How to Improve Weak Hand Shooting

[Smitty79]

I can shoot 7 yard free hand with one ragged group.     I can shoot strong hand to 2 inch groups.     My weak hand groups are about 6 inches.     I can't seem to hold the gun steady and my trigger control sucks WHO.

 

I do daily dry fire "groups", FS, SHO and WHO.    WHO isn't has good as the other 2.    But it's not nearly as far off as it is live.    I may be flinching and the misses tend to be low left ( I am right handed.)    I don't flinch with the other grips.

 

I am an almost super senior with some stiffness in my left elbow.   The gun going off doesn't make my elbow hurt.    Holding the gun up for a long time does make the elbow hurt.

 

I shoot CO with a Shadow.

 

Any ides on drills to improve my WHO shooting?

[lgh]

1 hour ago, Smitty79 said:

Any ides on drills to improve my WHO shooting?

I asked the same of a national level shooter years ago. Shoot a lot of weak hand. Experiment to see what works. Don't forget about sight alignment. And if the gun wobbles too much, back off a bit on grip pressure. Finger placement might be less than ideal as well.

[NETim]

I am hesitant to chime in here as I am no one's idea of a good shooter, so take it for what it's worth.   I find that placing more finger on the trigger when shooting WHO yields a more stable front sight/dot when breaking the shot while dryfiring.   Live fire seems to confirm this as well.   I really have to follow through and concentrate as well.   Otherwise I push the shots low left.  (LH shooter.)

 

Good luck from another almost Super Senior!

[Lastcat]

You will get all kinds of responses here. I started 5 years ago in Open and the first Match I had to shoot Strong Hand, I couldn't hit a Barn at 10 yards. Like anyone that shoots competition, it's something I had to add to live fire practice. Then the Weak Hand Stages showed up, couldn't hit a Barn. So, added that to my practice. Some guys will cant their gun during weak hand. Cant the gun to the 2 O'clock position (lefthanded). 

 

Takes time and practice, much better at SHO than 5 yrs ago, slightly better at WHO, but still need fine tuning. 

[GOF]

Drive your gun hand foot towards the target by about 15 inches, lean your shoulder and body in behind it. It's like throwing a hard jab punch. Take your strong hand, bunch it into a fist, and clamp the fist to your chest. This focusses the body/gun onto the target, and the power stance aids in recoil control. The right stance can shrink weak hand groups.

[RangerTrace]

Shoot with your weak hand, often.

[Smitty79]

4 hours ago, RangerTrace said:

Shoot with your weak hand, often.

Every week live fire and daily dry. 

[38super]

GOF has the best advice, weak hand is learning shooting all over again.  As others have encouraged, plan on burning 70% practice ammo for weak hand.  You won't fight the sights as much.

[StefVanHauwe]

Train the right technique in dry fire and repeat to make process subconscious and build your confidence. Then test on live range.

 

 

[lgh]

18 hours ago, GOF said:

The right stance can shrink weak hand groups.

Good place to start but in some scenarios you may not be able/allowed to choose your stance. ex. barricades. We had a stage in 3 gun where you had to shoot cross body weak hand. In some IDPA stages you might have to carry/drag an innocent away from the gun fight. or shoot from a kneeling position. So mix it up once you start getting better at it. It's a good thing that practice is fun.

[fyaman43]

Still a relative noob, but have stumbled upon some tips I find useful for WHO shooting:

 

1.  Stagger your stance if possible with weak side foot forward.  Make a fist with strong hand and press into the center of your chest.

2.  Your weak side thumb should be (as much as possible) directly even with your weak side trigger/index finger.  I bend it to 90 deg and clamp the gun.

3.  For some reason (as previously mentioned), more meat of your trigger finger on the trigger works best and pushes the gun around the least.

4.  Focus strong grip in your pinkie and ring fingers to steady the gun.  Medium to light grip your middle finger.  Trigger finger totally relaxed.

5.  I cant the pistol and lock my wrist at pretty much max angle in that range of motion.  Then bring my elbow toward midline pointing straight down.

6.  Expect that the muzzle will flip significantly more than freestyle.  Use this time to transition if needed.  

7.  Slow down your splits big time.

 

I try to end every live fire session with one handed shooting for a mag or two.

[Bostenelli]

I noticed a huge diff when switching to a cheely grip. Also I found for me holding my first inwards to my chest for strong or weak really helps. A loose grip to avoid clenching and becoming unsteady. Easier said than done but worked during the last match with down zeros. 

[pjb45]

My WHO is better than my SHO. 

WHY:

I practiced it relentlessly.

I started with a .22 on paper plates.  Two hundred rounds a session.

I migrated to a .22 plate rack with 4 inch plate---absolutely unforgiving.  

Start close--7 yards is pretty close.  

With the plate rack I start at 10 yards and increase the distance, 4 inch plates at 20 yards is brutal.

Visual patience is key.

Make sure your sight picture is what you want!  

Go Slow and deliberate.  Speed will come as your visual patience improves.

 

Taran told me to learn to shoot WITHOUT canting the gun. I use his type of stance when shooting W/SHO.

I like the way Seeklander isolates his arm, shoulder and chin.  He has a really strong stance from what I remember from Nationals in Quincy years ago.  I was next to him on the Standards course.

 

Practice your transitions to W/SHO from freestyle or reloads.

[BoyGlock]

Better if can Train to use the eye on same side as the hand being used. And, with two eyes open. 

[cwt]

every live fire session should end with some SHO/WHO practice. 

[Runswithwood1]

I usually toss in some strong hand weak hand stuff in each range session, even if it's only 10 rounds a piece. Gotta keep that muscle memory or it goes away

[maur]

Here is what I focus on when WHO shooting. If I can manage to do all of these during a stage, it goes well.

 

1. Trigger prep - most important. Slapping the trigger when shooting WHO leads to massive trigger jerking.

2. Lean your body forward to absorb recoil.

3. Your stance, if possible, should be diagonal with weak foot forward, strong foot back. This also helps absorb recoil.

4. My strong hand goes on my left breast/shoulder. Again, more weight up front and better for balance.

5. Be sure to call each shot.