grip pressure vs. trigger speed secret?

[DrLove]

so I guess as all of you know, there's an inverse relation between how much pressure you apply to the grip (to minimize recoil, etc.) and how fast you can pull the trigger. The part I still don't get, is how do top shooters manage the trade off?

I can pull the trigger pretty fast (splits around 0.15sec) but my grip would suffer a lot. On the other hand, I can apply a very strong grip, but then my trigger finger is just too stiff to go too fast (best split around 0.25sec). What is the secret here?

[BeerBaron]

well the secret (I think, and told to me by a top M limited shooter) is to match it to the targets you're shooting at.

if you're shooting a 15 yard target you're unlikely to be pulling .15 splits anyway so the grip tightens up to manage the recoil and you give the shot the time it needs to find the A zone at that distance.

if your doing a hoser array at 5 yards his advice to me was "loosen the grip a bit and let the gun rock and roll and do it's thing". as in don't worry about letting it move a little more, on a close array you can let it move a fair bit and still get 2 in the A.

I don't know what level you're at, but I'm guessing with some practice even on the longer targets you'll find a good balance between a good grip and a split of .20 or less. obviously a big part of it is being able to separate your hands so that you have a firm grip with the weak hand but the strong hand is relaxed enough to work the trigger.

[motosapiens]

grip more with the weak hand, less with the strong hand. this makes alot of things work better.

But seriously, split speed is not really holding very many people back. If you can shoot .25 splits on non-easy targets, you're ahead of the game.

Also, it helps alot with trigger speed to do dryfire billdrills at a pretty aggressive pace. Play with the grip pressure when you do that and find out how much you need to relax the upper part of your strong hand in order get your finger moving. Note that you can still grip pretty hard with the lower part of your strong hand.

[rowdyb]

it may seem silly but I also just practice pulling my finger quickly. i set the metronome app on my phone to 300 bpm and try to just squeeze the trigger at that speed until i can't anymore. sometimes i just do it, other times i aim at a target or targets.

[Wild Gene]

The weak hand is the most overlooked part of shooting.

When I grip, I don't even think about my strong hand, I just make sure it is in position on the gun. I squeeze as hard as I can with my weak hand. Strong hand just runs the trigger.

Same thing with the draw. I don't think about how quickly I can get my hand on the gun, it knows where everything is, I think about snapping my weak hand over to my right side to help get the gun up and help press out (which is when I "build" my grip) to break the shot.

Even when I am using on of those grip strength trainers, I focus more on the left hand.

I think the top shooters worry less about grip strength and more about just "letting it happen". I think their speed comes from eye speed and their ability to track their sights and follow their shots. I also think it is more of an economy of motion, the ability to multitask and always be doing multiple things at once (always moving, shooting, loading) and then their ability to fully visualize the stage in their head before they shoot and not think about what they are doing.

Good luck.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Wild Gene

[rowdyb]

that has been the best thing i've read all week about shooting. thank you gene.

[Jshuberg]

Don't rely on the muscles of the hands to grip the gun, use leverage. Rotate your hands inward and choke the top of the gun slightly. This allows you to use less of your hand muscles, by using forearm and shoulder muscles to focus the pressure high up on the frame. It doesn't take much rotation at all. Experiment with it by using your normal grip live fire, rotating your hands inward slightly, and then slowly back off your hand strength while shooting and observe the recoil and muzzle flip. Play around with hand strength vs rotation until you find that nice comfortable spot.

Going death grip does work - as many different techniques work. It does however require you to develop quite a lot of hand strength, it requires you to use quite a lot of hand strength, and you'll fatigue much faster. If you believe in the principle of conservation of effort, play around with various techniques and don't rely solely on brute force strength.

[DrLove]

Thanks guys for all the feedback. It all makes sense, just harder done then said. I guess that's what practice is for

[Wild Gene]

I was assuming a proper grip on the gun. Hand position is very important, I personally have my strong hand up high on the grip thumb forward, and my weak hand thumb rocking forward, pointing at the target, to the point that my extended trigger finger and off hand thumb are across the guns slide from each other. I don't have my elbows locked, I'm not really thinking about anything except holding on for the ride! Haha!!!!

This is really important to help manage any recoil when you are shooting .45, along with good grip strength, but to get any kind of true trigger speed, I have to keep my strong hand somewhat relaxed. It is just what I have found to work for me.

g

[Supermoto]

You can run 100% classifiers with .2 splits There are very few instances were splits matter.

[CSStreett]

You can run 100% classifiers with .2 splits There are very few instances were splits matter.

Splits are for show.

[GARD72977]

You need to evaluate your strength and work form there. You can only use a percentage of your grip strength before your finger dexterity is affected. If you increase your grip strength you can apply more pressure without negative results.

[Wild Gene]

Gard, EXACTLY!

[Chris iliff]

grip more with the weak hand, less with the strong hand. this makes alot of things work better.

But seriously, split speed is not really holding very many people back. If you can shoot .25 splits on non-easy targets, you're ahead of the game.

Also, it helps alot with trigger speed to do dryfire billdrills at a pretty aggressive pace. Play with the grip pressure when you do that and find out how much you need to relax the upper part of your strong hand in order get your finger moving. Note that you can still grip pretty hard with the lower part of your strong hand.

This ^^^^^^

Good stuff.