Importance of training to shoot 1 handed and from unorthodox positions

[HardTargetFirearms]

In a class recently I discussed the importance of training vs plinking. It is fun and can be very relaxing to stand in front of a stationary target and shoot the center out of it, but what does that prepare you for? Fact is, every time you handle a firearm you are TRAINING yourself. This can be good or bad. I have said before that in a lethal encounter you will NOT rise to the occasion. You will fall to the level of your training. If this is standing still with a 2 handed grip in a perfect stance, that is what you will naturally do when the shooting starts. What happens when you have to grab your child with your support hand to guide them to safety? Can you effectively engage a threat 1 handed? What if your only choice for cover requires a less than natural kneeling position? Can you still get hits on target, or will you be ineffective because you have only practiced firing from a good combat stance? Don't misunderstand, I firmly believe in building a good fundamental marksmanship base. Learning to apply the fundamentals and learning a proper stance are crucial in the training process. But it is a process. It continues well beyond those basics. Once you have mastered the basics, begin moving off the line of attack while simultaneously drawing your weapon. Try firing from various unorthodox positions and certainly train to shoot one handed. Chances are good that if you are involved in a self defense shooting you will not be in a perfect stance with a perfect grip. And you had better be moving. I have begun encouraging my students to move their feet when practicing reloads and draw stroke during dry fire at home. Reinforce to the mind that a gun in your hand means your feet should be moving. Train so that your firearm becomes an extension of your body and can be used effectively from any position. Learn to control recoil and shoot accurately with one hand. Do this for both hands. You will find that your skills will grow by leaps and bounds when you TRAIN as opposed to just shooting.

 

[cedartop]

Good post. Here is a bit of irony for you. When I went through the police academy a lifetime ago, it was all about modern technique, stand and deliver. When I got back into this a number of years ago I went full in on what you are talking about almost to the point of abandoning traditional marksmanship. FOF, one handed, target focus, getting off the X, one handed, always moving, you name it, I was trying it and eating it up. Then something weird happened and I got a load of the data from the Rangemaster student involved shootings. 60+ wins with hit % somewhere around 90%. This with basically just good marksmanship and gunhandling skills. My world was rocked. Add to this the fact that I started broadening my training horizons and I quickly found that most of the student's from the "reality" based gunfighting schools couldn't shoot for crap. I think you are correct when you say that you have to learn the basics, but you have to maintain and improve them as well. If you can't shoot well standing still, guess what happens when you start moving?

 

[HardTargetFirearms]

I agree 100%. Tactical shooting will weaken fundamentals over time. It is good to go back to the basics from time to time and reinforce the fundamentals.

 

[Jackson]

I'm a fan of one-handed pistol work. Not just shooting, but manipulations. If you find yourself having to shoot with one hand, you may find yourself having to draw, reload, or reduce a malfunction one-handed as well. I've also taken to shooting with a two-handed grip with my weak hand. I don't know that I'd use this a lot the "real world", but it makes for interesting practice. I sometimes find it harder than just shooting with my off-hand alone. Things don't line up, its akward because my hands are doing new things, and its hard to get the gun under my dominant eye (sometimes I squint a bit to use my other eye, too).

One-handed gun work is good for the soul.

 

[ModernGunner]

Excellent advice from both HTF and Cedar. I encourage trainees to be 'completely ambidextrous', to the limits of their capabilities. Search / engage a 'left corner', go around it with the handgun in the the right hand. Less body exposure. Vice versa for 'right corners'. But that entails the ability to engage equally well with either hand.

I also encourage, to the extent possible, to use the eye on the same side as the hand you're using: Left hand / eye, right hand / eye. Again, 'peeking' around a corner / barricade, less head exposure than say, exposing the entire head by using the left hand and 'leaning' over to use the right eye. Obviously, not everyone has the capability, but it's worth practicing and improving. And, it 'forces' the trainee to keep and utilize both eyes open, shutting one eye being a relatively common 'flaw' with a lot of folks.

Ever try 'hanging' upside down?

 

[cedartop]

Excellent advice from both HTF and Cedar. I encourage trainees to be 'completely ambidextrous', to the limits of their capabilities. Search / engage a 'left corner', go around it with the handgun in the the right hand. Less body exposure. Vice versa for 'right corners'. But that entails the ability to engage equally well with either hand.

I also encourage, to the extent possible, to use the eye on the same side as the hand you're using: Left hand / eye, right hand / eye. Again, 'peeking' around a corner / barricade, less head exposure than say, exposing the entire head by using the left hand and 'leaning' over to use the right eye. Obviously, not everyone has the capability, but it's worth practicing and improving. And, it 'forces' the trainee to keep and utilize both eyes open, shutting one eye being a relatively common 'flaw' with a lot of folks.

Ever try 'hanging' upside down?

It is funny you mention that. For a long time I was of the exact same opinion. The Mike Panonne class was just the latest in a growing list of BTDT people who have told me that is not what they recommend. I have to say that surprised me some. In my mind why wouldn't you want to pursue the advantages of ambidexterity. They say that since you will never be as good with your off hand or eye you should strive to use your dominant hand and eye in all situations short of injury. I am not convinced of that yet.

 

[HardTargetFirearms]

I think a lot of the one handed manipulation and support hand shooting boils down to one key factor. How far does a student want to go with his/her training? Everyone has different training goals and I tell them I will help them become as good as they are willing to work to be. Realistically, though, some people do not have the desire to carry their own personal training to a high level. I always encourage it and I hope that discussions like this one help sway people to train harder. I never had the need to switch to my left hand while in combat, but I am confident in my abilities shooting both handgun and rifle with either hand, and confidence alone can be a huge factor in survival. Should I ever lose the use of my right hand or arm in a fight, I know I can run my gun left handed and still dominate the encounter and go home at the end of the day.

 

[rhino]

It is funny you mention that. For a long time I was of the exact same opinion. The Mike Panonne class was just the latest in a growing list of BTDT people who have told me that is not what they recommend. I have to say that surprised me some. In my mind why wouldn't you want to pursue the advantages of ambidexterity. They say that since you will never be as good with your off hand or eye you should strive to use your dominant hand and eye in all situations short of injury. I am not convinced of that yet.

I think switching sides for barricades/cover matter more with a long gun than a handgun. With a handgun, there's not a whole lot of difference in how much you expose shooting righty around the left side. That's not true for most of us with a rifle or shotgun (from what I have observed).

Another issue is being able to make shots at hard angles around cover. If you're shooting around the left side and something is to the right, AND you can't back out far enough to get a good angle, then going lefty will help a lot.

 

[Coach]

I always encourage clients to start practicing SHO and WHO. The time to figure how to shoot with the other hand is not when your life is on the line.

 

[TheZenful1]

It is funny you mention that. For a long time I was of the exact same opinion. The Mike Panonne class was just the latest in a growing list of BTDT people who have told me that is not what they recommend. I have to say that surprised me some. In my mind why wouldn't you want to pursue the advantages of ambidexterity. They say that since you will never be as good with your off hand or eye you should strive to use your dominant hand and eye in all situations short of injury. I am not convinced of that yet.

#1 HardTargetFirearms, I like your reply & mindset.

I'm a left eye dominant, left handed person. Yeah, all birth defect jokes aside, I've lived my life of 40+ years in a right handed world. My first handgun I've trained defensively with was an XDM, all right handed controls. I learned how to manipulate it and work the machine being left handed. I then moved on to the S&W M&P series, can't say enough good about them! I digress... In a way fortunately and unfortunately, I broke my distal interphalangeal joint (the last segment of my finger) of my left hand index finger 3 days before a class. I planned accordingly and brought a right handed holster, just in case. After 3 shots, I determined that I would switch sides and shoot right handed, the pain was almost unbearable from each shot. I then went on to complete that course (a Spring Refresher course of approx 300 rounds) to attend and successfully complete Iverson's Level 1 & Concealed Carry class, Tom Givens Instructor Development course and Assistant Instruct in some defensive pistol classes all right handed. I'd say, my right side was easy to train... it had no bad habits. I shot extremely well all year (I completed the FBI Firearm Instructor qual with the highest score in the class).

This year, switching back has been a little challenging, because my hands wanted to do right handed grip, my legs wanted to go into a right handed stance. It's all about building muscle memory. It's about educating your body and performing on demand. Who is to say that one will be able to shoot both hands, or with their primary/dominant side when they need to? For me it reinforces the fact that we must train as we may be required to fight. I am willing to prepare my body and mind. I will continue to train primary and support side, two handed, one handed with all manipulations. It rounds my skills out. I find that something I thought at first was very unfortunate turned out to be a great blessing.

 

[HardTargetFirearms]

Thanks Zen. It's always great to hear people's personal stories like yours that serve as an example of why we train the way we do.

 

[jblomenberg16]

Good info, especially getting in the habit of "training" not "plinking." The Tom Given's class I took this weekend reminded me just how quickly we all fall back to our basic level of proficiency. Several of us did just fine moving and drawing, moving and reloading, etc. when THAT was the drill we were doing. Throw that into a timed casino drill and suddenly there were a number of us that turned into statues during our reloads. We were so focused on reloading and getting back on target to complete the course of fire in the allotted time, that we forgot to move.

That was a fairly basic tactic, so I can only imagine what happens to most people under stress when they suddenly find themselves only able to use one hand. My feeling is that a number of people would go into overload and probably freeze, or at least slow down considerably while they tried to figure out what to do. Those seconds could mean life and death. Transitioning has to be automatic.


This is outside of the immediate discussion about hand guns used for self defense, but the last two deer seasons, both of my kills have been lefty (I'm a righty). In both cases the deer came through the woods from an angle I didn't expect, and the only shot I had was left handed. Fortunately I had enough practice shooting long guns that way that I was able to make both kills. The first time I had to really think about it as to if I wanted to take the shot or not, realizing I only got 1 chance and that a miss meant that deer (and the yummy meat) was long gone. The second time I didn't even have to think. I almost instinctively fired the gun lefty and only after the fact did I realize I did it.


My point is that in a real gun fight, there is a good chance the individual you are engaging is not going to come from the perfect direction to give you a traditional shot. You very well may have to do the initial engagement 1 handed, weak hand, or from an awkward position, just as the OP described. If you have practiced those situations you have a better chance of being able to execute and make a good shot vs. freezing and perhaps not even getting a shot off.

 

[WETSU]

I think there is a need to train in both "tactical" shooting, ie fast, on the move etc as well as marksmanship fundementals. You can be as high speed low drag as you want, but fast misses don't count. But just bench shooting won't prepare you for a violent confrontation either. It has to be a mix.

As far as one handed shooting and manipulation, especially using your non dominant or support hand? Yes, do that. I have had students and fellow shooters who for one reason or another suffered an injury or surgery on one arm or hand, which meant the next time to the range they were forced to train that way. Life happens. Its not always getting winged in a fight that forces you to use one hand. Sometimes its carpel tunnel surgery.

Lastly, those of you who have done FoF, in particular in fight weapons access, know that there is no perfect stance when you are jacked up against a wall or bar, or stairwell, or seat of a car while you execute that perfect drawstroke, find your front sight and touch off a few. LOL!

 

[HardTargetFirearms]

Absolutely agree there must be a balanced approach to training.

 

[darinb]

Shooting with weak hand is easy but for me manipulations are sometimes very difficult. I have a bad left shoulder that seizes up when I draw from a strongside so Ive been stretching and getting some chiropractic treatment and its getting better. The first time I did force on force training I realized that I better make it a goal to draw and manipulate my handgun as good with my strong hand as my strong arm and hand. Training with the weak hand is odd and can be discouraging at first but stick with it. I see neglecting training weak side like knowing you have a fight in an elevator coming but only relying on standup techniques. You gotta be balanced as you possibly can.