In mid April I damaged the tendon in my distal phalanx doing a knee slide pass during open mat when my grip was defeated (mallet finger). For two weeks I just kept it taped. The tape allowed me to actually pull a Glock trigger better, because it prevented the distal phalax joint from moving. This method obviously does not work on DA weapons, but I figured it would heal and I’d be fine (DA pull was too painful). I was wrong. I went to a specialist who told me I had to wear a splint for an undetermined amount of time. This splint not only immobilized the distal joint, it also immobilized the intermediate phalanx, meaning I could not get my finger into any trigger guard. I had become a lefty.
After the initial shock wore off, I immediately went and switched my VG2 Advanced over to left and began the arduous process of learning shooting a pistol left handed. I had always practiced left hand only doing bullseye, but drawing, and two handed shooting felt completely alien. Most people have eye dominance issues, but this was actually the easiest thing going left handed. My eyes seem to be ambi, or very close to being so, as I have no issue handing the gun off to the other hand and having a sight picture with either eye. My biggest issue with vision came (and still exists now) with eye speed. Having only done bullseye with the left eye, it was never trained to pick up the sight quickly (off the draw; hand trade was stressed at an Unthinkable course with Paul Sharp and William Aprill, and that seems easy for me to do quickly). Additionally, transitions and shifting focus depth both are still very hard to do left handed. I have had 5 years shooting as a righty, and at this point a few days doing lefty. I was still frustrated as I knew what needed to be done, but it seemed the hardware of my body was failing at doing it.
The draw was probably the most alien thing. My support hand is equally as strong as my right hand (verified via the gym), yet left handed it felt as if my right hand did absolutely nothing in that position. I never felt locked in as I do shooting right handed. Since I had spent so much time shooting left hand only, I figured I would just stick with only drawing left handed, and only use the right to pull the shirt up and keep it there. This was silly, and that plan eventually went away after about a week (after attempting to do more than just bullseye left hand only).
So moving to the left handed do everything normally just mirrored thing, I began to practice furiously. I had a class coming up (VCAST) that was set for people that already should have their stuff dialed in, and I didn’t want to hold anyone back or perform poorly, or even worse be a safety risk. Eventually I got to the point where it felt alright, but not the same. This summer I admittedly have not been shooting much, but I have gotten to the point where I can do things correctly, but it’s rather slow. Like 2.5 seconds to hit at 10 yards from the draw slow.
The point of my post is for anyone who finds themselves in this position. Everything is the exact same, but reversed. (Other than mag and slide release, but that’s pretty easy to transition). Go slower and get the reps in, then work your way up. If you’re a squared away shooter, you should know what needs to happen. Train yourself as if you are a new shooter. Just as we have and continue to do right handed, video tape yourself in slow motion to see what you’re doing. I’m still carrying left handed for a little bit longer (described below), but for me this was an interesting experiment in not only doing something different, but I got to teach myself, which is a really odd situation.
Gear used: VG2A initially. I wanted a holster that I could re-holster pretty quickly after the transition. My little brother is left handed, but I wasn’t going to steal his only holster, so I started to use the eidolon (G19 version; I ccw a G19L) again, but I really don’t care for that holster due to comfort issues (this time I didn’t use the wedge, but regardless the bottom of the holster dug into my pelvic bone). The Eidolon was only configured this time with a single clip and the wing. My dude Tom at Dark Star Gear gave me a prototype holster in June that is just now being released. Very similar to the straight drop clip on IWB I was using prior to this injury, however it features the claw from a VG2A. For whatever reason, smaller size, wrapped edges, etc it is more comfortable for me. In fact, even though I can now as of September 3rd shoot not only my Glocks, but also pull DA revolver triggers again, I’m still carrying lefty just due to liking this holster so much (until I get my righty version).
Old:
Eidolon:
"Pink":
There is something to be said about ambidextrous designs. Even if they do everything ok, but nothing really well, they are worth having for reasons such as this. I never thought I would need to have a left handed holster, until I did.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Trajan
