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Left hand thumb position on XD pistol


kmaultsby

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Hello everyone I having an issue with my grip on my XD tactical and would like some feedback. I am right handed small hands short fingers. Shooting in IDPA matches lately. Sometimes I place my left thumb on top of the disassembly level and sometimes directly beside of it and sometimes below it. When I place it above the metal hurts my thumb and when I place it on the side of it my thumb looses contact with it. I am trying to control recoil using thumb extended. Would love any suggestions. user_online.gifreport.gif progress.gif

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My weak hand thumb points towards the target, never touching the gun ;)

As odd as it sounds, most of us do shoot better if our thumbs do not touch the gun. It seems "less secure" that way, but it forces a better grip using the fingers on the front-rear (strong hand) and left right (weak hand).

The thing about thumbs is they invoke one of Newton's laws: for every force there has to be an equal opposing force provided for an object to remain at rest. If you press the left side of the frame at all with the thumbs, your strong hand has to be compensating on the other side which is actually unbalancing the grip.

Edited by bountyhunter
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Hello everyone I having an issue with my grip on my XD tactical and would like some feedback. I am right handed small hands short fingers. Shooting in IDPA matches lately. Sometimes I place my left thumb on top of the disassembly level and sometimes directly beside of it and sometimes below it. When I place it above the metal hurts my thumb and when I place it on the side of it my thumb looses contact with it. I am trying to control recoil using thumb extended. Would love any suggestions. user_online.gifreport.gif progress.gif

I am not sure your thumb is doing a whole lot for you in terms of recoil control. Maybe just have it ride next to the gun (but not quite touching) for awhile and see what happens.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My weak hand thumb points towards the target, never touching the gun ;)

+1 Thumbs should NEVER be on the gun.

+2 and mine ar align off the frame but hovering just on the outside of the disassembly lever.

Try it with contact tape to make sure your off it. You can get the tape at a golf store.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am reading Brian's book right now and he addresses the thumb contact issue very well toward the beginning of the book. Thumb pressure can steer the muzzle by creating a non-neutral grip. It's best to keep thumbs off the gun so that your grip allows the front sight to track naturally up and down out of the rear sights. This is something I am working on in my shooting as well. It's a habit I've developed and I'm learning my way away from it.

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My weak hand thumb points towards the target, never touching the gun ;)

+1 Thumbs should NEVER be on the gun.

RO-ing at nationals it seemed to me like there were some VERY good shooters that have their thumbs touching. It seems like some people use their support hand almost like on a rifle, wrapping under, so the thumb is counteracting the support-hand-finger-pressure, which keeps the gun moving very straight up and down in recoil

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  • 4 weeks later...

This is an awesome topic. I've had the same issue, and being a new pistol shooter was wondering if this was just a product of my choice of pistol or if I was actually doing something not quite right.. Secondly, I've been kinda trying to figure out why when I see my front sight lift, that it wasnt going up straight.. always went up to the right.. haha.. I think this answered both questions for me. Cant wait to get out and see what I see.

Thanks folks!

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I have a friend who had the take-down lever on his XD beveled just a little to get rid of the sharp corner. You can't alter the profile of a production gun so don't get carried away.

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The takedown lever is my index point for weak hand thumb and it has never really been an issue. I have tested accuracy with and without and dont see a difference. I guess I am aware enough of it that I don't push and just use it as an index point.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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