[Prion]

Hey, I was also curious about other tips for handgun shooting you could pass on to a newb. Particularly how firmly do you grip, do you make sure to drop your shoulders or does it not matter, is your shooting hands elbow locked or slightly bent, foot positioning, do you put your non trigger index finger on the front of the trigger guard, any drills I should work? Thanks in advance.

[CDH]

You can't possibly get as good advice from a forum like this as you could from a hands-on training class.

Check out your local shooting ranges and find a combat pistol training class.
My "professional" advice is that it will be worth every penny.

[CWL]

Get some real live training. Basic safety followed by real self defense training. Ask the locals who are the good trainers. No harm in taking your time if you need to budget everything.

Using books, videos and online forums are just methods of internalizing & polishing what you've already learned. Don't count on the internet to train you. You get what you pay for.

If it was that easy, then every pencil-neck playing Counterstrike would be the equivalent of a SEAL.

[rjrivero]

I agree that you need to get on the range with a good instructor to get the most out of your gun. If you want to learn some good technique, ask the experts......

Shooting USA has a nice video series from some of the best in the game. Link Here (http://www.myoutdoortv.com/pdk/web/smith.html?feedPID=00zG15zm84msK0GbWemanhJ0KNWQYqM4).

[9mmepiphany]

we could exp;ain it to you, but you'd need a live instructor to observe your shooting and correct whatever you're doing wrong.

you're always better to get formal training early, before you learn a bunch of bad habits you'll have to unlearn.

from having taught for awhile and observing students who have prior experience shooting, i'll offer some generalizations:

1. you're gripping too hard wth your strong hand
2. you're weak hand grip isn't high enough
3. you're using too much finger on the trigger.

...and i've never even met you

you also think you can control the recoil of the gun by gripping it tighter, you look at the target between shots, and you think you can hold a perfect sight picture on a target as you release the trigger

[pugmug]

To the O.P. you may want to read this link as it isn't bad for a girl,lol.Just a joke ladies,as I run and hide. http://www.corneredcat.com/Basics/stance.aspx

[Prion]

Thank You Pugmug, great link. At least I can try some of these techniques next time I'm at the range. But I agree that a class is in order.