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Locked elbows?


rocket99

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I haven't successfully done it like this yet, but Mr. Seeklander covers it at about the 6:00 minute mark. He talks about locking the tendons in the elbow, but not the elbow.

I've had trouble isolating the elbow tendons so far, but I'm still trying.

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I don't know who this guy is , but his elbows seem to have a slight bend to them ;)

IMG_4619.jpg

Someone should tell that guy he shouldn't put his index finger over the front trigger guard, he may then reach his potential.

Yea, he probably picked up that bad habit from Jerry Miculek.

Just think how much more success Jerry would have if he got that index finger off of the trigger guard...

Edited by TDA
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Should I be locking out my elbows after the draw and putting the gun on target? I have only shot 2 uspsa matches and I saw several guys locking out their arms, but several more were not what say the experts?

Most pros seem to like to lock them but they are in much better physical condition than the average person. Here are some facts:

1) If you lock your elbows, it puts all the load on your shoulders. If they can handle it, that may not be a problem.

2) If the elbows are allowed to flex, they act like shock absorbers for recoil. Locked out, your shoulder (rotator cuff) muscles have to handle the load of lifting the gun and stopping recoil lift.

If lockout works for you, no problem. Some of us older guys with chronic tendonitis can't do it.

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I don't know who this guy is , but his elbows seem to have a slight bend to them ;)

IMG_4619.jpg

Someone should tell that guy he shouldn't put his index finger over the front trigger guard, he may then reach his potential.

Yea, he probably picked up that bad habit from Jerry Miculek.

Just think how much more success Jerry would have if he got that index finger off of the trigger guard...

Or Angus...he's been doing it forever also.

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I would argue against it. As I was getting into competitive shooting, I changed my stance so that they were locked out. And now as I have become decent, I have reverted back to not locking the elbows. Locking the elbows gives a false sense of control. The gun may appear to recoil less, but I guarantee you the front sight returns on target just as quickly.

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Another aspect: bringing the gun a few inches closer by bending elbows actually reduces the fatigue rate of the shoulder muscles significantly. When I was shooting bullseye with my steel Ruger with 8" barrel and scope (gun weighs a ton) muscle fatigue was an issue and drawing the gun in a shade did help.

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With locked elbows (fully extended arms) I am not nearly as steady when holding the pistol and find that accuracy suffers.

I'm much more relaxed and comfortable with a slight bend.

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I believe the issue is tensioning the tendons in the joints with the arm muscles, so the recoil is damped out by more body parts (not locking the joint).

If you look at the arms of the good shooters, their arm/forearm muscles look to be fully involved and tight, but their elbows slightly bent..

Fully locking the joint to the point of hyperextension, might throw you off balance with large calibers.

For me, with a couple of rotator cuff surgeries and arthritis in those joints, I wouldn't have a chance with surviving shooting long term.

Anyway, maybe a medical person who works in sports medicine would know. I'm sure we have a few of those around.

I haven't quite figured it out yet myself.

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Don't lock them out - your hands, wrists, arms, shoulders should work together like a set of stiff race track shocks and springs in a race car. There def is an optimal point for each shooter - get some video of you shooting and run it in slow motion to see what is best for your body. Last thing I'll add is as you put the bend in your elbows, be careful not to compensate by trying to strangle the grip like the neck of a turkey.

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Ok so ai must ask again why not have your finger on trigger guard? I have used this technique as long as I can remember it just feels right. And I feel like I have more control.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

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Ok so ai must ask again why not have your finger on trigger guard? I have used this technique as long as I can remember it just feels right. And I feel like I have more control.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

My guess is that it is condemned by many shooters because it is subjective to finger length and is not a "universal" grip technique. Those who don't do it claim that the finger on the trigger guard "steers" the gun and can cause the muzzle to wander upon recoil. That's probably true, because their finger is just too short to wrap around the trigger guard and they end up pushing the guard to the side rather than pulling straight back.

If your finger is long enough to wrap around the guard and pull straight back it probably works pretty well judging from some of the shooters that have employed the technique!

I have large hands and long fingers and after reading all of the "don't ever do that" comments I immediately went to the range and tried it with my Glock 27 and wondered why I hadn't tried that before!

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Very interesting, thanks for the input. I guess I will have to try shooting without my finger on the trigger guard and see if it changes where my shots hit. I've been using that technique since day 1

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

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