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Old January 31, 2013, 10:41 PM   #13
btmj
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 1, 2011
Location: Near St. Louis, Missouri
Posts: 864
I have a question I would like to get some advise on...

In reviewing the article that g.willikers posted above, I found it interesting. I was taught to shoot with a thumb-over-thumb grip and a chapman stance. I was taught by my uncle, a police officer who had just come back from a pistol shooting school... this would have been ~1983 or so. I use the same grip for every handgun, from a pocket 32ACP to a Super Red Hawk. I shoot well, both target shooting at distance, and accurate speed shooting at 7 yards. I probably grip less firmly with my left hand (off hand) than do most other shooters.

It is interesting that the author does not recommend the straight thumbs technique for everyone...

Quote:
Let’s begin by talking about the thumb-over-thumb technique. At this time, no top shooter uses this grip; however, it still has its virtues, primarily that it’s a very easy technique to teach and very easy to execute. Even new shooters can understand this grip. This is usually, in my experience, not true of the straight-thumbs technique. When you try to teach straight-thumbs to newbies, it just doesn’t work. The necessary rolling forward of the wrist, so important to the “IPSC grip,” just feels totally weird to them. Their hands break apart under recoil. And you’d be absolutely amazed how many people there are in the world whose wrists simply won’t bend that far forward.

Brand-new shooters don’t need a technique that allows the Nth degree of speed and precision; they need a technique that’s easy to understand and execute, that will swiftly give them a decent level of performance.
He goes on to point out that the straight-thumbs technique requires special considerations when shooting a 1911, a SIG, a Glock, or a revolver.

Given all of this, I am wondering if it is worth my time to retrain myself for a straight-thumbs grip... I mostly shoot Glocks, 1911s, and a Walther PPS, but I also shoot a variety of revolvers and autopistols. I do not compete except for very casual shooting matches among friends. I try to get to the range once a month, but once every other month is more realistic for me. My goal is to be proficient for self defense purposes.

I feel like my current shooting skills are "in the groove", and I don't want to screw them up by changing my grip... UNLESS I can achieve a whole new level of performance. But if it is going to take dedicating myself to shooting every weekend for the next year... well I can't make that commitment.

So .... thoughts anyone?
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