Hands Separating During Recoil Problem

[Gewehr3]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have never heard of using the chest muscle to control a pistol before.

[ToddG]

ToddG gave me this advice almost a year ago,

For the record: I learned it from SLG, too!

[JV_]

Also, adding a little more bend to the elbows seems to help as well.

+1 This makes a big difference for me.

[Wayne Dobbs]

I've also seen hands come apart because the shooter had overextended their pushout to the point the elbows were nearly hyperextended. Causes the hands to flex apart slightly leading to loss of the grip during firing.

[Occam's Razor]

Being a smaller guy, this is something I've taught for a while. Elbows slightly bent and using the pecs and back muscles by dropping the elbows slightly. Made a very big difference for me. Completes that clamshell effect. Thought I was freak of nature there for a while, nice to see I'm only a bit of a freak.

[YVK]

LAV gives the same advice re pectoral muscles involvement, crediting it to Leatham.

On a separate note, I've been using Captains of Crush grippers to build up grip strength. The package came in containing a bunch of stuff, including a little booklet with an interview with Bob Vogel. Apparently, he trains with CoC grippers, starting with 2.5 and going higher.
I am not an advanced physical specimen, but not a handicapped person either. I do general resistance training 3-4 times a week. I can't get 2.0 grippers to start moving. I don't have 1.5, but Trainer and 1.0 is all I need to get myself challenged, especially weak hand.
Puts a notion of adequate grip strength in a different prospective, doesn't it?

[John Ralston]

I worked up to closing the 2's 5 times - until I ended up with Tendonitis from it. I had to stop using them for about 10 months. I don't plan on going past the #1 in the future.

I used to lift weights a lot, but the COC #2's brought me down

[YVK]

I don't know if I can go past 1 in the future...Just tried 2 again - maybe halfway with strong hand, less with weak.

[SLG]

If we're going to have to start giving credit for every little technique, I guess it's only fair to point out that Rob (TGO) learned it from me. Or maybe it was the other way around:-)

At any rate, I have not come up with anything on my own, so if I don't always mention where I learned something, it's a safe bet that someone showed it to me.

[YVK]

SLG, I wasn't protecting anybody's copyrights; this was intended as an illustration that technique is well accepted in serious shooting circles.

BTW, I have had a hard time learning it, and still don't know how to do it right. For starters, one needs to have pectoral muscles in order to use them. Seriously, there has to be a balance between good tension and going stiff in upper body, and that's what happens to me.