Support index finger going to front of Glock trigger guard

[David Armstrong]

Not recommended by most people. There are definitely examples of a few top shooters that do it, but I think even they don't generally recommend it.

On my first visit to Thunder Ranch Clint Smith gave one of those typical Clintisms to a question about the finger-forward grip: "Ray Chapman used it to win Nationals one year. You aren't Ray Chapman and until you can shoot as good as him you should probably not do that."

[theJanitor]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSa...1SvUeFRVLJ2qp-

Jump to the 16:00 mark. Jerry explains the use of the finger in front of the triggerguard.

[johnnyyukon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSa...1SvUeFRVLJ2qp-

Jump to the 16:00 mark. Jerry explains the use of the finger in front of the triggerguard.

I didn't plan on it but I ended up watching the whole thing. I saw the first 30 seconds and he's shooting targets like he's some kind of Cyborg, then he turns around and has a GoPro on his forehead.

[ironsights]

I was not a 'Glock guy' for a lot of years. When I drank the kool aid and started shooting the G19 a lot I somehow managed to pick up this bad habbit.

I will not pretend that I was a great pistol shooter before picking up the G19 but I was terrible with the Glock compared to my Beretta 92/96 or my 1911s.

Once I got the idea in my head that I did not need to change what was working and put my finger back where it felt natural my groups got better.

Also, if you put a light on that rail you can't put your finger there. Don't create a bad habit you will have to train yourself out of later.

[Slavex]

Talking to Eric and Angus, they both have told me they don't teach people to hold it that way, but they won't stop you from doing it. I found I rode the slidestop even more than normal with my finger up there, but noticed no difference in performance otherwise.

[johnnyyukon]

I have larger hands so my finger naturally goes up there. Luckily I haven't been doing this habit for long. Only about 20 times to the range or farm.

I taught myself to throw a left hook, and then my boxing instructor said I was doing it like a moron. It didn't take too much to unlearn it. Only about 1000 "correct" hooks to the bag, ha.

I HAVE noticed my groupings seem tighter WITHOUT the finger up there (haven't really tested it since this issue came to my awareness), plus yes, with a light on there, it's a no-go, so I will probably break this habit. It will take some repetition (luckily you don't have to fire the weapon 1000 times to practice drawing and holding it correctly).

Plus, I've simply noticed I have much more hand surface area on the grip, with my finger off the front.

I might pop on a laser on my glock, and clip a GoPro on my backwards hat and film at a super high frame rate.

This was a pretty informative grip video, maybe too "nooby" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy00qD4ivgA

[Doug]

Jerry M explains on this video why he sometimes puts his finger on the guard. Go to about the 11 min mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSazF41q-s

[Stengun]

Howdy Trevor,

Every pro instructor I've talked to says it's a bad technique, and the textured front on the trigger guard is a carryover from the early days of semi-autos when good technique was still being sorted out. Support-finger-on-trigger-guard was specifically mentioned at Rogers as being a definitively bad practice during the theory/history lecture, and not a single shooter or instructor present during my class does any form of that technique. That's probably a clue of some sort.

By placing your left index finger on the trigger guard instead of wrapping it around the gripping fingers of your right hand, you are reducing your grip and leverage on the gun. For my hand geometry, using a grip that normally locks up the gun tight as I press out two-handed, it feels like about a 50% reduction in force from my left hand when I put my left index finger on the trigger guard. Basically, I'm unable to lock up on the gun with my support hand.

In playing around with this at the range, I also found that it was basically impossible to hold onto the front of the guard strongly enough with the left index finger to keep it on there through recoil AND avoid deflecting your aim to the side and/or down.

It's not my place to say what works for you... but I personally would not include that technique in my training, and I tell students not to do it.

Gee, you might need to find a new "pro instructor".

Just curious, who trained the "pro instructor" that you have talked to?

Here's how I roll:



Been using it for +35 years ( I'll be 50yo next week ). I've used it on the target range, on the street and on the battlefield.

I didn't realize it was "bad technique". To me it's the easiest way to control recoil and it helps to reduce trigger jerk or pulling the pistol sideways when shooting rapidly especially with a double action, DAO, or a Glock type trigger pull.

".......carryover from the early days of semi-autos ....."

Gee, you do realize that double action revolvers have only been around for about 20 years longer than semi-auto pistols and semi-auto pistols have been around for about 120 years, right?

Paul

[Failure2Stop]

Putting the index finger of the support hand on the trigger guard deprives the support hand of lateral group pressure, which tends to encourage firing hand shove at speed, as well as recovering grip with the index finger, which tends to bring shots to the support side. I think that the technique works for a few high level guys because their grip strength is significantly higher than most casual shooters and their speed fundamentals are so sound that anticipation/recovery grip is not a factor.

Shoot however you want, but if you want to achieve a high level of performance I would recommend paying attention to the recommended technique of the vast majority of higher performing trainers.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[johnnyyukon]

I know it's all personal preference, even if the physics says one way is better, but I finally retrained and this is now in my muscle memory:




p.s. those aren't my hands, and that thumb seems a tad close to the slide, but you get the idea.