Grip Pressure

[dpollard]

New to the forum and fairly new to shooting competitively. I mostly shoot steel challenge with an M&P .40. Over the last several weeks I managed to bring my overall times from 100+ seconds down to 83 seconds total time for 4 stages in steel challenge. I slowed down and really took time to aim, which is what I thought attributed to my time decrease. Then last week I was back up to over 100 seconds.

One thing I think I forgot is how I was gripping the gun. I'm a left handed shooter. How much pressure do you put on each hand to hold the gun steady? A very tight grip, loose grip, equal pressure with right and left hand, more pressure with one hand over the other etc...? Or does this depend on the individual shooter?

[theycallmeingot]

there are a lot of different opinions on this. If you do a search, you'll find a lot of valuable information.

My personal preference is about 60% weakhand pressure, and 40% strong hand pressure. and not pulling or pushing, just floating the gun in front of my body at like 95% extension.

Some better shooters will surely weigh in on this.

[dpollard]

Should have a read a little more closely. I now see someone else just posted this same topic. I'll check out that thread. Didn't mean to double post. Sorry.

[moonshoxx]

i have issues with gripping too weak so i always tell myself to grip as hard as i can with support hand. Probably works out to 60/40 70/30

[Jesse Tischauser]

I grip as hard as I can with the Weakhand and is soft as I can with the strong hand. I started out with a death grip on both hands but had troubles with trigger manipulation and control when my strong hand was gripping to firmly.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Jesse Tischauser

[redwoods]

I used to use the 60/40, 70/30, etc. untill I took a class with Manny Bragg. Then I realized....duh....You can grip 100/100 if you want. You don't have to make the percentages equal 100 when talking about two hands. That said, if we had to put a percentage number on the grip, I am now thinking 90% grip with support hand and 50% with shooting hand.

[calvinc78]

I've been working on upping my pressure... But seems like when I shoot a match, all that goes out the window and I just grab it... And I know that's not the correct grip and as soon as I look at my shots... I know what I did

[Sin-ster]

I grip the gun hard.

There's a lot of shortcomings with discussing the grip in the terms you've laid out. First and foremost, under the stress inherent to that buzzer going off in your ear, you are almost certainly going to be squeezing harder than your theoretical levels.

I personally believe that your grip should be measured by the results, not necessarily by the specifics of how you achieve them. As you suspect, the grip is a very personal thing; what works for me may not work for you at all. But if our sights track consistently, we're managing recoil efficiently, and the dexterity/speed of our trigger fingers are not negatively impacted... Who cares if you know that you're 70/30 and all I know is that I'm applying a lot of force?

Focus more on where/how you're applying pressure-- not on how much you're applying. Is your grip built around the gun properly? Are you creating friction/exerting force in the right areas? High on the backstrap, and covering as much of the lateral surfaces as possible? Do the sights align perfectly when you lift them to your eyes-- i.e. how's your NPA?

Brian essentially talks about two things in regards to grip pressure in his book, and I find them to be wholly accurate. Neutrality: don't exert pressure in such a way that the gun will lift oddly in recoil and settle anywhere other than back where it started. "Zen": shoot more and let your body figure it out; ensure the proper formation of your grip, will the sights to return quickly and consistently to alignment, and don't TRY so much to do anything.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Sin-ster