weak hand practice

boondocker385 · March 4, 2014, 10:44 PM

spent the majority of day only shooting and manipulating my primary and secondary off hand. the shooting went well but my brain took a while to get around weak, single hand reloading and failure drills. it was a good reminder to work on it more!

Sharkbite · March 4, 2014, 11:08 PM

Good on ya

Most shooters dont practice weak/support hand shooting much less reloads and malfunctions

Congrats on the prep work!!!

g.willikers · March 5, 2014, 10:59 AM

Very important.
Never know when the stronger hand will be incapacitated.
I practice shooting with both hands, but don't spend enough time on the other techniques.
Thanks for the motivation.

MrBorland · March 5, 2014, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharkbite

Good on ya

Most shooters dont practice weak/support hand shooting much less reloads and malfunctions

+1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by boondocker385

the shooting went well but my brain took a while to get around weak, single hand reloading and failure drills.

Dry fire is your friend. It takes repetition for your brain to get comfy with just the movements and gun handling, let alone the actual shooting, so weak hand dry fire drills can be very helpful.

Sharkbite · March 5, 2014, 01:15 PM

I remember teaching the Adv Tactical Handgun course at a school i used to work at.

First time students in that class always looked at you weird when you started teaching support hand only reloads and malfunctions.

"WHAT.... Clear a type 3 ( feedway stopage ) using only my weak hand"... "YEP" says I.

Ohhh and then during the class break out the oven mitt and duct tape..... Hahahaha let the good times ROLL

fastbolt · March 5, 2014, 06:59 PM

Non-dominant hand (some folks don't have a "weak hand"

) manipulation and shooting is good to learn and practice.

I once decided to do all of my training left-handed for 5 months (including quals, even when off-side/non-dom drills weren't required) while working as an instructor. I didn't switch out holsters, but just transitioned hands after drawing or practiced reaching with my other hand (as if my dominant hand were injured).

One of the interesting observations I made was that it was no longer surprising why our left-handed shooters didn't ask for their RH mag catches to be changed over to LH (once we'd adopted models that allowed it), but remained with their left-handed manipulation of right-handed catches. Actually easier to do with a LH finger than a RH thumb. Ditto dropping slide stops that way on some guns.

Practicing with the non-dominant hand when it comes to shooting skills makes sense, but that was something drilled into me as a young man when I first started in the martial arts. Deliberately becoming a fighter who only possesses skill for 1-handed blows can be really limiting.

fastbolt · March 5, 2014, 07:27 PM

Properly supervised Force-on-Force training is one of the best things to come along in many years, granted.

Ditto properly supervised Sim training (FX marking cartridges, or something similar).

I emphasize the "properly supervised" part to both help prevent training injuries, and to be able to identify the difference between poor habits/techniques & good ones.

Another interesting bit of how trigger discipline & technique can be observed involves some of the newer training simulators. I remember when I was asked to help out with a large demo weekend at a local college, and the FATS machine loaned to event for the weekend was the then-new one that monitored trigger contact & manipulation during different phases of shooter trigger contact/manipulation. Now that was an eye opener and an interesting teaching/assessment tool.

It's all well and good for participants in some training gathering to have "a real blast of a good time", but it's equally (or more) important to have it conducted and supervised for both the safety of the participants, and to ensure that lessons of actual value are identified and realized, as well as bad habits to be recognized and addressed (often best done by an observer/instructor).

Powdersmoke · March 5, 2014, 10:17 PM

I practice weak hand only regularly. It's not fun because I'm not good at it but if push comes to shove just barely good enough still beats not quite good enough!

newmexicocrawler · March 10, 2014, 11:19 PM

I practice shooting weak hand but I always switch hands for reloading

YeshuaSaves · March 15, 2014, 04:15 PM

Just practice, practice, practice. Grip strength and endurance will come over time

March 4, 2014, 10:44 PM	#1
boondocker385 Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2013 Posts: 640	weak hand practice spent the majority of day only shooting and manipulating my primary and secondary off hand. the shooting went well but my brain took a while to get around weak, single hand reloading and failure drills. it was a good reminder to work on it more! __________________ No second place finishes in a gun fight.

March 5, 2014, 10:59 AM	#3
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Very important. Never know when the stronger hand will be incapacitated. I practice shooting with both hands, but don't spend enough time on the other techniques. Thanks for the motivation. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

March 5, 2014, 06:59 PM	#6
fastbolt Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2002 Location: northern CA for a little while longer Posts: 1,931	Non-dominant hand (some folks don't have a "weak hand" ) manipulation and shooting is good to learn and practice. I once decided to do all of my training left-handed for 5 months (including quals, even when off-side/non-dom drills weren't required) while working as an instructor. I didn't switch out holsters, but just transitioned hands after drawing or practiced reaching with my other hand (as if my dominant hand were injured). One of the interesting observations I made was that it was no longer surprising why our left-handed shooters didn't ask for their RH mag catches to be changed over to LH (once we'd adopted models that allowed it), but remained with their left-handed manipulation of right-handed catches. Actually easier to do with a LH finger than a RH thumb. Ditto dropping slide stops that way on some guns. Practicing with the non-dominant hand when it comes to shooting skills makes sense, but that was something drilled into me as a young man when I first started in the martial arts. Deliberately becoming a fighter who only possesses skill for 1-handed blows can be really limiting. __________________ Retired LE - firearms instructor & armorer

March 5, 2014, 07:27 PM	#7
fastbolt Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2002 Location: northern CA for a little while longer Posts: 1,931	Properly supervised Force-on-Force training is one of the best things to come along in many years, granted. Ditto properly supervised Sim training (FX marking cartridges, or something similar). I emphasize the "properly supervised" part to both help prevent training injuries, and to be able to identify the difference between poor habits/techniques & good ones. Another interesting bit of how trigger discipline & technique can be observed involves some of the newer training simulators. I remember when I was asked to help out with a large demo weekend at a local college, and the FATS machine loaned to event for the weekend was the then-new one that monitored trigger contact & manipulation during different phases of shooter trigger contact/manipulation. Now that was an eye opener and an interesting teaching/assessment tool. It's all well and good for participants in some training gathering to have "a real blast of a good time", but it's equally (or more) important to have it conducted and supervised for both the safety of the participants, and to ensure that lessons of actual value are identified and realized, as well as bad habits to be recognized and addressed (often best done by an observer/instructor). __________________ Retired LE - firearms instructor & armorer

March 4, 2014, 11:08 PM	#2
Sharkbite Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2013 Location: Western slope of Colorado Posts: 3,679	Good on ya Most shooters dont practice weak/support hand shooting much less reloads and malfunctions Congrats on the prep work!!!

March 5, 2014, 01:15 PM	#5
Sharkbite Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2013 Location: Western slope of Colorado Posts: 3,679	I remember teaching the Adv Tactical Handgun course at a school i used to work at. First time students in that class always looked at you weird when you started teaching support hand only reloads and malfunctions. "WHAT.... Clear a type 3 ( feedway stopage ) using only my weak hand"... "YEP" says I. Ohhh and then during the class break out the oven mitt and duct tape..... Hahahaha let the good times ROLL

March 5, 2014, 10:17 PM	#8
Powdersmoke Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2009 Location: Park Rapids, Minnesota Posts: 109	I practice weak hand only regularly. It's not fun because I'm not good at it but if push comes to shove just barely good enough still beats not quite good enough!

March 10, 2014, 11:19 PM	#9
newmexicocrawler Member Join Date: April 4, 2013 Posts: 25	I practice shooting weak hand but I always switch hands for reloading

March 15, 2014, 04:15 PM	#10
YeshuaSaves Member Join Date: March 4, 2014 Posts: 17	Just practice, practice, practice. Grip strength and endurance will come over time