. http://img266.imageshack.us/i/shootingwiththumbandfor.mp4/ Also, here is the a view from the alternate side. http://img695.imageshack.us/i/shootinghandcomingoffof.mp4/ I don't think it's a finger length issue at all. Two things I see right off. One, you're stopping the gun when it gets to the top of it's rise, releasing the tension on your support hand (watch the lower fingers as it's almost a ripple upwards), adjusting/regaining your grip and then bringing the gun down to normal index on the target. If you're fighting the gun to try and stop it at the top, you're almost pushing forward with the support hand making it easy for your hand to want to release....it's going in that direction already. If we're shooting fast splits we're going to be pushing forward to drive the gun (after ignition), but that is happening with the strong hand, not the support hand, which is clamping side to side to make the gun track straight up and down and balance out the whole system. Try shooting a couple of shots with a very relaxed grip and just let the gun go up and down almost by itself...it's not going anywhere. I'll often shoot a gun (as a demonstration) using only my strong thumb, middle finger and maybe ring finger in a very loose grip...partially putting my body off to the side so it's clear I'm not offering much resistance to the recoil/flip. The gun flips a lot more, and moves my hand, but it still comes back down pointed generally at the target. Once you see it come back quickly, by itself, that's something to strive for when you're shooting normally. In a similar fashion, if you shot a .22 your support hand probably isn't doing the same thing...because you're not trying to control it since you know it's not going to move much to start with. I'm sure others will have more, better ideas, but that might be a start. R,

That's where my shorter fingers may be a problem. I feel like I'm only gripping an "L", not a "C" where I can really squeeze with my left hand. Maybe I should try slim grips on the gun?

Maybe I'm YouTube challenged.... I put it at http://img705.imageshack.us/i/shootinghandcomingoffof.mp4/

Sorry, apparently it's still processing the file.

I threw a video up on youtube of it

So I had a friend video me while shooting the other day, and I was shocked to see that my support hand slips on every shot and (with two different handguns I was shooting, sig P229 and a 1911). The lower part of my support hand stays in contact with the frame, but the gun recoils about away from my index finger. On the 1911 at the peak of the recoil, my support hand index finger is like an inch off the gun. I do have smallish hands and use a forward thumbs grip not touching the gun, which may contribute. Has anyone else seen a problem like this? Thanks! Dave