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Grip pressure


Skywalker

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I am re-reading (lost track of how many times I read it in the last three years) THE book, and I'm at that point where BE speaks about grip neutrality and flexible wrists to allow precise and consistent muzzle tracking.

This reminded me of something a fellow fencer once told me about how to grip a foil: "The foil is like a robin: while holding it into your hand you have to bear in mind that if you squeeze it, it will die, if you grip it loose, it will fly away"

I guess it's perfectly applicable to gripping a handgun too.

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I read and tried to believe all the relaxed grip / wrists stuff, but the reality is something else.

I shot a class with Barnhart this past June and he is the only guy I have ever met who admits to crushing the gun.

I think when that beep goes off a lot more of us crush it than will admit it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
"The foil is like a robin: while holding it into your hand you have to bear in mind that if you squeeze it, it will die, if you grip it loose, it will fly away."
I find that if I grip in THIS manner, then I almost can't feel the gun, and it performs more on its OWN than if I FORCE it (I just have to be sure to AIM properly)(heh). But seriously, a light grip reduces MANY of the things that seem to go wrong when I grip TOO tightly.......
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It's possible to have a very firm yet neutral grip.

I shot a class with Barnhart this past June and he is the only guy I have ever met who admits to crushing the gun.

Not only that, he admitted to doing it intentionally. He even recommends improving your grip strength via Ironmind grippers & etc. He also mentioned that he no longer recommends a 70% weak hand / 30% stong hand bias. He now recommends 50/50. Sounds like a firm neutral grip.

Think about this for a minute. If I remember correctly, Todd, Jerry, Robby & Eric G. all grip the gun hard. Todd & Jerry have admitted to doing it on purpose. Notice anything in common with these 4? B)

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Storm,

good points. I didn't think to mention iron mind.

Based on a combo of Jerry inspired drills I now have a sort of workout for my grip pressure, and aggressive stance:

We did a drill starting at about 5y going back to 25y in 5y increments, 2 rounds each distance, sloooow fire, trying for one hole. I add gripping the gun tightly and leaning forward (like we're all supposed to).

I do this drill three times, for a total of 45 rounds and I find my "grippers" are tired. Clear evidence I was not strong enough before, or gripping the gun hard enough.

Don't know if I'll see improvement from this drill in the grip department, I have just started doing it, but it is helping in being able to shoot groups without standing there limp as a noodle.

as at your own risk...

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When you choose to grip hard the tendency to try and counteract recoil is greater and flinching, trigger freeze etc seem to follow. I try to use a fairly firm grip but still let the pistol recoil. What were the reasons behind the hard grip?

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Jake,

I would also add that trigger freeze comes from tension in places other than the hands/forearms. I feel that when ever I've had trigger freeze, I've had tension in my shoulders/neck area and I was just generally tense. It comes from "trying" to shoot fast versus gripping the gun hard and letting it go off.

Did someone say "Ironmind grippers"? Can anyone here close the #3 yet? :huh:

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I think a difference needs to be made between:

1) How much pressure you put on the grip of the gun and...

2) How tense you are when putting pressure on the gun

If you are really strong, you can have a relaxed grip, yet crush the gun. If you're not strong, you can put an equal amount of pressure on the gun as the strong guy, but you will not be as relaxed.

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It also depends on the individual's ability to grip the gun hard while maintaining a trigger finger disassociation, in order to achieve maximum trigger control (assuming that there is a direct correlation between accuracy and trigger control). There is a certain amount of mental focus that is required to do this. For me, a firm grip is important to achieving the best results, but it's just one part of the equation.

Jake,

The Iron Mind Captain's of Crush list has expanded a bit. Right now there's about 120 people on the list for the #3 gripper. That by no means takes away from the feat that it is! A friend of mine from work is on the list and got me into it.

I don't have a #3 yet because I'm still working on the #2. I'm almost there (about 4mm away)and have vowed to be able to close it by New Years day. The #2 requires about 195lbs of pressure to close. Just FYI, a run of the mill sporting goods store model is rated at about 30lbs.

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120 hmm. Looks like I need to start working on that again. I got to the point where I could close the #2 completely three times, but after I did it, it felt like something was tearing away from something else. ;)

Gonna start again tomorrow though. hehe.

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When I was young(er) and dumb(er) I tried a lot of forearm and gripping exercises. My 2c worth is just not to get too carried away in your quest for instant grip strngth - be sensible - I worked may way into tennis elbow twice and the problems took many months (cortisone shots etc.) to resolve... Oh any you guys on the big equipment take it easy shaking hands when you meet people who don't expect to be crushed in a gorilla grip you may break something (of theirs)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had a breakthrough over the weekend. I learned how to effectively shoot full power 45 loads with speed without using a strong grip....i was Very relaxed. The gun ran. I hit the target.

I have to keep working on this.

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