sincityshooter Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Ok, here's the deal. I'm sure everyone has heard that you shouldn't grip the gun so much that you are shaking (common sense). I'm sure most of you have seen some bigger shooters with banana hands where the gun looks like a toy and barely moves. Now here's what I'm wondering. Has anyone done any exercises to increase grip strength? With a perfect grip and a lot of pressure, I can keep the gun a heck of lot more stable than my regular "when the buzzer goes off" grip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 The Captains of Crush grip trainers are popular with a number of folks. I pick up, pull, and swing heavy objects regularly, which does a pretty good job of it, as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Practice until your "when the buzzer goes off grip" turns into your "perfect grip with lots of stability". I have started on the CoC grippers and like them thus far. Only working on the "Trainer" right now. its a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to moving up the ladder and improving my grip strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Griffin Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 There's a lot to be said for increasing the contact surface rather than the strength. If you can have skin contact on every square millimeter of grip surface, then the relative feeling of grip strength can be much less while still maintaining recoil control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 There's a lot to be said for increasing the contact surface rather than the strength. How much is hand enlargement surgery? lol I'm currently doing a form of linear progression with the CoC grippers. I'll wait a month or two before I post my results, I may forget about this thread so a bump at that time would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seth Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I found that a increasing my hand strength from ~100# to now nearly 195# has not only improved my recoil control substantially but my flinch is GONE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sincityshooter Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 I just found a thread on the Captain Crunch and I'll think about going that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outbreak Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I bought the Prohands Extra Heavy for a deployment. I'd sit around in my room, or during the part I was stuck in a desk, around the office just squeezing 10-rep sets. Switch hands, repeat. People looked at me funny when I told them it was for my shooting grip (I'm in a flying unit, so we don't shoot a lot) I practiced running and gunning with a Nerf pistol, popping over computer monitors or around corners and popping off foam darts. The Major was scared to death of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck1 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Curious what you guys are seeing as far as results with working on the grip strength? I've been using the CoC #1 for a while now (4 months?), it's gotten to the point now with it where I can close it 10+ times in a row easily with my support-hand no problem (I had to ask a friend if he thought it was maybe broken or something, he couldn't close it in his strong-hand, it's not broken...), and shooting-wise I feel like I've improved A LOT, I feel like I have much more command over the gun. Now I'm working on the mental uphill climb much more than I used to, i feel like my shooting mechanics are coming together now at a fastr pace, the increase in grip-strength has really paid dividends in my case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimmie Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Woman input. When I first started shooting, I was told a 'firm' grip was what I wanted. (Let's keep this clean, guys ) Sort of like a nice, firm handshake. So, for 10+ years, that was my grip. Never had the 'limp wrist' cycling problems so I never thought about it much, and recoil wasn't all that bad. I shot .45 factory ammo for years, 190++++ pf. But, I couldn't figure out why my accuracy was so inconsistent. Even when I KNEW I had my sights on target. And I KNEW I had good trigger control. In another post, I talked about my 'aha' moment. And during that 'aha' moment and working on getting a consistent grip and all the other stuff - I had a 'sub-aha moment'. Something was happening between the time I started squeezing the trigger and when the shot went off. I didn't think I was flinching. I saw the sights the whole time. This was driving me crazy. What was going on? So I started analyzing my grip. Started reading the posts about grip. And the 60/40 and the death grip and all the rest. And then I realized - these are MEN talking. And even from one man to another, the amount of grip pressure is a subjective thing. Firm to Hulk Hogan is death grip to Peewee Herman. Well, you get my point. And then I realized something more. My firmest grip, being a woman, is probably about 1/4 of what most men have. I'm not petite by any means and have good sized hands but still, my hand strength is not anywhere near the average man. So, I started experimenting with a tighter grip. For me, a death grip. And wow. What a difference. I just wasn't holding the gun tight enough. It was wobbling all over the place. I have 10+ years of habit to overcome. It takes a conscious effort every time I shoot to not revert to that 'lady like' grip, but I'm sure with time and practice, it will become instinct. And I'm going to get some of those grip strength-ner thingamajiggy's. Maybe if I meet any of you at the Area 7 Championship in September - I can drop you to your knees with my handshake! Anyway, just wanted to point out that while woman and men are on a somewhat more level playing field in this sport - the differences really can have a big impact on performance and we woman need to keep that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calishootr Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 the key is to find the right balance between a relaxed grip and the afor mentioned 'death grip,thatfor many results in more problems, for me, in showing people how to shoot, i run into this problem a;; the time, 'how much pressure' 70/30-60/40 is all relative to the person, the main thing to remember, and we see it all the time when people tryto 'hammer' a bank of really close targets and they end up with all kinds of trigger freeze??? because they, at that particular moment over gripped the gun and caused their ability to utilize fine motor control of their fingers, the gross motor functions are stillthere, being able to drivethe gun, but as for pulling the trigger, and letting it reset goes away with increased grip presure, find out what works for you as kimmie has discovered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 IME, trigger freeze comes from trying to shoot fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Gene Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Woman input. When I first started shooting, I was told a 'firm' grip was what I wanted. (Let's keep this clean, guys ) Sort of like a nice, firm handshake. ................................................. Well, you get my point. And then I realized something more. My firmest grip, being a woman, is probably about 1/4 of what most men have. I'm not petite by any means and have good sized hands but still, my hand strength is not anywhere near the average man. So, I started experimenting with a tighter grip. For me, a death grip. And wow. What a difference. I just wasn't holding the gun tight enough. It was wobbling all over the place. I have 10+ years of habit to overcome. It takes a conscious effort every time I shoot to not revert to that 'lady like' grip, but I'm sure with time and practice, it will become instinct. And I'm going to get some of those grip strength-ner thingamajiggy's. Maybe if I meet any of you at the Area 7 Championship in September - I can drop you to your knees with my handshake! Anyway, just wanted to point out that while woman and men are on a somewhat more level playing field in this sport - the differences really can have a big impact on performance and we woman need to keep that in mind. Very good post, and one that many people do not consider. Technique is just so much of it. If it is just strength, then by all rights, I should be able to beat Randi Rogers or Jessie Abbate, and I have a very positive attitude, but that is probably not going to happen today (unless they can bench 300 lbs., or load 100 lb. hay bales, or pack baby calves around, and are just way stronger than I think they are, LOL!) While you can train, and increase your grip strength, and that should help (and I know it has really helped me), technique and proper training are very important. Gene Edited February 26, 2011 by Wild Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ER_STL Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Curious what you guys are seeing as far as results with working on the grip strength? When I first starting training the CoC grippers the "Trainer" was challenging for a set of three. I could barely close the #1 more than once or twice per hand per set. I'm currently doing sets of three with the #2 now. As an IT geek with smallish hands the CoC grippers have helped the health of my hands considerably. And, in combination with bringing my elbows out to drive my hands onto the gun, I'm finding that my shooting is improving too. Edited February 26, 2011 by ER_STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ck1 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I guess it all comes down to the fact that grip-strength is a relative thing and having more of it on tap doesn't hurt any. Think when people say to avoid death-gripping the gun it's really more about avoiding the tension that comes with squeezing to the point where our hands start shaking and where it affects or trigger pressing ability; but with the increased and greater grip-strength my new "relaxed" grip nowadays is probably twice as strong as my old "death-grip" was, without the negative side-effects. Holding onto and controlling the gun seems easier, because now with the added grip-strength, with less conscious effort I'm doing better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc540 Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Yes, I exercise using a 5 lb. dumbell stick with the collars but without weights, just the short bar and collar. First one hand then the other I pull it from a drawing position. Then I slowly extend it out to a firing position and rock my fist up, then back down. I then slowly pull the weight back in reverse to a holstered position with about 10 rep's per hand. Guess what it made burn when I first started? shoulders In BE's book he said to keep a "balanced" grip with each hand having equal pressure. That little piece of advice right there has helped me more than anything. Mounted my Dillon SDB today, so I'm really looking forward to shooting some less snappy 9mm loads than all this WWB I've been shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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