[Tangle]

I've been to a number of shooting schools and most cover "weak" hand shooting but lightly. While I do shoot ocassionally with my weak hand, it's not very often.

Yesterday I discovered why I may need to reconsider how much I practice with my weak hand. Over a period of about three hours, my right shoulder went from normal to very painful. I realized it was bursitis because I had that about 20 years ago and still remember it.

So there I was barely able to move my arm, much less draw my gun. That's when I realized without my right arm, I'm not very well defended. I figured the bursitis would run its course in about two or three days (maybe more), but it made me think what I would do if it was something that lasted longer, like a broken arm.

I would have to carry so I could reach and fire my gun with my left hand. I don't have any left hand holsters, so that would be a problem, but more so, I have very little trigger time with my left hand. I guess I'll shoot left-handed more.

Anyway last evening about 20:00 hours I treated the malady with minimal movement, an Aleve, did some ice treatments, and watched NCIS. By this morning I was surprised to discover my shoulder was back to normal.

It's really amazing how watching NCIS helped my shoulder!

 

[Jacob Lee]

Good point. About 11 years ago, I had surgery to repair a stab wound to my right hand. Took 3 months post surgery to move it, and 6-8 months to be able to use it effectively. Learned to do everything left handed. Once I recovered, I went back to right for shooting, although I still have numbness in thumb and index.

I still shoot off hand regularly just in case. It still amazes me how dependent I was on my right hand for everyday things when I didn\'t have use of it anymore!

 

[Bud White]

I pratice every range session more becuse i had a shoulder rebuilt in 1987 and it is my weak hand if i dont pratice with it i wont be able to use it.

Dont use my right hand as much as i should but im very dominte left hand

 

[hummel]

i too practice both hands at least every other session.....:rock:

 

[KC135]

For senior citizens, several reasons to practice doing lots of things weak hand. Medical problems, the most likely is stroke. Better know how to shave, brush your teeth, and take care of your bathroom duties with the weak hand. If you have not practiced, all will be a problem.

Yes shooting is important too.

 

[FortyFive]

I haven\'t been shooting in awhile, oh one outing with my friend but that\'s about it. When I did shoot 3 to 5 times a week I ended each session with 10 rounds right hand, ten rounds left hand. I could shoot my .45 reasonable left hand, not fast but get them in a zone. I always thought it should be a requirement (of mine) to shoot with either hand, my gun is my defense weapon and I should know how to use it.

 

[silvercorvette]

Before I retired from the police Department we had to do our qualifications with both weak and strong hand. I still do it when I practice because you never know if it will be injured in a fight.

 

[GoodSamaritan]

This is one rare instance when being left handed is an asset. Almost everything is made with the assumption that mostly right handed people are going to use it. Most lefties become somewhat ambidextrous at an early age. I can do almost anything right or left handed without even thinking about it, except for writing and using scissors LOL. I hadn\'t really thought about it until this post, but actually I carry and shoot ,right or left pretty much at random.

It feels good to have one up on you guys for a change.

 

[mikaldulee]

I know how Jacob Lee feels...

Since I injured my left hand(aka blew a hole through), it has greatly affected my ability to shoot. I\'m a rightie, but you cannot believe how much your \"weak\" hand helps out. I am only now able to charge/rack the slide on an \"automatic\". I feel like I\'m so clumsy without my left hand.

Just a few more days and the appliance comes off and I can return to the range...

 

[Bumper]

Well, I guess I have a unique problem. I am right handed and I took the first joint off my left trigger finger with a joiner a few years ago. I have enough of a pad ahead of the (now empty) joint to squeeze the trigger but I\'m not very accurate left handed. I could put the rounds COM but probably not in a very tight group. :tick:

 

[Scott]

I have broken so many of my fingers I have few that haven't been broken. So I learned to shoot either handed. Then a few years ago I had a problem with my right eye. It went on long enough my left eye became dominant. Now my eyes fight, so I have to use little tricks to get one to take over. Quite annoying.

Anyway I usually practice 20% weak hand. Not so much worried about being in a situation where I would have to shoot weak handed, but I know injuries and such happen, so it's just a good idea. A side effect of the eye problem is I have concealed carry rigs for either hand, or both as the case may be.

 

[rocky]

For training we had to qualify strong and weak handed. Ever try drawing your gun with your weak hand? Give it a try. Better to know now than when ya really need to use it.

 

[Ghost-1]

I alway's pratice with both hand shooting both my pistol's and then shooting my rifle's both left handed and right handed, you never know what might happen to you.

 

[Gary Brommeland]

Howdy!

I learned something pretty interesting in one of my first shooting classes. (and for some reason, it really stuck with me.) It seems that people often perceive the gun itself to be the threat in a gunfight, rather than the shooter. A pretty sizable number of people actually get shot in their gun hands as a result.
For this reason, the trainer made us all shoot weak hand for several hours, and this was an entry level course!
I hooked up with him for dinner about ten years later, and he then shared with me why he was so anal about it - in his first gunfight, he was shot up pretty bad, and he survived it only because he was able to deliver a weak hand hit. (He admitted that it was by shear luck - he had had no weak hand training himself up to that point.)
Well, I gotta tell ya, he sure seemed to have learned from it!

 

[Pyrolyzer]

Weak hand only training is funny. At first I learned a stance, grip and trigger control for my left hand and thought that I understood what I needed to know about weak hand shooting. I was very happy with my weak-handed shooting with my right hand safely tucked against my sternum; locked out of the way where I didn't have to think about it. Then I thought, "why would I be shooting weak-handed?." If I'm injured in my strong hand, I don't really think that I'll be able to calmly ignore my injured strong hand. So . . . enter the milk jug.

Try this, take an empty 1-gallon milk jug and fill it 3/4-full with water. Then try holding it in front of you in your strong hand (cupped from underneath, not using the handle) while shooting. Make the water slosh a little. Now, shoot weak hand only. I think that might be a little more like trying to shoot with a wounded strong hand. Next, try the same while moving.

Recently, I ran an IDPA stage where I handcuffed a 10-lb weight to the wrist of each competitor to simulate an injury to that hand. They were free to use the hand or not but couldn't remove the weight. I made the course of fire long enough that they had to reload at least once too.

Chuck

 

[Bud White]

Pyro that is a good ideal i usually just juck my hand in a pocket etc to sim a strong hand being hurt

 

[Prospector]

I'm right-handed and left-eyed ! I occasionally shoot with the left cause my left eye is prominent....trouble with trying to shoot right-handed and left-eyed is the damn crick I develop in my neck...I've got a long neck, but holy cow, anchoring that sucker to right so that I can get that good eye in there is really a pain after a few hours.

 

[Pyrolyzer]

Another good practice, try shooting with either hand but with the non-dominant eye. This is practice for a possible eye injury during a fight. It also helps to anchor the fundamental skills of sight picture. That is, it will force you to concentrate on correct sight picture in a new way and help your skill to be more robust with the strong eye too.

Chuck

 

[Bud White]

Thats how i do it i shoot off hand and off eye

 

[Prospector]

Thanks Pyrolyzer...I'll try it....of course, the way my eye is acting, I might just change my call to Deadeye!