SHO/WHO Practice Question?

[Chris Rhines]

Something I've been wondering about. For those rare few who practice strong-hand and weak-hand-only shooting, how do you mix SHO/WHO practice into your normal practice regimen? Do you do a little bit of SHO/WHO practice at every range session? Or do you spend an occasional range session doing nothing but SHO/WHO practice? Something in between?

Normally, I lean towards option #2. Every other week or so, I dedicate an entire 200+ round range session to SHO/WHO work. Lately I've been having a lot of trouble staying focused for the entire range session. My first few drills will go well, but by the end of the practice session I've relapsed into hosing (note - this doesn't seem to happen when I practice freestyle.) So I've been thinking of switching my practice around and doing maybe 1-2 SHO/WHO drills, 50 rounds or so, at every practice.

Thoughts?

-C

[YVK]

In between. I almost always do some marksmanship drills during my practice regardless of what actual practice plan for a given session is. What I've done lately for marksmanship 'check' is a box of ammo into a center of B-16(RC) target (2 inches?) at 21- 25 feet, 10-15 two handed, 10-15 SHO, 20-30 WHO. This way I am nearly guaranteed to do some SHO/WHO during any given outing.

The rest falls under "it depends". If I plan on working pressouts, or follow-up shots, or draw, or whatever, I'd start two handed. If that is going well and I have ammo left, I'll do the same drills one-handed. If two-handed doesn't go well on a given day, there would be no sense for me to do WHO/SHO that day. This approach sometimes leads to me not practicing anything (other than those accuracy shots) one-handed for a long time. That's where my practice tracking helps: I do review it and if I see I hadn't done one-handed stuff for some time, I'd plan for a dedicated session.

[orionz06]

One thing Super Dave has worked into my brain was not SHO/WHO/Freestyle but rather shoot it right handed, left handed, and two handed. I have been making every effort to run though a lot of things 3 times. Dryfire this way has been very helpful as well. I am going to also start working in dry reps with my SIRT prior to running live to see if there is a tangible benefit to that, for me, or not.

[MEH]

I generally start every session with slow press out two hand, SHO, and WHO, then I move on to the specific days practice. I will incorporate SHO and WHO into whatever drills I am working on that day.

[SecondsCount]

Up until this year I could not stand shooting SHO/WHO but like you I have been pushing myself to improve in that area. I try to shoot 50 rounds at each session between them and am showing a huge improvement.

To keep me from getting completely bored as I typically shoot much slower with my weak hand, I mix it up. Sometimes if I have a bad drill with two hands I slow down and shoot the drill with one hand. This tends to reset my mental state and get me back on track.

[GJM]

Trying to improve my support hand shooting in a big way, I now start most every practice session with at least 100 rounds of .22 thru my Smith 317, shot support hand only. Then when I transition to my regular center fire session, towards the end of the session, I go support hand only, starting with a two inch dot on a PF target, and then to steel. On steel, I always integrate Rogers technique for part of it, of holding the trigger back while following through, and flipping and pressing, with the objective of breaking the shot as my front sight reaches the next target. (Do this with the SIRT inside, too).

I think a lot of support hand only shooting is just getting good reps with your support trigger finger. When you think how many presses you have with your dominant finger, and compare that to your support finger, it is easy to figure out why it feels so hard. I have actually gotten to the point over the last month, where support hand only feels more natural than strong hand only. I think the little 317 is key, as you have to steer the sights while manipulating a longish, heavy trigger in a lightweight revolver.

Quick note on targets, I typically use one paper target with the PF target and backer, and three MGM steel challenge 8 inch round disks, as they ring loudly when hit, are relatively portable and inexpensive, and use 2x4 pieces which can easily be replaced. Those MGM targets are on sale for about $100 each thru the end of April, although they only list 10 and 12 inch, but you can ask for 8 inch disks.

[JHC]

In Dec Ken Hackathorn made the following points. SHO occurs so often in reality that practicing it a lot is very important. WHO occurs so rarely in reality that it barely rates training time and ammo unless everything else is pretty buttoned up first. I said to myself: "Self, that's interesting."

I mix it in. I do more than I used to. Not nearly enough. I used to think it was futile but was suprised how fast it tunes up; even WHO.

[GJM]

In Dec Ken Hackathorn made the following points. SHO occurs so often in reality that practicing it a lot is very important. WHO occurs so rarely in reality that it barely rates training time and ammo unless everything else is pretty buttoned up first. I said to myself: "Self, that's interesting."

I mix it in. I do more than I used to. Not nearly enough. I used to think it was futile but was suprised how fast it tunes up; even WHO.

Of course using Ken's logic, we could also say, since use of a firearm is so unlikely, as is an engine failure in a jet, why practice at all. In my little world, a park ranger in Moab within the last two years, was involved in a gunfight, wounded, and used his support hand to save his life. Much more commonly, I know many people who have lost use of their dominant hand for a while due to injury, and it sure is nice to have skills to allow you to carry on. And, for those carrying a BUG, an appendix carried BUG on their support side surely works better with excellent support hand skills.

Of all the good things I credit to Bill Rogers, using a handgun with just one hand is near the top of the list!

[GOP]

Of course using Ken's logic, we could also say, since use of a firearm is so unlikely, as is an engine failure in a jet, why practice at all

This argument again?

It seems that every time someone in the training community argues that a technique is highly unlikely to happen in a gunfight, that the retort is always "gun fights are very unlikely too!" I suck at finite math; however, finite math did teach me that whenever there is a "and then" in the equation, the odds are lowered even farther. For example - "A man was involved in a gunfight, and then he had to use his weak hand to defend his life." The odds go from .5% (getting in a gun fight) to 0.005% (using your weak hand in a gun fight). Obviously, those numbers are arbitrary, but the point is the same. I'm all for training your weak hand, but it all comes down to available resources and priorities. If you have 60,000 rounds of ammo per year and 14-20 hours a week to practice, then by all means, train weak hand only shooting for 300-500 rounds per week. However, if you are like 99% of the population and have limited time and resources, it is probably best to prioritize your skills appropriately.

Northern Red (some very high speed dudes who have been in numerous gun fights themselves), recently talked about spending time training for the 1% instead of focusing on the 99% that is likely to happen. They referred to weak hand shooting as 1%.

GJM, I want you to know I'm not calling you out whatsoever and mean absolutely no disrespect at all. My post may sound harsh and that is unintentional, it wasn't directed at you.

To answer the OP's question, I train SHO every session and WHO once or twice a week.

[YVK]

I think all best efforts to prioritize specific aspects of training will fail to some degree. Aside from an argument of low probability of any armed encounter, what are the chances of us needing to utilize a multitude of sub-skills that we all practice to some extent or another? My last two carry pistols have had two stoppages in 20647 rounds, that's roughly 0.01% rate, should I stop practicing malfunction clearances for ever? I am all over my reloads, just broke 2.3 once, very happy about it, but will we ever need to speed-reload a pistol in encounter, where does that fall into probabilities? Aside from all theoretical advantages, do I really practically need a sub-2 second draw from a concealment? I wouldn't draw on a drawn gun, so perhaps, for all practical purposes, I'll have enough time for a 3 or 4 second draw? Do I need to practice transitions between 5 targets (the purpose of my bowling pin matches) for any realistic goals?
We practice stuff because there is stuff to be practiced; beyond few clear sets of tasks, most everything can be theoretically placed in 1% category. That's my take on it, sorry for the deviation.