Proper strong hand grip?

[Cool Breeze]

I went shooting today and was doing timed drills. Gun was a G17 drawing from strong side concealment holster at 3 o'clock. I noticed that I was having a hard time getting a full "wrap" around the pistol at speed while drawing. This led me to question what is the proper strong hand grip?

Pics 1 and 2 are what I would consider a full wrap grip around the grip of the gun. I don't have any gaps. My second knuckle of my middle finger is directly under the trigger guard and where my fingers meets my palm (not sure what you call that - 3rd joint?) is where my hand starts wrapping around the front strap.


Pics 3 and 4 are what I was able to get at speed. Please note that for the top view I have gripped the pistol like I was able to do but then for the purpose of the picture moved my trigger finger away so you could see the gap that I was getting. I do have gaps. My second knuckle of my middle finger is to the right of the trigger guard and my second joint is where my hand starts wrapping around the front strap.


How do you all grip it? What is proper?

[Eyesquared]

I don't know shit but based on that old video of Surf's, I'm inclined to say pics 3 & 4 are just fine. Notice that this isolates the base of the index finger from the frame, potentially reducing push left.

[MGW]

Tagged. Interested to hear input on this one.

[BJXDS]

Did you notice any difference in overall performance,,, speed/accuracy between the 2 grips?

[GLB]

To help with getting a full/ proper grip try pushing down on your handgun grip as if you were trying to push it deeper in the holster before you draw it out. When moving fast to get the weapon out of the holster a bad grip is sometimes caused because the shooter is trying to snatch it out for speed. It may seem slower to drive the hand down on the draw to seat the hand but if done correctly you should find that your index/sights line up faster and more consistent.

[nwhpfan]

If you adhere to the idea that you should shoot at the speed you are calling your shots....then gun handle at the speed you successfully hit your marks; reloads, draw, etc.

Correlation is this... Most anyone can pull the trigger and "shoot" faster than they can hit....just like like you can move your limbs at a speeder faster than you can grab, hit a mag well, etc. with consistent success.

With both, go at the pace you are successful. To go faster, move faster until you fail. Deploy technique, change this angle or hand position, etc while backing off until success..., then move faster until you fail and repeat.... Eventually you will reach the limit of human performance.

Question two, "if" you get a less than ideal grip do you shoot with it or do you fix it in flight? Which can you do faster/accurate? Can you shoot with a less than ideal grip and get the good hits in X time; is it faster/slower than if you fix the grip and get the good hits in X time. The scoring ring and timer has that answer but going back, it's ideal not to be their in the first place.

[Alembic]

I went shooting today and was doing timed drills. Gun was a G17 drawing from strong side concealment holster at 3 o'clock. I noticed that I was having a hard time getting a full "wrap" around the pistol at speed while drawing. This led me to question what is the proper strong hand grip?

Pics 1 and 2 are what I would consider a full wrap grip around the grip of the gun.
Pics 3, what I was able to get at speed.
How do you all grip it? What is proper?

Sorry if I'm out of my lane here, but to paraphrase Cool Breeze's question.

Is this "grip at speed" improper or a compromised grip?

[MVS]

There are those who would sat you are way overgripping in pics one and two. If I had to guess I would say the the gun and your hand/arm are far from being in natural alignment with that grip.

[Mr_White]

Cool Breeze,

This is something I have reviewed for myself by feel, not by photograph, so take this with a grain of salt and all that:

Your pic 2 is 'right' for me. Looking specifically at the lack of gap between in the palm/pocket of the hand.

Your pic 4 is 'wrong' for me. If I don't take care to get my hand all the way onto the grip and into position, this will happen. It screws everything up a little bit since the gun is not held exactly the same. Index and everything else suffer.

Drawing from AIWB, I do a little 'turning of my strong hand palm inward' motion, combined with hitting my strong hand onto the grip with some force, in order to get the grip all the way into the 'pocket' of my grip, like in your pic 2.

[YVK]

I wanted to post what you said but then I figured you'd do it anyway so I saved me some typing

I'd add that AIWB makes it easier, IMO, to fudge the grip. I periodically strap both AIWB and OWB holsters on, draw from one and reholster into another and back, to train the consistent grip like shown on the first set of photos.