Defensive Carry banner

Training for shooting with either hand

2K views 23 replies 22 participants last post by  atctimmy 
#1 ·
I read a post that made me think of this. Who trains for shooting left/right or right/left? Seems prudent if something happens to your strong hand.
 
#2 ·
I try to make a point of shooting weak handed when I practice. I have yet to go to a match that requires a weak hand shoot course of fire, but you never know. I was required to shoot ten shots weak hand for my state CC course, and I'm sure there is good reason. I know I should practice more weak hand than I do. Training?
 
#3 ·
Weak hand shooting is actually the way I diagnose problems with my strong hand shooting. I THINK about my technique more in my weak hand, therefore if I notice something that I am NOT doing right with my strong hand, I can correct. Other than that I try to shoot at least as much with my weak hand unsupported as I do strong hand suported. My way of looking at it is that if I have both hands available I will be shooting strong hand. If I have to shoot off-hand I will only have one hand to do it.
 
#4 ·
In the IDPA matches I used to attend, there was always a weak hand course of fire; it always seemed logical to me to train also with my left (weak) hand; you never know.
 
#5 ·
This is something I am going to have to try. Although I am right handed I eat and drink left handed, fish left handed, bat left handed, golf left and right handed. Being able to shoot left handed could be a life saver.
 
#6 ·
When I went for my CCW training my instructor recommended that everyone practice with their off hand. Not because of possible injury but because of possible position and cover considerations. If you have to peek around a left corner you have to expose more of yourself to look and fire with your right then with your left. Seemed logical to me so I do some practice with my left. I like the idea of having most of me behind something solid in case the person I'm shooting at shoots back.

:theyareontome:
 
#7 ·
I've done it during courses, but seldom 'practice' shooting with my weak hand...should do more.:yup:
 
#12 ·
I've posted this story before at this site but it applies to this thread so here goes. I retired in 2004 and wanted to do some things that I hadn't had the time to indulge in prior to that event. I bought an identical pair of Ruger P90 handguns in .45 [no safety/ambidextrous decockers]. We quickly dubbed them "Thelma and Louise". I intended to teach myself to shoot with both hands the way I'd seen it done on television and in the movies. Another grand scheme gone awry. I soon learned that with almost daily practice I was able to shoot about as well with either hand out to 25 yards if I shot with that hand only. The only thing I accomplished trying to shoot with both hands at the same time was to spray an IDPA target all over top to bottom and side to side at very short yardage. If I can do it you can too. The key is practice.
 
#13 ·
I also practice off hand shooting on a regular basis. However, the one thing I need to incorporate more, into both strong hand and off hand shooting, is reloading and racking, with offhand and strong hand, as if one hand was totally incapacitated and all you had was the shooting hand to perform all functions. It's great to be able to shoot accurately with both hands, but what happens when your magazine is empty and you need more firepower? I'm laughing because I KNOW someone is going to suggest a New York reload..lol...but let's assume you are not carrying a BUG.
 
#14 ·
I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. :smoke23:
 
#16 ·
I always incorporate some strong hand only and off hand only shooting into my range sessions.
For one thing it is a good skill to master in case your strong arm becomes damaged and also as another poster stated, I shoot IDPA two or three times a month and it is rare not to have an off hand stage ot two.
 
#18 ·
Within the past two years, four of my friends have had various injuries that kept them each from being able to shoot with their strong hands (shoulder replacement, broken arm, carpal tunnel surgery, and another shoulder replacement) for awhile. Go figure!

The day after my friend broke his arm, he asked me to accompany him to the range. We very cautiously ran through the basics and he was good to go, as he was well-practiced with the off hand and just needed to double check that all would be well for him. He dug his left hand holster out of the holster box and that was it.

One of my other friends also asked me to proctor a trip to the range, and did not fare so well. This person had never really shot with the non-dominant hand, so we needed to start from the very beginning, which was difficult because pain was a distraction. After a lot of work, I felt my friend was a lot safer and more able to use the firearm efficiently, but it sure would have been much easier if the learning process could have started when there was no injury and no pain to complicate matters. Also, this friend's wait for a holster took almost as long as the healing process did. What a shame there wasn't one in the holster box!

You don't have to become Wyatt Earp with either hand, but just familiarizing yourself with the basic manipulations and having the tools on hand will go a long way if you ever injure yourself and want to continue carrying a handgun.

pax
 
#19 ·
When I go to the range, I practice off hand as well, though my range time is way down due to unemployment. In Nevada, to get your CCW permit, you have to qualify with each gun that you want to carry, and the distances are 3 yards, 7 yards, and 15 yards, and you shoot 6shots, reload, and fire 6 more in 1 minute. For the 3 yard stage, you have to shoot 6 shots with each hand. Not much distance, but at least it gives you the idea of working with both hands.
 
#21 ·
I developed my weak hand shooting skill as a former paintball player. I know it sounds silly but I would shoot thousands of paintballs during practice sessions and now it is second nature to me. Paintball has come and gone in my life but the weak hand skills remain. : )
 
#22 ·
Once upon a time, I had a more skilled left hand, and a stronger right hand, because I was, curiously enough, left-handed but right-armed. More curiously, I tended to shoot certain guns better as a lefty, and some better as a righty. All of this gave me a head start shooting with each hand being the "primary" hand. Good thing, too, as my formerly strong hand is now my weak hand, as in truly weaker, due to an old shoulder injury, and some newer nerve issues that are caused by spinal issues and, it seems, a touch of CTS. (At work, I reach over to my right to a computer, and type mostly with my right hand.)

Do learn to shoot with either hand; someday, health issues or injury may compel you to do so. Best to be ahead of the game.
 
#23 ·
Reading an account of the April 1986 shooutout in Dade County, Florida, FBI agents versus Platt and Mattix, will quickly show how hands and arms tend to get hit in gunfights. I recently attended a training seminar taught by an instructor from LAPD, and even though he did not make an effort to emphasize the point, I noted that several of the shotouts he cited involved hits to the arms and hands. One of my co-workers was hit in the forearm of his support hand, and barely escaped having it amputated by the doctors, as the damage was so severe.
 
#24 ·
They say that's because during a gunfight it's hard not to focus on the gun pointing at you. If you are looking at their gun guess where your shots are going to go?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top