Do you shoot with your weak hand? BE HONEST!

[speaksoftly]

So I've been shooting pistols for quite awhile now and am right handed. I am the fastest and most accurate with the right hand and probably always will be. However, I have made a practice of shooting with my left hand as well. For every 100rds fired, probably about 15-20 are fired from the weak hand. I have always thought this was good practice and fun as well. When you get into the mag dumps and the one handed reloads it gets really interesting. To make a story short, the reason Im harping on this today is that I broke my right hand over the weekend. I was training for a triathlon that's taking place on Sunday and had a wreck on my bike that left me with two halves of a pinkie joint. Needless to say, I'm very glad that I feel confident drawing, shooting, and reloading from my weak side and would suggest that yall practice with the left side as well.

-Marcos

 

[mickeydim468]

Great advice Marcos!

You never know when the proverbial bus is going to run over your strong hand... So to speak.

I voted never. But it is funny you mentioned this. I took my wife to the range for Mother's Day, you gotta love a woman who likes shooting enough to spend Mothers day at the range with you and the kids. Anyway, back on subject, She was shooting and I noticed she was shooting right handed. She is left handed and always shoots left handed. I thought this was odd, so I asked her what she was doing shooting right handed? She said the same thing you said. "What if I hurt my left one... I still want to be able to shoot!" This response really surprised me and got me to thinking too. From now on I will be doing some practice with my weak hand, because you both have a really good point.

What are you going to say to the BG? Wait, can you come back and try to rob me next week after I get the cast off? LOL

Glad you brought this up. Good thread.

I hope your injuries heal quickly!

Mikey!

 

[BCCL]

I try to do some off-hand shooting, every time I go, but more often than not.

 

[mgmorden]

Never with handguns. I've taken weak-hand shots at deer with a rifle because depending on positioning you can sometimes avoid shifting your body if you shoot with you weak hand. For slow, careful shots like that I see minimal difference.

 

[gofastman]

I dont have a strong hand yet! I can't imagine where the lead would go with my left hand!

 

[ByAnyMeans]

I occasionally shoot weak handed but am going to make an effort to do it more. It's one of those things that I hate to do because of my weakness in the area. This of course means I should be concentrating in that area.

 

[iblong]

I do shoot quite often left handed but honestly until I started shooting in IDPA I seldom shot week hand.

 

[8830]

I shoot weak hand with all my weapons. You never know when you may need it.

 

[WardenWolf]

I'm ambidextrous with handguns. I can shoot equally well with either hand. I'm naturally left-handed, but because many guns' controls are right-hand-only, I've learned to shoot either way.

 

[CoRoMo]

I'll never understand those who are familiar with this technique, but don't practice with their weak hand. Rifle, shotgun, handgun, it's quick and easy to try out the other side of your body. Repetition will improve performance.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Do you shoot with your weak hand?

Yes, I like to shoot weak hand and do it whenever I think of it, probably evey 3-4 times I shoot.
Also at times when my right hand is unsteady I'll shoot left handed.

BE HONEST!

OK, here's the proof.





Practice weak hand, weak eye to.


I told these new shooters, "You girls are making this shooting stuff look to easy, so I want you to shoot left handed for a while".
And they made that look easy.

 

[speaksoftly]

Very nice with the targets! As for the girls, you should ALWAYS beware of someone in Texas A&M gear! Aggies are the creme de la creme of society. ;-)

-Marcos

"Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win the war!"

-General Patton

 

[dom1104]

wow M2 that is pretty impressive. good shootin.

 

[jmorris]

As an action pistol shooter IDPA/USPSA you are required to shoot weak handed quite often. In order to become more proficient weak handed I have shot entire matches this way. It took quite a bit of practice reloading weak hand and I had to buy another holster. I generally come out at the top of the list in master class but weak hand I finish with the experts but it has improved my game in that area.

 

[Zoogster]

Yes. I shoot great single rounds with my weak hand.
I can accurately empty magazines with my weak hand.
The group tends to get worse than my strong hand as I speed up the shooting.
When firing as fast as I can manipulate the trigger the difference between strong and weak hand becomes quite noticeable and groups can turn into patterns.

Which I guess just means I need to practice more.


I shoot with weak eye too.
And practice shooting with one eye closed and then the other as well as with both open.

You never know when you may lose the use of your strong arm (bullet wound, knife wound, holding opponent's weapon, broken from blocking a blunt object, animal biting and holding on) or an eye (broken glass, debris in eye, blood or pepper spray in eyes etc) in a self defense situation.

 

[rondog]

Not me. I can't even pick my nose left-handed.

 

[Robert101]

All the weak hand practice does make perfect sense. But, living in S. Orange County, CA and having limited range time, I practice strong hand only. If I shot 200 rounds per week then I can see shooting some weak handed.

I've been in fights but not gun fights. At 50+ years old I mostly avoid trouble so practicing for my other hand seems really unlikely.

Maybe I'll try the weak handed approach to see how it feels. Good suggestion.

 

[CoRoMo]

C'mon ron! Practice! I can clear both nostrils with my left pinky and both eyes closed.

 

[CajunBass]

I used to back in my IPSC club days, but not anymore.

 

[sm]

Quite often.

How raised, what you do.

In fact I often conceal carry "weak side" only.

 

[Strahley]

I do at LEAST one magazine doing weak hand shooting per range trip, sometimes more. It may help save my life one day, so why not practice?

 

[Katana8869]

I learned how to shoot weak handed years ago when my Dad and I used to compete in IPSC matches together. Nowadays I usually shoot 20 rounds or so per range session just to maintain familiarity with the technique.

 

[Girodin]

I practice shooting with my support hand. I also practice drawing, reloading and clearing malfunctions weak hand only. IMHO these are fundemental skills that anyone who is going to carry a gun or is remotely serious about being proficient in defensive shooting should work to develop.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Yes Sir I do and I highly recommend it.

Especially with your carry choice.
If you have never tried it go buy a BB/Pellet gun or .22 similar to your carry choice and get started.
Then move onto trying dual wield just in case you need to cover an individual or area(doorway/hallway) while continuing the fight. Start with two BB guns if you need to or your carry choice and one BB gun. You never know until you try but most can handle shooting weak hand once they get their mind in tune, just avoid starting with the .45/410 Judge.

 

[BushyGuy]

i have tried it with my weak hand few times i did pretty good, I have tennis elbow in my strong hand so i sometimes use my left when my forearm is sore.