Should have been shooting weak handed

[tank mechanic]

For the last few weeks I have had a pain in my right wrist. Lately it started to hurt so much that I finally went to the doctor. I was hoping that it was something that tylenol and an ice bag would fix, and I was shocked to find out that my wrist in fact broken and quite possibly will require surgery . So my dominant shooting hand is out of the loop for a while. I really wish that I had practiced more weak hand shooting and tactics during the many, many previous outings to the shooting range. Now I have no time to go shooting and I have to completely learn how to utilize my left hand pistolero skills. I think what i am trying to say is that I should not have focused solely on my dominant hand when shooting and should have shot a few more mags with my weak hand. That way I would be more prepared for this little "problem".

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Enlightening

I'll have to allocate some shooting time to that myself.

Never know when your wrist is just gonna show up broken one day. ~

That's a real shame.

What about wielding a pen and typing and stuff?

Are we having fun yet?

 

[tank mechanic]

It takes such a long time to type with one hand! I never appreciated how much i use my dominant hand through out the day. It will definitely be a learning experience.

 

[Gordon]

I started seriously practising left handed only the last couple years. I found if I close the right eye the sights are still on for me! At least I can keep them in the K zone now at 15 yards, while moving.

 

[jondar]

I tore the tendons in my right shoulder while lifting a section of tree trunk. The pain was so bad I could no longer hold my 1911 at arms length, so I started using my left hand. Tendons take a long time to heal, in my case about four months. Now, no more pain, but guess what. I'm still using the left hand and feel better using it.

 

[ACP230]

Dry fire.

 

[RP86]

I was born left handed, but the public school system switched me over to be right handed. It's more effecient for testing purposes I suppose. When I took a NRA basic pistol class we had to shoot single handed. Right-handed I did alright, but left-handed I did surprisingly well. I still shoot right-handed, but I try to do 20-30 rounds left-handed every range visit.

-Ryan

 

[PzGren]

I shoot some left handed rounds at the range every time. There is much more benefit than training your left hand with it.
Watch yourself: you will have to concentrate on the basics, grip, trigger finger placement, basically everything that is easy with the right hand has to be "re-learned" when shooting left handed. This experience will make it easier for you to relate your shooting skills to a novice.

Like it was posted here, dry fire and index the gun a lot and you'll be fine in a week.

 

[R-Tex12]

Watch yourself: you will have to concentrate on the basics, grip, trigger finger placement, basically everything that is easy with the right hand has to be "re-learned" when shooting left handed.

I like Louis Awerbuck's reference to shooting with the support hand. He says to exercise caution because it's your "stupid hand".

 

[.45&TKD]

I guess you'll need a left handed holster, too.

 

[308win]

Don't forget to tell your wife you need a couple of left handed pistols also. You will be surprised what you can teach yourself to do with your off hand. The golf pro I used to take lesson from taught himself to hit left handed - he thought he was more accurate but couldn't hit it quite as far.

 

[Robert Hairless]

That's one of the situations Massad Ayoob explains to his students before he has them drill in shooting weakhanded. Beyond the absolute beginner level he also teaches techniques of drawing weakhanded from a strongside holster, reloading weakhanded, and even racking the slide onehanded with each hand only.

 

[Hardtarget]

I feel your pain! Well, not really...but I do remember the pain in my right shoulder. I had a stretch tear of a nerve...nearly killed me. Even though I'm left handed, and shoot one handed a lot, I also use right hand for support sometimes. I could hardly get my hand into position. So...take good care of your wrist...shoot left handed...get a friend to go with you to help load! Look at this as a "learning experience"

AND!...is this a good excuse for the purchase of a new high cap pistol? Go for it!

Mark

 

[tank mechanic]

Don't forget to tell your wife you need a couple of left handed pistols also.

I like the way you think. Its been getting harder and harder to find reasons to justify getting new guns but this situation could help me get a " left handed pistol"

 

[roscoe]

For a real eye-opener, try throwing a baseball with your off-hand.

 

[oldcop1971]

Weak hand...

shooting is difficult for me, because when i broke my left wrist YEARS ago the doc didn't set it right, and i cannot rotate my wrist so that the gun is in a vertical position. i actually have to shoot gangsta style with my left hand. makes it hard to rack a pump shotgun, too.

 

[phonesysphonesys]

I taught myself to shoot left handed in the Marines. I figured it would come in handy. I still practice with both right and left hands.

Semper Fi

 

[Zoogster]

Very practical skill period. You never know when your dominant hand may be injured or perhaps damaged in a struggle with assailant your trying to defend against. It could be shot, cut, you could fall over and break/dislocate a finger or thumb or any number of unforseen events in a situation that is not going to pause and allow you to learn to use your other hand.
Heck I even would like to practice aiming instinctively with both eyes for the same purpose. Now that is tough. Trying instantly lining up the sights as you bring the gun up with your non dominant eye without closing the dominant one. You never know when one of your eyes could have something in it or be injured, maybe you have a chemical or pepperspray in them and one is more clear than the other.
Practicing to use whatever will still be available assuming your still capable of defending yourself is a good skill imho.
I have even practiced one handed with both hands using a long gun to quickly load, and aim, and with a pumpgun to load rack and shoot one handed. I have shot them one handed accurately at the range as well. In fact for a long gun I find the quickest way to bring one with a shoulder stock to bear one handed is to jam the shoulder stock under your arm and clamp down on it with your arm/armpit as you bring the barrel up and fire holding it between your arm and your body. Even with a 12 gauge and magnum shells I managed shooting it that way easily several times with nothing but a little redness to show for it(be sure to grip it very tightly to compensate for no forward support so the barrel does not fly up)

Handguns are easier, but practice cocking and loading one handed, though I wouldn't practice cocking a loaded one one handed when you can use an unloaded one.

 

[Snarlingiron]

Since I took Tom Givens' Combative Pistol course, I always practice with both hands. Both from the isosceles and one handed. He emphasized learning how to shoot with both hands. Learning to operate the slide one handed with both hands, and how to draw and reload one handed were also drilled. If you ever have to actually defend yourself, it is very likely that one hand or the other will be damaged due to "weapon focus". Many of the wounds that occur in a gun fight are to the hands or arms (so I am told, I have no real life experience, thank goodness). When you practice, you should always practice with both hands. It makes sense to me that you drill on your weakest skills. To emphasize this one of my good friends had to have surgery on his ulnar nerve on his strong side arm. For about 8 or 10 months he couldn't shoot right handed. He still carried with confidence, because he had learned to shoot effectively with his left.

 

[shaggycat]

That's unlucky. Hope you heal quickly!

I learned to shoot right-handed, simply because that is how I do everything else in life. However, I later learned I am left-eye dominant, so me being the stubborn perfectionist I am, and commited myself to learning to shoot left-handed.

It was fun to see such rapid improvements. Also, while supremely awkward at first, you won't have to re-learn proper sight alignment and you already have a sound understanding of shooting. Now you just have to convince your weak hand to obey what your mind knows it should do.

 

[Doggy Daddy]

Hi, new guy here.

Just had a bit to add to the discussion here: My wife and I bought our first handguns in October of last year. We both took to it pretty well, and each now have 4. I just took my CCW class a couple weeks ago, and expect to get my permit in another week or so (just talked to them on the phone today). Anyways, when I did my qualification shooting for the CCW, I was required to shoot one-handed at the 3 yard mark using first my right hand only, then my left. I hadn't practiced left-hand shooting at all. My best score was 359/360 for my Glock 26. I shot all 4 guns for the CCW, and qualified with all 4.

My wife will be doing her CCW soon. Although other instructors don't require any one-handed shooting, I'm not going to let her know that. She'll pass using one hand (left and right) or she'll keep trying.

 

[mountainclmbr]

I think it is valuable to practice shooting with one hand with both dominant and weak hands. The thing that always surprised me was how much more felt twist there was in the recoil with single handed shooting over a two handed grip. I suppose that is from the reaction to the bullet spin. Many semi-autos won't cycle properly if held loosely, so the one handed practice should identify any problems with limp-wristing too.