The benefits of good recoil management dont stop at speed shooting.
A good grip is also going to increase your accuracy in slow fire and help eliminate flinch.
Fundamentals are called that for a reason.
However, the concepts are going to be the same.
Pushing Back
First, lets understand how the handgun is operating in recoil.
This is the first force we must manage.
Upon the slide closing and returning the gun to battery, there is muzzle dip and wobble.
Now the second lever system comes into play.
you’re free to measure the muzzle rise and dip with theMantis X10 Elite training system.
It will graph exactly how much movement you have during the guns recoil process.
The grip will cause your sights to behave predictably with a perfectly neutral rise and return.
The sights lifting straight up is critically important for speed shooting.
The problem is its nearly impossible to see this on a set of iron sights.
Practical Applications
So thats the theory side of it now the pragmatic side.
If youre a southpaw, just reverse this.
Start by getting a grip with your strong hand.
Seat the gun so the base of your thumb comes around the frame.
You must fill up the area under the back of the slide entirely.
This results in shots going to your support side and potentially low.
For firing one accurate shot, yes, you could absolutely fold your thumb down.
But remember, one shot per second isnt our goal five shots per second is.
The direction of pressure applied by this grip is STRAIGHT FRONT TO BACK.
Your fingertips will apply almost no pressure to the side of the gun.
The grip strength used is going to vary based on your grip strength.
If youre shooting one-handed, youre going to use much more grip from your strong hand.
Finish the grip by pushing through your tip of your thumb toward the target.
Its a worthy topic of discussion, but that could be its own subject for a different post.
Neutral Forces?
For many people, the thumb does nothing other than resting on the frame.
This is a neutral grip technique.
The force used in your support hand is near 100%.
The upward pressure is for your finger to maintain contact with the trigger guard throughout the handgun recoil arc.
The most important aspect of any pistol grip is learning to lock out the tendons in your wrist.
Present your hand like youre going to shake someones hand.
You should notice that your wrist is set, and your arm moves at the elbow.
This will immobilize your hands to a large degree and tighten up lateral movement on the trigger pull.
Wrist locking also helps with sight recovery by reducing the wobble.
You should feel a band of tension on the top of your wrist.
Try and recreate that tension but keep the ability to wiggle your fingers.
This is the first step to being able to lock the gun onto the target.
Youve just built a passive frame that absorbs pistol recoil.
You may scoff and say, How much stance do you need for therecoil of a 9mm cartridge?
Participate in an exercise for me, and get a buddy to assist.
Then have your buddy move the slide to the rear SLOWLY.
There is a good chance you will be shoved backwards.
Now, put your feet wider than shoulder width with the strong side foot to the rear.
Begin to lower your hips until you begin to feel your quads engage.
Fold at the waist to keep your shoulders over your forward knee.
This may cause your hips to move to the rear.
Keep your core, neck and shoulders relaxed.
Now have your buddy repeat the drill above.
Really focus on where youre feeling tightness and tension.
Get your grip and stance again and re-create the stance and grip using the checklist you just generated.
Do this several times in a row each day until its natural.
check that you also check out Massad Ayoobs articleBasic Two-Handed Shooting Stances.
Load up 10 rounds into a magazine.
Put five 1 dots on the target.
Send the target out to 5 yards.
Run through your checklist with your grip and stance.
Usually, the muzzle will end up a couple of inches high to your strong side.
Fire the second shot to confirm how high.
The dot should be jumping straight up and down with as little as possible lateral movement.
Repeat the drill on the second dot.
Eventually, youll be able to get the holes to come close to touching.
Where this becomes powerful is when you stay mindful with each rep.
Eventually, youll be able to clear a set of five dots.
If at first progress is slow, focus on the positive.
Its a 66% reduction, even if youre not where you want to be yet!
With each yard you add to this drill, the margin of error shrinks dramatically.
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