Jeff Gonzales and where to place your non-shooting hand when firing 1 handed

[HopetonBrown]

Or rather, where not to.

I think he's saying don't put your non firing hand on your chest when shooting 1 handed? That goes against everything I've ever been told. Reasons were A) so you don't shoot it when getting dynamic, and B) it could cause your upper body to sway.

"If your weak hand cannot move to the gun then let it lie where it is and don’t change anything."

http://www.tridentconcepts.com/when-one-is-all-you-got/

He discusses this under the sub headings "Please Stop The Insanity" and "Stick To The Basics". I like what Mr. Gonzales has to say in general, but some of the things he recommends (roll shoulders back when shooting, stripping mags out of magwell when performing reloads, 1st thing he'd recommend to people to get better at shooting is hit the gym) do seem a little random.

[Tom Givens]

I've trained with Jeff, and he explains this in class.

A match shooting tip for shooting with one hand is to clench the non-shooting fist against the chest. This drives a bit more strength to the shooting hand.

Jeff's rationale is that if the hand works that well, it ought to be on the gun. If the collarbone is broken, for instance, the arm on that side will be hanging limp, so practice that way or get both hands on the gun. I tend to agree.

[Backspin]

Case in point, I hurt a finger on my dominant hand a month ago. For 2 weeks I could not grip the gun in my dominant hand due to the injury. However, I could still provide some support with the injured hand while shooting non-dominant. It wasn't an ideal two handed grip, but it was definitely better than shooting one handed.

[JHC]

Many ways to approach it. Lots of folks cradle their injured arms up against their chest or it could be totally dead hanging. Also that arm could be carrying something heavy. Been meaning to shoot it that way too.

[JCS]

Just thinking out loud, but maybe we should be practicing with our "injured" hand in all different positions. His approach was eye opening for me because I had always heard to clench it against the chest as well.


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[SLG]

I'm glad to see the technique in question being discussed, rather than the instructor teaching it. In this thread, that has been happening, but I just want to remind people about it so that this thread doesn't spiral like some other threads have.

However, though you may disagree with the technique, let's leave the instructor out of it.

[xmanhockey7]

Steve Fisher talks about it a bit in class. I've done several classes with him one being a single hand manipulations class. He's like why put it up against your chest? Your hand will either be limp at your side or holding something like a flashlight. He also talks about a guy he knows who took a round to the elbow. His armed was flapping up and down uncontrollably. He had to stay clear of it so he wouldn't hit himself in the face. Ultimately if you put your arm up to your chest he doesn't particularly care, but understand you may be better off simulating holding a flashlight or the like.

[Kevin B.]

There is significant middle ground between retaining enough control of the injured arm to get it on the gun and the injured arm being limp. When I was wounded, I could barely lift my arm into something resembling a low ready and my hand was virtually useless. The best I could do was bend my arm roughly 60 degrees at the elbow and anchor it across my body.

During my recovery, I tried using my injured hand to help stabilize the pistol, but it caused more problems and added nothing. I ended up shooting with my injured hand anchored across my chest.

I would agree that if you can get the injured hand/arm on the gun and have it provide value, you should. But, if you have some degree of control but cannot get it on the gun, it should be anchored out of the way. If you have no control, you have to deal with it as best you can.

[okie john]

Or rather, where not to.

I think he's saying don't put your non firing hand on your chest when shooting 1 handed? That goes against everything I've ever been told. Reasons were A) so you don't shoot it when getting dynamic, and B) it could cause your upper body to sway.

"If your weak hand cannot move to the gun then let it lie where it is and don’t change anything."

http://www.tridentconcepts.com/when-one-is-all-you-got/

He discusses this under the sub headings "Please Stop The Insanity" and "Stick To The Basics". I like what Mr. Gonzales has to say in general, but some of the things he recommends (roll shoulders back when shooting, stripping mags out of magwell when performing reloads, 1st thing he'd recommend to people to get better at shooting is hit the gym) do seem a little random.

I don't think it's really clear just from the quote.

When I shot bullseye back in the 80's, my coaches told me to stick my non-firing hand into my pocket because not anchoring it would make my upper body sway. Placing the non-firing hand on the chest definitely does the same thing. I suspect that it's been so widely adopted because it might be easier and safer when you're teaching a bunch of new folks how to shoot. It's only a slight change from how most folks teach the two-handed draw, and it keeps students from shooting themselves through the hand during the draw stroke.

As for the gym helping you become a better shooter, I agree 100%. A few years after I got out of the Army, I got interested in making extended still-hunts for blacktail deer, so I focused on making fast shots inside of 100 yards with a scoped rifle, and I did a lot of long, slow distance cardio. I let my upper body/grip/core strength deteriorate to an embarrassing degree. I didn't notice it much until I started shooting pistols again seriously, started shooting IDPA, and took a Pat McNamara class. I jumped through a lot of hoops with hardware trying to shrink groups with Glock 9mms, but I kept landing on plateaus and couldn't get off of them. Then I started lifting with a focus on some pretty basic stuff and my groups started to shrink again. Regaining that strength set was far more important to shooting a handgun well, especially at speed, than fiddling around with hardware. If nothing else, I can practice longer before fatigue sets in. If you're in reasonably good shape and you've focused on those three areas, then you probably won't notice much improvement.


Okie John

[EVP]

I think the technique or idea is good to put in the mental rolodex but is it just me that sometimes think these things kinda get lost in the weeds.

It would seem that there could be endless variables about what your wounded limb,arm, or hand are doing in a fight. IMO I would think one would find away to overcome such things if there is a will to persevere in the situation.