Thumb Placement?

What is the ideal thumb placement when gripping a pistol?  It may and probably depends on the pistol but are there some general guidelines?

Wherever that you consistently shoot X's

Dave is right! Reading all the books on shooting they tell you all about stance, grip, finger placement, head placement etc. However shooting at Perry for many years and most of them on the "master relay" I got to see quite a few of the best shooters in the country shooting. Everyone had their own way of body alignment. We are all different so develop what ever is best for you! What may be good for another shooter may not work for you! The best way is the one that as Dave said consistently shoot X's

I use a high thumb hold, meaning my thumb does not touch the grip.
The first joint touches the grip and the thumb pointing straight up with the nail proudly looking right at me.

I tried using my thumb in the past but could not get a consistent hold/pressure with that method.

My scores are better with no thumb but I know shooters who do use a thumb.
It is all about what works for you.

In the shooting discipline do what works for you and not what works for others.
Experiment and only you will know what works.

Clarence

Looks like someone beat me to it while I was typing

My mentor taught me that the whole key to grip was activating the trigger without disturbing the sights. He also told me about practicing for hours upon hours in an old ammo bunker at Pearl Harbor where he was allowed to shoot when not on duty. A lot of that time was spent reading the technical shooting articles of the day (many now in Pistol Shooters Treasury) and working on grip. 

I shoot the best with a neutral thumb and pinky. My middle and ring fingers exert the pressure and my trigger finger touches the trigger at an angle just ahead of the first joint (actually in the space between the pad and the first joint.

But as Froneck says, the only thing that matters is how you need to do it. Blank target dryfire helps to figure out your grip and stance. If you're past your mid-40's make sure that you have enough light to really focus on the front sight. Then work on setting your grip until you can activate the trigger without moving the sights. 

If you get tired of the blank wall dryfire, get out the MP3 player and run one shot drills at the blank wall for 30 minutes. When your grip feels right, and you can activate the trigger 10 or more times without the sight moving. Set the gun down and look at your hand. See if it doesn't look something like the picture of Blankenship's in "Pistol Shooters Treasury."

I read a lot on how I was supposed to hold a pistol. I read the thumb shouldn't apply any pressure. I read that the little finger was supposed to just barely make contact with the front strap. I tried all that and hit the frames a lot at 50. I don't think grip is something you learn by reading in a book. Thumb pressure for me definitely produced a lot less wobble and better groups. I just try to grip it the same every time. For me resting the pistol on the table with the forestrap and the end of the slide contacting the table as I push my hand in give me better results.

I have found for myself and see all the top shooter doing the same thing is to never pick-up the pistol with the shooting hand when getting ready to shoot. Always pick it up with the non shooting hand and place it in the shooting hand the same way every time.
 Picking up the gun with the shooting hand and adjusting it until if feels good is called milking the grip, Don't do it! If you place it in your hand with the non shooting hand and it does not feel good, grasp the gun again with the non shooting hand and adjust the grip that way and after a while the best position will be learned and repeated.
 I too have been told and read about keeping the thumb up and little finger loose but found that when shooting the 45, especially hard ball, the gun would move in my hand and my grip would change. I then would start milking the grip in the middle of a string trying to correct the feeling! I grasp the pistol with my left hand, form the "V" with my right hand and push the gun into that formed "V" the same way every time.
 Having been able to shoot with the AMU shooters at Benning quite a few times I noticed that they all do it that way! My son Adam after getting a painful sensation in his right hand decided to give it a rest and started shooting left handed, using this technique and other was able to shoot 2650 with his left hand in less than a year!

^^^Great Post^^^

I also agree that not gripping with the pinky is bad..I also apply slight pressure with my thumb so it's not flapping around.

I was taught that grip pressure should be to the front and back with very little pressure to the sides/slabs.

If you get tired of the blank wall dryfire, get out the MP3 player and run one shot drills at the blank wall for 30 minutes. When your grip feels right, and you can activate the trigger 10 or more times without the sight moving. Set the gun down and look at your hand. See if it doesn't look something like the picture of Blankenship's in "Pistol Shooters Treasury."

I hate ergo grips on just about any pistol but I like a grip with a thumb rest. 

I am thinking about mutilating some Harrets NM grips and using the thumb rest slide and slabs on the trigger finger side. 

Too high a grip is not helpful to me as I have short fingers and lose feel. 

RT

look on ebay, a company sells wood panel grips with thumbrest for 27.00 here is just one example, many on there

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1911-COLT-COCOBOLO-ROOT-MAG-CUT-RIGHT-HAND-TARGET-GRIPS-4-FULL-SIZE-KIMBER-A-95-/151664241770?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234fe4ac6a

I ordered a pair look decent for the price, right? 

I plan on stripping them down making them as thin as possible and then stippling and oiling them.

I didn't like the  shiny finish, id take that off and add some grip tape to the right side.

Those Ebay grips are good, come from South America, so the shipping was a couple of weeks but the quality for $27 is outstanding. 

I took the finish off, sanded down the palm swell and stippled them 3 hours maybe start to finish and the grips are really nice. 

Thanks Dave.

rich.tullo wrote:Those Ebay grips are good, come from South America, so the shipping was a couple of weeks but the quality for $27 is outstanding. 

I took the finish off, sanded down the palm swell and stippled them 3 hours maybe start to finish and the grips are really nice. 

Thanks Dave.

photos?

tonight

great I will be interested to see them

After some disappointing results at Perry I've been playing around with the grip. For me, not gripping with the thumb above the base has removed my tendency to pull left (lh shooter). Suddenly I'm shooting black consistently.