My weak hand shooting sucks

[StraitR]

[Sauer Koch]

I do find I have to be extra careful about trigger finger placement. Without the support hand to keep me from pushing the gun sideways, I consciously sink a little more finger into the trigger guard and focus more on pressing straight to the rear.

We went to the range yesterday, and I shot my V1 P30 SHO, and found this to be true as well. When shooting with both hands, from a draw, or low ready w/finger on trigger guard, I usually curl my finger from the guard, onto the trigger, in the straightest line possible, which puts the face of the trigger about in the middle of my pad. In the context of I've drawn my gun, finger indexed on TG, the placement is where it would theoretically end up if done at real time. That being said, I did this SHO, and found that I was pulling these shots low & right (SHO=RH). So, I decided to purposefully sink my finger all the way onto the trigger, and simply try for the best accuracy, and the 5 shots were very tight, the best I've ever shot. I will play with this more, and try with my WHO, which I typically suck at!!

[JonInWA]

The biggest weak-hand shooting challenge for me is with a relatively heavy/relatively long-barrelled pivoting trigger DAO; specifically my Beretta 92D. Even with significantly improved fire control components and springs (collectively reducing the triggerpull to 6 lbs), it's still very much a work in progress regarding weak-hand shooting. However, practice has improved things (and my strong hand and freestyle performances have dramatically improved).

Best, Jon

[mmc45414]

Almost all of my shooting is with a group of long term friends where we time each other through informal strings of fire. My weak hand is weak, extraordinarily so, as in crash and burn almost run out of ammo weak. And I always tell myself I need to go out to the club and pound out some weak hand practice, but never seem to get around to doing that work.

Last weekend as we were packing up, after an even worser weak hand performance, I did a little shooting at the plate rack, and turns out some of my problem might be the timer and the clipboard...

[txdpd]

Outside of the range, spending some time improving your off hand coordination and dexterity will pay off. When I messed up my good hand, forget about shooting being hard, wiping my butt was a earning experience. If that’s a challenge, shootings a whole different league of difficult. Baby steps. Seems like most people stop developing their off hand coordination around the age of 5. There are all sorts of theories on laterality and side-dominance, but IMO if you’re not good at off hand shooting, it’s not because you’re off hand shootings sucks, it’s because you suck at using your off hand.

Use your off hand to Toss a tennis ball against a wall and catch it.
Hammer nails with your off hand if you like living dangerously.
Use chopsticks in you off hand if you need to lose weight.
Practice writing (pen and paper) with you off hand.

If you want to get better at off hand shooting, put your strong hand in a cast/brace for four month and do everything with your off hand.

[JHC]

When conditions allow, shooting one hand, I like to put the same foot forward. However, I practice all ways, because the same circumstances that caused you to shoot one hand, may also limit your foot placement.

One hand, recoil control is secondary to accurate shot placement. However, it is possible to use the greater muzzle raise to work the trigger and camouflage the wobble, so the shot breaks as soon as the sights return to the target.

+1 K.B. drove that point home to me emphatically.

[JHC]

Next, I would focus on the wrist. With the gun in your left hand, you cam your wrist and the pistol to the left to offset the natural tendency of your arm to go inboard.

This was explained to me by a senior NCO that spend a lot of time around the AMU - that they specified this also. As the explanation went, that camming to true up/down/vertical engages the left (in this case) deltoid which stabilizes the arm. I feel that I can definitely feel this and believe it to be a pretty big deal.

[nwhpfan]

I think that looks pretty good and I wouldn't let it stress you or ruin a range trip.

Sure, work on cleaning that up. It's all about aiming to the right spot and pulling the trigger without moving the gun off target.

Sometimes you can aim a little cockeyed because your now going cross eye through the sights. Pretty common. Maybe that's all it is. I've caught myself with improper sight alignment.

Sometimes you can pull it off target as you're pulling the trigger. Because you don't have that other hand helping you grip in place to isolate your fingerm the hand your using; weak hand, off hand, etc. just doesn't have the ordination and control because you don't use it as much. That's OK, the more you practice the easier it becomes.

Shoot, evaluate, adjust or repeat.

I don't SHO/WHO for much more than a few dozen rounds at at time because I can fatigue faster and lose awareness of where the input is needed... because now I'm just tired. YMMV

[DueSpada]

Greg...If your first posted photo was my target I would consider myself almost there. If the second photo was mine I would consider myself arrived. Well done.

[RJ]

Came here specifically for one handed shooting advice. My USPSA qualifiers have recently involved strong and weak hand strings, and I lost points due to poor performance,

I’ll try a pair of 5” circles at 7 yds as a benchmark next Range trip. May have some follow up questions.

Good thread; thanks @Greg.