Why Weak Hand Practice is Important

Post by **Crossfire** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 7:56 pm

Got out of the car yesterday, in a hurry (as always), locked and slammed the door. Didn't remove all the fingers from the door jamb first.

Man, wish I could have that 1 second of my life back! So, here I am, trying to find my keys and figure out how to unlock the door that has my TRIGGER FINGER stuck in it!

Long story short, I need to get proficient at left handed shooting real quick cause its gonna be awhile before I do any fancy shooting with the other hand!

OK, all done whining. Lesson learned. Stay proficient with BOTH hands.

Post by **Skiprr** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:05 pm

Did you get it checked? Any broken structural stuff? No missing factory components?

Not good. Not good. I feel your pain and wish you a speedy recovery.

(My weak-hand shooting is...what's a word for less-than-weak?)

longtooth · Post by **longtooth** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:46 pm

Skiprr wrote:

Not good. Not good. I feel your pain and wish you a speedy recovery.

She agrees w/ not good, not good & also hopes for a speedy recovery, but, you will never get her to agree that you feel her pain.

txinvestigator · Post by **txinvestigator** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 8:53 pm

OUCH!!!!

I hate it when that happens

40FIVER · Post by **40FIVER** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:01 pm

It also makes it kinda tuff to type fast. Hope you get your finger back to normal soon.

ElGato · Post by **ElGato** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:02 pm

You will be surprised at how fast you become efficient if you just try to do everything as a left-hander would. In the 90's I had my left wrist,then elbow and then shoulder operated on, then the right side, in the same order. By the time it was all done I was proud of what I could do with my left hand

and should have kept useing it a lot, but didn't.

I hope the hurt stops soon.

Tote 9 · Post by **Tote 9** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:15 pm

I know how that feels. I've been there and beyond. I broke my right arm and coller bone years ago. I couldn't hardly scratch my nose with my left hand. Hope you mend soon.

HighVelocity · Post by **HighVelocity** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:44 pm

Ouch! I know that hurt bigtime. Could've been worse, you could've slammed your wifes finger in the door. Then you'd be wishing it was yours.

I hope it heals up straight and soon.

JRG · Post by **JRG** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:50 pm

llwatson,

Is it in a cast? I ask because maybe you could let us at your Utah class Saturday sign your cast? ha guess not.

Hopefully the pain goes away fast!!

Joe

Post by **Crossfire** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:15 am

You guys are all SOOO funny! No, it isn't broken, so no little tiny cast to sign. Just seriously squished, and exceptionally colorful... and large.

And I have discovered that, not only was it my favorite trigger finger, but also my favorite typing finger! The other nine guys are trying to take over, but they don't spell as well. Another thing to learn...

kw5kw · Post by **kw5kw** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:19 am

txinvestigator wrote: OUCH!!!!

I hate it when that happens

cyphur · Post by **cyphur** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 9:24 am

Ouch!

The wifey slammed, and I do mean slammed, a door on my finger late last week. Turned purple and swollen and burst a couple blood vessels. Can't tell if its broken or not, but it hurts like an unholy SOB.

Thankfully its my left hand, and my right hand accommodates my trigger finger....

hi-power · Post by **hi-power** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:48 pm

I just shot my first IDPA match today and the last stage was strong-hand-only followed by weak-hand-only.

When I stepped to the line and got ready, I realized I had never shot a handgun with my left (weak) hand only. Until today, I used to think I was pretty decent at making holes in paper targets. I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to see how far off I was shooting with my weak hand.

I still haven't figured out what the problem is, but I'll sure be practicing weak hand shooting next time I'm at the range.

Post by **Crossfire** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:16 am

All of your encouragement and sharing of stories has made me much better! Or, maybe it's just healing on it own... Anyway, it bends now, although still really, really sore and very colorful.

It felt so much better today, that I took off the little splint for awhile. And then I reached into my pocket to get some change and SUDDENLY remembered why I had that splint on it.

I think I might wear it for another day or two. Ya know, just for the sympathy factor.

TX Rancher · Post by **TX Rancher** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:24 am

hi-power wrote:I just shot my first IDPA match today and the last stage was strong-hand-only followed by weak-hand-only.

When I stepped to the line and got ready, I realized I had never shot a handgun with my left (weak) hand only. Until today, I used to think I was pretty decent at making holes in paper targets. I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, to see how far off I was shooting with my weak hand.

I still haven't figured out what the problem is, but I'll sure be practicing weak hand shooting next time I'm at the range.

hi-power:

Yes, shooting left handed can be a humbling experience! But I suspect thereâ€™s nothing wrong with you, or youâ€™re left hand that a lot of practice wouldnâ€™t solve. Operative word there is â€œpracticeâ€?, and a lot of it.

If youâ€™re right handed youâ€™ve been spending an entire life working on your right hand dexterity, and ignoring your left. No surprise that the first time you try to do something as complicated as shooting with your left hand, the results were less then desired. Try something less complex like signing your name or hammering a nail if you really want to see the disparity between your hands!

But with practice, a lot of that can be overcome. I knew a guy in the military who was just about as good with his left as his right. I asked him how he did it and he said it was easy. He showed me how to change my grip, cant my hand a little bit, and then I shot a clip at the target, with abysmal results. He said â€œNow hereâ€™s the secret to learning how to shoot left handed, repeat that process 50,000 timesâ€?.

I suspect a lot of right hand shooters are like me. They know they need to practice left handed, but itâ€™s so awkward and unrewarding compared to right handed, they just hate to do it.

When I practice, I generally fire 300-500 rounds, and only around 75 of those are left handed. I keep getting better, but I have a long ways to go! Now if I would just spend more time shooting left handedâ€¦ â€œNow hereâ€™s the secret to learning how to shoot left handed, repeat that process 50,000 timesâ€?.