Phraseology Demystification: "Lock your wrist"

[45dotACP]

I think of the ulnar deviation thing as an aspect of grip structure. I think of 'locked wrists' as referring to tensing the muscles and tendons in the wrists/forearms so that the wrist is held stiffly in position, whatever that precise position is for a given person.

This exactly. The muscles have fibers that allow concentric contraction (muscle fibers shortening, joint moving ), eccentric contraction (muscle fibers lengthening, joint moving) and isometric contraction (muscle fibers shortening, no movement of the joint).

I was a kinesiology major a few years ago, and applied human musculoskeletal anatomy was my favorite class. I tried examining the grips of top shooters on video and in photos and found that forearm muscles are very much contracted and the joint is not moving. Thus, isometric tension, and thus my epiphany.

[Redhat]

The latter for me.

On the account of ulnar deviation: for a long time I followed the teaching of doing that quite a bit, rotating or canting my support wrist forward. I rotated my wrist forward so much that my thumb was pointing down. One day I was working my grip strength out by squeezing a tennis ball and realized that the more I was canting my wrist, the harder it was for me to squeeze that ball. Later, when I bought CoC grips, I repeated the experiment. Same thing, the more rotated, the weaker my grip was. It is a simple enough test for everyone to try and see. I myself just stopped caring how much my wrist is canted, as long as it was canted some to place it high enough, with increased forward tension.

Glad to see others discovered the same thing I did. My grip was significantly less secure to the point my hand would slip if I fired more than 2 or 3 rounds in a string.

[roblund]

I think of 'locked wrists' as referring to tensing the muscles and tendons in the wrists/forearms so that the wrist is held stiffly in position, whatever that precise position is for a given person.

That is a much more straight forward explanation.

[ubervic]

I think of the ulnar deviation thing as an aspect of grip structure. I think of 'locked wrists' as referring to tensing the muscles and tendons in the wrists/forearms so that the wrist is held stiffly in position, whatever that precise position is for a given person.

This, as opposed to 'limp-wristing' while firing.

[Rick Finsta]

I am not exactly high speed, but I teach full ulnar deviation to beginners and then if grip strength becomes an issue I have them back off on it and grip harder. Basically, if they have to readjust their grip between shots, and telling them to grip more tightly doesn't fix it, they often need to roll back their support hand and grip more tightly. If muzzle rise is excessive but they don't lose their grip position on the gun, I have them try to roll forward a bit until they find a balance that works for them. It feels very unnatural as a position for most people right away, especially for something that is going to be held in front of your face at nearly full arm extension.

I think of full ulnar deviation as a little detent. It is a spot where it doesn't take active muscle tension (or it takes less) to maintain a certain position when force is applied. I also find it nice for many shooters/guns because it naturally gives a solid index point between strong and support hand in their grip (it tends to line up two different joints on the opposing thumbs).

But I'm also big on "ergonomics dictates technique." Everyone's body is a little different, so if something works for you and not for me or vice versa, I'm not going to get very wound up about it.

As a frame of reference, I teach very basic safety and manipulation classes, just enough to get folks started on the right foot when they get their CCW permit and to set them up to have an open mind and some competence/confidence for further training.

[WCDUB]

The latter for me.

On the account of ulnar deviation: for a long time I followed the teaching of doing that quite a bit, rotating or canting my support wrist forward. I rotated my wrist forward so much that my thumb was pointing down. One day I was working my grip strength out by squeezing a tennis ball and realized that the more I was canting my wrist, the harder it was for me to squeeze that ball. Later, when I bought CoC grips, I repeated the experiment. Same thing, the more rotated, the weaker my grip was. It is a simple enough test for everyone to try and see. I myself just stopped caring how much my wrist is canted, as long as it was canted some to place it high enough, with increased forward tension.

This is it.Thanks for your clarity.

[Poconnor]

I was taught a long time ago to grip the handgun and aim in at the target; holding the handgun with both hands. Once the sights were aligned to then grip the gun hard ( dominate hand, like a framing hammer) also tensing the wrist and forearm muscles at the same time , locking the wrist. Then slowly holster the gun, going the same as the draw in reverse. Do this repeatedly in dry fire in and out. Ingraining the track and achieving sight alignment with the grip/ wrist position. I guess I'm saying locking the wrist is tensing it in the same position each time. That's why I like staying with the same gun family or bore axis . Bouncing back and forth between Glocks and 1911s slowed me down when I used a timer and was working on my sub one second draw

[Highplains45]

I teach this in an academy setting. Until now I did not know its name. It has worked well with hundreds of students. We demonstrate, describe and creates (hands on the student) this use of the support hand. Success has been good with shooters from all walks of life becoming able to dominate their handgun and get effective hits under stress.