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Thread: Training for shooting while injured.

  1. #1
    Site Supporter Lon's Avatar
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    Training for shooting while injured.

    So like a dumbass, I fell down a flight of stairs at work and screwed up my shoulder. Nothing glamorous for a reason, just wet boots and poor foot placement. Anyway, my screwed up shoulder is my right (dominant) one. Dr this morning diagnosed it as a sprain for now. But since I can’t raise my right arm up high enough to shoot normally, he wrote on the workman’s comp paperwork that I couldn’t carry a gun. Which led to a discussion on the fact that my left hand and arm work just fine and I can shoot pretty good w my left hand. So he grudgingly removed that restriction.

    So then I had a conversation with my boss about it and he was good with me carrying with my left hand while I’m on light duty for the next few weeks. To prove it wasn’t an issue I went out and qualified on the State and City qualifications weak hand only (the 4 rounds that are to be shot from the “weak” hand I shot with my right hand from just below my nipple line since I couldn’t raise my hand higher). Didn’t shoot a perfect score, but shot a 94%.

    So I got to thinking about going to a class that focuses just on this aspect of shooting (working through injuries). Who has been to a good class like this?

    Side note, anyone got a spare LH AIWB holster for a G19 they wanna sell?😎
    Formerly known as xpd54.
    The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
    www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Lon View Post
    So like a dumbass, I fell down a flight of stairs at work and screwed up my shoulder. Nothing glamorous for a reason, just wet boots and poor foot placement. Anyway, my screwed up shoulder is my right (dominant) one. Dr this morning diagnosed it as a sprain for now. But since I can’t raise my right arm up high enough to shoot normally, he wrote on the workman’s comp paperwork that I couldn’t carry a gun. Which led to a discussion on the fact that my left hand and arm work just fine and I can shoot pretty good w my left hand. So he grudgingly removed that restriction.

    So then I had a conversation with my boss about it and he was good with me carrying with my left hand while I’m on light duty for the next few weeks. To prove it wasn’t an issue I went out and qualified on the State and City qualifications weak hand only (the 4 rounds that are to be shot from the “weak” hand I shot with my right hand from just below my nipple line since I couldn’t raise my hand higher). Didn’t shoot a perfect score, but shot a 94%.

    So I got to thinking about going to a class that focuses just on this aspect of shooting (working through injuries). Who has been to a good class like this?

    Side note, anyone got a spare LH AIWB holster for a G19 they wanna sell?😎
    Having not seen you shoot, I'm unsure if I should be impressed with you as a shooter, or underwhelmed with the qual.

    I would guess it just includes a lot of weak hand shooting.

    -Cory

  3. #3
    Not AIWB, but I have a LH Comp-Tac IWB you can borrow if you want. I can drop it at your office Friday.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter Lon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobM View Post
    Not AIWB, but I have a LH Comp-Tac IWB you can borrow if you want. I can drop it at your office Friday.
    I’ll send you a text tomorrow Bob. Thx.
    Formerly known as xpd54.
    The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
    www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com

  5. #5
    Site Supporter Lon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cor_man257 View Post
    Having not seen you shoot, I'm unsure if I should be impressed with you as a shooter, or underwhelmed with the qual.

    I would guess it just includes a lot of weak hand shooting.

    -Cory
    I was torn between being proud of myself and mystified that some Officers struggle with this course using 2 good hands. 🤦*♂️
    Formerly known as xpd54.
    The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
    www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com

  6. #6
    Site Supporter Erick Gelhaus's Avatar
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    Chase Jenkins, of both Talon Defense & Centrifuge Training, has done a lot in this area - suddenly disabled shooter. He'll tape tennis balls in hands, secure arms to the torso, etc and have the shooter work through the problem. I think he has a better approach to it than do others who have made the shooter carry something with the "injured" hand.

    I keep support side holsters around just because of this, having had significant shoulder & wrist surgeries on both sides.

    For a program - Start with WHO shooting, then transitioning from SHO to WHO, drawing from an SHO holster with the weak hand. From there add in reloading and WHO stoppage clearances. Then layer in a disable strong hand, strong arm that has partial use - a finger or two, the hand itself but not the fingers, etc.

    Once that is becoming comfortable, try manipulating your authorized shoulder weapons SHO and WHO.

  7. #7
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    Just work on general dexterity with your left hand like tossing a tennis ball against the wall and catching it. Something very mild and with low low low injury risk. You got a lifetime of catching up to do. If you have the displeasure wiping your ass with your off hand, well that's weird enough, last thing you need is to give yourself a raging case of tennis elbow (or worse) doing a lot of WHO shooting, just to add insult to injury.

    On of the toughest parts of recovering from injury is taking a deep breath, not over-thinking it and just resting.
    Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right.

  8. #8
    I may have some experience in this.

    Massad Ayoob has written on this. He sometimes takes classes shooting weak hand only to see what happens.

    A few years ago, I cut my strong hand trigger finger and just borrowed a holster from my lefty wife to shoot a couple of matches. For carry, I just switched my J-Frame to my left pocket.

    More recently I fell on the ice and messed up my strong shoulder. Again I carried left pocket. As my shoulder came back I started using a holster with more drop to make it easier to draw.

    I also recommend keeping these exercise balls around to keep flexibility in your hands and fingers. https://www.amazon.com/Vive-Hand-Exe...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

  9. #9
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    After I had rotator cuff surgery I realized that was a really bad time to order a lefty holster. I now urge every one to think ahead, buy support gear for both hands and practice with both sides- your strong side and your other strong side. Don’t forget planning for you eyes changing (old man sights) back injuries ( shoulder holsters and or suspenders for a tweaked lower back) arthritis in your hands etc

  10. #10
    Site Supporter JohnO's Avatar
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    I have repeated a class or two I took under "normal" conditions shooting non-dominate hand only. The way I look at it there are two ways to do this.

    1. With gear setup for your non-dominate side. In this case you basically practice batting from the opposite side (baseball analogy).

    2. Normal gear setup. Now you must access your weapon system from your normal carry position with your non-dominate hand.

    Both 1 & 2 provide reps of value. Two different paths to non-dominate hand trigger manipulation.

    #1 for dedicated carry while recovering from a dominate side infirmity. You know you are compromised and you have adjusted accordingly.

    #2 just may yield more juice for the squeeze. You find yourself in a Oh Shit scenario. Your dominate hand/arm goes down and you need your weapon. How much practice do you have getting your weapon into action with your non-dominate hand? How many have practiced this?

    Then how many know or have practiced one handed reloading & malfunction clearances? Both sides?

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