Weak-Hand shooting

[talon]

At the range today I noticed that when I was shooting strong hand only that the gun would recoil a few inches before I saw the second sight picture.  When I shot weak-hand only the gun would recoil darn near a foot.  When I tried to grip harder  my hand would begin to tremble.  Do I just need to develop some muscle some where ?

[Steve Anderson]

THe gun will always recoil more with the weak hand. That's why it's called the weak hand!

Seriously, learn to isolate the trigger finger from the rest of the hand so you don't jerk the shot. Just let the recoil happen, and learn where the sight ends up.

Practice close, and gradually move out. I used to hate weak hand, and I was inspired by someone who said,

"if you want to be great you must practice the things you hate to do" (loosely recollected)

Now I spend 10-15% of my practice time on one handed shooting. When it comes up in competition, I just smile while the rest of my buddies bitch and complain.

SA

[Steve Anderson]

Another quote from a wise one,

"when gripping the gun, use about the same force you'd use to grip a hammer"

You can't stop recoil. Your death grip is probably hurting your performance.

SA

[Detlef]

but still: you need to develop the muscles used in WH shooting! Then the trmbling will gradually become less and go away. Mostly, dry practice will do the job, though special WH exercises have been proposed by (among others) Matt Burkett... Just hold the gun out on WH shooting position until you feel muscles tiring. repeat a few times every session. It really helps...

--detlef

[BSeevers]

I actually use weights. If I can hold 10 lbs for 10 sec then 4 lbs for 6 sec is easy and steady.

Also shoot weak hand just like freestyle. Don't quarter to target(takes time) if you just drop your strong hand away(feels natural so no new technique to learn) Shoot the sights(call the shot or RO calls miss) Use a timer to practice(tells you if that new technique is faster) Only count 'A's' in practice( If you can't shoot an A in practice how can you in a match)

Some might disagree with above but works for me.

[Luiz Francisco Ramos]

To shoot weak hand like freestyle can be good habit to get better the one hand weak shoot; and maybe for that shoots with extreme barricades from the left side.

I will try this...

[3quartertime]

I've been working on some weak hand strong hand stuff of late myself.  I thought I had a break through when I realized that if I cant the gun,  about 30 degrees or less, I was much more accurate.  I can get the sights back on much faster too.

Then I saw a part in Mr Enos's book about it.  Knew I wasn't smart enough to have a ground breaking discovery!!!

My only worry is that I start looking like the idiots in the movies!!!

I've also been trying to shoot one handed from my freestyle stance, but I twisting towards the target.  Feels pretty good as long as I keep my balance.

[Dowter]

It's not the strength that you have to develop in your weak hand, it's your fine motor skills.  

It seems to me that most people have almost exactly the same ammount of strength in both arms.  When doing pushups, does one side give out way before the other.  How about in curling dumbbells? I don't believe people have that much difference in their arms.  Strength shouldn't be the problem in weak hand shooting.

Coordination is a completely different matter.  Try throwing a football/baseball or even writing your name with your weak hand.  The difference is obvious.

Learning to shoot weak handed just requires the person to practive shooting weak handed.  Not only that but the weak hand has just as much potential as the strong.  The only difference is that the weak hand has vastly less experience shooting.

I use to hate shooting weak handed. It felt like I was holding the gun with my feet!  I knew though that since I hated it that I had to really practice. (kind of like what has already been said )  Now, weak hand shooting is one of my best skills.  Whenever I see a stage that has weak hand shooting in it, I know that I'm moving up a few spots in the match.

Here are some simple dryfiring drills.

Transfer the gun back and forth between hands.  (keep your trigger finger straight on this drill) Just make sure that when you transfer that you are doing it as smooth as possible and that you aren't readjusting or repositioning the gun once it is transfered. (I like to do this while watching television)

Transfer the gun between hands and then to a target.  This will get you use to lining up the sights while using your weak and strong hand.  When you do this put your finger on the trigger when the sights are lined up and pull your finger off the trigger when they are not.  This is just a real good safety drill.  When I started shooting weak hand my trigger finger would make a b-line for the trigger as soon as I put the gun in my weak hand.

Just put the gun in your weak hand and keep pulling the trigger Get your weak hand finger use to pulling a trigger. (Another great "watching television drill" )

Dryfire on a target Take your time like you are shooting bullseye.

Draw and immediately transfer to the weak hand then dry fire on the target

Transition between targets  Remember to aim with the thighs.  Keep the upper body moving like one piece.  Don't let your weak arm flail away trying to get on target.

Do a reload then tranfer to weak hand then dryfire on target.  It seems to me that a high percentage of "transfer to weak hand"s come right after a reload.

These are the things that I like to do and it doesn't hurt that these drill are free.