Strong Hand Grip? (Pinky And Ring Finger)

[jaym_100]

I shoot a glock 17 if that makes any difference. How hard do you squeeze with the strong hand pinky and ring finger? I notice when I squeeze harder with those fingers the sight really come back into place, however I tend to shoot low sometimes. I imagine its from adding pressure to those fingers when I'm pulling the trigger causing the muzzle to drop. Should I continue to add a lot of pressure on the bottom of the grip and get used to it or go back to normal where I have a good grip but I don't really thing about adding a lot of pressure with those 2 fingers?

[JustOneGun]

I shoot a glock 17 if that makes any difference. How hard do you squeeze with the strong hand pinky and ring finger? I notice when I squeeze harder with those fingers the sight really come back into place, however I tend to shoot low sometimes. I imagine its from adding pressure to those fingers when I'm pulling the trigger causing the muzzle to drop. Should I continue to add a lot of pressure on the bottom of the grip and get used to it or go back to normal where I have a good grip but I don't really thing about adding a lot of pressure with those 2 fingers?

That is a loaded question. LOL, see what I did there. Seriously, it is a tough question without seeing you shoot, knowing what type of shooting you are doing. That subject of grip then gets bogged down in semantics, the fact that there is more than one way to get to where you want to go and the fact that there is so much going on in the grip that it becomes a journey to fix many small problems.

My biggest suggestion is when you are trying to tighten up that group and need to fix the grip, it is time for a little one on one with an instructor. The first part of that journey should be finding a competent instructor to watch you shoot and give suggestions for your improvement. Watching someone use dummy rounds mixed with live, being able to see the trigger finger in isolation up close, watching the shooters entire body while they shoot is the only real way to give suggestions for improvement.

To try and answer your question on the internet: A flinch is a change in some muscle tension. That something could be one finger, all fingers, the palm and finger moving together or even pushing your entire body forward while shooting. It can and often is a combination of those types of movement. It's not just your fingers.



To answer you specifically, I find that having all my fingers at the same tension is best. Again it is the change in that tension that causes missing. So holding it lightly or firmly doesn't matter as long as that tension stays the same. I don't like the term, don't flinch. I find it's hard to do a negative. I like to think of it as getting and maintaining the same tension in my hand, wrist, arm and body though out the shooting. I find that having a good firm grip just short of shaking is a good start. A loose grip that flinches moves more than a solid grip that flinches.

Many people use dummy rounds to feel when they screw up. I like that as a diagnostic tool but it only works to fix the worst flinch. After a person is, "okay" shooting I like to fix the small stuff with getting their minds off fixing it. I do this by getting the person to shoot a rhythm. Isn't good shooting just repeating the cycle of front sight, take up the slack, press, follow through, reset while coming back down on target (or however you do your cycle.) A nice smooth rhythm can be reproduced during a gunfight and it can be a way to isolate your mind doing the rhythm right instead of not flinching.

[wtturn]

The only finger I want to consciously isolate when shooting with one hand is the trigger finger. Everything else gets told to grip "hard".

Don't overthink this.

[nwhpfan]

I think a good way to figure it out with grip is to recognize that ideally the recoil and return would lift and settle fairly consistent. And as result you are ready to shoot again very quickly.

And with that goal in mind shoot, evaluate what it did, and adjust your "technique." This much squeeze here, or there until you get the gun to do what you want. Then repeat “that” technique.”

FWIW I don’t give much thought to either pinky. I simply wrap one around the gun, the other around the hand and am just gripping the gun very firm.

[YVK]

Squeezing hard with 4th and 5th fingers is a "pro tip" from some instructor, I just don't remember who. Never found to be too helpful, I don't want my strong hand to grip excessively hard.

[TAZ]

Far from an expert so YMMV. Over the years what I have found for me was plain simple consistency. To this day I still find my grip strength changing as I pull the trigger if I let it. I think it's recoil anticipation, but it could also just be a lack of ability to truly isolate the index finger from the rest.

Grip the gun consistently from sight alignment through follow through stages. If trying to break the frame strength is what works so be it. If it's a little less then so be it. Just do it EVERY time and don't change intensity as you begin pulling the trigger. Granted you don't want to squeeze so hard you're hand shakes and you have the Michael J Fox sight picture. Or you're going to cramp, get tennis elbow after a magazine.

[imp1295]

Squeezing hard with 4th and 5th fingers is a "pro tip" from some instructor, I just don't remember who. Never found to be too helpful, I don't want my strong hand to grip excessively hard.

I was told this by Jeff Gonzalez.

Subsequent to that, a different instructor told me to just grip the hell out of the gun.

That works best for me.