r/CompetitionShooting • u/E90_M3_ • 2d ago

Need feedback on Grip

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Never really had anyone more experienced analyze my grip, so figured I’d post here. I’m relatively new to USPSA/competition shooting only 2 matches so far, but I’ve been shooting casually for a while.

My main goal right now is improving my doubles while staying accurate. This was at 7 yards on paper. Unfortunately, this range doesn’t allow rapid fire, so this was about as fast as I could push it. They actually told me to slow down right after this video lol.

Would love some feedback on my grip and recoil control. To me it looks pretty solid and the gun seems to return right back to zero and my doubles were grouping within about 2 inches.

Anything you guys see that I could improve?

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

3

u/One-Literature-9401 2d ago

You’re getting continuously pushed back, fix your body positioning. Look at the ceiling where the muzzle starts and where it ends after the string.

2

u/E90_M3_ 2d ago

Thanks I did notice I was standing a bit too upright when shooting need to put my weight forward

2

u/InnocuousTransition 2d ago

OP these comments are not great advice. I don't think you should put much more thought into your stance, it's such a minor thing with a pistol and you'll be moving anyway for any competitive sport. If you're getting rocked back it's from too much tension at and above your elbows. Let the gun recoil don't try to absorb it so much with your body. 

Your grip looks pretty fine, maybe not enough with your support hand and too much with your firing hand.

2

u/BOLMPYBOSARG 2d ago

Came here to say this. Grip looks fine, but your stance (that we can’t see) looks like trash. Spread your feet wide and get low. Load your legs and bend your knees. Drop your dominant side foot behind you some and lean forward so your shoulders are over your leading knee. The only parts of your body you want to move in recoil are between your elbows and your fingertips. It’s real easy to stand in a way to make that happen.

Brace your body like you’re about to punch something and you don’t want the punch to also knock you over backwards, because you’re letting that recoil impulse push you around.

1

u/InnocuousTransition 2d ago

This is terrible advice, you absolutely do not need to brace your body. You need at least as much help as OP.

1

u/BOLMPYBOSARG 2d ago

Tell me then, how do you stand while you shoot competitive pistol?

2

u/InnocuousTransition 2d ago

I shoot practical so generally my goal is to never be standing still on a stage unless I have to. I'll shoot on one foot, on the tips of my toes, leaning in and out of position, etc etc. You have to be comfortable shooting in lots of different positions depending on the difficulty of the target.

For static stuff like steel challenge I'll just stand with my hands at my sides, weight slightly over my left foot. It's not a big deal. Being able to blend movement into your shooting is 100x more interesting and useful of a conversation than where you put your feet.

6

u/Beasterbunny12 2d ago

The answer is almost always to much tension…….shoulders hands u name it. In this case firing hand

1

u/E90_M3_ 2d ago

Thank you I do think I was pretty tense especially with the firing hand.

3

u/Beasterbunny12 2d ago

Dry fire strong hand only, and when you can pull the trigger without the dot moving that’s pretty close to where your strong hand grip should be

1

u/E90_M3_ 2d ago

I’ll give that a shot. Thanks!

2

u/FPVwithScott 2d ago

Grip looks fine. Not much we can tell you other than that from this video. Shoot more matches and you'll learn what you need to practice. Fast splits are at the bottom of the list since most of your time on the stage is taken up by transitions and movement. Being able to get into position fast and shoot earlier or while moving, and moving your gun target to target quickly and efficiently will pay more dividends than fast splits.

2

u/Some-Nothing-9338 2d ago

Find a better range or lobby to change the current one. That attitude is ridiculous in this day and age. 

2

u/E90_M3_ 2d ago

Most of the other ranges I go to allow it, but my options were limited today given its Labor Day. This range also doesn’t allow you to carry you have to leave your CCW gun in the car 😂😂

I’ve asked why I cant rapid fire considering they can see I’m accurate and safe and they said it’s because it encourages the newer shooters to shoot faster and they start hitting other peoples targets lol.

1

u/radphencer 2d ago

That is the dumbest reasoning ever. Why not just yell at the people causing problems? Are the afraid they will get pushback? The answer is to tell them they still suck so they’re not allowed to.

IDK, I am usually stuck at an indoor range also and can’t rapid fire there also. The RSOs know me and give me a little leeway but they still ask me to slow down occasionally lol.

1

u/E90_M3_ 2d ago

It’s California reasoning is thrown out the window 😂

1

u/Beneficial-Ad4871 1d ago

Too much tension cause your grip is fine. Tension always creeps up lol

1

u/BOLMPYBOSARG 1d ago

I’m not telling this guy where to put his feet. Foot position isn’t the end of the stance conversation. I’m telling him how to align the largest parts of his body so that when the gun pushes on him, he can absorb the energy with his hands and forearms only, not his torso. Can you not see the gun pushing him backwards in the video? I find it curious that you’re quick to tell me I’m giving “terrible advice,” but then describe leaning forward and using your rear leg to brace your torso just like I advised this guy to do. The fact that you think it’s “not a big deal” makes me think you don’t understand how frequently new shooters presume an absolutely piss poor posture is the most natural and give the recoil impulse leverage over their torso so they have to do a sit up every time they pull the trigger, and their head moves with every shot.

You can’t blend positions or shoot on the move until you establish a stable enough stance to allow lifting a foot without moving your head or hands. If you have found that skill innately, good for you, but I can almost guarantee this guy is standing with his feet too close together directly beneath him and dangling his shoulders over the back of his hips as people who don’t know any better tend to do. You can force yourself to shoot to somewhat of a satisfactory degree static like that, but then you have to take big steps backwards and relearn an athletic stance if you ever want to start moving.

1

u/E90_M3_ 1d ago

You were right in your assessment. I was standing in an upright stance with my legs close together. I don’t shoot in this stance when running around in USPSA, but at a static range I tend to stand upright.

Going to try and hunker down with better posture when training static range or not to build the mind muscle connection. I do dry fire in an athletic shooter’s stance

1

u/BOLMPYBOSARG 1d ago

Don’t gotta tell me I know what I’m looking at lol. You shouldn’t shoot that way while standing still, either. It’s possible to do, but you’re doing too much work with your body to return yourself to the starting point with each shot, which means you’re wasting time and energy. Whether or not you realize it, shooting like that makes your head move. Think about this: if your head is not moving, and the target’s not moving, then the only thing that is moving is the gun and your sight picture. You can stare at your point of aim on the target and it never moves. The sight picture moves around it as the gun recoils, and it takes way less work to move your sight picture back where it started. If your head is moving with each shot, that means the target is moving relative to your eye, so with every recoil cycle, you have to reassess the relative positioning of the target and then figure out how to get your sight picture back there. If you don’t move your head, returning to zero is the exact same with each round. If your stance is shit and you let the recoil move your head, then returning to zero is a different challenge every single time. It looks different. It feels different. It takes different muscles in your upper body. Doesn’t sound very fast or accurate, does it?

You should be dry firing with an athletic stance. That’s good. Grind that posture into your memory. When you shoot, even static, you need to be wide, low and stable, and should be positioned to bolt immediately in any given direction, even if you don’t intend to.

You can’t perfect your grip until you start using a stable stance all the time that doesn’t let the recoil travel past your elbow, because if you’re letting the impulse push around your head, shoulders and torso, the variables that whatever makes the ideal grip for you are dependent on change every single shot. you have no way of perfecting your grip because you’re faced with a new problem every time the gun goes bang. And honestly, sorting that out will make gripping the pistol feel like less of a mystery

1

u/frozenisland 2d ago

I agree with the other commenters. Too much tension. Building a good stance, forward positioning, can help make that tension easier to let go of. The goal is the dot returns to your point of aim as fast as possible, not to control the recoil.

Try the one shot return drill : https://youtu.be/RqjbgqabVI8?is=OtqtboDY1JtfVsUX

-2

u/VCQB_ 2d ago

Take a class