Working on the grip ?

Hi
I have read in different places about always working on your grip.
I would like to work on mine but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be working on.  Correct  me if I'm wrong but to my knowledge I should be able to pick up the gun with my eyes closed , open  them and be looking down the sights or dot. I can see how that will take time and work to accomplish consistently. The only other thing I know is holding the gun tight, but not tight enough to make it shake.
Are there other things I should be looking at or are those the only factors that count ?
Thanks for any advice, Tom

Hi Tom, There was a series of articles in USA Shooting back in ~2009 that was pretty good. Google: Grip Fitting 101 (then 102, 103 & 104). Lot's of good info there.

thessler wrote:Hi
I have read in different places about always working on your grip.
I would like to work on mine but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be working on.  Correct  me if I'm wrong but to my knowledge I should be able to pick up the gun with my eyes closed , open  them and be looking down the sights or dot. I can see how that will take time and work to accomplish consistently. The only other thing I know is holding the gun tight, but not tight enough to make it shake.
Are there other things I should be looking at or are those the only factors that count ?
Thanks for any advice, Tom

I posted this under a topic about recoil management. I think it is appropriate to your quest.

Grip comes down to manner and force. IMO, think....controlling the gun, not the recoil.

Grip the gun in a "manner" which enables your trigger finger placement to pull or press the trigger such that it does not disturb the sights or dot through the hammer fall.

Grip the gun with sufficient "force" so that the gun does not move or twist "in the hand" during the recoil and recovery phase. How firm? Firm enough. The gun and hand will move, just not the gun in the hand. Note the difference.

If you have accomplished the above, your "grip" has been mastered. It is a simple process, just not an easy one.

Regarding, your stance/position, or often referred to as natural point of aim. For me, separating stance from position is easier for me to comprehend. Once you establish the grip as suggested above, THEN, you need to determine placement of your feet and body position, so that with that pre-established proper grip, the sights or dot are aligned with the center area of the target. IMO, most go about this with more difficulty than it need be.

IOW, once you have established the proper grip, and you do not need a target to determine that. In fact it may be best to not have a target in doing so, because you want to find the grip/trigger finger placement which enables the hammer to fall clean, uninterrupted with out any other distraction which may cause you to interfere with what you are trying to discover.

Stance vs Position. Now you need to identify, refine, then duplicate the "stance" which best enables you to control the gun when firing. Especially with follow up shots with the least amount of body torqueing, and the most efficient recovery for next shot. Again, no target is necessary for this, and perhaps best to not be there at all. You are seeking at what angle you may or may not want the arm to be in relative to your body core and feet. Some are most stable with feet at an angle, some are most stable completely bladed (sideways to the arm and gun). Once you have made that stance determination, Imprint, photograph or somehow remember it. Imagine one could "freeze" you into a statue of the findings of this grip, and stance, with the gun in ready to fire position. Where the target is irrelevant at this point. You were looking for the most solid platform you could come up with to shoot from.

That "statue" is now taken to a firing line. Now you need to determine the "position" that is required for that "stance" be placed to enable the gun to be aligned on your target. This is done by rotating the statues base clockwise or counter clockwise until the gun is on target. The hard part and possibly some of the more critical part is now done. Now, with much less effort, your focus is on simply aiming area refinement and trigger control. The other elements have already been resolved.

Maybe, isolating, then refining these will be helpful to you. I found it easier, for me, one I started looking at them independently, in order to establish that which works, and is repeatable. As you go to different ranges, you may have to make minor adjustments, but should only be minor. At some point as you develop as a shooter, some of this may change for a variety of reasons. If a change is needed, make it. Now that becomes the new statue (stance), to be placed on the target line, to determine how it needs to be positioned or aligned toward your target.

Best,

MJ

Very good post!

I wonder if I can lock this and make it a sticky!

MJ, those are key words for me now "control the gun", as "control the trigger" has been this last month. Just using the trigger phrase has helped me much, shot an 833, 797, and a 805 in the last three matches in the 22 stages also a PB 283 in a NMC.
  So those will be my key words I say to myself in my shot plan, I'm sure they'll be in my subconscious after a while.
 Thanks much, Stan

chopper wrote:MJ, those are key words for me now "control the gun", as "control the trigger" has been this last month. Just using the trigger phrase has helped me much, shot an 833, 797, and a 805 in the last three matches in the 22 stages also a PB 283 in a NMC.
  So those will be my key words I say to myself in my shot plan, I'm sure they'll be in my subconscious after a while.
 Thanks much, Stan

Excellent, I hope it works for you.

As my long time friends say. Rob Leatham, "Shooting is simple, it just isn't easy". Doug Koenig, "how about, we just stop talking and shoot". Jim Collins, "grip hard, solves many defects".

Cheers,

MJ