Weak Hand soooo Weak

[Blockader]

I am a decent shooter. For example, I took 2nd in limited and 2nd in PCC in the last match I shot, which happened to be Steel Challenge, though I shoot a wide variety of disciplines. 

 

Anytime I have to switch to weak hand pistol its not pretty. I have a plate range at home and can practice this as much as I can afford, but with weak hand practice I feel like I am just wasting ammo and not seeing the fast improvement like with most stuff I practice. Or really any improvement. 

 

I have no problem quad loading with my weak hand and I also play the fiddle which requires a lot from both hands, so it's not just that my left hand is stupid. 

 

Anyone got any advice or tips or what worked for you anecdotes that might help me with this issue? 

[PatJones]

Have you ever shot slow fire groups, weak hand only? Leave the timer at home, take a hundred rounds to the range and make them count. Put some dry fire reps mixed in with them. I shoot at 7 to 10 yards.

Weak hand requires patience on the trigger. The gun moves around more, it takes longer to settle after recoil, but it does this for everyone. Squeeze the trigger, the trigger is way more important than sight picture.

[Boudreaux78]

Place your weak side leg out in front of you with the strong leg back. Sink in to your weak knee driving forward towards the target. Extend you weak hand as far out in front of your face and don’t bend your arm. Look at Max Michel’s video on YouTube about shooting weak handed. It works amazingly well. Before I shot this way, the gun always jumped inwards on recoil. Now it stays up and down and I’m driving the gun back into the target. So much more confident. Dry fire the transitions a lot. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

4 hours ago, Blockader said:

 1.  weak hand practice I am wasting ammo

 

2.  and not seeing the fast improvement 

1.  It's NOT a waste of ammo  -  if it bothers you, practice dry firing or with a pellet gun, or .22

 

2.  not doing enough dry firing, weakhand.

 

I was practicing weak hand before a large match that had a weak hand stage, and 

finally noticed that I had to pull the trigger more deliberately, or I'd jerk the gun off

the target completely.   (Practicing that actually improved my two-handed shooting)  

[Blockader]

This is all very helpful stuff, I will put these suggestions into action. I think I have a subconscience tendency to short or skip weak hand practice, so maybe I will write a plan out so I have something concrete to adhere to. Thanks all.

[vgdvc]

6 hours ago, Boudreaux78 said:

Place your weak side leg out in front of you with the strong leg back. Sink in to your weak knee driving forward towards the target. Extend you weak hand as far out in front of your face and don’t bend your arm. Look at Max Michel’s video on YouTube about shooting weak handed. It works amazingly well. Before I shot this way, the gun always jumped inwards on recoil. Now it stays up and down and I’m driving the gun back into the target. So much more confident. Dry fire the transitions a lot. 

^^^This has helped me improve. If I may add advice given from Saul Kirsh on the subject "prep the trigger". Feel for the trigger wall,pause and break through. In practice it's very discernible. At a match you won't even realize you have broke the hammer/sear engagement intentionally with the adrenaline running but since you made the effort  shots usually go where they were aimed. ( For a right-handed shooter shooting weak hand aiming a little high left doesn't hurt either, especially at far or tight targets)

[IVC]

Find the cant and elbow bend that minimizes movement. Then work on grip - location and pressure of the thumb, fingers, palm. Finally, start working the trigger. Initially, just do the "benchrest press," where you add pressure until it goes off.

 

When you get better, start working on "quick pull without disturbing the sight picture." This one is tricky because your instincts are all wrong for the weak hand - you have to think of it the same way you think of the strong hand when shooting free style, not as the support it provides to the strong hand.

 

For me, the biggest improvement happened when I found out that slightly more cant and slightly more elbow bend help me minimize the arc of movement, followed by using thumb in a more vertical position and pressing into the gun to counteract the torque of the (not-so-good) trigger finger. I'm sure that if I wanted to practice to become (almost) ambidextrous there would likely be better ways to do this, but I was looking for a quick improvement that yields good-enough results. 

[hello0o0o0o]

I personally would up the dryfire time with weak hand dramatically.  If you do it everyday, squeeze the s#!t out of the gun, and really be stringent on your sights then you will over time build the strength you need to support it.  Obviously, time at the range practicing the technique is essential but dryfiring correctly will get the gun in your weak hand for significantly more time than just the live fire.

[JJB05]

Good advice folks...i have issues with weak hand as well...thanks.