Looking for some help...13 year old shooting support hand only

[D.O.A.F.S.]

Long story short, my 13 year old son is looking to start shooting IDPA this year. He has been shooting local steel matches with me for about a year and a half (videos if anyone is interested on my you tube channel "odebediah") and does fairly well for his age and experience. He has been shooting a Browning buckmark till this point, but last year in the fall I bought him a M&P Pro in 9mm to practice with to transition from his buckmark. He hasn't shot any matches with it yet but in practice he shoots the M&P very well free style and strong hand only with zero issues but struggles with his support hand. He gets accurate hits at 7-10 yards but is unable to get reliable function..."stove pipes". Now I realize the issue, but everything I've tried has not helped. I'm an average shooter at best and certainly no instructor but have been trying to do my best as "dad". Looking for help from someone that has worked with smaller stature folks with this same issue.

[Ptrlcop]

Push-ups and pull ups. Also just hanging from the pull-up bar can help with grip strength.

There are probably some technical improvements to be made to but getting stronger will help him most and translate to other activities.

Any chance you could shoot a vid of him shooting the 9?

[D.O.A.F.S.]

Push-ups and pull ups. Also just hanging from the pull-up bar can help with grip strength.

There are probably some technical improvements to be made to but getting stronger will help him most and translate to other activities.

Any chance you could shoot a vid of him shooting the 9?

I hadn't thought about a video, I can definitely do that but won't be able too till next weekend. A good suggestion on the exercises too, I don't know if you watched any of the steel shoot videos but he is average height for his age and very thin. The video idea is great, it will be easy to see the problem, I see it, I just don't know how to fix it. He gets behind the gun very well strong hand only but with his support hand his wrist gets into a weird angle trying to get the pistol under his dominate eye (right handed and right eye dominate).

[Rich@CCC]

another good exercise (I don't know if there is "name" for it) is to tie a 3-4' cord to a broom stick diameter dowel and a weight then roll and unroll the cord, lifting and lowering the weight by twisting the hands forward and backward in alternation.

Wow, that's a crappy description but I don't know how else to state it.

[nycnoob]

When I took Rogers Shooting schools basic class they sent everyone a Black Gripmaster 3 months before.
We were told to work on grip strength before the class.

http://www.prohands.net/products/gripmaster.php

I bought a bunch more of them for my own use (the ProHands is not worth the extra money and the Via is new and I have not tried it).
I try and hold it like a gun, depressing the bottom three buttons and have them stay depressed while I rapidly depress the top button
simulating shooting a gun and not milking the grip.

I am sure there are tons of other exercises you could do with them.


http://www.prohands.net/exercise/

[23JAZ]

another good exercise (I don't know if there is "name" for it) is to tie a 3-4' cord to a broom stick diameter dowel and a weight then roll and unroll the cord, lifting and lowering the weight by twisting the hands forward and backward in alternation.

Wow, that's a crappy description but I don't know how else to state it.

I know what you're talking about I do those. They are great for building hand and forearm strength. I don't know what it's called though.

[HopetonBrown]

I like these brothers and do a lot if their work outs at home. https://youtu.be/OYIemWj0MZU

[45dotACP]

Pushups and pullups are worth all the "grippy strength" exercisers in the world. People get severe forearms injuries/tennis elbow if they overdo the forearms...which is very easy to do. I did it myself. I found that if I can get to the point of being able to do 20 consecutive pullups and 100 consecutive pushups, the stabilizing muscles of my wrist are enough to give me good recoil control. You need to strengthen every muscle "up the chain" as my applied musculoskeletal anatomy prof told me. If the agonist is stronger than the antagonist, you'll have one muscle group overpowering the other. This leads to the bearing surfaces and tendons being misaligned and more likely to be injured. Every motion must be balanced and the agonists/antagonists must be equal. Part of the reason I always suggest consulting a certified athletic trainer or physical therapist if you want to develop a workout routine.

Of course, given time, resources and the dedication to get to the gym regularly, lat pulldowns, incline/decline bench press, supinating biceps curls (to strengthen the forearms as well as the biceps) and triceps extensions are useful. Being stronger is never something they will regret and later in life, he may thank you for getting him into the habit of getting to the gym first thing in the morning.

Okay, rant over. Most importantly, have fun together!

[BN]

Have you tried a reduced power recoil spring? I'm not sure what power people are running in the M&P. Glocks have (I think) a 17# stock and people are running a 15# or even 13# recoil springs. Also, what power of ammo are you using? Some of the white box ammo is reduced power which will lead to function problems.

[Artemas]

Get him a part time job milking cows

As for a better smelling option, I have had good luck using the prohands that nycnoob mentioned. Be sure to start with a lighter weight one. Many light reps is better than doing a few heavy ones.