Practicing Good Grip During Hand Transitions

[APOModern]

For those of you who do shoulder/hand transitions, how do you recommend getting a similar grip with your "weak" side as with your "strong" side?  My grip on a handgun with my right hand always flocks to the same spot, but when I switch to or draw with my left, I always feel like I have to readjust.  Is it just practice, or are there specific techniques to get near identical/symmetrical grips?  

[DKorn]

I think it’s just practice. I usually do strong hand / weak hand work during dry fire. 

 

How did you develop a consistent grip with your strong hand? 

[APOModern]

On 6/24/2018 at 8:23 AM, DKorn said:

I think it’s just practice. I usually do strong hand / weak hand work during dry fire. 

 

How did you develop a consistent grip with your strong hand? 

I suppose just practice, now that I think of it.  Perhaps I'm just getting frustrated and lacking patience.  I'm right handed so it felt more natural for me to begin with, but maybe I should practice more or as much with my weak hand as my strong hand or elusively use my weak hand for a time to get my body and mind used to it.  I'll try try it out with dry fire like you said.  Thanks.  

[DKorn]

24 minutes ago, APOModern said:

I suppose just practice, now that I think of it.  Perhaps I'm just getting frustrated and lacking patience.  I'm right handed so it felt more natural for me to begin with, but maybe I should practice more or as much with my weak hand as my strong hand or elusively use my weak hand for a time to get my body and mind used to it.  I'll try try it out with dry fire like you said.  Thanks.  

 

Weak hand feels super awkward, and it’s definitely frustrating. I’d start adding it into your normal practice (dry or live fire) rather than thinking of it as something you only do occasionally, like most people do. 

 

For me, I add the following (shamelessly stolen from Steve Anderson) in addition to the usual draws, reloads, el prez, etc.:

-draw to strong hand only

-draw and transfer to weak hand only

-draw to freestyle, 2 each on 3 targets, reload, 2 each on 3 targets strong hand only

-draw to freestyle, 2 each on 3 targets, reload, transfer to weak hand, 2 each on 3 targets weak hand only

 

The other thing I like to practice is transferring to weak hand with no par time- success is defined only by getting a correct weak hand grip without fumbling the gun. 

 

[APOModern]

On 6/25/2018 at 10:58 AM, DKorn said:

 

Weak hand feels super awkward, and it’s definitely frustrating. I’d start adding it into your normal practice (dry or live fire) rather than thinking of it as something you only do occasionally, like most people do. 

 

For me, I add the following (shamelessly stolen from Steve Anderson) in addition to the usual draws, reloads, el prez, etc.:

-draw to strong hand only

-draw and transfer to weak hand only

-draw to freestyle, 2 each on 3 targets, reload, 2 each on 3 targets strong hand only

-draw to freestyle, 2 each on 3 targets, reload, transfer to weak hand, 2 each on 3 targets weak hand only

 

The other thing I like to practice is transferring to weak hand with no par time- success is defined only by getting a correct weak hand grip without fumbling the gun. 

 

I think mimicking the strong hand sounds like the way to go.  I just gotta be patient and not get frustrated that it feels different.

[DKorn]

22 minutes ago, APOModern said:

I think mimicking the strong hand sounds like the way to go.  I just gotta be patient and not get frustrated that it feels different.

 

Not that I’m good enough to copy, but my weak hand only grip doesn’t mirror my strong hand only. 

 

I think i ended up with a difference because I learned on a 1911 without ambi safeties, so I would ride the safety when shooting strong hand, but allow the thumb to drop down when shooting weak hand. 

[APOModern]

On 6/27/2018 at 12:54 PM, DKorn said:

 

Not that I’m good enough to copy, but my weak hand only grip doesn’t mirror my strong hand only. 

 

I think i ended up with a difference because I learned on a 1911 without ambi safeties, so I would ride the safety when shooting strong hand, but allow the thumb to drop down when shooting weak hand. 

I know exactly what you mean with the 1911.  I started shooting with a Glock 19 and rode the grip up high strong handed to get over the slide lock, but drop my left handed since there isn't anything on that side.  

[BoyGlock]

If you can aim w/ both eyes open and not cross dominant, try aiming with your weak eye when WH shooting. Its more natural and easier to learn and be good at. Try it. 

[Doublehelix]

I added a Nitrofin thumb rest on my 2011, and now I find that I am having slide lock back issues when I shoot-weak hand only due to my hand hitting the slide lock thumb rest. (I am a right-handed shooter, so this problem is when shooting left-handed.)

 

I am trying to work on technique to fix this, but it has been suggested that I file the Nitro Fin to remove the slide lock feature altogether. I am not sure that I want to do this, but it is probably the best thing to do.

 

Does anyone else have this problem with their Nitro Fin (or the PT thumb rest)? Suggestions?

[Hi-Power Jack]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 10:09 AM, BoyGlock said:

If you can aim w/ both eyes open and not cross dominant, try aiming with your weak eye when WH shooting 

 

I can't imagine it working for me, but I'll have to give it a try next time I'm at the range    

[B585]

5 hours ago, Doublehelix said:

I added a Nitrofin thumb rest on my 2011, and now I find that I am having slide lock back issues when I shoot-weak hand only due to my hand hitting the slide lock thumb rest. (I am a right-handed shooter, so this problem is when shooting left-handed.)

 

I am trying to work on technique to fix this, but it has been suggested that I file the Nitro Fin to remove the slide lock feature altogether. I am not sure that I want to do this, but it is probably the best thing to do.

 

Does anyone else have this problem with their Nitro Fin (or the PT thumb rest)? Suggestions?

I had the same problem.  I really liked it otherwise but eventually decided I need to master the basic grip first so I took it off. I’d only been shooting pistols for about a year at that time.  I do plan to go back to it eventually

[Doublehelix]

17 hours ago, B585 said:

I had the same problem.  I really liked it otherwise but eventually decided I need to master the basic grip first so I took it off. I’d only been shooting pistols for about a year at that time.  I do plan to go back to it eventually

 

Did you have the problem when using your standard grip, or your off-hand grip? I am fine with my standard grip.

[B585]

12 minutes ago, Doublehelix said:

 

Did you have the problem when using your standard grip, or your off-hand grip? I am fine with my standard grip.

Just weak hand only shooting.

[AlecBeach]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:51 PM, APOModern said:

For those of you who do shoulder/hand transitions, how do you recommend getting a similar grip with your "weak" side as with your "strong" side?  My grip on a handgun with my right hand always flocks to the same spot, but when I switch to or draw with my left, I always feel like I have to readjust.  Is it just practice, or are there specific techniques to get near identical/symmetrical grips?  

For me. Someone with clammy hands. It can be hard to grip my Glock or my HK. But my P226 has good gripping on it due to the texture and the rubber grip I have on it. I'm a righty so my strong hand is my right but it is easier to grip with my left funny enough. So I use the Grip assist from the Left to help with Recoil control.

[APOModern]

4 hours ago, AlecBeach said:

For me. Someone with clammy hands. It can be hard to grip my Glock or my HK. But my P226 has good gripping on it due to the texture and the rubber grip I have on it. I'm a righty so my strong hand is my right but it is easier to grip with my left funny enough. So I use the Grip assist from the Left to help with Recoil control.

What do you do to practice though or get better?

[AlecBeach]

17 hours ago, APOModern said:

What do you do to practice though or get better?

For me it's all about playing with it for awhile. Really get the feel of your gun! Know it inside and out and then start to draw it from anywhere. Pocket, Understrap, Pants, Holster, Etc! Then you start to feel the weight and pull of the gun on your arms and hands!

[GunBugBit]

I like simple, short dry-fire drills, and one of my staples is a draw into the freestyle grip, two shots, switch to WHO, and then two or more shots.  Many reps of this can be done in a short time.

[motosapiens]

34 minutes ago, GunBugBit said:

I like simple, short dry-fire drills, and one of my staples is a draw into the freestyle grip, two shots, switch to WHO, and then two or more shots.  Many reps of this can be done in a short time.

 

Unfortunately it is a motion that is pretty much never used in USPSA. Makes more sense to me to either draw directly to the weak hand grip, or reload to weak hand grip, since both of those techniques are used pretty frequently. I do at least a few mins of those almost every day.

[APOModern]

On 7/9/2018 at 12:42 PM, motosapiens said:

 

Unfortunately it is a motion that is pretty much never used in USPSA. Makes more sense to me to either draw directly to the weak hand grip, or reload to weak hand grip, since both of those techniques are used pretty frequently. I do at least a few mins of those almost every day.

I agree with drawing directly to THAT hand.  I think that switching hands/grip after the draw would be more beneficial going around barricades and such.  Good input though thanks. 

[motosapiens]

38 minutes ago, APOModern said:

I agree with drawing directly to THAT hand.  I think that switching hands/grip after the draw would be more beneficial going around barricades and such.  Good input though thanks. 

well, by drawing directly to weak hand, i mean drawing with strong hand and immediately transferring, like a normal good shooter does. As opposed to switching from freestyle to weak hand without a reload, which seems to me like a waste of time.

[GunBugBit]

Four Aces with the second pair from WHO comprises a subset of actions you will actually do in USPSA classifiers.  I haven't encountered drawing directly into WHO much, but I do that in dry fire.  And I haven't encountered switching from freestyle to WHO with no reload in between, but I do that too.  I mentioned that one because it specifically addresses what the OP mentioned; namely, "how do you recommend getting a similar grip with your 'weak' side as with your 'strong' side."

 

You could also go from SHO to WHO (maybe even more directly relevant to the OP's post) and WHO to SHO, with or without a reload in between.

 

When you start feeling good about yourself, put some popper dry fire targets in random arrangements, mixed with metric targets, for your Freestyle-SHO-WHO switch-off drills.

[APOModern]

On 7/8/2018 at 9:51 AM, AlecBeach said:

For me it's all about playing with it for awhile. Really get the feel of your gun! Know it inside and out and then start to draw it from anywhere. Pocket, Understrap, Pants, Holster, Etc! Then you start to feel the weight and pull of the gun on your arms and hands!

 

Do you use dummy guns or replicas for training at all then?

[AlecBeach]

On 7/11/2018 at 1:13 PM, APOModern said:

 

Do you use dummy guns or replicas for training at all then?

I use a Umarex G17 

https://modernairsoft.com/products/airsoft-glock-17-elite-force-pistol

[02doooce]

On 7/11/2018 at 1:08 PM, GunBugBit said:

Four Aces with the second pair from WHO comprises a subset of actions you will actually do in USPSA classifiers.  I haven't encountered drawing directly into WHO much, but I do that in dry fire.  And I haven't encountered switching from freestyle to WHO with no reload in between, but I do that too.  I mentioned that one because it specifically addresses what the OP mentioned; namely, "how do you recommend getting a similar grip with your 'weak' side as with your 'strong' side."

 

You could also go from SHO to WHO (maybe even more directly relevant to the OP's post) and WHO to SHO, with or without a reload in between.

 

When you start feeling good about yourself, put some popper dry fire targets in random arrangements, mixed with metric targets, for your Freestyle-SHO-WHO switch-off drills.

 

GunBugBit - great tips and excellent info!!!! I agree that this game is about familiarity.  By going above and beyond what is typical will definitely push improvement. 

[GunBugBit]

Thanks 02doooce!