Grip Help

[Soligen]

I went shooting last night for the first time in a while, and noticed a problem that I've noticed before, but just never paid attention to. I think my recent dry fire had made things a bit more consistent, so now I notice this more. I went back to old grip threads, but didn't specifically find this.

I try to hold a neutral grip and not crush the gun. However, when the gun goes off, my weak hand shifts. I then have to re-adjust my grip. If I don't re-adjust the grip, then after several shots, the weak hand is just along for the ride, hardly doing anything. The weak hand moves forward, separating the heals of the hands a bit.

I couldn't get enough rounds in to experiment much last night. What would you guys recommend? It seems I should grip tighter with the weak hand until it stays in place, but this seems counter to the grip threads that say that things work better with looser grip. This just has me confused. Should I grip tighter with the weak hand until it stays put? (I would end up gripping tighter than a hammer) Or, is something else wrong? If something else, what?

More notes:

I recently started Dry Firing more, and when I did, I went back to "The Book" to make sure I was practicing with the right grip (at least hand placement, If not tension). I wanted to make sure to reinforce the right thing.

Shooting minor in a CZ85 (~132 pf)

I have skateboard tape applied.

Strong hand does not seem to move at all, but of course it has much more contact with the tape.

I don't do the push-pull thing (it never felt right to me).

Please, help me get on the right track!

Thanks

Dennis

P.S. – It was PPC (Cross training) I was shooting, and I actually shot better than normal (Dry Fire paying off!). I was also seeing muzzle flash fairly consistently. Didn’t see the sight move, but I least this indicates I’m not blinking (at least fairly often), which was nice.

[dghboy315]

you don't want your grip, either hand, to shift while shooting. it will slow you down and mess up your shooting if your left hand "is only along for the ride". you might as well be shoulding strong hand only. it is basically telling you your left hand is not supporting your gun like it should. on only courses of fire, this will really hurt you. therefore, my advice is do what ever it takes to keep your left hand in place. if what the "correct" grip does not allow you to do that, then change it. there is no one perfect grip for everyone. different people have different hands. basically the modern theory is to try to get as much of your supporting hand's palm on the gun as possible to help support. don't worry if by turing your hand to get as much contact, you dont' look like the 'pros". as long as you can achieve a solid, stable shooting grip and stance, it does not matter what it looks like.

[tigerkf]

What type grip are you using? Maybe your weak hand isn't canted far enough.

[10ring]

A couple of other fine points which might be causing you some grief are the following:

1. Your elbows and shoulders/back need to be relaxed so that your upper body can absorb the recoil.

2. Your wrists need to be locked - mostly the strong hand wrist. Ron Avery separates locking the wrist from grip pressure. For me, understanding this subtle difference was a big help.

The main thing your trying to do is absorb the recoil of the gun. It's impossible for most people to prevent the recoil from happening so the best we can do is roll with it. That being said, your grip needs to be such that both hands have good contact with the grip. In that way when the gun recoils, the force is being absorbed by both arms instead of just one.

[Loves2Shoot]

2. Your wrists need to be locked - mostly the strong hand wrist. Ron Avery separates locking the wrist from grip pressure. For me, understanding this subtle difference was a big help.

Didn't you mean weak hand locked out? If you lock out the strong hand you wouldn't be able to pull the trigger

[Jake Di Vita]

Heres the rub. I noticed in your post you read how crushing the gun doesn't work. The more I shoot the more I discover there are no absolutes when it comes to shooting technique. Crushing the gun may not work for some people or they may not like it. I crush it pretty good but no where near as much as Jerry Barnhart.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Look at and try all of your alternatives and post your observations along the way.

[10ring]

Didn't you mean weak hand locked out? If you lock out the strong hand you wouldn't be able to pull the trigger

No, I didn't mean like the support hand being cammed over. Another term Ron uses is "setting" the wrist. Try to rotate your strong hand upward with your weak hand while you strong hand fingers are extended. Without too much trouble you can cause your strong hand to not bend upward - all this while you're not gripping anything. That's the effect I'm referring to.

[Loves2Shoot]

"setting" the wrist.

I understand that, that is different than locking it out. It is more of a sideways/downward twist for me. Thanks for the clarification.

[Chris Rhines]

I used to have a problem with my weak hand coming off the gun.

Relaxing the arms and shoulders helps.

Leaning forward a little bit more helps.

What really did the trick was when I started "camming" by support hand into the grip during the draw, like Matt Burkett does in his video series.

- Chris