Training the support hand/weak hand

[Matt2124]

Hey guys I'm looking to begin to work support hand training into my range sessions. By support hand I mean weak hand, not dominate hand, non firing hand, ect. I don't like the "weak hand" term but thats a different story. I'm looking for some tips or drills regarding support hand shooting. I've been told to keep the same stance but slightly cant the pistol inboard, top of slide toward the center line of body, but have never received any training or read anything on this technique. Just for a little frame of reference because I work in LE I'd imagine using a support hand in an injury situation to my weapon hand/arm. We actually shoot a course of fire in our department quals that is 6 round weapon hand only, combat reload, 6 rounds support hand only at 10 yards I think. But at this point a lot of our guys turn into bullseye shooters. They stand sideways to the target, weapon hand against side, support arm fully extended and they fire this way. Well I don't feel that this will be combat effective and will expose more of my self then if i can square up with my vest to the threat.

Also any ideas about adding a shot timer to my training. Having gone through a Magpul Dynamics course I know I can use work on the BSA drill but other then this I've never used or been around a shot timer.



Thanks guys
Matt

[mark5pt56]

There's nothing really that different other than it's in the off hand. I wouldn't get to tied up on the terminology as some do, call it whatever and be done with it.

I keep my body squared up and keep the pistol straight up and down. The pistol should come up naturally in front of your dominant eye, no need to cant anything-including your noggin.

some things to watch for

canting the pistol
canting the head
curling/breaking the wrist
trigger finger placement
thumb pressure
no need to "step into" blade your body, etc.
practice picking the weapon up at various angles on the ground--be careful!!!!--simulate the strong hand being disabled and you drop the weapon--don't have fantasies about "I'll never drop my pistol"
practice drawing from you rig off hand only.
try different strong hand placement to see if it affects you any--remember--you may not be able to "bring it up to you chest" because it's more than likely (the arm) broke and that's why you are using the other hand

Other than that-just do drills that you would do strong hand only, use your imagination, reloads, mafunction drills, etc.

And remember--it is handgun not a handSgun--be proficient shooting it with one hand.

[Matt2124]

Thanks for the tips bro.

practice picking the weapon up at various angles on the ground--be careful!!!!--simulate the strong hand being disabled and you drop the weapon--don't have fantasies about "I'll never drop my pistol"

This is kinda what I can see being the practical application getting strong hand/arm disabled and having to retrieve my pistol and get back into the fight. Once again thanks for the help and tips.


Matt

[Jay Cunningham]

I wouldn't get to tied up on the terminology as some do, call it whatever and be done with it.

Agree - don't know what is up lately with all the fancy terminology and pseudo-psychological explanations for certain terms...

[Failure2Stop]

Accept the fact that you will experience more recoil whan shooting one-handed, whether strong or support hand. That increase of recoil will require slower shooting to achieve the same accuracy as when using two hands (if you have a good two-handed grip that is ).

I do cant the pistol when shooting with one hand. I find it to be a more natural grip that I do not need to force. It is not so much about canting the pistol so much as it is about allowing the pistol to cant. There was a thread about this- Canting the pistol while shooting one-handed?

I keep the elbow slightly bent. Locking the elbow seems to induce anticipation especially when first learning the skill.

It helps to start by shooting with a two-handed grip, but with the weak hand as the firing hand. Reducing felt recoil initially helps avoid and mitigate other issues.

[ToddG]

• I call it "weak hand" because it's a commonly used, understood, and accepted term. If someone's mindset is so fragilethat he dies in a gunfight because he thought of his non-dominant hand as his "weak" hand, there were other bigger problems. The only way to get better at shooting with that hand is to practice... renaming it won't change your ability.
• I cant my gun when shooting 1H, whether SHO or WHO. This comes from a lot of shooting and comparing actual timed results, especially when shooting on the move 1H. However, I think it's a minor issue. Some people do better canting, some do better keeping the gun vertical. I know top shooters & instructors who advocate canting the pistol; I know top shooters & instructors who advocate against canting the pistol. Try both. Do what works best for you. Don't lose sleep over it.
• From an actual shooting standpoint, the best thing you can do is start from the beginning. Work on marksmanship fundamentals until you can achieve whatever you consider an acceptable ability. I'd recommend the ability to hit a 3x5 card on demand at 5yd as a good starting point; 7yd is even better. Once you can do that, start working on speed drills. Something like the Circle Drill is a good way to examine how your recoil management and trigger manipulation suffer as you speed up.
• Incorporate SHO/WHO into your training routine. Like anything else, record & track your progress. Measure the impact of your training. If you're not getting better (more accurate, faster, whatever your goal is) then re-examine what you're doing and reboot.

[Surf]

I cant the pistol one handed and often suggest or teach this method which very often cures a lot of issues for many shooters. Canting may be natural in rollouts and in improvised shooting positions which we may often find ourselves in. Knowing POA/POI is minor in regards to most handguns within normal handgun distances. Since we often may find ourselves shooting with a canted weapon due to our situation, getting used to shooting this way becomes a part of training. Why so anal about canting a pistol when we do it all the time with our rifles? Heck we train and do it all the time with our rifles, where this becomes more problematic due to the normal offset on the rifle. Also for our guys when using a shield it is almost impossible to shoot without canting the weapon if you want any semblance of a proper sight alignment / sight picture, so knowing how to do the technique is a must, at least for us.

Canting is generally a more natural body position when firing one handed. Just make a fist and extend either arm and see where your body naturally ends up and in which body position you have more power and control with your arm extended. Sometimes it helps to close your eyes when you punch, or extend out, so as not to visually influence your position. This is about the position where you may feel the most comfortable holding the pistol one handed. For myself I have a good 30-35* or so cant from vertical. I find that for myself, it takes quite a bit of muscle tension in my shoulder and arm, to maintain a vertical hold on the weapon, due to fighting my body's natural position.

Using a combat isosceles, I will slightly widen my natural stance, and drop a leg slightly farther backward, lowering my center of gravity a bit. I will keep the weapon as centered to my mid line as possible and not favor one side or another even though I am shooting with one hand (no bladed target stance). From there I will punch out the weapon and let it stop at full extension in whatever position my body will normally end up in, generally 30-35*. Another small thing that I do, is that I will not cant my head in the same direction as the pistol, which you may see people do. I will keep my head as vertical as possible and not cant my head with the pistol. This just tends to help me stay better balanced. Of course if we go to many alternate shooting positions, keeping the head vertical may not be an option.

Shooting one handed, I personally lock out my elbow at full extension. I try to drive the recoil, directly as possible with one hand, into my body centerline, as opposed to bending an elbow to help absorb the recoil. After much practice I find that since recoil management is more difficult one handed, I strive for more consistency in where the recoil goes, or where my pistol ends up after the recoil. By locking out my elbow I find greater consistency in where the pistol ends up post recoil. In being more consistent on where the weapon ends up after the recoil, I am able to more quickly return the weapon to the same firing position with greater consistency every time, which increases my speed and accuracy of follow up shots. Again the lockout is just a personal preference thing for me.

To each their own and I have heard most of the arguments either way. I will say that if someone does something extremely well one way and just cannot perform another method, trying to train it out of them, is not always a good thing. Of course we want to give a new technique a fair chance at success, but there are times when it may not be in the best interest to mess with a good thing, but rather promote that good thing and make what works for an individual, even better.

[Matt2124]

Thanks for all the great input fellas.

Matt

[BLACK LION]

All the big dogs got to you early... Dont mind me

I used to shoot one handed a different more commonly taught way and found that efficiency was lacking. I saw reference to utilizing a slight cant since it "naturally alligns" the sights while keeping yourself squared to the target. First day trying it I was noticeably more efficient and consistent... I am glad to see the guys I look up to, advocating it as well. It works, very well IMHO.
Make sure you work on one handed malfuntion clearances and reloads too...

In regards to your training, I just mirror what I do with my "dominant" hand.
Aside from non dominant hand draws from a retention holster its all pretty much the same as with the dominant side... This is also coming from someone whos pistol is entirely ambidextrious...