# Anyone train their weak side?



## twomode (Jun 7, 2009)

Just wondering if that is something to think about, in order to "cover" any situation. Seems to be a logical extension of handling a weapon in any situation. Thoughts?


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

It's definitely the smart thing to do, for anyone who carries, but I confess that I don't do much of it.


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## AirForceShooter (May 6, 2006)

Always
You have 2 hands. Use both

AFS


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## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

One of the leagues I participate in includes drills shooting from weak handed and kneeling positions. That's a good motivator for me to practice. :mrgreen:


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

Bisley said:


> It's definitely the smart thing to do, for anyone who carries, *but I confess that I don't do much of it*.


I'm with you there.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

I used to until I broke my left wrist. Now, I shoot lefty just enough to remind myself to be faster with my right so I won't have to us my left.


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## dosborn (Apr 17, 2009)

I am left handed so I feel like I am forced to operate with my weak hand. Most controls are against me and holsters are a pain to find (unless I buy online). Fortunately, all my handguns except my Glock and Beretta Neos work for both.

This brings up another point. I got so used to using my middle finger to drop mags (instead of thumb) that when I changed my releases to be left handed I couldn't get used to using my thumb. Still haven't.


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## Tuefelhunden (Nov 20, 2006)

I have but like others not as often as I should. While LH dominent for most things such as shooting I am ambidexterous to a certain degree (fork and tooth brush RH, pen to paper LH and so on). Wife says I'm not ambidexterous just confused. She may be right. Thanks to military training I learned the old draw, rack and fire technique from right handed shoulder and hip holsters so I know that I can use my RH to shoot especially at speed. Strangely not as good in slow deliberate fire. Does make good sense to practice consistently though.

Dosborn I know exactly what you mean. I swapped over my mag release on a 92 FS I had a while back and it was a strange experience. We get so used to adapting to a RH world that using something in a LH configuration actually becomes awkward. Muscle memory is an interesting thing.


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## twomode (Jun 7, 2009)

I never saw any other posts about it, thanks for the help guys. From now on I'll be doing 50/50 shooting. Maybe 60/40!.


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## DevilsJohnson (Oct 21, 2007)

I'm left handed but shoot with both/either. I carry mostly a left handed holster (and yes, they are harder to find and for some reasons many times ore expensive). I shoot better left handed but I practice with both including draw and fire from a right hand holster. The fire controls are no real issue with me either hand as I've made adjustments when using say, my Sig Sauers that have only right handed controls. I don't have ambi controls on some of my 1911's even. The LTC I carry does not. I have planned to change that but haven't been in too much a hurry for some reason.

It's a good thing to practice both strong and weak side. It's kind of funny though when I'm shooting with people I don't shoot with often and don't know I am a left hands shooter will see me shooting with either and wonder why I do practice with my weaker left hand. I get to tell them that my weak side is my right hand and get a good laugh.


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## Sonny Boy (Sep 20, 2009)

*Just starting*

I have mostly shot both hands and then read a few articals about weak hand shooting. I now shoot one handed, and weak handed. In a few tactical courses I have taken we shot, laying down, kneeling, standing, on the move, out of and under cars.

When I first practiced weak hand I could barely hit a target at 7 yards. Getting better now.

Getting off the line and not shooting with two hands makes a big difference in your shooting skills. Your weakness's become very clear.


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## Thanatos (Oct 9, 2009)

I plan to start doing more shooting w/ my weak (left) hand....tried it the other day and my hand was jumping like crazy. My main motivation is for the left handed stage of a particular competition, but I can see the practical everyday advantage of being able to shoot left handed as well....


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

My friends and I generaly go through a minimum of one magazine full weak hand each of our weekly outings. I can't do much with my left but if needed I can pull the trigger while relatively close to proper aim.

One drill we use is with 3 or 4 silhouette targets at 10 to 20 yards draw and double tap each target 2 hand, then repeat strong hand followed by 2 weak hand.

tumbleweed


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

When I was into competitive handgun shooting in my mid/late 20s, I didn't do much weak-hand shooting. Then one day I managed to break my strong-hand wrist in an awkward fall while winter hunting. After the first two weeks in a cast, looking at all my right-handed competition holsters and realizing I wasn't much of a home defender at that point, either, I decided that adding some regular lefty shooting might be a good idea. I tracked-down some lefty leather gear, hit the range, and learned to shoot wrong-sided fairly well. 

As time went on, I cut back a bit on the weak-hand practice sessions, but I still do 5-10% of my defensive handgun shooting weak-handed. As TOF said, running a mag or two through the gun-of-the-day southpaw is a good idea, and keeps the skills from degrading too far to be useful. I also stick with the conventional wisdom that if I ever have a NEED to shoot weak-handed, it's probably because my strong hand/arm has been incapacitated, so all my weak-hand practice is one-handed, weak-hand-ONLY practice. I also keep at least one left-handed holster on hand for each defensive weapon that I might need to carry holstered.


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## Thanatos (Oct 9, 2009)

DJ Niner said:


> I also stick with the conventional wisdom that if I ever have a NEED to shoot weak-handed, it's probably because my strong hand/arm has been incapacitated, so all my weak-hand practice is one-handed, weak-hand-ONLY practice.


I knew that if I ever HAVE to shoot lefty it would be because I couldn't use my right hand, but I never thought about practicing with ONLY my left hand.

If someone's hand tends to jump a bit when shooting lefty and using the right hand for support, would you recommend shooting two handed for awhile to get the jumping under control before progressing to one handed, or would it be better to do wrist/hand exercises to strengthen that weak hand, or both? Given how much my hand jumps shooting lefty w/ two hands, I don't think it would be safe for me to go straight to one handed lefty.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

Thanatos said:


> I knew that if I ever HAVE to shoot lefty it would be because I couldn't use my right hand, but I never thought about practicing with ONLY my left hand.
> 
> If someone's hand tends to jump a bit when shooting lefty and using the right hand for support, would you recommend shooting two handed for awhile to get the jumping under control before progressing to one handed, or would it be better to do wrist/hand exercises to strengthen that weak hand, or both? Given how much my hand jumps shooting lefty w/ two hands, I don't think it would be safe for me to go straight to one handed lefty.


Both sounds like the best path for you, at least at this time; if you continue to monitor your skill level/performance closely, then I think you can trust your own judgment on this subject. Make sure you're locking the wrist of the left hand/arm when shooting southpaw, as this seems to be where the most of the muzzle rise comes from with newer weak-hand shooters. However, some (many?) folks leave the left elbow slightly bent/unlocked (but with muscles tight) to act as a kind of "shock absorber." If you're nervous the first time you try shooting weak-hand one-handed, just load with a one-round magazine until you're comfortable progressing to two shots or more. Be careful with the short trigger reset on some semi-autos, as it's fairly easy to trip-off a second shot (before you're ready) with an unschooled left trigger finger.


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## 2old2worry (Sep 22, 2009)

*Which Eye?*



kev74 said:


> One of the leagues I participate in includes drills shooting from weak handed and kneeling positions. That's a good motivator for me to practice. :mrgreen:


I have started dry-firing with my weak hand and can already feel the difference in staying on the target; plan to fire at least 25% of the rounds with the weak hand the next trip to the range.

:?:
Does it matter if you close the same eye as you do when firing with the strong hand...or can you expect better accuracy by closing the opposite eye?


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## kev74 (Mar 22, 2008)

2old2worry said:


> :?:
> Does it matter if you close the same eye as you do when firing with the strong hand...or can you expect better accuracy by closing the opposite eye?


I notice that I shoot better (more accurately) if I use my left eye (close the right) when shooting lefty and my right eye (closing the left) for shooting righty. I've heard of others staying on target by shifting their grip position toward the other eye, but I haven't had luck doing it that way.


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

2old2worry said:


> I have started dry-firing with my weak hand and can already feel the difference in staying on the target; plan to fire at least 25% of the rounds with the weak hand the next trip to the range.
> 
> :?:
> Does it matter if you close the same eye as you do when firing with the strong hand...or can you expect better accuracy by closing the opposite eye?


I keep both eyes open during most of my shooting be it left or right. My subconcious mind must keep track of what eye to use cause I couldn't tell you.

Most of my pistol shooting is related to combat rather than bullsey type targets and style and are therefore at relatively high speed. I typicaly place the front sight on high center of mass and squeeze. My M&P's have all had fiber optic fronts so it is rather easy to place the green spot in the middle and let it rip. Red ramp fronts on my revolvers work in a similar fashion.

If I am shooting at distance or for maximum accuracy up close I may close my left but when shooting weak hand I am after COM and not too worried about absolute accuracy.

tumbleweed


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## chuck (Oct 28, 2009)

*Use it all.*

When I started back after not shooting for a long while, I decided to train with both. I start out two-handed right and left, then one-handed right and left. I'm right handed, but my left eye is much better than my right and so is dominant. Interesting that at first my left handed shooting was often better than my right. I think that it was because not being my 'natural' hand, I had to pay more attention to what I was doing. 
c


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